“It’s horrible.”
Kevin, looking stunned and bleary-eyed, plodded over and clutched them both. “We saw
him less than two hours ago. It can’t be true.”
The group hug grew larger as the other chefs joined them.There were more sniffles and moans, and I had to walk away because I was starting
to well up again. My eyes wouldn’t survive the night if I kept crying. I didn’t even
like Baxter Cromwell, but I still couldn’t keep the tears from falling as I watched
and listened to his friends mourn him.
My gaze focused in on Margot, who stood on the sidelines watching and waiting, just
as I’d seen her do before. After a moment, she approached Savannah and gave her what
looked like a warm, meaningful hug.
“You poor thing,” Margot murmured. “Have you been here the whole time?”
“Yes. I was so exhausted, so I went to rest in the ladies’ room while I waited for
my sister to pick me up, and then I walked into the kitchen and—”
“Savannah!” I cried.
“What?” She whipped around. “What’s wrong?”
“I need your help with something.”
“Okay, okay,” she muttered, then looked at Margot. “I’ll be right back.”
I grabbed her arm and dragged her into the ladies’ room.
“What are you doing?” she said irately. “What happened?”
I checked under the doors of the two stalls to make sure we were alone, then locked
the door. “You can’t discuss the details about what happened tonight with any of your
friends. Especially about you finding Baxter and pulling the knife out of his gut.”
“Why not?”
“Because from now on, this is a criminal investigation. If you discuss the details,
you could be giving the killer a way to frame you for murder.”
She groaned with impatience. “That’s ridiculous.”
But I could tell I’d frightened her, and I gripped her shoulders for emphasis. “Just
please don’t say anything to anyone except the police. Or me and Derek.”
“I don’t see what the big deal is,” she whined. “My friends would never do anything
to hurt me.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, of course.”
“I wish you were right, but unfortunately one of your friends could be Baxter’s killer.”
“Brooklyn, that’s—”
I held up my hand to stop her. “Let’s play a little game. Say I’m the killer.”
“Oh, come on.”
“Humor me. So you and I are talking and you confide in me that you’re the one who
found Baxter. And I’m fascinated! I want more particulars because, you know, we’re
friends. And you can’t help but go into all the gory details about pulling that big,
bloody knife out of him.”
She made a face, but I could tell she was catching my drift.
“So when it’s my turn to talk to the cops,” I continued, “I let it slip that all those
years ago in Paris, Baxter treated you so badly and cheated on you and finally dumped
you. He hurt you really badly. I might elaborate on some of the fights you two used
to have.”
“You’re getting silly.”
I ignored her. “And when I’m asked to tell the nice detective what happened earlier,
I’ll tell him that I came back to the kitchen to get something I forgot, and I saw
you and Baxter in the middle of a terrible argument. You were so angry with him, I
was afraid to interfere, so I just left quietly.”
Savannah frowned. “But we weren’t arguing.”
I rolled my eyes. She could be so obtuse sometimes. “I know you weren’t. But I’m a
desperate killer and I’m willing to do anything to escape being caught. So I have
to make up lies, get it? Okay, so I also remember seeing that big, sharp fish knife
right there on the counter next to you while you were arguing with Baxter. So I mention
that to the cops.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because I don’t want to go to jail!”
“Oh, right.”
My sister was brilliant, but she was tired. I knew she understood what I was saying;
it was just taking her some time to catch
Kevin, looking stunned and bleary-eyed, plodded over and clutched them both. “We saw
him less than two hours ago. It can’t be true.”
The group hug grew larger as the other chefs joined them.There were more sniffles and moans, and I had to walk away because I was starting
to well up again. My eyes wouldn’t survive the night if I kept crying. I didn’t even
like Baxter Cromwell, but I still couldn’t keep the tears from falling as I watched
and listened to his friends mourn him.
My gaze focused in on Margot, who stood on the sidelines watching and waiting, just
as I’d seen her do before. After a moment, she approached Savannah and gave her what
looked like a warm, meaningful hug.
“You poor thing,” Margot murmured. “Have you been here the whole time?”
“Yes. I was so exhausted, so I went to rest in the ladies’ room while I waited for
my sister to pick me up, and then I walked into the kitchen and—”
“Savannah!” I cried.
“What?” She whipped around. “What’s wrong?”
“I need your help with something.”
“Okay, okay,” she muttered, then looked at Margot. “I’ll be right back.”
I grabbed her arm and dragged her into the ladies’ room.
“What are you doing?” she said irately. “What happened?”
I checked under the doors of the two stalls to make sure we were alone, then locked
the door. “You can’t discuss the details about what happened tonight with any of your
friends. Especially about you finding Baxter and pulling the knife out of his gut.”
“Why not?”
“Because from now on, this is a criminal investigation. If you discuss the details,
you could be giving the killer a way to frame you for murder.”
She groaned with impatience. “That’s ridiculous.”
But I could tell I’d frightened her, and I gripped her shoulders for emphasis. “Just
please don’t say anything to anyone except the police. Or me and Derek.”
“I don’t see what the big deal is,” she whined. “My friends would never do anything
to hurt me.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, of course.”
“I wish you were right, but unfortunately one of your friends could be Baxter’s killer.”
“Brooklyn, that’s—”
I held up my hand to stop her. “Let’s play a little game. Say I’m the killer.”
“Oh, come on.”
“Humor me. So you and I are talking and you confide in me that you’re the one who
found Baxter. And I’m fascinated! I want more particulars because, you know, we’re
friends. And you can’t help but go into all the gory details about pulling that big,
bloody knife out of him.”
She made a face, but I could tell she was catching my drift.
“So when it’s my turn to talk to the cops,” I continued, “I let it slip that all those
years ago in Paris, Baxter treated you so badly and cheated on you and finally dumped
you. He hurt you really badly. I might elaborate on some of the fights you two used
to have.”
“You’re getting silly.”
I ignored her. “And when I’m asked to tell the nice detective what happened earlier,
I’ll tell him that I came back to the kitchen to get something I forgot, and I saw
you and Baxter in the middle of a terrible argument. You were so angry with him, I
was afraid to interfere, so I just left quietly.”
Savannah frowned. “But we weren’t arguing.”
I rolled my eyes. She could be so obtuse sometimes. “I know you weren’t. But I’m a
desperate killer and I’m willing to do anything to escape being caught. So I have
to make up lies, get it? Okay, so I also remember seeing that big, sharp fish knife
right there on the counter next to you while you were arguing with Baxter. So I mention
that to the cops.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because I don’t want to go to jail!”
“Oh, right.”
My sister was brilliant, but she was tired. I knew she understood what I was saying;
it was just taking her some time to catch
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