Til' Death Do Us Poisoned (Weddings, Marriage & Murder Culinary Cozy Series Book 1) Read online

  Til' Death Do Us Poisoned

  Susan Baker

  ©2015 Susan Baker

  Copyright © 2014

  No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known, hereinafter invented, without express written permission from the author.

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Thank You

  Your Gifts

  Chapter 1

  Atlantic Resorts had done it again, Maria thought happily. The reception of Melinda and Alex Steeple had gone off without a hitch so far, and the guests were enjoying the roast duck and asparagus, chatting among themselves and enjoying the festivities. Maria worked for Atlantic Resorts, a top of the line organization that organized wedding receptions and other events, all top dollar functions, which spared no expense. That evening the event was in the small coastal town of Hampshire, near Dover in Delaware in the Atlantic Resort Hotel. Maria had been working all day with the kitchen and the wait staff, arranging the tables, each dotted with a bouquet of white tea roses over rich gold damask tablecloths. The band, a soft rock ensemble, was entertaining the audience and playing favorites as they were requested. Tables of four to six in a circular shape were arranged around the wedding table where the bride and groom sat along with the best man and the maid of honor.

  The bride was Melinda Steeple, formally Melinda Scott and looked like the girl next door with dark blonde hair done up in the back with tendrils around her face, a shiny face with good bone structure and cupid bow lips. She was very pretty and made a beautiful bride wearing a Vera Wang strapless wedding dress with a full skirt and with a bouquet of pale pink mini calla lilies, roses and dahlias. The bridesmaids wore stylish pale pink gowns made of silk. The groom, Alex Steeple, looked resplendent in his black tux with tails. He wore a pink boutonnière consisting of a pink rose in his lapel. He was tall enough to pull that type of suit off and his dark hair and blue eyes had all the bridesmaids drooling. Melinda and Alex seemed very happy and were enjoying dinner and chatting with everyone at their table. The guests seemed to be getting to know each other as well, and all were enjoying the lively banter.

  Everyone looked happy with the exception of Edward Scott, the bride’s father, who was drinking quite a bit and scowling. He continually threw baleful glances at his new son-in-law and from time to time, shook his head before he downed another scotch. His girlfriend, who seemed to keep trying to make Edward more mirthful, was failing miserably. As cheery waiters were slowly gathering the dinner plates, soon it would be time to bring out the wedding cake. It was a luscious red velvet cake with white butter cream icing and arranged in three tiers. As usual, Ian, the head pastry chef and his staff had outdone themselves. Maria took a minute to glance over at Ian, standing by the kitchen door and her heart squeezed a little. He was exceptionally handsome with thick dark hair, high cheekbones, and red, full lips. He was tall and wore an extra ten pounds well. Maria had secretly had a crush on him for about a year now, but she had not acted on it. He seemed interested in her too, and when he caught her glancing at him, his face lit up and he beamed. Maria, embarrassed, looked away. The other workers of her team were busy buzzing around the tables. They included her second in charge and best friend, Lindsay, and Ellen, a competent worker, but surly and hard to get along with. Maria wondered what she had ever done to Ellen to gain her dislike, but right now Maria didn’t have time to think about that. She had a wedding to run.

  Soon it was time for the toasts, the dinner plates were scurried away and the first person up was Alex’s best man, Colby Jenson, who tactfully but gracefully toasted the happy couple, teasing Alex that his dating days were over. He reminded the groom of all of his more disastrous bad dates and declared that he was the luckiest man in the world to have found Melinda. Alex yelled that he agreed and everyone clinked their glasses and toasted the happy couple. Next the maid of honor, Melinda’s sister Amy, gave her toast and read a poem she had composed. It was warm and funny and the slightly heavy-set woman lifted her glass and all the guests drank again to the couple’s longevity and happiness. Other members of the wedding party followed with cheery good wishes and there was much teasing of both the bride and groom for past indiscretions. Finally it was time for the father of the bride, Edward Scott to make his toast. The room became quiet and Mr. Scott, holding back tears, only said his beautiful daughter deserved the world and he hoped Alex would give that to her. The gathering was too happy, however, to be diverted by this seeming lack of faith in the groom’s qualifications and the entire crowd raised their glasses and toasted the couple any way. Edward was very close to his daughter. Melinda’s mother had died when she and Amy were children and her father had raised them alone.

