Kee Patterbee - Hannah Starvling 02 - The Gourmet Who Kept Diamonds in the Kitchen (25 page)

The action stunned Hannah. Even though she figured Madeline was looking for the diamonds, the waste of such a precious food shocked her. A small gasp escaped her lips. Madeline looked up and chuckled.

“Relax, they’re Chinese knockoffs, thirty dollars a pound at best. You think I’d waste good truffles?” She shook her head and continued to pick at the pile. Pulling up a small, flat container, she held it up for all to see. Looking to Hannah, she explained, “But this? It’s worth everything.” She took the container and pulled off the cap at one end to reveal a flash drive. “Kind of old school, if you ask me. Most people just keep everything in the cloud now, but that’s Elias.”

Hannah bristled.
“All the evidence.”

Madeline affirmed.
“And more. The name of his operation head. I tried to partner up with him. He’d supply me with truffles and I’d move him in as a partner. Rosanna’s would have a lock on a restaurant chain, offering one of the most elusive of foods. It’d make money hand over fist, but he’s stubborn. All that spiritual mumbo jumbo about truffles being sacred; brilliant man, but he is just about two tacos short of a combo platter.” She waved the case at them. “This gives me a chance to make a deal outside him. I didn’t want to get my hands so up close and dirty. I prefer to keep a distance, but I’ve got everything locked into my chain. However, if I have to roll a little closer to the mud pile, so be it. In addition, without this, I doubt you have any proof of the supplier. Your word against mine. Besides, given how close the two of you appear, I doubt you’ll want to go to the police and see him locked up. He’s about to be a family man, after all.” A devious, enjoyable smirk lit up her face. “I’m afraid, Hannah, that, while your reputation holds true, this one time, you will fall short.” She pulled out her cell and dialed. “Just think of it as the case you couldn’t prove. Every great detective has one in their files.”

Samori
glanced over at Hannah then to Madeline. To Hannah, he seemed confused. “I don’t understand this. You only want truffles?” he asked.

Madeline stood.
“Well, yeah, same as you. But in large quantities that won’t make it restrictive.” Responding to the call, she said, “Put him on.”

Hannah half chortled.
“Wow, you have no idea, do you?”

             
Madeline’s confused look told a story in itself to Hannah. Someone’s playing her.

“
So, you have no interest in the diamonds?”

“
That’s what I’m talking about. The one’s he keeps in the kitchen, right? I need truffles. He smuggles them. That’s how he got to the top of his game so fast. But he can’t roll on me or I’ll roll on him, so his loss. No big deal.” Again, she returned to the call. “Well, tell him anyway.” She put the phone to her chest. “You’d think he could get better help.”

Hannah crossed her arms in defiance. She wondered exactly what role Madeline played in everything. It was clear she knew nothing about the real diamonds. Her interest was in the black market and in saving her restaurant.

“You don’t want to get your hands dirty, so what? You have him tossed out the window because he wouldn’t give you the name?”

“
That… wasn’t supposed to happen.” She looked over to the deliveryman and frowned. “Someone got a little zealous.” She sighed. “All he had to do was give us the name.”

She keeps mentioning us, Hannah noted. Could it be?

“Us? Who is us?”

Madeline returned to the call.
“Yeah, I got it right here. You can get someone to crack it when I get back.” She paused as an audible, yet indecipherable voice yelled.

“
Fine, I’ll bring the case, not that it’s important. Just settle down… What about Samori and Hannah? They were after the case… I’m sure he was after the truffles. She’s just looking for clues.” Another grin. “She’s in for disappointment.” After a moment, she held the phone out for the one Hannah called the deliveryman. “He wants to talk to you.”

Taking it, the
deliveryman answered, “Yes, sir?”

Hannah blew out a breath.
“So, now you’re just going to kill us I suppose.”

Samori
shot a look to Hannah that was a mixture of shock and fear. Madeline roared with laughter.

“
You have got to stop playing detective and write about them instead. All the stereotypes. I’m not a killer. Elias’ accident was just that, an accident. I don’t kill people. Now, I’m not clean. Or least that’s the plan given that I’m about to introduce the world to truffles via a cheaper than market source. But that’s a far cry from murder. Jeeze, you really do think the worst of people, you know that?”

