Soufflé Murder: A Seagrass Sweets Cozy Mystery Read online

“Traditionally, you congratulate the groom and offer best wishes to the bride. I can't say that I expect much of the best for poor Robin, but I guess we have to congratulate Cash since he's won the prize he set out to get,” Howard Andrews’ words slurred together slightly. “He's certainly well-named. We all know he's only marrying my great-niece for her money—and mine. My beautiful, brilliant niece deserves a real prince and to be treated like a princess. But nooo, she is definitely getting a whole lot less! The ‘love of her life’ is a loser who just wants our family's money. He doesn't even have a real job—he's a 'writer', and that's not what I would call work.” The man's disdain for the groom clearly shone through. “Well, I'll tell you today, I can't control what Robin and her parents do, but that gold-digging leech will never get a penny of my money. I'll ...”

  The bride's best friend gently took the microphone from Howard, whispering in his ear. She passed the microphone to one of the groomsmen and tried to get the older man seated and settled again. While the groomsman shared another joke, Howard shook off the young woman's hand, knocked the chair to the floor, and stumbled off. Eventually he managed to make his way out the French doors leading to the garden, his bright purple running shoes showing up in shocking contrast to his tailored suit. After a moment or two of hushed whispers, the guests shook off his tirade and went back to their coffee, cookies, and celebration. A few couples began dancing to the big-band music that was playing as a backdrop to the festivities.

  “Ashley, Patty, wait, please,” Robin called as the partners started back toward the kitchen. She and her fiancé joined the caterers at the entrance. “I'd like to introduce you to Cash. Sweetheart, this is Ashley Adams, my friend from high school, and her friend, Patty LaFontaine. They are responsible for that fantastic meal we just finished!”

  “Hi,” Cash said, offering his hand for Ashley to shake. He seemed nervous, although his eyes twinkled with excitement. “It's nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you, Ashley. Robin talks about you all the time, and she shared some stories from high school, so I almost feel like I know you. And that food? Oh, my gosh—that was fantastic!” He looked over Robin's shoulder toward the doors leading outside. Ashley looked as well, but she couldn't see what he was looking at.

  “Oh?” Patty asked, winking at Cash. “Perhaps we should step aside and have a bit of a conversation, just the two of us. Ashley won't tell me about anything from her days in high school, and I think a good friend should know about those stories you mentioned, don't you agree?” She grinned at Ashley, who waved a hand at her friend's silliness.

  “That's enough of that,” Ashley laughed. “Nothing happened in high school that you need to know. And Cash, I've heard all about you, too. When Robin has called over the last several months, you are all she could talk about. I understand that you are a writer?”

  Yes, that's right,” Cash responded, but he still seemed distracted. “I'm sorry... um... would you ladies excuse me for a few minutes? I need to...um...I need to speak ...to...er...” He stammered nervously before finally getting out, “I need to check with someone really quick. Sweetheart, I won't be long; I'll be back in just a few minutes. We can all sit down together then and get to know one another better, if that's okay?” Without waiting for a response, he walked away, heading for the stand of anacahuita trees at the far end of the parking lot near the side of the house.

  “Sure, hon,” Robin answered, throwing him a quick air kiss before turning back to the others. “Hey, let's go out to the garden for a few minutes. I hate to waste any of this fantastic weather. Even after growing up here, it still amazes me that we can be outside in January without having to bundle up in heavy coats and gloves or huddle up to patio heaters. For sure, the beautifully mild winters of South Texas were what I missed most while I lived in Colorado. Of course, without the snow there, I wouldn't have been skiing, and I would never have met Cash by plowing into him on the slopes. I guess the cold winters weren't all bad.”

  The three ladies moved down the exterior stairs, admiring the molded iron banister rails, and wandered over to a small gazebo furnished with several small benches. Settling in to visit, they enjoyed the fragrance from the antique roses planted in pots that sat between the seats.

  “You live in Colorado? Are you up in the mountains?” Patty continued the conversation. “I only visited there once, many years ago. It was in the early fall, and all I remember is how beautiful the scenery was.”