  Soon it was time to roll out the cake and Ian did the honors, as the cake, based on the bride’s specifications, was his creation. It was luscious red velvet cake with white butter cream icing. All the wedding guests complimented the cake as it was rolled out and looked forward to a slice of moist cake to go with their champagne. The couple had decided to refrain from the smashing of the cake into each other’s faces and Maria’s assistant, Ellen, oversaw the cutting of the cake. When everyone had a slice, the guests clinked their glasses again to the bride and groom. After more toasts were made, everyone settled down to enjoy the delicious red velvet creation. After the guests had finished their cake, the groom, Alex Steeple, stood up with a glass of champagne to thank the assembled guests for a wonderful wedding and reception.

  Suddenly, while Alex was speaking, he looked disoriented and then dropped his glass, clutched his chest, and crashed forward onto the long wedding table with the wedding party wearing shocked faces and jumping back as the table collapsed before their eyes. The wood of the table was flimsy after all and the table splintered and broke in two as Alex fell through it and hit the ground hard. He fell on his face with his legs sprawled out like bent tree limbs. Melinda screamed and ran to her new husband’s side, feeling for a pulse on his neck and wrist. “He is not breathing, please someone get help!” The guests milled around and Maria sprang into action and called 911. While the crowd waited for the paramedics to arrive, Colby Jenson, his best man, gave Alex mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and administered CPR by pressing into his chest with the palms of his hands. Still Alex didn’t stir or move and his face looked blue. The paramedics and the police were there within ten minutes and Alex Steeple was pronounced dead. Police Chief Appleby asked who was in charge and Maria bravely said she was and asked how she could help.

  “First, until we find out who did this, and until we figure out who was responsible, the hotel is shut down, no one goes anywhere,” Appleby said. He spoke loudly so everyone could hear,” All gue
sts here are to remain in their rooms until this case is solved.”

  The guests nodded their heads and everyone was in a daze. The band had stopped playing and the room held a hushed tone of whispered voices and dread.

  “Yes sir, I will see to it,” Maria answered and asked all the guests to return to their rooms. Everyone seemed to be in shock and slowly complied with a few exceptions. Alex’s best friend Colby stayed behind a few minutes, trying to find out what had killed his friend, and Melinda’s sister Amy found a chair and had another glass of champagne, even though she, as well as the other guests, had been ordered not to touch anything. Edward Scott remained by Melinda’s side and refused to budge. The rest of the guests sensed danger in the air and slowly drifted away.

  “He was having the best day of his life, how could this happen?” Colby asked, tears in his eyes. “I loved that big guy, he just can’t be dead.”

  “I am sorry Mr. Jensen, we will get to the bottom of this, I am on top of it. I am in charge and my name is Maria Winfred. Trust us, we will find out who killed Alex.”

  “There was something in the wedding cake,” Melinda said, her voice like a shrill parrot. “He was fine until he ate his piece of cake. Someone wanted to kill him and they succeeded. It was out and out murder, premeditated. But who would want to harm my husband?”

  Maria tried to calm Melinda as her bridesmaids followed the orders of the police chief and drifted towards the elevators to their rooms. The groomsmen followed the women and mood was somber and reserved. Lindsay, Ellen and Ian, Maria’s team, just stood by helplessly because they couldn’t clean up the murder scene. They exchanged furtive glances and talked among themselves.

