Page 39 of Slow Simmer

It was possible Edouard had sabotaged something else, but Carlo didn’t think so. The sommelier was deliberately targeting desserts for a reason, and Carlo had a pretty fair guess as to what it might be. Obviously, he was hoping to get away with it, and sabotaging something else would make it twice as likely he’d be caught.

A rap on the door had him glancing up and calling “Come in!”

Luke entered, an uncharacteristic frown on his face. “I was honestly hoping this was all some sort of series of unfortunate coincidences,” he said as he closed the door. “I didn’t want to believe anyone here would deliberately try to sabotage the restaurant.”

“You’re really not going to like this, then.” Carlo stood and gestured for Luke to take his seat.

Luke looked almost sick, but he sat down and set his jaw, watching as Carlo brought up the short piece of damning surveillance footage.

“Noway!” Luke’s jaw dropped as he watched. “Edouard?” He looked up at Carlo. “Youdon’t seem surprised.”

“I’m not, really. He’s wanted me gone from the moment I got here.”

“But the sabotage started before you arrived,” Luke pointed out. “After Vicky was fired.”

They stared at each other in speculation before Luke shook his head. “We’re not getting anywhere just guessing. I don’t want to do this here, either. I’m going to go out into the restaurant and ask Edouard to accompany me to my office. I’ll imply I’ve uncovered some evidence about his claims of you harassing Suzannah, if that’s what it takes to get him to come with me. You go and meet us there.” Picking up the desk phone, he tapped a key to speed-dial his own office.

“Put me through to the police station at Airlie,” he requested, “and then get the helicopter on standby. They’re going to need to bring officers over here.”

Carlo pursed his lips in a silent whistle, but he met Luke’s eyes and nodded. Edouard would have to be held to account for what he’d done. And the cake was evidence; they didn’t even know what the substance was Edouard had injected. It could even be lethal.

With that thought, Carlo headed for the cold room with a roll of tape he’d picked up from Suzannah’s desk drawer. He took a couple of minutes to tape the cover dome down over the cake stand and securely taped on a note which said DO NOT TOUCH, with his signature at the bottom. Hopefully, that and the surveillance tapes would satisfy the police that the cake hadn’t been tampered with by anyone except Edouard.

Ten minutes later, he arrived at Luke’s office and was waved in by Luke’s secretary. He was quite relieved to see Cory, the resort’s activities director, sitting in the waiting room leafing through a magazine, apparently just killing time. A big, well-muscled guy, Cory glanced up to catch Carlo’s eye and gave him a slight nod.

Not that Carlo thought he and Luke couldn’t handle Edouard if the sommelier should by any chance turn violent, but having large, intimidating backup on hand until the police arrived was always useful.

Edouard looked positively smug as Carlo entered, and he had to wonder what Luke had said to get the sommelier looking like that. Edouard probably believed he was about to witness Carlo getting his marching orders.

“I have some surveillance footage here I’d like you to look at,” Luke said, after inviting Carlo to take a seat. “I believe you’ll find it pretty damning.”

Edouard still looked insufferably smug. Carlo wondered what he thought he was about to see, but it certainly wasn’t the footage from the new hidden camera in the cold room which Luke played for them on his large desktop screen.

The silence was almost deafening until Luke said quietly “I should advise you that this meeting is being recorded, by the way, and will be turned over to the police when they arrive, along with the footage I’ve just shown you, and the cake which Carlo has taken steps to secure as evidence.”

Pale-faced, Edouard seemed almost to have shrunk into his seat. He just shook his head and said nothing.

“Was it poison?” Carlo had to ask. “Would someone have died?”

“No!” The sommelier flinched. He didn’t seem inclined to say any more, though, not even when Luke slammed his hand down on the desk.

“Why? Tell me that! What reason could you possibly have for doing this?”

Luke was furious, Carlo realised, barely holding his temper in. Edouard didn’t answer the question, however, and Luke audibly ground his teeth together.

“Maybe he’ll be more inclined to talk to the police,” Carlo said. “I think I hear the helicopter now.”

“Good,” Luke ground out, “because the sooner this madman is off the island, the happier I’ll be!”

* * *

Carlo and Luke saw Edouard handcuffed and escorted onto the helicopter by one police officer, to be returned to the mainland and taken into custody there, while the other accompanied them back to the restaurant to take the cake into evidence. They found the used syringe hidden in the wine pantry, and the police officer sniffed as she carefully bagged and labelled it.

“Nasty business. Good thing you spotted him on the cameras.”

They’d handed her a USB key with copies of the incriminating surveillance footage, too, and she told them the lab would prioritise identifying the contents of the syringe. Her partner would hold off questioning Edouard until she returned to the police station, and she promised to keep Luke updated if he decided to talk. All he’d said as he was placed under arrest was “I want a lawyer”, so it was doubtful they’d have any answers quickly.

“I’m going to head down and see Suzannah,” Carlo said as Luke and the police officer prepared to leave the restaurant.

“Break the news?”

“I’ll have to.” He wasn’t looking forward to it. Suzannah would be devastated at the betrayal of her trust; he knew she’d considered Edouard as like an older brother. Still, he wouldn’t have her hear it from anyone else.

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