Murder at the Cooking School: Book 7 of the Cedar Bay Cozy Mystery Series (5 page)

As she made her way down the stairs,
Kelly heard voices coming from the hallway that led to the kitchen where the
cooking classes were being held. She knew she was quite early for the class,
but she was nervous and thought getting there a little early would help
overcome her nervousness. She hesitated, not wanting to intrude on the
conversation. She clearly heard two women speaking in Italian. What surprised
her was that she understood almost all of what they were saying.

When she’d been in school
she’d taken several Italian classes, but she hadn’t spoken it for years and had
been certain none of it would come back to her. A few weeks before they left
for Italy, she’d gone to The Book Nook, the book store her friend Ginger owned,
and purchased a couple of books on Italian, hoping to refresh her memory. She
thought it would be fun to be able to say a few phrases and maybe understand a
word or two. What really surprised her was that it all came back to her. She
felt like she was picking up something she’d learned yesterday instead of many
years ago.

Kelly had gone back to the
The Book Nook a second time and bought a novel written in Italian, curious if
she’d be able to read it. It was as if she was back in school. She read the
book from front to back and never questioned a word. She knew the real test
would come when she was in Italy and actually heard people speaking Italian.
She also knew that seeing something in print and hearing it could be two very
different things. She wanted to surprise Mike, so she hadn’t mentioned it to
him.

She stood very still, her
curiosity overcoming the rudeness of her eavesdropping. The women were talking
about
Signora
Nardo. “The police don’t know it, but we all do. There
were a lot of people who would have liked to see her dead,” one of them said.

“Well, I’m not going to be
the one to tell them, are you?” the second woman asked.

“No. I don’t want to get
involved, plus if one of them killed her, I could be the next one.”

“It could have been her
brother. They’ve fought for years over this property. From what I’ve heard he
always felt he should have inherited it, not her. He’s a good-for-nothing, so
I’m not surprised her parents gave it to her. Don’t forget about Berto Moretti.
My friend tells me he’d give anything if his cooking school was as popular as
hers. He has to discount what he charges to get anyone to even attend, because
it’s everyone’s second choice. They all want to come to the
Castello di
Nardo
.”

“What about Giovanni
Rizzo. The
Signora
didn’t think anyone knew about her relationship with
him, but everyone did. She told people he was her lawyer, which he was, but
that wasn’t all he was. Do you think the
Signor
knew about them?”

“I don’t know, but I heard
that
Signora
Rizzo knew. And I know something I don’t think anyone else
knows.
Signora
Nardo met with a man who promised to loan her a lot of
money if she would use the castle as collateral. Rosario in the village was
here the day he came, and she said he was Mafia from Sicily.
Signora
Nardo did all the bookkeeping for the two of them, so I don’t think her husband
knew they were very badly in debt before she converted the castle into a hotel
and started the cooking school.”

“I don’t know what to
think. As cruel as she could be to the people who worked for her, many of the
staff members would be more than happy to see her dead. There’s no way she
would commit suicide. She thought she was above everyone. She never would have
done that. Her health was good, so I’m convinced she must have been murdered.
What else could it be?”

“Well, I wasn’t the one
who killed her. I don’t like being around dead people, and believe me, I’ve
seen enough to know I don’t want anything to do with the police. Let’s not
speak of this again. I have to go to the kitchen to help Chef Bianchi, and I
don’t want to be late. She can be a very demanding chef.”

“Tell me about it. I’m
glad I’m not working in the kitchen with her. I had to do it the last time she
taught a cooking school here, and it wasn’t one of my favorite things to do.
I’ll stick with cleaning the guests’ rooms. Like you, I won’t be talking about
this to anyone.”

Kelly could tell from
their fading voices that the two women were no longer in the hallway. Her heart
was beating wildly, and she wondered if she should go back to the room and tell
Mike what she’d overheard. The two women had unwittingly provided a lot of
information she knew would take Mike and the police chief a long time to find
out.

I‘ll tell him later. He’s
probably still with the police chief, and I really don’t want to be late to the
first cooking class, particularly after listening to those two women talk about
Chef Bianchi. I wonder what we’ve gotten into here at the Castello di Nardo.

