Brutal Brûlée (Lexy Baker Cozy Mystery Series Book 11) Read online

  “Danny Manning. I was crossing the front foyer when something up in the hallway caught my eye. I leaned back to look up through the spindles. It was Danny.” She put her index finger to her pouty red lips, her forehead wrinkled in concentration. “He was going to Leo’s room and he looked around behind him as if looking for someone or to see if anyone was watching, but he didn’t see me because I was down below.”

  Nans had been listening with rapt attention. “And then what happened?”

  She shrugged. “Nothing. I continued on to the back stairs.”

  “Back stairs?” Ida asked.

  “Yes. I spent a lot of time here in my younger days and I know the mansion inside and out. My room is on the opposite side of the hall from Leo’s at the back. So, I just take the back stairs. I know Violet doesn’t like guests to take them, but I like them better since they seem less formal.”

  “I take those sometimes,” Lexy said. “They come out near the kitchen.”

  “That’s right.” Gloria’s brow furrowed. “I wonder what Danny was doing at Leo’s door.”

  “Maybe killing him?” Ida suggested.

  Gloria’s eyes widened. “You don’t think so, do you? I probably should’ve said something before. Do you think it’s important?”

  “Umm ... yeah,” Helen said.

  “Maybe I should tell that nice inspector Garrity.” Just as Gloria said that, Garrity appeared behind them. “Oh, there he is! Yoo hoo, Inspector.”

  Gloria clip-clopped off toward Garrity and Ida rubbed her hands together.

  “It looks like the case is solved. Danny wanted the executive producer job, so he faked Leonard’s suicide and doctored the tapes. The added bonus is the ghost angle, which will ensure the production company wants to continue the documentary with him as executive producer.”

  Nans made a face. “Maybe, but I wonder about the motive. Was that job worth killing over? Plus, he didn’t seem at all nervous when we mentioned we were looking at the videos that would show whoever went to Leonard’s room.”

  “That’s probably because he knew he’d doctored the tape,” Helen suggested.

  Nans turned to Ruth. “Is there any way to tell on the computer if someone doctored those tapes?”

  “I might be able to tell by looking at the timestamps.” Ruth shrugged. “It’s kind of a crap shoot, but I could look.”

  “We should add that to our to-do list. I’m starting to think the motive might have had more to do with the secret Leonard was going to tell than Danny’s ambition to be executive producer,” Nans said.

  “What about the mole?” Ida asked. “He could be the killer.”

  “That, too,” Nans agreed. “Which is why we need to talk to the mysterious mustache man—Gustav Schilling.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Ruth waved her hands in the air. “Pshaw. It couldn’t be Gustav. He’s a flower-lover. I’ve talked to him in the garden a few times and he’s very nice.”

  Ruth’s face was flushed and Lexy wondered how friendly she was getting with the guy.

  “Gustav was seen in the surveillance video walking toward the stairs, which means he was leaving or going downstairs for something,” Nans pointed out. “We need to find out where he was going and if he saw someone.”

  “What do you think, that he went outside and scaled the side of the building to climb through Leonard’s window and kill him?” Ruth asked sarcastically.

  “Not exactly ... but maybe something close,” Nans answered.

  They all frowned at her.

  “What do you mean?” Ida asked.

  “I have a theory. But I’ll fill you all in later.” Nans turned to Ruth. “Where do you think we can find Gustav?”

  “How should I know?” Ruth’s voice had a sharp edge, then she said a bit more softly, “Probably in the garden.”

  “Let’s go through the conservatory,” Ida suggested. “We can take the French doors to the garden. It’s a shortcut.”

  They headed in that direction, passing the familiar black shape of Houdini skulking down the side of the hallway.

  Lexy stopped and bent down to pet his silky fur. “That reminds me, we'd better make this short. I need to take Sprinkles out.”

  “Meow!” Houdini looked at Lexy suspiciously.

  “No. Sprinkles isn’t here now,” Lexy assured the cat as she continued petting him. “Too bad you can’t talk, Houdini. I bet you could tell us what happened to Leonard.”

