Murder at the Grill (Cold Creek Book 3) Read online

  Murder at the Grill

  Christa Nardi

  Copyright © 2015 Christa Nardi

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 099105475-X

  ISBN-13: 978-09910547-5-6

  This is a work of fiction. Although some of the locations may be real, others, like Cold Creek are fictitious. None of these events actually occurred. All characters are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to real people is entirely coincidental.

  The reverse engineering, uploading and/or distributing of this ebook via the Internet or any other means without the permission of the copyright owner is illegal and punishable by law.

  Books in this series:

  Murder at Cold Creek College (Cold Creek #1)

  Murder in the Arboretum (Cold Creek #2)

  Murder at the Grill (Cold Creek #3)

  Murder in the Theater (Cold Creek #4) – August 2016

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  CHAPTER 25

  CHAPTER 26

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  CHAPTER 1

  I turned the radio on in the empty house for noise when I walked in. As I rolled my suitcase into the living room, I caught the newscaster’s announcement. A murder at the Grill? I searched for my phone, confident my best friend and colleague, Kim, would tell me what happened. She answered her phone as if she’d been waiting for the call.

  “Hi, Sheridan! When did you get back? Today? I wasn’t sure if you’d be back today or tomorrow. Has it been a week already? No doubt you had a great time in Williamsburg.” She rambled at her usual quick pace and didn’t sound concerned about a murder or anything else.

  “I got home about ten minutes ago. We had a great time. Took a bunch of pics. I’ll tell you about the trip for sure. The morning newsman reported a murder at the Grill? What did I miss?”

  “I didn’t hear they determined it was murder. That’s not good.” I sensed the confusion in her voice, no longer as upbeat, and imagined her brows knitted together.

  She paused before continuing, “Marty and I were eating an early dinner there last night when it happened. A man keeled over and Zoe screamed. The place was packed. Even the tables outside were filled despite the heat. Everyone just froze for a few minutes. Hirsch came in and an ambulance took the man away. He was dead for sure.”

  She took a breath and continued in a more conversational tone. “I have trouble calling Hirsch ‘Chief’, but he took control. Hirsch and Doc Wellburn told everyone to leave their food. Doc told us to write down what we’d ordered and eaten. He cautioned us to seek medical attention if we experienced a headache, nausea, or other intestinal problems. Doc and Hirsch were concerned about food poisoning. Murder?” She finally stopped long enough to take another breath.

  “That’s what the KCCX newscaster said. Anything strike you as strange?”

  “Other than I wasn’t able to eat my meal and Zoe was hysterical, not really. One minute the man was yelling something and Zoe scowled at him. The next, he’s on the ground, writhing, and then dead. When the paramedics expressed concern about food poisoning, everyone freaked out and grabbed their stomachs.”

  “Any idea who the man was?” My curiosity piqued. In my case, curiosity was both a good and bad thing and always active.

  “Not at first. He sat in the back corner. You know the table out of the way, near the kitchen and restrooms? Someone said he’d been at the Grill most of Zoe’s shift and gave her all sorts of grief. Then later I found out he was her ex-husband, Jebediah.”

  “Oh, how awful. Sorry this happened to Zoe.”

  “Sher, Zoe’s worried. She was afraid someone might think she was responsible for the food poisoning. She delivered the food and waited on him. And they had words and she’s the ex-wife. She was upset. Now with murder instead of food poisoning, she’s liable to be the prime suspect. She probably had a motive. I sure wanted to kill my ex a time or two.”

  I shook my head. Kim might have wanted to but murder and her personality didn’t match. She paused, not her usual approach. With a more subdued tone, “I volunteered us. I told her we’d help her if she needed it.”

  I chuckled to myself. Kim and I are on the faculty of the local private four-year college. We aren’t detectives, yet somehow we keep getting involved in murders or at least in solving them.

  “Zoe’s always been good to us. She may not need our help after all. I guess there will be more on the news later. Aside from the excitement, how are you?”

  “Good. But I want to know about your trip. How about lunch? I’m guessing the Grill is closed. Chinese?”

  In a small town like Cold Creek, there’s not an abundance of restaurants unless you want to eat at the national fast food chains. The Grill was our “go to” place. With it closed, Chinese sounded good. Besides, I’d just gotten home the night before and there weren’t a lot of groceries in the house.

  “Sounds like a plan. I have to go pick up Charlie. About noon?”

  “See you at noon. I can’t wait to hear all about your trip.”

  Kim hung up and I finished my breakfast. As I sipped my coffee in the quiet of the early morning, I reflected on the past week. I met Brett McMann last fall when a colleague was murdered. We’d been dating ever since. After several months, the time came for me to meet his teenage daughter. Acceptance by Madison was as critical to our relationship as meeting parents. We’d settled on Williamsburg as neutral ground with a variety of activities to keep a teen occupied.

