A Sprinkle of Sabotage by Fiona Leitch (bill gates book recommendations TXT) 📗

almost angrily. ‘I told you, I—’ But he was interrupted by his phone ringing again. ‘Oh for God’s sake!’ He looked at it, but this time he took the call. ‘Hi Matt… Already? That was quick. Go on… Right. Have they cross-checked that against the bag of rubbish…? Okay. Well, I’m pretty much done here, so I’ll be back in the office in a bit.’ He hung up and looked at me. ‘The lab results are back. Apparently it really does speed things up if you know what you’re looking for.’

‘And…?’

‘There was tetrodotoxin present in the deceased’s body. A lot of it.’

‘So it was the pufferfish? Damn.’

‘Is that, damn because that proves it was Zack’s fault, or damn because you were hoping for a more exciting outcome?’

I gave a short laugh. ‘Yes. To both.’

We stood smiling at each other, and for a second I thought the words I really don’t want you to leave were going to burst out of my mouth before I could stop them, but I was saved from making an idiot of myself by his bloody phone ringing AGAIN.

Nathan looked at the caller ID and groaned.

‘Is it him again?’ I asked, and he nodded. ‘Look, just take it or he’ll keep calling you. I’ll see you later.’

‘Okay,’ said Nathan, reluctantly. He answered the call. ‘Hi, can you hold on just one second?’ He turned back to me. ‘The lab hasn’t had the results back from the fish guts yet, and I’m not going to make the cause of death official until we have them. But if you want to forewarn Zack, be my guest.’

‘I think I will,’ I said, then Germaine and I left him to his phone call.

Chapter Eighteen

Zack had left Polvarrow and had gone back to keep an eye on Aiko, so I finished off at the food truck, locked up, and drove to Parkview Manor Hotel, where the cast was staying.

As I walked into the foyer I tried not to remember that this was where I’d first met Nathan, but it was impossible not to replay the scene in my head. It had been the day of Tony’s ill-fated wedding, and I had been sitting with him in the formal dining room. It had been beautifully decorated and should have been playing host to all his family and friends, not the two of us trying to make sense of his ex-wife’s death and his bride-to-be’s disappearance. I glanced in through the open door; we’d been sitting at that table there, near the bar, when the extremely handsome, well-dressed, and (I’d thought) arrogant new CID officer had sauntered in and made some sarcastic (but ultimately correct) remark about me being a cook, not a copper. He’d completely dismissed me, banishing me to the kitchen while he questioned Tony. He’d made repeated attempts to get rid of me throughout that investigation, but after a few days of constantly running into me had been forced to admit that I’d given him misgivings and made him feel like maybe, in this case, the most likely explanation wasn’t the real one. Eventually he’d taken me into his confidence and told me that he had no one in Penstowan to talk to, no one to brainstorm with or discuss aspects of the case with that he found puzzling. So he’d turned to me. And he’d gone from being someone I dreaded bumping into (because, to start with, every time I bumped into him I was doing something I shouldn’t be doing, somewhere I shouldn’t be doing it) to someone I missed when he wasn’t around…

I gave a big sniff and tried to force the tears that were threatening to spring into my eyes back into my tear ducts, but unfortunately tears don’t really work that way. I swiped at them instead with the sleeve of my coat and turned towards the reception desk, intending to ask for Zack.

‘Hey! What are you doing here?’ Kimi had entered the hotel behind me, Princess in her arms, panting (the dog, not the actress). The hotel was dog-friendly, and was also the place where I’d first met (and fallen in love with) Germaine, who had now seen the Pekinese and given her a welcoming bark.

‘Hello! You just been for a walk?’ I asked, turning around and reaching out to pat the dog. Kimi yanked her baby away from me.

‘Princess needed some quality time with me after last night. Poor baby! So many bad vibes floating around…’ She looked about her. ‘What happened to the handsome police officer guy who was with you? Is he here?’

Blasted movie stars, I thought. If it wasn’t Faith undressing Tony with her eyes, it was Kimi lusting after Nathan. Hands off my men! Although neither of them was really mine, were they?

‘Nope, just me. I came to see Zack, but actually, can I ask you a couple of questions?’

She looked me up and down. ‘I thought you were the chef?’

‘I was moonlighting. This is my real job.’ I carefully didn’t elaborate on what ‘this’ was. I’d found that if I just turned up and started asking questions, people assumed I was a police officer without me having to lie about it. It was always best not to risk getting arrested for impersonating a police officer.

She looked at me thoughtfully. ‘Hmm… Does this mean you know what killed Jeremy?’

I smiled, noncommittally. ‘I might do.’

She glanced around, then shrugged and walked into the hotel bar. I followed. She seated herself at a table and looked at me expectantly. I smiled and went to sit down, but her expression changed into something disapproving, so I shot to my feet again.

‘Er…’

‘I’m kinda thirsty after that walk,’ she said. Ah, right. So the dog wasn’t the only Princess around here.

‘Of course. Can I get you a drink?’ I asked, thinking, I wonder if I can put in an expenses claim for this? But I was an unpaid consultant, so it seemed unlikely.

‘I’ll have a glass of Deep Sea,’ she said. Please,