  Nans nodded. “No doubt. I think Houdini knows a lot more than the rest of us.”

  “Meow!”

  Lexy stood up and Houdini trotted off in the opposite direction, bidding them adieu with a flick of his fluffy, black tail. The five of them continued to the conservatory where they found Gustav bending over the sick peace lily that Ruth had pointed out to Violet earlier.

  He started when they came in the room. His gaze rested on Ruth, a smile twitching at the corner of his lips. He dipped his chin at them. “Ladies.”

  “Meow!” Houdini raced out of the room.

  Lexy’s brows mashed together. “What the heck? He was just out in the hallway. Did you guys see that?”

  “Yes.” Ida stared after the cat. “He’s sneaky. Skulking around and seeming to appear out of nowhere. But that’s the way with cats, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah, I guess so,” Lexy said. She didn’t really know much about cats. She was a dog person and Sprinkles was about all she could handle.

  Ruth had made her way over to Gustav.

  “What do you think is wrong with it?” Ruth asked, gesturing toward the plant.

  “I don’t know. Violet told me to come in and look at it, but there seems to be no hope, I’m afraid.” He straightened up. “Well, I’ll let you ladies enjoy the room.”

  He started to go out the door to the garden, but Nans stopped him. “Actually, we came here to talk to you.”

  He turned back to look at them, his brow creased. “Oh? What about?”

  “We heard you were here as some sort of consultant to the documentary.”

  Gustav nodded. “Yes, that’s true.”

  “Can you tell us what it was about?” Nans asked.

  A smile broke out underneath Gustav’s mustache. “I’m sorry, but I cannot. It’s a secret. A surprise.”

  “Does it have anything to do with the secret Leonard mentioned at dinner last night before he was killed?” Ida asked.

  Gustav shrugged. “Maybe. I’m not privy to what Leonard had in mind. I just know why I’m here. I get my orders from the home office.”

  “Well, you might want to come clean with us,” Ida said. “Leonard was murdered and we’re looking for the murderer.”

  Gustav bristled and glanced at Ruth. “Surely, you don’t think I had something to do with that.”

  Nans shrugged. “Probably not, but we did just review the surveillance tapes from last night and we saw you leaving the building late into the night.”

  “What are you implying? I never went to Leo’s room.”

  “We know you didn’t,” Ruth soothed, shooting an angry glare at Nans. “But you were heading for the front stairs. We were wondering where you went and if you saw anyone.”

  Gustav relaxed. “Oh. Well, if you must know, it was a full moon and I was going out to the moonlight garden.”

  Nans scrunched up her face. “Moonlight garden?”

  “Yes. It’s a type of garden planted especially for viewing in the moonlight. It consists of all white flowers. The one here has peonies, roses and lilacs. The white flowers seem to glow in the moonlight. It’s quite beautiful.” He turned to Ruth. “The moon will still be bright tonight. Would you like to come out and see it with me?”

  Ruth blushed. “I’d love to,” she tittered.

  Ida rolled her eyes. “Okay, Romeo, so let me get this straight. You’re here on some secret assignment you won’t tell us about. You went out in the middle of the night to look at flowers and you didn’t see anyone in your travels. Is that right?”
<
br />   “I never said I didn’t see anyone,” Gustav said.

  “So you did see someone then?” Nans asked.

  Gustav’s brows tugged together. “I did. They were coming from the lower garden, which was odd because it was very late at night and it’s quite dark down there. I couldn’t make out exactly who it was but ...” His voice trailed off.

  “But you have an idea of who it was, don’t you?” Nans asked.

  “I do. I would hate to say who I thought it was and be wrong, though. That being said, there's not really another person here that fits the description.”

  “Well, who was it?” Ida asked impatiently. “There’s a killer on the loose and we need to get to the bottom of this.”

  Gustav shifted uncomfortably. He glanced at Ruth, who gave an encouraging nod. “I can’t say for sure and I wouldn’t swear to it in a court of law, but it looked an awful lot like Mrs. Pendrake.”

  Chapter Twelve

  They found Mrs. Pendrake in the breakfast room that the production crew was using as a temporary home base for their equipment.

