A Catered Christmas Killer (A Sinful Sweets Cozy Mystery) (8 page)

But she wasn’t the first person to reach her. A man Sydney hadn’t noticed before made it to Maria’s side and helped her to a sitting position at the bottom of the stairs. She had only fallen a few steps, but she looked like she was completely out of it.

“Maria, Maria,” the man started saying. He gently tapped her face to try to get her attention. “Can you hear me?”

She slowly opened her eyes and took control of her own movements again. Recognition flashed across her face as she said, “Eduardo? What happened?”

“You fell down the stairs. Are you okay?” he asked.

“No. Que pasó?” she asked more emphatically, switching to Spanish.

Fear flashed across Maria’s face and Eduardo made a move to pick her up to her feet. “Let’s get you into a chair.”

Many of the guests returned to their conversations now that someone was helping Maria and they were off the hook of feeling any obligation to come to her rescue.

As Eduardo slowly led Maria to a chair, Sydney turned toward the back of the house and confidently walked like she was on a mission. She skipped going through the kitchen because she knew her time was limited, but she had to get back upstairs to Marcus’ office. She took the back stairs two at a time and nearly ran down the long hallway.

She checked for anyone upstairs, but seeing no one, opened the same door she’d gone in before. Again, she didn’t turn the lights on, but took her cell phone out of her apron pocket and turned on its flashlight.

The office looked just like it had before, save for one major difference. The red lingerie was no longer threatening to fall off the filing cabinet. It was already on the floor.

Sydney grabbed a pen off the desk, knowing she’d have to take it so she wouldn’t leave her fingerprints anywhere in the room. She was already worried about them on the doorknob. She’d have to remember to take the time to wipe them off on her way out.

Using the pen, she lifted the lingerie off the floor to examine it. She had no idea whose it could be, but the fact that it had moved since the first time she was in here led her to believe that Maria was closer to the killer than she should be.

Sydney rolled the desk chair to the front of the filing cabinet, hoping to see anything else that might be hidden on top. Maybe there was a whole stash of sexy clothing that would lead her to the truth behind Julia’s murder. If these clothes belonged to Stacey, there was no doubt in Sydney’s mind that Marcus had killed his own wife to be with the one he loved. He’d have had easy access, and this would have given him his motive.

Sydney listened carefully before she stood on the chair. She had put the lingerie back on the floor where she’d found it. She slowly put one foot on the chair, knowing that if she wasn’t conscious of her every move, the chair could easily roll, knocking her off balance and causing a commotion that would send at least Marcus running.

She steadied herself with her sweating hands on the back of the chair, just barely touching it, hoping her fingerprints wouldn’t be lasting. She stood up and was just tall enough to see the top of the filing cabinet.

She nearly lost her footing when she saw her engraved knife, bloody and hidden, on top of the filing cabinet.

Sydney jumped off the chair as silently as she could. She rushed to put the chair back in its place behind the desk and wiped it clean of any fingerprints. She pocketed the pen she had used and headed back to the hall. She wiped both the inside and outside doorknobs on her way, and ran back down the hall toward her room
at the back of the house.

She sat down on her bed, catching her breath. She knew she’d look guilty when she went back downstairs if her face was as flushed as she thought it must look. She headed to the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face, trying to cool herself down.

She rifled through her bag and found her stash of business cards, grabbing a stack she knew would be too big and stuck them in her pocket as her cover for disappearing upstairs.

She slowly walked down the back staircase, breathing deeply to help regain her composure.

“Where have you been?” Grace hissed when Sydney walked into the kitchen. “I know you’re trying to clear your name, but you’re starting to look guilty. Marcus came in here looking for you—they’re ready to have desserts put out.”

Sydney was still trying to find her voice again.

“What happened to you?” Grace asked, realizing something was terribly wrong.

“I found the knife.”

Now it was Grace’s turn to find herself speechless. “Where?” she managed to ask after several moments of staring.

“In Marcus’ office. The same room Maria was in earlier. I think she was there again because things had changed, and she was the only one who went up there.”

“You think she planted the knife to make it look like Marcus is the killer? Or do you think he really is?” Grace asked.

“I’m not sure. But she knows something.”

Sydney caught Grace up on the events in the main room with the guests.