  “I lived in Manitou Springs, just outside of Colorado Springs. I worked in financial management, and I taught a couple of classes at Pikes Peak Community College,” Robin stated. “We experienced all four seasons, and the summers weren't as humid as they are here. I loved the nature there as well. Colorado Springs has 8,000 acres of parkland and 6,000 acres of open space land, along with 300 miles of trails. Cash and I spent a lot of time hiking when we weren't skiing. But there's just something comforting about the whole Southern hospitality atmosphere that I couldn't wait to get back to. Cash grew up in Magnolia in East Texas, so he knew exactly what I was talking about, and he missed that wrap-you-in-a-hug attitude, too.”

  “So, anyway, Ashley and Patty, tell me about yourselves.” Robin turned the conversation back to her original topic. “How did you end up running catering companies specializing in French cooking in Seagrass, Texas? I know you grew up here, Ash—I mean, we did go to high school together—but what brought you here, Patty?

  “Ashley did,” Patty smiled. “We worked together at L'Oiseau Bleu, a renowned restaurant, where Ashley took lessons from me when she first arrived in Paris. I was planning to open my own restaurant in Paris, and I wanted Ashley to join me. Neither of us are really the fancy, formal type. We planned to offer old-fashioned comfort food with a gourmet upgrade. When Ashley decided that it was time to come home, she invited me to join her. It seemed like a good time to put our plans into action, and The Southern Bird and Seagrass Sweets were born. Now, I can't imagine living anywhere else. I was surprised, but I'm loving small-town life.”

  Ashley smiled to herself, knowing that her friend was giving the short version of the story. Patty had seen her through the dark times when her ex-boyfriend, Serge, deserted Ashley after setting her up to take the fall for his theft of close to a million euros by hacking supposed security clients' accounts. Ashley remembered inviting Patty to come back to the U.S. with her, after Patty had been devastated by a Parisienne bank declining her business loan application. When Ashley decided to return to Seagrass, Patty surprised her by applying for her own business license in Ashley's small hometown. As it ended up, Ashley’s Seagrass Sweets and Patty’s French themed business, The Southern Bird, were working closely together—two very successful, catering businesses.

  “I've had a few teasers in Ashley's letters and emails about Ryan and Smoke Daddy—is it?” Robin asked. “Dish it up, ladies—this girl wants the scoop about your special guys!”

  Both Patty and Ashley laughed. Patty assured Robin that there was no “scoop” about her or Smoke Daddy. “He does serve up the best barbecue in the state,” she said, “but we've only been seeing each other for a few months. Ashley and Ryan are much more interesting than we old folks are—dinner and a movie counts as a big deal, special event for us!”

  Ashley laughed, “Oh, stop! Robin, Patty is the youngest person at heart that I know. Don't let her fool you with that 'old folks' talk,” Ashley told her friend. “Ryan and I worked together for Smith Corp, an IT company, before I went to France—you know the story of what happened there. Ryan and I were great friends—best friends, really. When I came back to Seagrass, we picked up our friendship just like I'd never left. Then, a couple of months ago, we started going out together on ‘real’ dates, as Ryan calls them. He's still one of my best friends, and we're also exploring where things will go from here. After Smith Corp, Ryan came to Sweetgrass and started his own IT company. Being his own boss, he takes time off so he can help us out with the catering now and then, too.”

  The women
visited for a few more minutes, catching up on the years gone by while waiting for Cash to rejoin them, but their conversation was suddenly interrupted by a high-pitched scream. They turned toward the kaleidoscope butterfly bushes along the edge of the garden just in time to see two high-school kids stumble out, white-faced and shaking.

  “He's dead!” the teen-aged girl shrieked. “There's a man in the pond, and he's not moving. He's not breathing; he's dead! He's gotta be dead!”

  Patty immediately pulled out her phone and called 911. While she turned away to speak with the emergency dispatcher, Ashley questioned the terrified teens, trying to get more information about what they'd seen. “Okay, try to calm down,” she said. “Take a deep breath and tell me what happened.”