  Lexy wasn’t surprised to see her snooping around. The woman seemed to be an unabashed busybody.

  “Hello, there!” Mrs. Pendrake slid her reading glasses off. They fell to rest on her ample bosom, held there by a chain around her neck. “I was just curious about all this production equipment. It’s a whole new world to me. Very interesting.” She picked up a pamphlet and handed it to Nans. “Here’s their dossier on the subject.”

  Lexy looked over Nans’ shoulder. The pamphlet looked like a copy of old newspaper articles on the twenty-five-year-old legend. One of them had a picture of the tiara, loaded with chunky gemstones.

  Mrs. Pendrake leaned her wide hips against the desk and crossed her ankles. Her lemon yellow polyester pants rode up to reveal white socks and white tennis shoes. While her outfit was sharp and well put together, her socks were dingy gray and her shoes stained reddish-brown at the tips. “That was quite a revelation on the surveillance tapes.”

  “I’m not sure about it being a revelation, but it sure was interesting,” Ida said.

  Mrs. Pendrake studied Ida. “You don’t believe in ghosts?”

  Ida shrugged. “I haven’t seen any concrete evidence of them so far.”

  “Well, who else could have killed Mr. Bottaccio?”

  “That’s what we’re trying to find out,” Helen said.

  Mrs. Pendrake gave them a quizzical look. “Oh, and you think I can help with that?”

  “We’re not sure,” Nans said slyly. “We were wondering if you saw anyone out and about on the grounds last night.”

  Mrs. Pendrake looked taken aback. “What do you mean? I went to bed right after dinner last night.”

  “You did?” Ida looked at her sideways. “You weren’t outside in the garden?

  “No.”

  Nans’ lips twisted. “Did you see anyone in the house? Anyone near Leonard’s room?”

  Mrs. Pendrake shook her head. “No. Apparently I didn’t warrant one of the finer rooms upstairs. Mine is on the first floor. I wouldn’t have been able to see anyone coming and going from Leonard’s room at all.”

  “You live in town here, don’t you?” Nans asked.

  “Yes, I do. I was lucky enough to get a reservation to stay here since Leonard thought I would add some local color to the documentary. It was quite an honor.” Mrs. Pendrake’s face turned thoughtful. “That poor man. I do hope he didn’t suffer.”

  “He probably didn’t,” Nans said matter-of-factly. “If you live in town, you must have known Gloria Leigh.”

  “Well, I knew of her. When she was younger. Obviously, she wouldn’t remember an old lady like me.” Mrs. Pendrake leaned toward them and lowered her voice. “She was kind of a wild thing. No one was surprised when she went off to be an actress. She liked to put on airs back then, and I see she still does.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “Well, I hate to gossip, but at dinner she made it sound like she hung around with the Wellingtons, when I believe it was more their servants she hung around with. They were a bit of a rough crowd.”

  “Oh, I see,” Nans said. Mrs. Pendrake was obviously happy to be gossiping despite the fact that she said she hated to gossip. Lexy knew Nans was encouraging her. You never knew what kind of good information you could get out of a gossip.

  “Well, she always did like money, even as a little girl. Of course, she got famous but I hear her spending was a lot more than she earned.”

  “Oh, you don’t say?” Ida said. “I heard she had to sell off a lot of her jewelry.”

  “Yes. She likes to wear fine clothes, nice jewelry and those awful shoes.” Mrs. Pendrake rolled her eyes. “Who could walk around in those things all day?”

  “I used to have shoes like that,” Ida said enviously. “I can’t wear them now because of my bunions. That girl had better watch out or she’s going to end up with feet like mine.”

  “She sure does seem to have a lot of pairs of them,” Lexy said. “These floors are solid stone. Her feet must be killing her, not to mention the constant clack clack noise must drive her crazy.”

  “I know it’s driving me crazy,” Ida added.

  “And she seems to wear them all the time,” Helen said. “I’ve never seen her with tennis shoes or sandals.”

