Steamed to Death by Peg Cochran Page B

crowd in the living room, but it would be a good opportunity to snoop. She ditched her apron and ducked into the powder room. She’d brought along a change of clothes in case Anja or Alice needed help serving—plain black slacks and a simple beige sweater. She donned them quickly, checked the security of her ponytail and tried to slip into the gathering as inconspicuously as possible.
    Winchel was in the corner, surrounded by tall men in suits. Their expressions were uniformly grim, and Gigi wondered what they were discussing. An onlooker would have thought that Vanessa must have been an extremely close relative. She was the only person in the room dressed in unrelieved black, although how appropriate the dress was, Gigi wasn’t sure. It was long sleeved but low cut, and hugged her curves tightly. Vanessa was in an intense tête-à-tête with Don. Gigi caught a flash of brilliance as Vanessa waved her hand in the air. A huge diamond flashed from the ring finger of her right hand. Had Don already cashed in the insurance policy on Felicity?
    Gigi took her glass of wine and sidled as close as she could get to the two of them.
    “You’ve got a lot of nerve,” Gigi heard Don say, but not without a note of admiration in his voice.
    Vanessa faked a very attractive pout and waved her hand around in front of Don’s face. “It was worth it, don’t you think?”
    Anja slid between Gigi and the couple with a tray of bite-size croquettes. Gigi felt like swearing. What had Don and Vanessa been talking about? Had Vanessa had something to do with Felicity’s death? Gigi knew she wanted to be the star of For Better or For Worse , but to Gigi it seemed as if all she had to do was bide her time until Felicity was eased off the show. Surely she hadn’t resorted to murder.
    “We have too many suspects,” Gigi murmured to Alice when they were back in the kitchen dishing up bowls of butternut squash soup.
    “Don and Derek . . .” Alice counted on her fingers. “Is there someone else?”
    Gigi nodded. “I heard Don and Vanessa talking in there. It sounds as if Vanessa may have had a hand in things.”
    Alice sighed. “Does no one mourn that poor creature? It’s so sad.”
    • • •
    For the next hour, they were all run off their feet and had no time for anything else. Finally, the last plate of apple cake was taken out to the dining room, and Gigi sank into a chair. She kicked her shoes off and rubbed the balls of her feet. Cooking was sometimes more of an endurance sport than anything else, she reflected. Maybe she needed to start exercising to build up her strength?
    Anja came into the kitchen. Her face was drawn, and there were dark circles under her eyes.
    “Why don’t you get some rest?” Gigi suggested. “The dishes are done, and you can put them away later.”
    “I promised to take Derek a cup of tea with honey. He is not feeling well.”
    “I’ll do that,” Gigi offered. “You go lie down for a bit.”
    • • •
    Gigi wondered what was really wrong with Derek as she boiled water and steeped an Earl Grey tea bag in the pot. Was he feeling remorseful over stealing from Felicity after all she’d done for him?
    Gigi found a tray in the butler’s pantry and arranged the teapot, cup and saucer along with cream, sugar and honey. She had no idea how Derek took his tea, but he was welcome to make his own.
    Winchel was still closeted in the library with the serious-faced men who had been at the funeral, so Gigi decided to go up the back stairs. She thought about the leaf Mertz’s team had found on the steps and wondered again how he could possibly tie that to Sienna. Certainly Sienna did go up and down those stairs to get to her office, but so did any number of other people.
    Derek’s door was partially open. Gigi knocked softly and waited. Nothing. She knocked again. Had he fallen asleep? If so, then he certainly didn’t need his tea. She pushed the door an inch or two and peered into the room. Heavy