Page 38 of Slow Simmer

Chapter Eighteen

The kitchen seemed somehow empty without Suzannah, Carlo thought. Julie had really stepped up, though, issuing orders and keeping everyone on their toes, her eyes everywhere. Samira and the others in the pastry kitchen seemed determined to show what they could do as well, and with half an hour to go before lunch would begin to be served Carlo found himself at a loose end.

Not wanting to hang about and put the staff off their groove, he decided to take himself off to Suzannah's office for a little while and work on her computer. He knew the new surveillance cameras Luke had installed could be accessed from there; he might as well use up a little time and look to see if he could spot anything suspicious.

Taking a seat at Suzannah’s desk, he tapped keys to wake up her computer, thinking he should really warn her to password-protect it. It was another target for potential sabotage, after all.

As he rolled the cold room surveillance camera backwards at high speed, going through the last two hours’ worth of footage in ten minutes, he pulled out his phone and sent her a text, not expecting a reply. Nothing out of the ordinary was happening on the tape, the usual staff members zooming in and out in comically jerky, swift motions, before he reached what was obviously the start of the morning shift and the movement in the cold room stopped.

Not inclined to sit through a lot of boring nothingness, Carlo reached for the mouse to increase the speed for a while; he’d go back to about eleven the previous evening, when the last things from dinner would have been cleared up.

A flash of colour on the screen arrested his attention just before he clicked, and Carlo frowned. What had he just seen? He paused the camera instead of increasing the rewind speed, played forward again.

“What thehell?” he said aloud as he watched someone who had no business in the cold room at all entering. And then he stiffened, eyes opening wide with horror.

Snatching up the phone on the desk, he hit the speed-dial button for Luke’s office, asked his secretary to connect Luke immediately.

“Go ahead,” Luke’s voice said a few moments later.

“Are you with Suzannah right now?”

“I’m outside, and I’m wondering why you’re calling me instead of her.”

“I’ve found the saboteur, and I need you back here right now before I confront them. Without telling Suzannah, because she needs her head in the game there.”

“Is there an imminent threat to health and safety if you wait?” Luke asked after a moment of shocked silence.

“No.”

“I’ll be there in ten minutes. Sit tight.”

“Will do.” Carlo hung up as the line went dead, clicked the mouse and dragged it back to watch the thirty seconds of damning footage he’d found over again.

The sommelier Edouard entered the cold room, glancing over his shoulder. His royal-blue formal jacket was the flash of colour which caught Carlo’s eye, as Edouard walked quickly along the cold room, withdrawing a syringe from his pocket. He stopped right in front of the cake stand at the end of the room before taking off the protective dome and plunging the syringe into the birthday cake prepared for that afternoon’s celebration. Just seconds later, he was dropping the syringe back into his pocket and walking back the way he’d come.

“Un-fucking-believable,” Carlo said softly, and then he paused the camera feed and hurried out of Suzannah’s office, returning to the pastry kitchen and pulling Samira aside. She looked at him with wide eyes.

“Is something the matter, Chef Gianetti?”

“The birthday cake’s been sabotaged,” he said very quietly. “I know who did it; I’m waiting for Mr Collyer to get here so we can confront them. I need you to quickly and quietly prepare a replacement cake. Fortunately the birthday guest may be wealthy, but he has simple tastes; he just wanted a chocolate fudge cake. You’ve got a couple hours to get it done.”

Samira’s eyes narrowed as he spoke, her jaw setting stubbornly. “I won’t let you down, Chef,” she promised, keeping her voice low as he had done.

“Good. No matter what happens, that cake has to be ready, okay?”

“It will be.” She looked both proud and determined, and he was certain he could leave the cake in her capable hands. With a quick glance around to check all was in order, he went back into the main kitchen and intercepted Julie.

“Mr Collyer’s on his way in to address a problem. I’ll be meeting with him in Suzannah’s office; unless the restaurant is literally on fire, nobody is to disturb us, okay?”

Julie looked startled, but she nodded. “Anything I should know about?” she queried.

“You’ll know all about it shortly.” Seeing the anxiety in her expression, Carlo lowered his voice. “You’re not in trouble, Julie. Just hold the fort a little while longer, okay?”

“You got it, Chef.”

He saw the same pride and determination come into her expression as he’d seen in Samira’s, and nodded. “Thank you.”

Julie nodded in return before returning to her work with renewed vigour, and Carlo headed back to Suzannah’s office. He brought up a second window on the computer and found the current surveillance feed from the main restaurant. Edouard was clearly visible, moving about between tables as customers began placing their drinks orders, heading for the wine pantry and returning.

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