  Ashley took a deep breath herself, doing her best to model it for the kids. “Again,” she encouraged them. When the teens seemed to be more in control of themselves, she asked again, “What happened? Where were you, and what did you see?”

  The young man took one more deep, shaky breath before answering her. “We went into the bushes to ... well to spend some time together, you know, just talking.” Ashley guessed that he meant they were looking for a make-out spot, but she didn't figure that was particularly important right then. The teenager continued, still stammering slightly, “We ...um...we looked around for a quiet spot, and then we walked over toward that gazebo thing near the fish pond. When we got close to the water, we saw him—this old guy was floating in the water.”

  “Robin, go find Graham and have him send someone to meet the ambulance,” Ashley ordered, trying to clear extra people from the garden as much as possible to make it easier for the first responders to get through. “Tell Graham to send them to the koi pond when they get here. Patty, go with Robin and try to keep the guests in the sitting room and help them remain calm, please.” The bride-to-be looked pale and close to panic, worrying about the idea that a tragedy involving one of her guests could be unfolding. Ashley hoped giving her something specific to focus on would keep her from becoming hysterical.

  “Who did you see?” Ashley prodded. “Did you recognize him? Can you describe him for me?” While she was throwing questions at him, she was pulling the young man along by the sleeve, heading for the fish pond. His girlfriend followed them—her face showing that she wasn't happy to return to the scene, but that she liked the idea of staying behind alone even less.

  “I didn't know him,” the boy replied. “His face was in the water, so we couldn't see him very well. He's an older gray-haired guy who looked like he was kind of tall and maybe a little overweight, but not too heavy. I did notice that he was wearing these weird purple trainers! What old guy wears sneaks with a fancy suit? Anyway, I was going to see if he was breathing, but I wasn't sure that we could get him out of the water on our own. Janey thought we should get help first, so we came back up here, and that's when we found you and those other ladies.”

  Oh, no! Ashley thought. That sounds a lot like Robin's Uncle Howard, I saw purple trainers on his feet when he went out to the garden. and I doubt there are many men here wearing purple shoes in any style. Please, please—don't let it be him, and don't let us be too late to help!

  Just then they reached the pond, and Ashley rushed over and tugged at the man's legs. She enlisted the help of the other two to get him out of the pond onto the garden path. “Help me turn him over!” she demanded. Exchanging less than thrilled glances, the two teens grabbed the man's left arm and leg and helped turn him face up. Ashley’s worst fears materialized as she looked down at the still figure of Robin’s uncle, Howard Andrews.

  “Do either of you know CPR?” Both kids shook their heads, indicating that they didn't. Ashley checked for a pulse but quickly discovered that his heart didn't seem to be beating, and he wasn't breathing either. She cleared his mouth and checked that his airway was open then gave him two fast breaths before starting chest compressions.

  “Go. Get. Help,” Ashley panted between beats. “Find. Robin. Keep her. Inside. Ask. For. Patty.” The teens nodded and took off running, heading for the stately house as fast as they could go.

  Ashley tried to look around to see what might have happened, but there wasn't much to see—at least, not in the line of sight that performing CPR allowed her. Staying Alive echoed in her head, helping her keep the rhythm of the compressions even; during her CPR class, the instructor had told them which lyrics signaled that they'd reached 50 compressions and would need to give the victim two more breath puffs.

  Man, I really hope this was a heart attack or an accident. We've had too much excitement around here lately. Ashley wasn't excited about the possibility of being on the scene of yet another murder. She'd had more than enough of that kind of violence in her quiet hometown in the last few months to last her a lifetime.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Although Ashley knew it had been just a few minutes, it seemed to be forever before the first responders arrived and took over CPR from her. The sheriff walked up beside her, and they stood together to watch the emergency techs work for a silent moment.

  “Fancy seeing you here,” Sheriff Mueller said. “Why do you always seem to be around whenever a body is found lately?” He smiled to let her know that he was teasing her, but she couldn't smile back. He continued, “What brings you here today? And what do you know about what happened?”

