Heavenly Highland Inn 05 - Suffocating the Sunflowers (8 page)

“
Keep your nose out of things that don't have anything to do with you, Melissa,” Peter snapped back and Ida abruptly decided that she didn't like this man at all. She made a note to speak to Sarah about him when she returned to the inn. As she continued to listen in, she heard him speak in a quieter tone to his sister.

“
Carolyn,” he murmured as he pulled her aside.

“
How did it go?” Carolyn asked eagerly. “Did you do everything as I asked?”

“
Shh,” Peter hissed and tugged Carolyn further away from the others in the diner.

They ended up standing right on the other side of Ida's booth which looked empty while she was ducked down.

“It's done,” he said in a whisper to Carolyn as she stood close to him.

“
Yes!” Carolyn said gleefully. “I'm so excited,” Carolyn squealed and clapped her hands. “It's only a matter of time now. I can't wait to see him! Did you see him?” she asked, her voice shrill as she spoke.

“
I didn't, but there's a bit of a problem,” Peter said in an even lower voice. “There's going to be an investigation.”

“
Of course there will be,” Carolyn cleared her throat. “That snooty woman will be a thorn in my side, even after she's dead!”

“
Just be careful, Carolyn,” Peter warned sharply. “I put a lot on the line to make this happen for you.”

“
I will be,” Carolyn replied happily. “Don't worry so much, once everything settles we'll never see this town again.”  As she and Peter walked away their voices faded.

***

Ida could barely believe what she had just heard. Unfortunately, she was sure that the police wouldn't believe it either. She needed to get proof that Peter and Carolyn had been involved in Sandy's death. She left money on her table for her malt and then rushed out of the diner. She quickly called Rex on the way to the parking lot and left a message to meet her at the inn instead of the diner.

Once in the parking lot
Aunt Ida hopped onto her motorcycle. As she was speeding down the road towards the inn, her mind was going a million miles a minute. It made sense that Peter would have been able to add the peanut oil to the food. But even knowing this, she couldn't think of a way to pin it directly on him. As her mind spun through different ideas, her motorcycle was trying to keep up. She didn't realize how fast she was going, nor was she paying very close attention to the road. She didn't see the turtle making its slow pilgrimage across the road until she was nearly on top of it. She swerved hard to avoid striking it, and swayed on the motorcycle for a moment before regaining control of it.

What
Aunt Ida also didn't see was Mitchell's patrol car nestled in some trees on the side of the road. Mitchell turned on his sirens and lights as Ida buzzed right by him on her motorcycle. She looked in the rear view mirror and groaned as she saw him speeding up to follow after her. At first Ida considered just going faster, but she knew that would not end well. When Mitchell flashed his headlights at her she finally pulled over to the side of the road. She watched through the mirror as Mitchell stepped out of the car and adjusted the hat on top of his head. He walked deliberately towards her.

“
Do you know how fast you were going, Ida?” he asked as he tipped his hat back to meet her eyes. It was hard to do because Ida had dark sunglasses that were blocking her eyes. She regarded him with tightened lips and an air of annoyance.

“
It's important, Mitchell, I need to get back to the inn as fast as possible,” she began to say more, then she remembered Sarah's warning to be careful what she said. She couldn't risk putting the inn in a position where it might be held responsible for Sandy's death. If Mitchell knew anything about the crime he would have to tell his boss all about it.

“
Nothing is as important as your life, Ida,” he said firmly as he pulled out his ticket book.

“
Aw, that's so sweet,” Ida replied and pulled off her sunglasses so she could bat her long, dark lashes at him. “I've learned my lesson, Mitchell, really.”

“
No, I don't think you have,” he said sternly as he ignored her flirting. He knew Ida well enough to recognize her antics. “If anything ever happened to you it would devastate your nieces, and I can't stand by and watch you take so many chances by speeding like this. You are not behaving in a way that is safe for you, or for other drivers that are on the road.” When he locked eyes with her she had to resist sticking out her tongue. She was normally a fan of Mitchell's but getting an actual speeding ticket from him when he could easily let it slide, left her feeling a little bitter.

Ida was more than a little annoyed as she glanced over her shoulder and then back in the other direction, further up the road.

“What other drivers?” she demanded as she glowered at him. “There's no one else on the road.”

“
Maybe not, but there could be,” he said with certainty as he scribbled on the pad. “And what about that poor turtle?” he reminded her.

“
He made it safely across the road,” Ida spat back. “Is there some kind of turtle law I broke?”

“
Ida, you have to understand, I'm doing this for your own good,” Mitchell said frowning and finished filling out the ticket.

“
You're not really going to write me a ticket, are you?” Ida gasped as she stared at him. “You can't be serious!”

“
I'm quite serious,” he replied and stepped closer to her. “You're putting yourself in danger, and I happen to like you,” he explained as he ripped the ticket off the pad. “I also happen to know that Vicky and Sarah have warned you about driving recklessly. So, if you're not going to listen to them, then maybe you'll learn your lesson from having to pay this ticket.”

“
Unbelievable!” Ida huffed as she stared at him. “You're not going to get away with this, Sheriff McDonald will hear about this!”

“
I'm sure he will,” Mitchell frowned as he handed her the ticket. “But even if it means working extra shifts for a year, I wouldn't feel right if I didn't do something to try to get you to stop this dangerous behavior.”

“
Dangerous behavior,” Ida muttered and shook her head. “You wouldn't know danger if it bit you on your toe!”

He raised an eyebrow and tried not to crack into a smile. Ida didn't notice the amusement in his gaze as she fretted.
“I'm not paying this!” she added as she shoved the ticket into the pocket of her motorcycle jacket. “You can bet your fancy little hat that I'm going to fight this in court, and I'll win. This is harassment of the elderly,” she added.

