Murder With A Twist Part 23

I took another sip. "Is that going to be a problem?" I asked.

He looked at me, his expression somber. "I don't know, is it?"

"That depends on what Janet Harris has to tell me," I said.

Nigel nodded and stared at his shoes. "That's what I was afraid you were going to say."

"I don't have to ask her, you know. We can just leave as planned if you'd prefer."

Nigel looked at me and smiled. "I appreciate the offer. But I think I'd feel a little dirty if we did that." He paused. "And not in the good way."

"Well, we can't have that," I said.

"To Janet Harris," he said, clinking my gla.s.s again.

"To Janet Harris," I repeated.

forty-two.

I called Janet Harris first thing the next morning. It wasn't a very long conversation, but she told me what I needed to know. My next call was to Frank Little. I explained to him that I wanted to rent out his restaurant for dinner that evening and why his cooperation was necessary.

"This ain't going to jeopardize Danny's probation, is it?" he asked.

"It shouldn't. I'll make sure Detective Garcia knows everything," I promised. "Danny's involvement shouldn't be an issue."

He paused, and then said, "Fine. We have a deal. I'll have everything ready for you for seven o'clock."

I thanked him and hung up. Then I called Marcy while Nigel called his family. When all the calls were made, Nigel made us each a very strong b.l.o.o.d.y Mary. Then we went back to bed for an hour.

_____.

By late afternoon all was ready. I'd arranged for a limo to ferry all of us to the restaurant. Everyone piled in and the mood was almost celebratory. Even Olive was pleased by my efforts until the limo pulled up in front of Little's Vittles. "This is where you are taking us to eat?" she asked me, her voice horrified.

When I answered that it indeed was, her face grew pale. She pulled out her purse and rummaged through it for her pills. Taking one, she closed her eyes as if to speed up the effects.

Nigel got out first and helped everyone out of the car. "How did you ever find this place?" Toby asked me once he was on the street.

"An old acquaintance runs it," I answered.

Toby shot a dubious glance at the glowing neon sign. "I see. Is it Zagat-rated?" he asked.

"Oh, I don't think so," I answered. "Speaking of which, I'd avoid the veal."

Toby looked at me in some alarm before taking Audrey's arm and escorting her to the entrance. Nigel ushered Max, Olive, and Daphne in while Skippy and I brought up the rear. Danny was waiting at the door for us, his expression truculent. "Good evening, Mrs. Martini," he said upon seeing me. "We have your table ready."

I smiled brightly. "Why, thank you, Danny," I said. "I'm sure everything will be up to your usual standards."

Danny looked at me suspiciously. "What the h.e.l.l is that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"Just what it does," I replied. "Oh, and Danny?"

He turned his head and regarded me with faint irritation. "What?"

"Before I forget. If you ever call my hotel room, house, apartment, or cell phone for that matter and threaten me again, I will personally see that both your knees are broken beyond repair." I ended my statement with a smile.

Danny's expression of irritation quickly morphed into one of surprise. "How did you ..." He made a lame attempt to deny it. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't even try it, Danny. I know it was you who called me the other morning. Normally I wouldn't make a big fuss, but Mr. Martini is very particular about his beauty sleep. Now, here's my last piece of advice to you," I leaned in close. "Whatever underhanded scheme you have going on here at this place, I'd end it right now. Because my friend Marcy, or as you know her, Detective Garcia, will sniff it out and before you know it, you'll be right back in prison with a full dance card."

Danny blinked at me. I smiled. A thin young man wearing a white waiter's jacket and sporting a large Adam's apple approached our group and beckoned for us to follow him the table. As we did, another man approached and tapped me on my arm. He was tall and fleshy with light sandy hair fas.h.i.+oned into a doubtful comb-over. "Mrs. Martini?" he asked.

I admitted that I was. He produced a rather oily smile, and I suddenly recognized him. "You're Flynn Sawyer, aren't you? The lawyer?"

He smiled, pleased at my recognition. "Yes, that's correct. I represent Mr. Little here," he said, indicating Danny.