“
Well, given what I’ve got to work with…”

Madeline pulled her face in and glared.
“Whatever. The ‘us’ you asked about is none of your business. That’s another problem you have. You’re too far up into everyone’s Kool-Aid. My plans for you are simple. I’m going to let you go.” She held her hands up, wiggled her fingers, and made a wide-eyed face. “Oooooo, scary, isn’t it? I got what I want. Enjoy the rest of the festival. I’ll be taking an unexpected leave of absence. Got a restaurant to revamp. You should stop at one soon. The menu is going to change.” She paused and pointed at Hannah. “I don’t suppose I could hire you as a consultant, could I? Your name on my menu would be… well, unbelievable. Approved by the Culinary Sleuth. The irony being, you know all about the changes.”

“
Yes, unbelievable,” Hannah said in an icy tone.

“
Well, can’t say I didn’t try.”

Madeline turned and faced the
deliveryman. He clicked off the phone, lifted his gun and fired once. Hannah bumped back against the wall as she watched Madeline’s head snap back. The woman took one-step back and fell dead, blood trickling from a hole in the center of her head. Hannah stood dumbfounded as the young man laughed. The older man yawned. The deliveryman moved his gun toward Hannah.

With his arm already in motion, the weapon he carried would reach firing position before she
could even move. Therefore, Hannah did the one thing available at that moment. She accepted the inevitable. As she closed her eyes, she recalled all the things that gave her joy in life. Her past in Twilight. Her parents. Papa Jay and Gran. Her best friends, Cate and Buster Jordan. And Hym. Sweet Hym. In their short time together, he made her happy, happier than she remembered ever being. In this, her last living seconds, she regretted one thing. One last kiss with that man.

A pop sounded, followed by the sound of the bullet whizzing past. A hand fell across her shoulder and pushed her toward the ground. Though stunned, Hannah fell with
Samori to the ground. He pulled her tight as two more pops sounded, then several more. There was a vocal commotion. When she opened her eyes, she saw the deliveryman lying a short distance away. Blood trickled from a single hole in the dead center of his forehead.  The older man scrambled away, firing at an unknown target. The younger man fled before him with the case. Another pop sounded and the older man fell. Again, from Hannah’s viewpoint, it appeared as if a bullet struck him in the forehead.

In a few seconds,
Samori pushed himself up and off Hannah, his eyes wide and face showing concern. Hannah glanced up at him and then past as a figure stepped into sight.

“
Ducky?”

Before he answered, an odd notion raced through Hannah
’s mind. He looks like James Bond at the beginning of the movie. A chubby James Bond. 

“
You all right, Ms. Starvling?” Ducky asked.

“
Umm, yeah, I’m good. Yourself?”

Ducky gave a boyish grin.
“I’ve seen better days. I’d imagine you’ve seen better as well.”

“
You might say that.”

Ducky offered a hand and helped her up as
Samori rose.

“
What about you, Sam? You okay?”

“
Fine, thank you, and I’ve told you, it’s Samori.”

“
Aren’t you the cranky one?”

“
You’re late. You put Ms. Starvling in danger.”

Hannah stared with disbelief and blinked a few times.

For a second, Hannah stood unsure what to say by the sight. Her eyes darted between the two men. She addressed Ducky first.

“
You’re not just a shuttle driver are you?”

“
Nope.”

“
Your name’s not Serizawa Kamo, I’m guessing.”

“
Henry Tsuburaya, HSI.”

“
Ducky for Kamo. The samurai warrior aka the Duck.”

“
Someone’s been doing their homework. It’s an inside joke. It’s better than Chubs, so I’m going to keep it.”

“
You should. It sort of fits you.” Hannah looked over to Samori.

“
Samori is my true name. I am working with my uncle for the government of my country.”

Checking the
deliveryman and the older man to be sure they were dead, the men explained that they worked together on the case.

“
Your involvement has been both fortunate…” Ducky said.

“
And problematic, as you might imagine,” Samori completed.

Ducky twisted his face into a frown.
“They have the case. Everything

Elias had was inside.
”

Hannah glanced over at Madeline
’s body. She walked over and removed the flash drive from her hand. “They forgot this.” She glanced over to the deliveryman and then over to the older man. “But now, what are we going to do about this mess?”