“I think you need to go check on Maria. Take these parfaits and make sure she’s recovering.”

Once again, Grace nearly pushed Sydney into the party.

Sydney looked around for a place to put the tray of parfaits. She was spared the task because guests gravitated toward her. They’d made two different kinds and she had some of each. The fruit ones disappeared first—layers of yogurt, strawberries and blackberries, topped with pomegranate seeds. Sydney had made extras for her and Grace to enjoy as well. The cookies and cream parfaits were slower to disappear, but they were gone before Sydney could find a place for her now-empty tray.

Sydney had immediately spotted Maria sitting in the same chair Eduardo had helped her to, and she now made her way over to her.

“Maria, can I get you anything?” she asked innocently.

“Thanks Sydney. Eduardo is getting me food. I haven’t eaten all day, I think I just fell from low blood sugar and those two cats running around at my feet. Where did Eduardo go? He should be back by now.”

Sydney walked a few paces away, looking for the man who had come to Maria’s side.

“I don’t see him. How do you know him?”

“Oh, our families go way back. Before we even came to the Durans—or to America—we knew each other.”

“You’re not originally from here?” Sydney asked.

“No. Our families were neighbors in Cuba. My parents brought me here as a teenager. He hasn’t been here as long. I helped him get the job with the Durans when he moved here.”

“And he still works for them?”

“No. He just lost his job two weeks ago.” Maria looked like she was going to reveal more, but she suddenly clammed up. “Here’s Eduardo now.” Her face returned to a relaxed expression and her eyes danced with happiness at his return.

Sydney was sure there was something she was hiding, but could tell she wasn’t going to get anything out of her just yet, so she let her be. She’d try to dig deeper later. Now that she knew where the knife was, she could at least rest a little easier that she’d be removed from the suspect list once the police were informed. She’d wait until the end of the night to make that call, sparing the Durans any more heartache and embarrassment this evening.

“She’s always wanted more than her share,” Sydney heard a man say not far behind her as she walked back to the kitchen. She turned and saw Howard immersed in conversation with faces Sydney hadn’t met. She lingered on the outskirts, checking the food at nearby tables. She wasn’t sure, but she suspected he was talking about Julia.

“You know, she owned fifteen percent of the company. All she did was marry into it!” he continued, her suspicions confirmed. Sydney stole a glance at the guests he was haranguing, gauging their level of agreement. Some were grimacing, looking like they were hoping they could quickly remove themselves from the conversation without appearing rude, while others seemed to actually agree with him.

“Now, those shares are available to the public. That’s what Marcus and I had agreed to years ago—should anything happen to either one of them, their shares wouldn’t automatically go to the other, but would become public. That puts me in an interesting position, giving me the opportunity to become the majority shareholder!” His final sentence was said with joy in his voice. She turned to look at the group again and saw him raising his glass in a toast. A toast to becoming the majority shareholder due to the ill fortune of his partner’s wife? Sydney was incredulous. And to her even greater shock, three other guests joined him in a toast with genuine looking smiles on their faces!

Sydney couldn’t take it anymore. She brought her empty tray to the group of guests and offered to take empty glasses, just to make their celebration stop. Two wine glasses were placed on her tray and a few of the guests took the opportunity of the interruption to leave.

“Sydney, this food keeps surprising me! How did you find the time to get all of this done while running Sinful Sweets?” Howard asked. She instantly regretted getting this close, she didn’t want to seem like she knew the man.

“I have a great partner who I couldn’t live without.”

“Partners sometimes get in the way, though, too, don’t you think?”

Sydney shook her head and gave him a warning look with her eyes. She turned her back, carrying the empty glasses, and brought them to the kitchen.

“Grace, you won’t
believe
what just happened! Howard is thrilled that Julia is out of the way so he can become a majority shareholder of the business he shares with Marcus,” she spewed as soon as she was back in the kitchen. She took the glasses to the far end of the counter, knowing they wouldn’t have a chance to wash them until the next day, unless that was going to be part of Drew’s job. “
And
,” she continued, “Eduardo just lost his job at the manufacturing plant and has known Maria all his life.”

“Well that doesn’t make any of them look good right now,” Grace validated Sydney’s viewpoint. “Can you make small talk with Howard to find out where he was last night? And what else do you know about Eduardo?”

