Fired and Inflamed, page 17
part #2 of Otto Viti Mysteries Series
“Jill agrees with me,” Holly said, taking one hand off the piano and pointing at me while the other hand continued to play. “She thinks you should sing, too.”
Stella gave me one of her disappointed older sister looks. “Really.”
“I do,” I said. “You have a great voice, and I think it would be fun.”
Stella rolled her eyes. “I’m not singing, but thanks for the offer.” She walked back to the storage closet.
“Jill, you were supposed to help me convince her,” Holly said. “Come on!”
“What are you talking about? I’m trying. I said I agree with you and that she should sing.”
“That was the most unconvincing try ever,” Holly muttered. She turned back to her sheet music.
“I’ll try again later,” I said. “When she doesn’t feel like we’re ganging up on her, okay?”
“That’s a great idea,” Stella said, pulling out another table. “Try again later when I don’t feel like you’re ganging up on me. And while you’re at it, get Jason and the boys to help. That will change my mind zero percent.”
“You are so hardheaded,” Holly said.
Stella stopped unfolding the table’s legs and raised her eyebrow at our youngest sister. “Okay, sure,” she said. “That’s the problem we have here. It has nothing to do with the fact that you’re trying to pressure me into doing something I simply don’t want to do.”
I tried to keep a straight face as Stella went back to the table and Holly continued playing music. It was much more fun watching my sisters bickering than to be part of the bickering myself. I walked past Stella and pulled out a chair at the permanent dining table. Sitting down, I said “Did you two know that Elita was adopted?”
“Yes,” they both answered.
My head jerked from Holly to Stella and then back to Holly. “Wait, really?” I said. “When did this come out?” I had sort of expected my statement to be met with gasps of surprise. So, Eduardo’s revelation hadn’t been some deep, dark family secret? I was the only one who hadn’t known?
Holly shrugged. “I don’t know. Sometime when I was working on my dissertation.”
That did little to clarify. She worked on her dissertation for most of her twenties.
“You didn’t know?” Holly continued. “It was a whole thing. Big uproar.”
“I can’t believe I didn’t know and everyone else did,” I said.
“Don’t feel bad. You were probably busy at work making sure that ninth grade boys weren’t goosing each other and snapping girls’ bra straps.”
I pursed my lips at Holly. “I do more than that at work.”
“Of course you do.” Holly smiled at her sheet music. “But your best stories always include teenagers making poor decisions.”
“Funny,” I said. “Those are my least favorite.”
Dragging out another table, Stella said, “Are you sure you didn’t know about Elita being adopted? Remember, that’s partly why Morrie warned his nephew not to date her. She had gotten even more dramatic after the adoption reveal, and Morrie was sure dating her would end in disaster.”
“Morrie has a nephew?” I asked. “Who’s he, and when did he want to date Elita? Was that recently?”
Holly thinned her eyes at me. “Seriously, Jill? Chris is Morrie’s nephew.”
Mind. Blown.
“What?”
“Don’t you remember all this? Chris is Morrie’s nephew. Always has been. And he’s the reason Amy and Will settled down here.”
I stared at Holly. She wasn’t smirking or suppressing laughter. I turned to Stella whose all-business expression told me that Holly wasn’t messing around.
“I knew that Amy, Will, and Chris were originally from Northern California,” I said slowly. “But that’s all.”
Holly sighed. “They can give you the long version. The short version is that Morrie had a job opportunity for Chris. He came down and started working here. When Will and Amy got married, they went on a honeymoon to Hawaii, and on the way back, they flew into San Diego rather than San Jose so that they could visit Chris and do a road trip up the coast before getting back to real life. They loved it here, yada, yada, yada, and when the bookshop was being sold shortly after, Chris contacted them and convinced them to move down.”
Oh.
“And for awhile Amy was really homesick because she’s close to her family, and that’s why she and Stella are now such good friends.” Holly nodded toward our older sister. “Mother hen over here took Amy under her wing.”
“Of course I did,” Stella said over her shoulder as she disappeared into the closet. She returned a moment later carrying four wooden folding chairs. “Imagine how hard it would be if one of us was presented with an amazing business opportunity but it meant moving far away.” She propped three of the chairs against a table and unfolded one. “I’d be heartbroken if we were separated. I could understand what she was going through.”
Holly sighed. “So, what else don’t you know about this place, Jill my darling? Do you know how Jules and Livy ended up here?”
“Jules grew up here, right?” I said, suddenly quite unsure of myself.
Holly smiled. “Ding, ding, ding. Yep, she grew up in Temecula, and she took over the bakery when her grandma retired.”
“I have no idea how Livy ended up here.” My voice was tinged with defeat. I felt like such a bad friend. How could I not know my friend’s backstories?
“That story is longer and more complicated, so I’ll assign you homework to find out on your own,” Holly said. “I’m almost done playing here and have to get back to writing wine descriptions, so let’s wrap this up. Back to Elita and the adoption. Of course Elita holds it over her parents’ heads because that’s what she does. Her parents can blame themselves all they want, but if she wasn’t throwing the adoption thing in their faces, she’d find something else to throw at them.”