Kelly walked into the kitchen where
the cooking classes were going to be held and looked around in surprise. She
thought she’d be the only one nervous about the cooking classes, but the fact
that everyone was there early made her think she wasn’t the only one who was
anxious about them. One of the chef’s assistants walked over to Kelly and
handed her an apron and a notebook with the recipes they would be making that
day with Kelly’s name written on the front of it. Kelly looked at her and
assumed she was one of the women Kelly had heard talking a few minutes earlier.
She looked around for Mike, but he wasn’t there. Even though she was fifteen
minutes early, she was the last one to arrive.

The class consisted of ten
people. She recognized them from dinner last night. There was the couple from
Michigan who thought it would be fun to do something together, because they
normally took separate vacations. They were already at the castle when the rest
of the students had arrived yesterday. At dinner Kelly had learned she liked to
shop and he liked to fish. This cooking class vacation was a compromise for
both of them. There were four women from Alaska, all of whom were accomplished
cooks, at least to hear them talk. The last two members of the group were two
men who owned a restaurant in Omaha, Nebraska. They wanted to expand the menu
in their restaurant so that it included some authentic Italian dishes, as that
type of food was becoming very popular in Omaha. She’d talked to all of them
last night, and with the exception of the couple from Michigan, all were
passionate about their love for food. She was looking forward to getting to
know them better.

“Since everyone is here
but Mike Reynolds, I think we’ll begin,” Chef Bianchi said. “Pasta waits for no
man, and I would have to say the same about the preparation of food. Anyway,
the chief of police told me Mr. Reynolds may be late and probably wouldn’t be
attending many of the classes since he was going to be helping the chief.
Probably all of you have heard that
Signora
Nardo died sometime last
night or early this morning. As of now the police don’t know what the cause of
death was, but I want to assure you that the cooking school will continue as
planned. I know
Signora
Nardo would want us to do that. Please pick a partner
and form into groups of two. You will work with different people each day, but
I’ve found it makes it easier to have the same pairings for lunch and dinner.
Kelly, since your husband isn’t here, I will be your partner.”

Swell. I could have done
without that. The chef and I are going to be partners. In my worst case
scenario, I never considered that this might happen.

“Thank you, Chef. I’ll
look forward to learning from you,” Kelly said.

“I will go to each of your
stations,” Chef Bianchi said, “and tell you which dish or dishes I want you to
prepare and how far you can go in the preparation of it. The stations have been
set up with what you’ll need for your dish. Naturally, finishing touches will
be done by the servers and my assistants as needed. The purpose of this school
is to familiarize you with Italian cooking. Unlike the French, we are not
precise. A dash of this, a little of that, changing out one ingredient for
another if it’s in the same family of ingredients. It’s really very simple.

“All that’s needed for a
wonderful Italian meal is an entrée, a salad, a vegetable, and a dessert.
Traditionally, the Italian meal consisted of five courses which always began
with a pasta course, but recently that has changed, and pasta courses are often
considered to be the entrée. We will be preparing all of them. You are welcome
to ask me any questions you might have. I will be teaching you how to make
things from scratch, such as pasta and bread. I realize many of you work
outside of the home and wouldn’t have time to make these on a daily basis, so
that’s why conveniences such as packaged pasta, sauces, and other things are
readily available. Shortcuts are sometimes necessary, but I caution you to use
only the best of ingredients and shortcuts. Don’t waste your time and money on
cheap things. The food you serve always reflects the integrity of the
ingredients. For example, never cook with a cheap wine. If a wine is good
enough to be served at dinner, it should also be the one you use in a recipe.
Never settle for second best.”

She turned to Kelly and
lowered her voice. “Kelly, we will be making a classic risotto entrée, which is
a dish that Italy is well known for. It is a very difficult dish to make
properly, but I have mastered it, and I will show you how, but first I must
tell the students what to do. Read the recipe directions and begin to prepare
it. I’ll be back to help in a few minutes.”

Swell, just swell. A
classic risotto. I’ve never made a risotto in my life. Why couldn’t it be
something with Nutella? I’ve pretty much mastered anything with Nutella. I mean
what’s not to like about chocolate and hazelnut? I will never forgive Mike for
not being here. I might not even tell him about the conversation I overheard.
That would serve him right for making me have to partner with Chef Bianchi.

She leafed through her
book of recipes and found the one for the mushroom risotto. She read it through
and started by putting the dried mushrooms in warm water. Then, according to
the directions, she peeled and finely diced an onion. She was assembling the
ingredients for the stock when Chef Bianchi returned.