“I don’t want to get anywhere near that man again. He’s sleazy. I don’t know much about Eduardo. Just what Maria told me.” She went on to repeat the history between the two families.

“It sounds like Howard is willing to give information, which is more than Maria has done. Maybe Marcus—or Stacey, isn’t she a board member? Maybe one of them would know about Howard’s attitude and motive for killing Julia.”

“Let me sit down for a minute. My head is starting to pound with the stress tonight has created.”

Sydney took a seat and started thinking through their suspects’ motives and opportunity. Marcus had been home, that was for sure. He hadn’t showed much emotion since Julia’s murder, and had kept the party going. There was lingerie in his office with an unknown owner—a possible lover. And the knife was there, of course.

Stacey then became a suspect as well because of the possible affair. If Marcus had acted with her, he could have easily let her in. Or maybe she even had a key.

Ryan seemed the most upset, making him the least likely suspect. He denied a relationship with Julia, but hadn’t said anything about Stacey and Marcus.

Maria was acting strange, sneaking around the house and definitely going into Marcus’ study. She could have planted the knife or the lingerie. But why? She talked about how long she’d worked for the Durans and how good they’d been to her family since her husband had passed.

Maria’s disclosure of Eduardo’s past was suspicious. If he’d just lost his job, it could have been Marcus who had fired him. He could have been punishing them both by taking Julia’s life, making Marcus a widower and casting him into depression. It could have been retaliation for a possibly unfair dismissal.

And then there was Howard. He was resentful of Julia’s stake in the company and was happy now that he had the opportunity to buy those shares. He didn’t hide his feelings, maybe hoping that in itself would make him look less suspicious—a killer wouldn’t talk so openly about his dislike of the victim, only someone who was innocent could say those things with confidence.

Sydney started to make a plan. Howard was at the top of her list. And now that she had a list, she had to figure out who would have had access last night to the Durans’ house. She’d dig into Howard’s whereabouts and his business relationship with Marcus. She hadn’t gained any insight into that when she’d first met him—before she knew she should be looking.

“You’re right, I have to find out about Howard’s business relationship with Marcus. I might start with Ryan, Stacey’s husband,” Sydney told Grace, standing up from her short break.

“Good, keep me posted,” Grace said with a smile, taking a seat herself.

Sydney left the kitchen in search of Ryan.

Before she could find him, she caught sight of Maria, still in the same chair, looking toward the stairs. This time, Eduardo was walking up them. Were they in cahoots with each other?

Sydney didn’t have time to dwell on them at the moment, as Stacey nearly bumped into her. She was clearly stumbling drunk.

“Whoa, let’s get you some water. And a chair,” Sydney suggested, taking Stacey’s arm and leading her to an empty couch.

“Thanks Sydney, you’re a lifesaver. You really did do an incredible job with the food.” Stacey was hard to understand, and Sydney was surprised she remembered her from hours earlier. “Where’s Marcus?” she asked.

Sydney looked around. She spotted him across the room with another beautiful woman draped over one arm.
Maybe he’s just a ladies’ man
, Sydney thought to herself, momentarily dismissing the idea of him and Stacey having an affair.

“I don’t know,” Sydney lied to her.

“When you see him, tell him to find me here.” Stacey lay her head back and relaxed her body. Shouldn’t she have been more concerned about having her husband close? The drink in her hand nearly tipped over on the cushions, but Sydney took it just in time. She quickly glanced around for Howard but didn’t see him in the crowd. She decided to try her hand with Stacey instead. Maybe her tongue would be looser now that she was liquored up.

“I’ll tell him,” she promised Stacey, taking a seat next to her. “Have you worked with him long?” she asked, her tone becoming friendlier.

“Just a few months. But Ryan and I have known the Durans for years. Since before they were even married. It’s such a tragedy that Julia is gone.” Little compassion was evident in her voice, but that could be from the alcohol.

“It is, isn’t it. And you work with Howard then, too?”

“Yes. He and Marcus are partners. But there’s tension between them. They don’t have the same business outlook so things have been boiling up for a couple years.”

“How did they get into business together?”

“Howard bought his way in. It used to be all in Marcus’ name, but over the years, Howard’s been buying shares. They made a deal a few years ago that instead of having Howard buy out Marcus, they’d be partners.”