“So, do you think that Eduardo is beating himself up over nothing?” I asked.
Holly nodded at the piano. “For sure.”
“Do you know where Elita was last night when everyone was watching Chocolat burn?” I asked.
“No. Do you?”
I shook my head. “I agree that she probably didn’t have anything to do with Katie’s murder—or last night’s fire—but she’s got to tell someone where she’s been, if for no other reason than to stop breaking her dad’s heart.”
I stood and stretched my arms over my head. “Holly, if you need help finishing up the wine descriptions, let me know. And Stella, if you want help setting up, same to you. Just let me know.”
They both gave little nods and waves, which pretty much meant my help was not needed. And that was fine by me because I really didn’t want to help in the first place.
***
I cut through the vineyard to Via del Corso, this time veering west toward Entonces. Nico was already there, and with any luck, Elita would be as well.
As I neared the remains of Chocolat, my stomach tightened. I couldn’t believe that it had been intact less than twelve hours before. My eyes dropped to the sidewalk, and I held my breath as I passed the shop. I couldn’t bring myself to face the destruction just yet.
Walking up to Entonces’ door, I could see Nico standing behind the bar. I tapped on the glass, and he looked up. Smiling, he crossed the room toward me.
“Hey,” he said, holding the door open. “This is a nice surprise.”
“I wish I were here to hang out with you, but I’m actually here to see Elita.”
He tilted his head toward the back of the tasting room. “She’s in her office.”
“Thank you,” I said. “What kind of mood is she in?”
Nico returned to his place behind the bar, and I walked toward the offices. “She’s quiet.”
Interesting. I didn’t think I had ever heard of her being quiet.
I followed the sound of fingers tapping on a keyboard all the way to Elita’s office and stopped in the doorway. “Good morning,” I said. “I need to talk to you.”
She looked up from the computer, surprise coloring her expression for just a moment before it melted into resignation. “Come in,” she said, shifting her eyes back to the computer. “Shut the door if you want.”
I didn’t want to. I didn’t like being in rooms with closed doors, and I didn’t like that they made others think something secret was taking place. I walked in and sat across from Elita, leaving the door as it was.
“You have to tell someone what is going on,” I said. “It doesn’t have to be me, and it doesn’t have to be your dad, but it should at least be the detective. You’ve created a hole in this case by withholding information, and it’s not fair to the people who have lost loved ones.”
She dropped her elbows to the desk and used both fists to prop up her forehead. “I didn’t have anything to do with Katie’s murder. And I didn’t have anything to do with the fire last night. I promise.”
“I believe you. But you have to tell Fitts where you were when these crimes happened. Right now, he’s probably wasting resources to figure out what you were doing. He could be using those resources to solve the case. Just tell him. By you not being straight forward, you’re slowing down the investigation.”
She didn’t respond, so I continued.
“Do you have an alibi for the night Katie died?”
She nodded, closing her eyes. Her head was still propped on her fists.
“So just tell him. Clear your name. Whatever you were doing couldn’t have been that bad or embarrassing. And to tell you the truth, your dad is suffering and worrying unfairly because of how you’ve handled this.”
Elita blew out a deep breath. “It’s not embarrassing. My alibi—it’s not embarrassing. But it will get me in trouble.”
“With who?”
“I don’t know. With everyone.”
“Is it illegal?”
She shook her head.
“Then tell Fitts. He’s the only one who really needs to know.”
“But then I still have the problem of my parents wanting to know. I’m just not ready for that.”
My patience was thinning. I took a deep breath. Maybe I needed to change my approach. “Elita,” I said, trying to sound sympathetic, “Just tell me. Whatever is going on—it can’t be nearly as bad as what people are dreaming up. Practice on me. Maybe I can be a sounding board. Or I can give you an objective opinion on how bad it really is.” I paused, checking my composure to ensure my voice still sounded even and sympathetic. “Look, if you just tell me now, I won’t tell Fitts about the note you left on my car.”
She lifted her head off her fists. Her eyes widened. “You haven’t told him?”
“No.”
She leaned back and sighed. “Oh, thank goodness. That’s such a relief.”
I didn’t reply. I just waited.
“Okay, fine,” she said with a big eye roll. “Here it goes.” She sighed, probably stalling. “I hate wine. I hate fancy restaurants and niche shops. I can’t stand working in Otto Viti. This place absolutely suffocates me. So I’m going to school online to get my bachelor’s degree. That way, I can get out of here and go do something I really care about.”
“That’s great, Elita,” I said, unable to keep a grin from spreading across my face. “You should be proud of that.”
“But my parents will be crushed when I tell them I don’t want to take over their businesses.”
Ah, there it was. They would be crushed—she was right. They might even feel betrayed since she had kept the degree secret in the first place. But that was a bridge she could cross later.
“So, you’re going to school online,” I said. “Does that mean on the night Katie was killed you were doing some sort of live session with a professor?”
She shook her head.
“I’ve got a big final tomorrow in a crazy technology class that I’m really struggling with. Chris has been tutoring me, and he was helping me that night. And he was helping me last night during the fire.” She dropped her forehead to the desk and groaned.