“Good. I see you’re
soaking the mushrooms, and you’ve peeled and diced the onion. You can go ahead
and make the stock. It has to boil for an hour, and then it needs to be
refrigerated. We will serve the risotto at dinner this evening. I would like
you to be a server tonight, so you can follow the recipe from beginning to end.
I noticed on your application that you own a coffee shop. This might be a dish
you could serve there. Please continue. I have to see how the other students
are doing.”

Kelly followed the
directions and brought the broth to a boil. When an hour had gone by, she very
carefully took a sieve and removed the vegetables. Once again, she brought it
to a boil and cooked it until it was reduced by half. Chef Bianchi returned
several times and finally said, “That looks good. As I mentioned earlier, it
has to be refrigerated until we’re ready to use it in the final preparation of
the risotto. Lunch will be served shortly. Why don’t you join your husband on
the porch? I saw him talking to the wine steward a few minutes ago. I wonder if
he’s found anything out about
Signora
Nardo’s death.”

“I have no idea, but Mike
is very good at solving crimes. Did you know the
Signora
well?”

“I have known her and her
husband for many years, but I can’t say she was a friend of mine. She was not a
woman who had many friends. Although I travel throughout Italy, I consider the
little village down the road my home, and I live there when I’m not teaching.
One hears many things in a small village like mine, and there has been a lot of
talk about the
Signora
and Giovanni Rizzo. His wife is a good friend of
mine. We went to school together and have remained friends ever since. She has
suspected for some time that the
Signora
and Giovanni were lovers, but I
don’t know. I shouldn’t be telling you this, but you’re very easy to talk to,
and ever since I heard about her death this morning, I wondered if
Signor
Nardo had found out about the affair and killed her.”

“Thank you, but I can’t
believe it was
Signor
Nardo. He seems like such a nice man, even though
they did seem very different from each other.” Kelly said. “By the way, I
really enjoyed this morning’s session. I am embarrassed to tell you this, but I
have never made risotto. It’s one of those dishes I’ve always heard is very
hard to cook properly.”

“It is, but as I said
earlier, I’ve mastered it. You’ll put the finishing touches on it before dinner
tonight and from now on, you’ll be able to easily make it.”

“I hope so, because I love
to eat it. Last night you mentioned that in addition to the excursion to the
Mercato
,
we would have the opportunity to visit an olive oil factory and grove. I’ve
never seen how olive oil is made, and I would be very interested in seeing it.”

“Alberto will be driving
us there tomorrow afternoon following lunch. Actually, you’ll have a chance to
meet my friend Angelica Rizzo then. She and her husband, the lawyer, are the
ones who own the olive grove we will be visiting.”

“I remember last night
hearing that there is an olive grove on this estate that produces olive oil
which is sold throughout the world. I’m surprised we’re going elsewhere.”

“The Nardo grove is quite
small in comparison to the Rizzo grove. The one on the Rizzo’s land is one of
the largest in the world. It’s only a few kilometers from here to their estate.
I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. Excuse me, but I need to make sure that everyone is
getting close to finishing what needed to be done for lunch and dinner. See you
later.” 

Well, she actually seems
pretty nice,
Kelly thought
as she walked out to the porch.
I know the two
women I overheard spoke disparagingly about her, but so far she’s been very
gracious to me. I didn’t hear her tell anyone they were stupid or that
something had been done totally wrong. Of course she may have a public persona
and a private persona. I’m glad she suggested I join Mike on the porch. It will
give me time to tell him what I overheard.

“Well, hello, big guy,”
Kelly said to the large dog that was sitting on the porch. “You must be
Caesar.” At the sound of his name the big dog wagged his tail and nuzzled
Kelly’s leg.

“Oh, sweet boy, I’m sorry
about your owner. If you’re lonesome, I’d be happy to be your friend. I miss my
dogs, Rebel and Lady, and we could adopt each other while I’m here.”

She turned away from the
big dog and walked over to where Mike was talking to a man she presumed was the
wine steward the chef had mentioned. She looked down and saw that Caesar had
decided to follow her and was walking right next to her.

I guess he took my offer
literally
.
He probably misses his owner. I can’t take her place but maybe we can be
friends while I’m here.
She reached down and petted him. He looked up at
her with big brown eyes as if to say, “Thank you and yes, let’s be friends.”