  Mrs. Pendrake narrowed her eyes. “Not all the time. Last night I came to the conservatory and the red stilettos were sitting right there next to the rubber tree. I could hardly say I blame the girl. I’m sure her feet were sore.”

  “So you didn’t see or hear anything last night?” Nans asked.

  “Nope.”

  “And you went right to bed after dinner and stayed in your room?”

  “Yep.”

  The four ladies exchanged a glance.

  “Okay, well thanks for the help.” Nans turned and they all started out of the room.

  “You’re welcome, though I’m afraid I wasn’t very helpful. I just hope you catch the killer. Whether it was a ghost or a human, I fear it’s not safe around here.”

  They left the breakfast room and headed toward the foyer. Nans glanced at the pamphlet in her hand, then her eyes went to the ceiling and stayed there as they walked down the hall.

  “Well, that was enlightening, wasn’t it?” Ida said.

  “What do you mean?” Helen asked. “She said she didn’t see anything?”

  “Yeah and she said she didn’t leave her room or go outside,” Ida whispered.

  Nans, who had still been staring up at the ceiling, stopped short. “Yes, she did. I’ll double check with Violet, but I don’t see any surveillance cameras down here, so we have no way of verifying whether she left her room or not.”

  “That’s right,” Ida added. “Which means either Gustav was mistaken as to who he saw ... or one of them is lying.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  They parted ways at the front stairs. Nans and the ladies were going out to the terrace and Lexy intended to take Sprinkles for a walk. She texted Jack on the way up the stairs, hoping he could join them.

  In the upstairs hall, a crowd had gathered in front of Danny Manning's room. Jack stood outside the door in the hall along with the navy-shirted guy and Joy from the production crew. Gloria stood off to the side.

  "What's going on?" Lexy peered inside the room where Garrity and a red-faced Danny were having words.

  "I tell you, those are not mine." Danny pointed to a plastic bag that Garrity was holding. Inside the bag, Lexy could make out the pills from the amber pill bottle.

  "Garrity did a search of the rooms and he found that in Danny's underwear drawer," Jack filled Lexy in.

  "A search? Wouldn't he need a search warrant?" Lexy asked.

  "Not if everyone gave him permission. Which they did."

  "I'm going to have to take you down to the station, Danny. I have some more questions now that we've found these pills in your room, and a witness says they saw you going in to Le
onard's room last night," Garrity said.

  "But ... but," Danny sputtered, waving his hands in frustration. "Someone must have put them here. Maybe we can look on that video monitor and see."

  Violet had come down the hall and was standing behind Lexy. "I'm afraid that won't work. The cameras only go as far as the library and this room is further down the hall."

  Garrity lifted an eyebrow suspiciously. "But you probably already knew that, so that you could try to make like you were set up."

  Danny held his hands up. "No. I swear. I was set up. You guys know I didn't go into Leo's room. We saw it on the surveillance tape." He turned a pleading face toward Jack, Lexy and Violet.

  "We think the killer altered the video to exclude the part where he went to Leonard's room." Garrity led a protesting Danny out of the room and down the hall. "A lot of the evidence points to you, but don't worry. We'll do a thorough investigation and if you really are innocent it will come out," Garrity added as they disappeared down the stairs.

  "Well, I guess that's it then!" Violet seemed chipper. "Now we can all get back to business."

  In contrast to Violet's happiness, Joy looked down in the dumps. "I don't know what this means for the documentary. There's no producer now, so I guess we need to all start packing our bags."

  Navy Shirt spoke up. "Don't be too sure. The company may still let us put it on. Plus, Danny hasn't been charged with anything and the inspector didn't say we could leave, so I'm not sure if we can."

  "This is certainly interesting. I wonder what Nans will make of it." Lexy whipped out her cell phone and texted Nans.

  "I'm sure she'll have something to say." Jack's face looked hard, as if he were deep in thought.

  "What do you think about it?" Lexy asked.

  He pressed his lips together and shook his head. "I'm not convinced it was Danny, though he does have a decent motive."

  "Nans said she didn't think the motive of getting the executive producer job was strong enough."

  "Oh, he might have had more than just that as a motive," Gloria said from behind them.