  The men from the morgue arrived shortly after and zipped up Alex’s body in a black bag to take him back to be examined by a medical examiner. Maria instinctively knew what they would find. It was obviously the wedding cake and she suspected Alex had been poisoned. Maria had no idea why only his piece of cake was poisoned, but she knew beyond a doubt the red velvet cake had been the culprit. Maria was bound and determined to fix this, no one was going to die on her watch and the first thing she needed to do was get a copy of the wedding video and watch the DVD. The company always taped every ceremony and the DVD’s would be readily available. She needed to get a hold of the tapes before Appleby thought to confiscate them. As the last guests were milling around, Chief Appleby attempted to motivate the remaining stragglers out of the reception room and back into their rooms, warning them again to stay put. Ellen and Ian wheeled the cake to the side of the reception hall, while Appleby and his deputy authorized the small forensic team to get to work. They dusted all the glasses for fingerprints and gathered the crumbs from pieces of uneaten cake that were left over from the now deceased groom, the bride, and any pieces of cake that were left over from the wedding party to be tested, presumably for poison. These pieces would be examined carefully as would the entire cake, now standing in all its grandeur next to the kitchen door.

  Ian, Ellen and Lindsay were trying to follow the orders of the forensics team and at the same time attempting to put the room in some kind of order, an impossible task. They could at least, after the champagne bottles were checked for fingerprints, arrange to bring the empty bottles back to the kitchen and start clearing the tables. The room was a crime scene however; so little cleaning could be done because little could be touched. After a couple of hours, Chief Appleby, his deputy and the forensic team had left the scene and Maria grabbed the wedding DVD from Anthony, Atlantic Resort’s wedding videographer and went to her room to watch it. She only told her friend, Lindsay where she was going.

  Once in her room, Maria took off her Atlantic Hotel’s uniform and nametag and put on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She walked and grabbed a coke from the mini bar as she had not had any of the wedding champagne and needed a cold drink, and some caffeine. She took a long swig, layed back on the bed and tried to calm herself down. How had this happened? She and her team had catered at least 100 weddings and every one had gone off without a hitch. That is why the Atlantic Resorts team was so successful. Maria set all the preparations. She had been downstairs delegating duties hours before the reception while the chefs were preparing the meal and Ian was putting the final decorative touches on the cake. She, Lindsay, and Ellen had decorated all the tables with gold damask tablecloths, bowls of tea roses and golden candlesticks on each table. Maria had checked with the cooks repeatedly to make sure the dinner was timed and would be ready at six when the dinner started. She had checked on Ian and found he was putting the final touches on his beautiful wedding cake. Maria had no idea what had gone wrong; her team was running like a well-oiled machine.

  Maria sighed and put the wedding video in the DVD player and started the tape. The beginning of the taped reception was resplendent with joyful people. In the video, the wedding party entered the reception room close to 5 PM among cheers of congratulations and before dinner was served, the first dance of the late afternoon between the bride, Melinda Scott Steeple, and her father Edward Scott took place on dance floor. The song “Daughter’s” by John Mayer played and Melinda and Edward shared a nice dance as they both smiled and enjoyed themselves before the bride and groom enjoyed their dance as the guests gathered around the dance floor. The song “All of Me,” by John Legend was chosen as the song for the bride and groom and there were occasional sounds from the house band as they warmed up.