"I see," I answered. "Congratulations. I'm sure he's a very lucrative client."

Danny produced a growling noise. I ignored him.

"Well," Flynn replied. "I want to make sure that you understand that I am here to see that Mr. Little's rights are not violated."

"Oh, please," I said with a scoff, "the only thing in danger of being violated tonight is my digestive system. Besides, Danny and I understand each other. Don't we, Danny?" Danny jerked his head into a semblance of a nod. "Now, if you'll excuse me," I said, "I need to attend to my guests."

Danny and Flynn went to the bar and took a seat, while Nigel and I made our way to the table. As I'd arranged, we were the restaurant's only customers. "I just want to take a moment again to thank everyone for joining Nigel and me for our last night out in New York. I know it's been a difficult week."

There were muted sounds of greetings and a few uneasy glances. I took a seat at one end of the table, while Nigel sat opposite me at the other end. The waiter pa.s.sed around menus and took our drink orders. Olive's eyes grew wide as she read the dinner options. She reached for her purse and downed another pill.

Max cleared his throat and said, "Well, thank you for inviting us all out to dinner, Nigel and Nic. It was very kind of you." His voice trailed off as his gaze met with the image of Danny ala G.o.d on the back wall.

I smiled. "Thank you. Nigel and I wanted to get everyone together one last time before we head home. It's been a h.e.l.lish week for everyone, especially Audrey." Everyone now turned to Audrey, who ducked her head awkwardly. "Nigel and I thought that maybe tonight could provide a little closure." Next to her, as always, was Toby. He patted her hand in a comforting gesture. Hearing my words, he glanced at me sharply.

"What do you mean by closure?" he asked.

"An end. A conclusion." I clarified.

"I don't think there's any need for that," Max said. "Leo is dead, and Audrey needs to move forward, not dwell in the past."

"I quite agree," I said, "but I don't think that anyone will be able to move on until Leo's killer is identified. Otherwise a cloud of suspicion will always follow Audrey."

"Yes, but that's for the police to determine," said Olive, her voice unnaturally calm. "There's no need for you to get involved. Unless you're saying that you know who killed Leo."

"Well, that's just it," I said. "I do."

forty-three.

No one spoke. From the other end of the table, Nigel gave me an encouraging nod to continue. I took a deep breath and did so. "As most of you now know, Leo owed a great deal of money to a man named Fat Saul. When Fat Saul decided to call in the entire loan, Leo found himself in a tight spot. He didn't have the money and although he knew that Audrey would get it for him if he asked, the amount was so large that she would need Max and Olive to approve the withdrawal. He rightly a.s.sumed that they would never agree to such a thing." I paused as the waiter returned with our drink orders. No one else spoke. They all seemed very intent on taking a sip of their drinks.

The waiter gave a nervous cough and said, "Can I make you an offer you can't refuse?"

Everyone turned to him in confusion. "Excuse me?" I finally asked.

He coughed again nervously and explained. "Um ... it's what I'm supposed to say before I tell you about the appetizer specials."

I stared at him for a beat, and then turned to where Danny was sitting at the bar. "Really?" I asked. "Really?"

Danny just shrugged. I turned back to the waiter. "Okay. Let's hear them."

He coughed again. "We have A Salt and Battery Fish and Chips . . . "

"Done," said Nigel. The waiter looked at Nigel in confusion. "There's also the You Won't Be Sorry Calamari," he continued.

"We'll have both of those," I said. He nodded and headed to the kitchen. I paused and took a sip of water. "Now, as it happened, Leo had gotten ... friendly ... with a woman named Lizzy Marks," I continued. "Lizzy also went by the name Betty Morgan, who, as you all know, used to work for Max." Everyone turned to look at Max. "When Daphne found out that Betty had been sharing her favors with various clients, including one that Daphne was seeing, Daphne had her fired." They now turned their attention to Daphne. I took another sip of water. "Unfortunately for Daphne, Betty knew something rather d.a.m.ning about Daphne. She knew that Daphne had helped herself to some of Audrey's trust fund money to cover up a settlement error. Betty told Leo, and they decided to blackmail Daphne." Daphne hung her head. I took a sip of my wine this time and continued.

