Murder in the Pearl District (Cedar Bay Cozy Mystery Series Book 5) by Dianne Harman Read Free Book Online

I
consider it an honor to have the opportunity to work with you.”
                “Thank you, but please
call me Kelly, and call Mrs. Marchant, Sophie. We’ll be working too close
together for formalities. The restaurant opens in a half an hour. What can I do
to help other than get out of your way?”
                “Kelly, if you could
handle anything that happens in the front of the house, I would appreciate it,”
Nico said. “Some of the staff is a little nervous about everything that’s
happened today. I’d like to be able to stay here in the kitchen with the
kitchen staff until they feel comfortable. They’re worried that the restaurant
is going to close and they won’t have jobs.”
                “I thought Sophie told
you that was not going to happen.”
                “Actually when she first
walked into the kitchen she told me that, but nevertheless, some of the staff
think we’re going to close after today or when the food runs out.”
                “Nico,” Sophie said, “Let
me repeat what I told you earlier. I have money to order the food and take care
of the employee expenses, so please tell the staff I will take care of any
costs that the restaurant incurs until a final decision is made concerning its
continued operation. We don’t even know what’s in Dede’s Will or if she made
arrangements in it for the continued operation of the restaurant.”
                “Sophie,” Kelly said,
“why don’t you stay here with Nico and learn everything you can about what’s
taking place here in the kitchen? I’m going to talk to the bartenders and the
wait staff and assure them that nothing will change for the foreseeable
future.”
                She left the kitchen and
walked over to the two bartenders who were standing behind the bar engaged in a
deep conversation. She overheard one of them saying, “Well, now that she’s
dead, her lover’s ex-wife probably won’t be coming in here anymore. Thank
heavens. She’s got that redhead temper and drinks way too much. I’ve had to cut
her off several times. Didn’t want to be the one sued for letting her drive
when she was drunk.”
                The other one replied,
“Yeah, me too. I never understood why Mrs. DeLuca didn’t just refuse to serve
her.”
                “You know what a soft
touch she was. She felt sorry for Mr. Ramos’ ex-wife because he’d left her for
Mrs. DeLuca. Guess it was quite the scandal when he divorced her, but she had a
lot of moxie to come in here and make the scenes she did. I’ll give her credit
for one thing though, she was careful to never do it at mealtimes, just in the
afternoons. I remember one time she got in Mrs. DeLuca’s face and accused her
of stealing her husband. That was the only time I saw Mrs. DeLuca completely
lose it and really get mad. She told her to leave and never come back.
Actually, I think you were off that day. It was only a few days ago.”
                Kelly cleared her throat,
and they both turned to her. “Hi, I’m Kelly Reynolds, I just wanted to
introduce myself and assure you that the restaurant is going to remain open. A
friend of Mrs. DeLuca’s, Sophie Marchant, and I will be running it for the time
being. Actually, Sophie was one of Mrs. DeLuca’s closest friends and was in
here a lot. You probably know her.”
                “Of course. That makes me
feel good. She’s good people,” the taller of the two men said. “How can we
help?”
                “I don’t know much about
serving alcohol. I own a restaurant, well, actually it’s a coffee shop, in
Cedar Bay, but we don’t serve alcohol. Can you give me a quick course in how it
works here?”
                For the next fifteen
minutes the two bartenders instructed her in what they did to keep the bar up
and running. They showed her how they gauged the amount of liquor that