  The trip with Madison went very well, despite some awkwardness. How do you figure out sleeping arrangements when the two adults – Brett and I – aren’t married and you’re travelling with an impressionable 13 year old? The solution we came up with was that Madison and I shared a room, with Brett in the room next door. Not all bad. Madison and I had some time to get acquainted with each other. Brett and I managed some alone time after Madison went to sleep. I tingled as I recalled some of those alone times.

  As I replayed other parts of the trip, I laughed to myself over the silly things we did and a few of Madison’s comments and questions. Although as a psychologist I have worked with teens, the dad’s girlfriend was a novel role for me. A nerve racking and scary role, in fact. Add in Brett’s naiveté about teenage girls and the trip was full of surprises as well as laughs.

  Madison lacked the finesse of an older teen and often blurted out whatever came to mind. Brett and I were both a little surprised at the questions she asked or what she seemed to know and what she was trying to figure out. It would never have occurred to me to ask my mother when to wear lace undies, but maybe that was why she asked me. I don’t recall suggesting my mother get lacy undies either. I hadn’t packed anything remotely sexy for that trip. Everything I’d brought or worn had a GP rating. Maybe even milder, if that was possible. My selection may have prompted the questions. Then there were the questions prompted by the television ads for Viagra. Brett turned several shades of red over that discussion. I still wasn’t sure if some of Madison’s questions weren’t intended to get that reaction. />
  CHAPTER 2

  I finished my coffee, cleaned up, and set off to pick up my sheltie, Charlie. While Brett, Madison, and I scouted out Williamsburg, Charlie spent the week at Les Chiens B and B. An affordable pet spa and grooming facility, I trusted them to care for my fur baby.

  I heard the dogs barking as I walked to the door of the old, sprawling house. The building not only served as a boarding facility, it also provided foster care for several rescue dogs. I opened the door cautiously. Once before I made the mistake of not being so careful. Not a good move. A rambunctious labradoodle knocked me to the floor. Thankfully, she was a lover, not a fighter. Instead of taking off, she plopped down on top of me.

  I scooted in the door. The front room was filled with several young heeler pups. They fell all over each other to get the attention of the one volunteer. I smiled in greeting as she restored order and wondered how she did it. I’d seen her here before but couldn’t remember her name. I saw other dogs on the other side of a glass wall in doggy day care. I spotted Charlie as she ran out the door into the yard and smiled.

  As I approached the front desk, a portly woman stormed past me. She muttered and huffed, her mouth in a scowl. Ahead of me, Diana, the manager, looked distraught, a sharp contrast to her usual positive, fun-loving, and social demeanor. Although she tried to shake it off, her tone was off as she greeted me, her lips pursed, and her gaze riveted on the front door.

  “Diana, you okay? Who was that woman?”

  “Uh… that was Dawn Baxter. You know Zoe, one of the waitresses at the Grill? She’s a cousin or something. Doesn’t wait tables though. Doesn’t have the personality for it.” I caught the hint of a sneer with her last comment.

  Diana pulled out a file and plastered a smile on her face as if nothing was amiss. She said, “Charlie was great as usual. She ate well and we always love to have her. I’ll call for Lori to bring her round for you.”

  After she made the call, her forced smile was replaced with a scowl as she turned away. I was ready to ask another question when she slipped out the door that led to her rooms upstairs. Puzzled, I waited until Charlie bounded out the door from the B & B side. Her kisses and wagging tail chased away any bad thoughts and reminded me why I’d rescued her. Charlie is the child I never had, my best comfort when the world throws out lemons.

  I settled Charlie in at home and rushed over to the Imperial, our one Chinese restaurant, for lunch with Kim. She was there already and seated. The hostess nodded as I joined her.

  “You look great, Sher! Williamsburg must have agreed with you.” Kim bubbled with her usual enthusiasm, her red hair pulled back in deference to the July heat and humidity of Virginia. Much to her dismay, her freckles had exploded with the sunshine.

  “It was good to get away, restful in many ways, and a good time for all. Most important, Madison seemed okay about Brett and my relationship. That is a major relief. Not much else to tell. I’ll post the better pics online later today.”

  After the waitress came by and took our orders, Kim held her hand up like a stop sign.

  “Oh, no, you don’t! I want to hear about the trip!”

  I shared some of the highlights of the trip. Williamsburg has something for everyone and we had sampled many options. My favorite was the Tall Ship cruise down the York River. The guide talked about all the historic sights. Madison enjoyed it too, especially when we spotted dolphins. Typical tourists, we’d taken in plantations and Busch gardens as well.

  Feeling like a travel agent, I paused. “Enough of my trip. It looks like I missed all the excitement here. You know how I love a mystery.”

  Kim scrunched up her face. “Like I told you, Marty and I were there at the Grill. We’d gone early to beat the rush. Besides, I was hungry. It was very crowded and another waitress served our food.”

  I nodded and she continued, “This man – Jebediah Gruen – was sitting in the back corner when we got there. I didn’t know who he was until later. Every so often he would yell for Zoe and make some snide remark. That happened when she took our order and she muttered as she rushed us a bit. She bristled, not her usual chatty and funny self.”