"Leo needed a place to hide while Daphne got the money, as he knew that Fat Saul was looking for him. Daphne told him about the Park View Terrace construction site. When I told her that it was Fat Saul who was after Leo, she made a phone call letting him know of Leo's whereabouts. You know what happened next. Fat Saul ended up dead. When Daphne learned of Betty's other ident.i.ty, that of Lizzy Marks, she tracked her down. By Daphne's own admission, she paid her a visit and they went at it hammer and tongs."

Olive let out a high-pitched laugh. "They went at it like a couple of Jersey wh.o.r.es, is what they did," she said with a grin.

Daphne and Max regarded Olive with wide-eyed concern.

"Olive?" Max whispered. "What's gotten into you? Are you all right?"

Olive waved away his concern. "I'm fine. Don't mind me."

I continued. "Now, Daphne says that Betty/Lizzy was alive when she left her apartment, and I believe her. I think that when she left, she was seen by Leo, who then a.s.sumed that he'd been double crossed. I believe that he attacked Lizzy and killed her. When Audrey went to the apartment, she found Leo's cufflink in the dead woman's hand, and Leo later admitted to her that he had killed Lizzy."

Olive let out an annoyed sigh. "Nicole. We already know all this. Why are you rehas.h.i.+ng it now?"

"Because I'm trying to create the timeline leading up to Leo's death," I explained. "As you know, Leo came home to Audrey in time for her party, but first he collected his money from Daphne. He had her pay off his debt and then went out to celebrate. Of course, we all know what happened then. He made a rather splashy spectacle of himself at a strip club that ended up in several newspapers."

Olive sniffed in disgust. "The man was a pig on all levels. The embarra.s.sment he brought to this family was intolerable."

"I quite agree," I said. "However, when he finally did return home to Audrey, he was in for a surprise. Audrey had had enough. She wanted a divorce. Leo knew that due to the pre-nup he'd be left with nothing. So he did what he always did when his back was up against the wall. He got nasty. He told her that if she tried to divorce him he'd say she'd killed Lizzy in a jealous rage. Then he called Daphne and put the screws to her, telling her that unless she paid him even more, he'd reveal that he'd seen her leaving Lizzy's apartment."

Daphne put her face in her hands. "Why do we have to go over this again?"

"Hang on, I'm getting there. By the night of Audrey's party, Leo had managed to enrage just about everyone in this family."

"Well, that's not their fault," interjected Toby.

"I didn't say it was, Toby. And, just so we're clear, I include you in that group."

Toby blinked twice before replying. "Me? What reason would I have to kill Leo? I didn't like that man, I'll admit, but that doesn't mean I would kill him."

"I would respectfully disagree with that a.s.sessment, Toby," I said. "I think you'd do just about anything for Audrey. Especially if that anything meant that you got a second chance with her."

Toby bristled. "Now see here, I don't like what you're saying."

"Neither do I, Toby. But, it's true. You wanted Leo dead as much as anyone else at this table. Why don't you tell me what happened? Was it a spur-of-the-moment decision? You were visibly upset at his returning to Audrey. Had you had enough and just snapped, or had you planned it all along?"

Toby began to sputter. "Now, wait a minute!"

I cut him off. "What happened? What made you decide to follow Leo into the men's room and kill him?"

"Stop this!" cried Audrey. "Toby didn't stab Leo."

I looked at her. "And how do you know that?"

She took a gulp of air before answering. "Because I did."

forty-four.

"Audrey!" exclaimed Olive. "What are you saying?"

"The truth," I answered.

Audrey looked at me in bewilderment. "Wait. You already knew? Then why did you say Toby did it?"

I shrugged. "I figured if you heard Toby accused of stabbing Leo, you'd be forced to speak up."

Audrey propped her elbows on the table on sank her head in her hands. "I've been such an idiot."

"Well, yes," I admitted. "But you didn't kill him. At least you have that."

"Wait," said Toby, turning to Audrey. "So, you did stab Leo?"