“
Ida, you're not elderly,” he reminded her and had to suppress a chuckle.

“
I will be when I go to court to fight this ticket! I can play up to ten years older than I am, Mitchell. You're going to regret this, boy-o, yes you will! To think I used to like you!” 

Mitchell shifted from one foot to the other and hoped that she couldn't tell that he was starting to actually get nervous. Ida was eccentric, but she was also very determined, and he had yet to see her not accomplish anything that she set her mind to.

“Ida honestly, I'm doing this for your safety…” he attempted to explain again.

“
Lucky for you I don't have time to waste on arguing with you,” she said harshly and fired up her motorcycle. “And don't you follow me either!”

As she peeled off down the road Mitchell stared in amazement. It wasn't so much Ida's behavior that stunned him. It was more how much she reminded him of Vicky that left him dazed.

***

Vicky glanced down at her phone to find a text from Mitche
ll indicating he had given her Aunt Ida a ticket for speeding. Vicky frowned with concern, not so much for the ticket, but for the fact that her aunt had been speeding. She was just about to step into Sarah's office to talk to her about it, when Ida burst into the lobby.

“
Aunt Ida?” Vicky asked with surprise. “Are you okay?”

“
I'm just fine, your ticket-giving boyfriend though, he has started a war he won't win,” Ida wagged her finger with warning.

“
Aunt Ida,” Vicky began to say as she placed her hands on her hips. “You know he was only doing his job…”

“
Never mind that,” Ida said dismissively as she glanced around the lobby. “Where's Sarah? We need to talk,” she walked over to the front desk.

“
She's in her office, I think,” Vicky said as she tucked her phone into her pocket. “What happened?” she asked curiously.

“
Inside,” she pointed to the office door and Vicky followed her inside. Once they were inside, Ida closed the door behind them. Sarah looked up from the papers she was reading over with surprise.

“
We need to talk,” Aunt Ida said sternly.

“
Yes, we do,” Sarah admitted as she laid the papers back down on the desk. “I just had a very unpleasant call from the Lambard family lawyer. The medical examiner confirmed that it was an allergic reaction and the lab tests proved that the food in the room was laced with peanut oil. This is not going to go away easily,” she admitted.

“
Well, I don't think it should,” Ida said stubbornly. “But I do think that there is more going on here than meets the eye.”

“
What do you mean?” Vicky asked as she sat down across from Sarah's desk.

“
While I was at the diner, I overheard Peter talking to one of the waitresses, Carolyn I think her name was,” she explained. “She's his sister. It sounded to me like she was very happy to hear about Sandy's death.”

“
Wait, Carolyn? Are you sure?” Vicky asked as she studied her aunt closely.

“
Yes, that's what he called her,” Ida insisted. “The way they were talking, it sounded like Peter was the one who put the peanut oil on the food and she asked Peter if he had seen Gerald.”

“
When I was confirming some plans with Melissa about her bridal shower she said that Carolyn had thrown a fit over being invited to be a bridesmaid because she's involved with a married man,” Vicky said thoughtfully. “I had no idea that Peter is her brother,” she added. “Do you think they could have been talking about Gerald?”

“
Slow down,” Sarah requested with a shake of her head. “What are you suggesting? That Peter was not only involved but planned all of this?”

“
It wasn't Henry,” Vicky said passionately and stabbed her thumb against the surface of the desk in front of her. “Never in a million years will you get me to believe that Henry made a mistake like putting peanut oil into a bottle labeled sunflower oil and then put that oil on the food. So, it had to be someone else who had access to the kitchen.”

“
It wasn't Peter who planned it out either,” Ida interjected. “From their conversation it seemed to me that it was Carolyn who had masterminded the whole thing.”

“
But what about Gerald?” Vicky suggested, her eyes wide. “Maybe he was involved, he just didn't lace the food. He had his lover, Carolyn, do it!”

“
Wait, wait, wait!” Sarah smacked her hands firmly on the desk. “We're getting way ahead of ourselves. First of all, we don't know if Gerald was involved at all. From what you overheard, Aunt Ida, I understand why you suspect Carolyn and Peter, but we don't really know what they were talking about, and even if we did, we don't have any proof. If we go to the police and tell them that we suspect Peter, he is still our employee, and the inn will still be held responsible. If Peter did this I doubt that he will confess. We need to be very careful about our next steps. Let's sleep on this, and in the morning, we'll figure out what to do.”

“
Well, there's not much we can do tonight,” Vicky agreed. “Let's meet up first thing in the morning. I really think if we bring Mitchell into this, he will help.”

“
Ha!” Ida snapped and rolled her eyes. “How? By giving us all tickets?”

“
Aunt Ida, if you were speeding…” Sarah began.

“
That's it, I'm out of here!” Aunt Ida declared and walked right out of Sarah's office.

“
Aunt Ida,” Vicky moaned and followed after her. “Mitchell was just trying to protect you.”

“
If everyone would stop trying to protect me, you all might just figure out that I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” Ida flipped the collar of her jacket up and stalked off towards her room.

Once Ida was closed off in her room, and Sarah had gone home to get a
break from the tension at the inn, Vicky stepped out onto the porch. A part of her hoped that Mitchell would stop by to join her, but she knew he was working. As she looked up at the stars that speckled the sky she thought about the events that had unfolded. She was so convinced that Henry was innocent, but she simply couldn't piece together how the peanut oil had ended up on the food. She closed her eyes and tried to go back through the day. She was sure that she must have forgotten about something.