The pieces of the puzzle were starting to come together. She wasn’t ready to tell her parents about getting her degree, so she was keeping that a secret. And even if she had told people, there was the matter of asking Chris for help. He was a computer guru, so it made sense that she would ask him. But because she dated him in the past, people would whisper that she was just trying to get him back. It was complicated.
“I get it,” I said. “I understand why you’ve wanted to keep this quiet. But Fitts doesn’t care if your parents get mad or if people whisper about you and Chris spending time together. The detective just needs to cross you off the list of possible suspects. You need to go talk to him today. Do you want me to go with you?”
She lifted her head from the desk. “No, it’s okay. I’ll do it. I’ll call him right now.” She pointed at me. “You still promise you won’t tell him about the note?”
“I promise.” I stood up. “And when the time comes to tell your parents about your degree and wanting to work somewhere else, I’ll come with you if you need support.”
She nodded.
I turned to leave but then thought of something else. I turned back.
“Hey, I know you said you’re taking a technology class. What’s your major?”
“Information Science.”
I hoped my surprise didn’t show. Information science? When she had said technology, I figured she meant technology basics, like how to email attachments and save Word documents. Information science?
Maybe she was smarter than I thought. And there couldn’t be much drama in computers, so maybe that was a perfect major to keep her mellow.
I smiled at her. “Congratulations, Elita. I’m proud of you for taking this step.”
I left her office, still smiling.
Now Holly didn’t have to feel conflicted about Chris being charming. He no longer fit into the category of wronged-my-friend-so-I-shall-hate-him-forever. Now he could be in the category of he-helped-my-friend-with-school-so-I-can-think-he’s-charming-all-I-want.
This place never ceased to amaze me.
TWENTY-FIVE
Elita had said she was going to call Fitts right away. I wasn’t going to hold my breath. She very well could have gotten distracted by an email or chipped nail polish by now. I’d give it a little time and then, since I had been failing to mind my own business the last twenty-four hours and couldn’t see a reason to reverse the trend for the time being, I’d follow up with Fitts.
Walking down the street, I scrolled through my phone and found Daniel’s phone number. I tapped it and waited for the call to connect. He didn’t pick up.
“Hey, Daniel,” I said when prompted to leave my message, eyes cast down to the sidewalk. “This is Jill D’Angelo calling about the apartment. As it turns out, we have the opportunity to rent a house a little closer to work, and so I think we’re going to take that place. Thank you for letting me see your apartment. I hope you’re well.”
We hadn’t seen Artie’s place yet, but I had a good feeling about it. In my mind, we had already taken it.
I clicked off and looked up. The charred remains of Chocolat across the street caught my eye. I slowed to a stop right in front of OV Marketplace. It was the first time I really looked at the store since last night, and I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Sure, the burned building was right there, but it couldn’t be real. It had to be a bad dream.
“Excuse me,” a tall, elderly woman said as she tried to maneuver past me to OV Marketplace’s entrance.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said, moving out of the way and coming out of my daze. I watched the woman disappear into the store and then glanced back across the street.
Hmm. Lorena had a pretty good view of Chocolat. While not directly across from OV Marketplace, Bradley’s shop was just one building to the right. No wonder Lorena and Athena were the first to call 911—from Lorena’s balcony they could see everything.
I wondered what else they might have seen from the balcony, either last night or any other night.
The pink shower caddy in Bradley’s office flashed across my mind.
If Katie had been staying in Chocolat after Daniel kicked her out, would Lorena have seen her coming and going at odd hours?
I marched into OV Marketplace after the elderly lady and saw Lorena at the back deli counter, a phone cradled between her ear and shoulder. She scribbled on the pad of paper sitting on the counter. I took inventory of the store while walking in her direction. Just a few people were perusing the displays, but it wouldn’t be long before the trickle of shoppers became a steady stream seeking jars of tapenade and bamboo cheese boards.
Lorena looked up. She smiled and waved as I approached and then said goodbye to the person on the phone.
“Jill, how are you?” she said. She turned off the phone and set it on the counter next to her order pad.
“I’m okay,” I said. “Do you have a minute to talk?”
“Sure. Just let me hand this order over to Julian.” She tore off the top sheet and walked it back to the kitchen. Reappearing moments later, she motioned to the café-style tables and chairs near the counter. “Shall we sit?”
I nodded and took a seat at the closest table.
“I think I know why you’re here, Jill,” she said, sitting across from me.
“Oh?”
“You are curious about how Athena and I were behaving during the fire last night. Am I right?”
I liked that Lorena cut right to the chase. “Yes,” I said. “You can see a lot from your balcony, I imagine. You saw the fire last night and called 911. That’s probably not all you’ve seen from up there.”
Her eyes wandered around the store as she sighed. “Yes, I suppose that’s true.”
“Level with me, Lorena,” I said, dropping my voice. “I know that you and Athena went to the police station the other day to speak with Detective Fitts, and I know that Katie was staying in Chocolat’s backroom, at least in the days leading up to her death. Do you know something? Did you see something?”
