Death by Chocolate

seemed too distraught to notice the gesture.
    “But how? Who? I mean....
who could do something like that?” Sydney covered his eyes with his hands for a
moment and shuddered. “I know Miss Eleanor was a difficult person, but... to
kill her? It’s got to be some sort of mistake.”
    “We aren’t really sure of
anything yet,” Savannah told him. ‘That’s why Detective Coulter here is
conducting an investigation.”
    “But the question is,”
Louise interjected, “why are you here? I want you out of here.”
    “We’re not going through
that again,” Dirk told her. “I think you’d better turn around and march back to
your cottage, find some of your own business, and mind it.”
    Louise turned, but said
over her shoulder, “I’m going to call my attorney and tell him—”
    “Ah, you don’t need to do
that,” Savannah said. “At least, not until... I mean.... not unless you’re
under arrest.”
    Louise shot her a look that
could barbecue a rare steak to well-done in a minute, but she left. And not too
soon for Savannah.
    Savannah watched her for a
moment, and when she returned her attention to those around her, she saw that
they were all staring at her: Dirk, Tammy, and even Sydney.
    “What?” she said.
    “You don’t think....”
Sydney sputtered, “that Louise would have....?”
    Dirk gave a slight shake of
his head, and she knew she needed to cool her dislike for Louise. It wasn’t
smart to flash too much of your hand in front of anybody, let alone everybody.
    “We don’t know anything
yet,” Dirk replied. “Really. We’re just checking a few things.”
    Sydney seemed to calm down
a bit. He raked his fingers through his thick hair, and the thought crossed
Savannah’s mind that he wasn’t at all hard on the eyes. Whether in his tuxedo,
serving tea, or in his present jeans and denim shirt, he was well-built and had
a certain boy-next-door appeal. She wondered if he and Marie had ever been an
item. To her understanding, neither was married.
    “Well, I’m glad you’re here,”
he told Dirk. “I hope nothing like that happened to Miss Eleanor. I hope that
her death was from natural causes. But if it wasn’t, I want you to catch
whoever did it.”
    He glanced quickly up the
hill at Louise’s retreating figure. Savannah took note of the look, and so did
Dirk and Tammy. They all three exchanged knowing glances.
    “Is there anyone in
particular you can think of who might have wanted to hurt Mrs. Maxwell?” Dirk
asked him.
    Again, another sideways
look up the hill. “Well, not enough to kill her,” he said. “Like I said, she
was a difficult person. You saw that yourself, Savannah.”
    “Yes. I did. By the way, do
you recall seeing anyone or anything suspicious around here the last few days?
Anything out of the ordinary?”
    He thought for a long moment
before answering, “Not that I can think of. But if I do remember anything, I’ll
be sure to let you know.”
    “Thanks,” Dirk said. “We
appreciate it.”
    Sydney excused himself, and
Savannah, Dirk, and Tammy finished placing the evidence parcels into the back
of the Buick.
    “You two wanna follow me
over to the lab?” Dirk asked. “I’ll take you out for a burger or something
after we get done there.”
    Savannah nearly gasped.
“Wow, free food! I never thought I’d hear those words out of—”
    “Oh, shut up.” His lower lip
protruded. “That’s what I get for trying to be a gentleman.”
    “Actually, I’m teaching a
yoga class in about an hour,” Tammy said, looking at her watch. “And then I’ve
got some paperwork to do at the office. But thanks anyway.”
    Savannah looked over at the
garage where Sydney had disappeared. Just beyond the garage she could see the
corner of what she figured was probably the gardener’s cottage where Marie
lived.
    “Tell ya what, guys,” she
told them. ‘You take off if you’re done here, but before I leave, I think I’ll
go have a girl-to-girl talk with Marie. See if I can console her.”
    “Console her?” Dirk
chuckled. Yeah, right. I know you; you’re gonna squeeze her.”
    Savannah grinned and
shrugged. “Squeeze, console.... whatever.”

Chapter

11
     
     
     
    S avannah sat in Marie’s cozy
apartment, sipping mint tea, eating fresh-out-of-the-oven oatmeal cookies, and
feeling a little guilty that she had even considered “squeezing” this gracious
lady.
    “I love your place,” she
said sincerely as she looked around the apartment with its feminine