  “We—Patty and I—are catering a wedding rehearsal dinner for an old friend. We'd stepped outside for some fresh air and to catch up with each other when we heard a scream. Two teens found, that is, they told us they'd found a man in the fish pond—he's Howard Andrews, the bride's uncle, by the way—and they showed me where they found him. I tried to see if I could do anything to help him. He was face down in the pond. We pulled him out, and I started CPR, but I don't think it did any good. He still wasn't breathing when the emergency techs took over.”

  One of the EMTs stepped up just then to speak to the sheriff. “He's not responding, sir. The ER doc said to tell you to go ahead and call the JP to pronounce him.” Glancing at Ashley, the sheriff guided the technician a few yards away, out of her earshot, to get more information.

  As Ashley waited for the sheriff to return, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye, and she turned to see what caused it. One glance at the tall man who was approaching, and her stress level ratcheted up a whole level higher.

  “Oh, no,” Ashley groaned. “I would have been much happier not seeing Detective Luna here today! This definitely does not bode well.” Knowing that the irascible detective generally only investigated homicides and other suspicious deaths, she wasn't pleased to see him on the scene, especially given their history of butting heads after the other murder inquiries she'd been involved in. Maybe, after he actually asked for my help the last time, just maybe, he won't be so arrogant and obnoxious. She'd often thought that she'd like to introduce him to her mother's dear friend, Dolores, who could definitely appreciate an older, attractive-looking man, but he was just too prickly. She couldn't do that to someone she cared about. In fact, after the last investigation, she'd even thought that, if she didn't have Ryan, she might find the detective attractive, too—if he was always as pleasant and polite as he was during that week or two. She couldn't help but wonder if their détente would last or if he would go back to treating her like an unavoidable annoyance.

  “Well, well, well,” Detective Luna called out as he stepped to where she stood. “If it isn't Ms. Ashley Adams! I guess I should have expected you to be here. It seems like you turn up every time we have a dead body in the county.” The corners of his mouth twitched, but he didn't quite smile. “If the sheriff didn't vouch for you, and if I hadn't gotten to know you better, I'd have to wonder if you belonged on a permanent suspect list. Tell me, Ms. Adams, does murder follow you around, or do you go looking for it?” The mocking tone she thought she heard in his voice irritated Ashley's already raw nerves.

  “Neither one, detective,” Ashley answered, trying to hold onto her temper. �
��I was doing my job, providing food for a special occasion, when the two teenagers who found Mr. Andrews came stumbling out of the bushes. They told us what they'd seen, and I ran down here to see if I could do anything for the man. That's hardly looking for murder, and anyway, what makes you so sure it even is murder? You haven't even seen him or talked to anybody official yet. Why are you so sure it wasn't natural causes or an accident?”

  The detective held up his hands. “Whoa, take it easy! I wasn't accusing you of anything, and I meant no disrespect. I was just trying to lighten things a bit. And no, I haven't seen the victim yet because the medical personnel are still working over there. I have no idea if this is a case of murder or not.”

  “Then why are you here? No one knows if there's even been a crime committed, so why is a detective—a detective who usually only works homicide cases—on the scene already?” Ashley heard the defensive note in her voice and winced.

  “I'm here because we don't know if the man has collapsed from natural causes, had an unfortunate accident, or is the victim of an intentional attempt to harm him. As the lead detective for the sheriff's office, I'm called out any time we have an unexplained death. But, today, the primary reason I'm here is that the sheriff and I were driving back together from a meeting, so I was in the car with him. It is very possible that this was natural causes or an accident.”

  Ashley nodded, that made sense, she needed to soften her response a bit. “I'm sorry. Just before you walked up, I was thinking about how much I hope this was natural causes and not a homicide. I guess I'm a little sensitive about the whole murder thing after the last few months. I didn't mean to take it out on you, and I apologize for snapping at you.”

  “Understood,” the detective replied. “And I can see how my words might have seemed a bit callous, although I definitely didn't mean them that way. I think that's one of the hazards of working in law enforcement because we tend to say things that would be inappropriate in a different group, just as a way to cope with the bad things we see.”