  Maria looked closely, but could discern nothing but elation in the close dance between the new bride and groom. The couple seemed very happy and in love. As the dance floor filled, the music was lively and everyone in the wedding party seemed to be having fun as the band played top forty favorites and the atmosphere was lively and celebratory. About forty-five minutes later, the guests took their seats and dinner was served. Everyone sat down to enjoy their roast duck and trimmings, and food and drink flowed as the wait staff performed their duties well. Then she saw him, a dark haired server who was not part of Maria’s team, nor had she seen him in the kitchen as the cooks and prep staff were preparing the meal. Who was he? She noted he had on a server’s uniform with a white tuxedo shirt, black pants and a black apron. She didn’t remember him at all and couldn’t place him. She would have to interview the kitchen staff and find out if he was one of the approved servers. Oddly, he had not been approved by Maria who was in charge of approving the ten servers who served the dinner and champagne. He looked young and his hair was unkempt looking. Why had Maria never noticed him before? Maria made a mental note to find this young man and she resumed watching the DVD. As the food was cleared away, and the champagne was poured, the toasts were given and Maria watched every close up of each toast trying to see something she had missed in business of performing her duties and seeing that everything ran smoothly. She also kept her eyes trained to the kitchen area, trying to see who came and went. Once again she saw the waiter with the dark hair, coming in and out of the kitchen with food and drink. She got a better look at him; he didn’t look older than eighteen, twenty at the most. He was about 5’6” with jet-black hair and hooded eyes. She didn’t remember him and wondered if he had been a late addition to the staff after she had approved the initial staff. He must have been.

  Unfortunately, the kitchen door was a little right of the camera, so at times Maria could see the servers, but not the door swinging open. Of course that was not the videographer’s job, to take a video of the kitchen, but Maria wished she could see all the serving as it happened. However, Maria did not know what she was looking for. Maria did see Ellen and Lindsay circulating around the guests making sure that everything was ok, and she saw herself supervising and directing her employees. The dark haired young man disappeared for about five minutes, but was in evidence again when the champagne was served. At no time did Maria see anyone in the wedding party or on other tables doing anything nefarious, on the contrary, everyone seemed to be having an especially good time with two exceptions. First, as she had noted before was the father
of the bride. He sat with a female friend and remained morose during the entire dinner and through the toasts. He had teared up during his toast, but the rest of the time he looked cold and sullen. The other person who looked depressed, and Maria had not noticed it before, was Melinda’s sister Amy. She had made a nice toast, and sat at the wedding table, but she didn’t look happy. She picked at her food and like her father, drank more than what was good for her. Maria had to wonder why? Amy did not look like her sister at all. She was the mousy type with dishwater brown hair and a face that wouldn’t turn heads. In fact it was hard to tell she and Melinda were related. Did Amy have some connection to the groom? Maria would have to find out.

  Maria paid special attention to the cake as Ian wheeled it out. The three-tiered cake had turned out beautifully and Ian had a lot to be proud of. How sad that all his hard work and all those beautiful tiers and decorated flowers had culminated into a murder scene. Maria played and replayed the sections where the cake was present and was frustrated she could not see everyone who was coming and going in the kitchen. She wondered if anyone else had been filming and she scanned the crowd to see if anyone had a camera. She didn’t see anyone else filming the wedding but there were tables in the rear of the large reception hall she could not see.

  Finally the moments before the fatal piece of cake was eaten occurred. Maria did not notice anyone moving around or anything unusual about the cake. Ellen and Lindsay were serving the plates with cake slices on them and everything seemed to be in order. Maria watched with horror as Alex dug into his big slice of cake, and watched his reaction as he kept eating. He seemed to look disoriented at first, but he finished the entire piece, minus a few crumbs. Then everything went terribly wrong. Alex stood up unsteadily to make some kind of a toast, and as he stood, he seemed to have a hard time maintaining his balance, his face had an odd expression, like he was fighting to regain control. Then the glass he had raised crashed to the ground and Alex fell forward on top of the table and stopped moving. The plates of cake and the glasses of champagne went flying. The entire incident had happened so fast. Alex looked so ominously dead immediately as there was no movement from his body after he fell. The reactions of everyone around him were the appropriate amount of horror and abject terror and although Maria played and replayed their reactions, again she could see nothing that indicated any foul play. She carefully scanned the wedding party and the guests and could discern nothing amiss. She stopped the DVD and was just ejecting it when she received a call from Howard Blume, the president of Atlantic Resorts. He was angry and had a lot to say.