  Kim shook her head, her confused expression replaced with wide eyes as she related the events.

  “The other waitress, Kay, I think was her name looked tense. Her hands shook as she put the plates down. Then Zoe screamed. The man thrashed around in his seat at first. He knocked his plate off the table and toppled over to the floor.”

  She paused to catch her breath before she went on. “Wayne was there. I guess dentists are trained for emergencies. He popped out of his seat and bellowed for someone to call 9-1-1. He dashed over to check on the man. Wayne stayed with him until the paramedics arrived, followed pretty quick by Hirsch and Doc Wellburn.”

  “And they thought it was food poisoning?”

  “That’s what we understood. Doc went through all the symptoms and what to do. No one was allowed to eat anything else. No to-go boxes. Hirsch took all our names. No checks and no one paid for anything.”

  Kim shrugged and dug into her food as if afraid someone would keep her from eating her meal again. Kim is my closest friend as well as well as my colleague. She can get carried away on occasion and is a bit on the impulsive side. In many ways, she fits the stereotype of the fiery red head. At the same time, she has a heart of gold and tends to see only the best in people. She also enjoys food, though that’s not obvious from her trim figure.

  “So how did Hirsch do with his first major incident as Chief of Police?” Barney Pfeiffe, the prior Chief, retired in the spring, and Hirsch had gotten the promotion.

  “He was always so much more competent than Pfeiffe and still is. He quickly took charge and directed everyone, Wayne included. Apparently, Wayne did something Hirsch wasn’t pleased with, but I didn’t catch what. I heard him chastise Wayne though. Everyone did.”

  Her eyes had a devilish gleam as she talked about Wayne being on the receiving end of criticism. Wayne and I dated for a while. Sadly, he still tried to rekindle a spark that was never there. His pushiness and persistence made it difficult to remain friends. He’d become such a nuisance, I found a new dentist.

  I was glad that Hirsch was doing a good job. He was young to be Chief of Police, only in his mid-thirties. At sixty, Pfeiffe was still on the force with a courtesy title of consultant. I wasn’t too sure how much help that would be. His retirement hadn’t been his choice and his resentment showed in his brusque manner.

  As we ate our lunch, I realized that I never paid much attention to Zoe. She was our favorite waitress at the Grill and we ate there all the time. Odd that I didn’t know much about her other than that she gave good service.

  “Kim, what can you tell me about Zoe?”

  “Not much. She’s a good waitress, friendly enough, funny. She never volunteers anything about herself and I never ask. Sorry to say, but it might be true that service people are more or less invisible. Can’t say I pay much attention to anyone who works at the Grill for all the times I’ve eaten there. Come to think of it, I couldn’t tell you much about my hairdresser even.”

  We were both quiet as we ate our food. As a psychologist, I liked to believe that I was sensitive to others, paid attention to them and didn’t treat others as if they weren’t important. Obviously, I was not as attuned to others when not in the therapist role.

  After a few minutes Kim commented, “I remember that the Grill is a family owned and managed business. There was an article in the newspaper back when they celebrated 25 years in business. According to the news report, Jebediah was her ex-husband, but I don’t know anything about the divorce or the marriage. I don’t know if she had any children.”

  Kim and I are both professors at Cold Creek College. Kim joined the faculty a couple years before me. Cold Creek is a small, suburban community nestled between the major cities of Richmond and Roanoke. Small town, as in low crime rate and high gossip rate. Not much happens in Cold Creek without it being known throughout the
community. That meant the divorce must have occurred before Kim moved here, so at least six years ago.

  We chatted for a while longer, mostly about the end of summer coming up fast and happenings at the college. Kim and I are both psychologists and, along with another faculty member, Mitch, are responsible for the crisis management plan. Somehow combined with my curiosity and role in crisis response, I’d ended up involved in two murders in an otherwise quiet, bedroom community that was home to the private four-year college.

  One of those murders resulted in the current open position of Chancellor and I was serving on the search committee. The grand plan was to fill the position before the end of the summer. The search and interviews scheduled for the next weeks meant I’d be working even though it was summer. The upside? I’d be earning some extra money for fixing up the house or anything unexpected.

  After lunch and grocery shopping, I returned home. Unpacking finished, I relaxed with Charlie and watched television. My phone rang interrupting the flow the program.

  I cringed when I saw my mother’s caller ID. Kind of amazing that even in my forties, she still fueled my insecurities and reactive need for control. As with our usual Sunday calls, she filled me in on the Newport hometown gossip and my father’s health issues. She prompted me to share what we’d done on our trip.

  I told her a little about the places we visited. We chatted for about 10 minutes. She asked when the family would meet Brett and implied that it should be soon, before he got away. At least she no longer insisted it was my fault my ex-husband had cheated on me. I assured her she would get to meet Brett soon. I was procrastinating and recognized it was my way of maintaining control of my personal life.

  A little later, Brett called. He shared that Madison told him I was “okay,” which made me smile. After we caught up on the comings and goings of our days, I broached the subject of the murder.