The storage area was away from the road in a less populated area outside of Gresham. As Hannah expressed her doubt that anyone heard the sound of the gunfire, her eyes widened.
“The clerk!” she exclaimed.

All three ran to the cart and headed for the office. Inside, they found the woman dead. Hannah slumped into a chair.

“They followed me here. I thought I was clever enough to ditch everyone.” She gestured toward the body with an upswing of her head. “She’s dead because of me. So is Turnbull.”

Samori
sat down beside her. “No, Ms. Starvling. She is dead because of   evil men. They take life as simply as they eat bread. They think nothing of it. You cannot blame yourself for this.”

Hannah pondered the two men for a second.
“How did you two know where I was?”

Ducky grinned.
“My key card.”

Reaching
into her pocket, Hannah retrieved, and then scanned the card. “Chipped?”

The agent reached out and tapped the card.
“Your man Turnbull made this for me a few weeks ago. Shame.”

“
Some of Gresham police are in on this.”

“
They’re just hired guns. They work for a larger pool called the Collective. A sort of go to underground for dirty work. Wet work included. Having a couple of men inside Gresham is a recent thing as activity across the border has picked up. The town is the new Sodom. Or Gomorra. Your pick. Sign of the times, I suppose.”

She looked to the men with sadness on her face.
“I knew about the case for several days. I just never got here. I figured I knew what this was all about, at least until this morning.”

Ducky joined the three.
“What happened this morning?”

“
I met with Lukas Grimm.”

Chapter 20

“This morning. He claimed to be working for the Swiss government.” She looked at Samori. “He accused your uncle of being behind a diamond trade operation.”

Samori
sat up straight and shook his head. “No, he is lying. My uncle has been tracking the trade of illegal diamonds for years. He never even got close to the root. Then I went to school and met Elias. He came to give a lesson on truffles. When he mentioned the black market trade, it intrigued me. Since I showed a particular interest in truffles, he invited me to dine with him. We spent the night talking about cooking and truffles and the black market. At some point, the discussion turned to the diamond trade in my country. We made comparisons, but I never thought much of it. I mentioned uncle as well. In time, I chose truffles as my specialty because of Elias. We were to meet again at the festival. He called me and told me that he had been in touch with people who wanted him to smuggle diamonds in his truffles. Uncle made sure I held a position so that I could work at the festival and with him on finding these individuals.”

“
And I have been working with them both,” Ducky sounded in. “Grimm’s name never came up, not once. How is that possible?”

“
Why would it? He’s a Swiss citizen. A former investigator. A respected entrepreneur and a restaurateur. He has access to everything he needs.”

Ducky agreed.
“No one asks questions when you jump from country to country, from festival to festival. You move the diamonds through food and in restaurants. No one questions a business meeting over food.” He gave a half heart felt laugh. “Heck, you could even put them into a to-go box and pass them along.”

“
You have foods shipped in or out. If someone found out, you claim you

were
just a buyer. When someone starts making the connections, you sell off a restaurant and move on to the next.” Hannah wiggled her nose back and forth. She addressed Samori.  “Why accuse your uncle?”

Samori
shrugged. “Perhaps, because uncle knows you?”

Hannah gave a questioning look.

“It’s not uncommon knowledge,” Ducky affirmed. “Mr. Woolridge’s article listed that you saved his life. He even quoted him as I recall.”

Hannah considered the words, twisting them to fit the puzzle. She thought back across the last several days.
“Madeline.” She looked to the both of them. “She was there when he introduced me to you. She overheard him suggest we have dinner.”

“
He didn’t want you to find out about the ambassador’s efforts,” Ducky suggested. “And I’m guessing they killed Turnbull because when you showed up there, they had previous dealings with the man. They might not have known what you were talking about, but they weren’t taking any chances. The ambassador is also protected, killing him wasn’t an option.”

“
But why would he even involve me?”

Ducky made a disbelieving face.
“Because you involved yourself. In part, for the same reason I kept my eye on you. When you first arrived, I recognized you from Food Critic and by reputation. After you were at the accident, I figured you knew where the diamonds were. If you didn’t, you were close enough to Elias to find out without raising suspicion. I was waiting to see if you would lead me there.”

“
And one of the Brandon brothers was there, so he reported back. All right, one more question then. Why not just take me and force me to take them to the case?”

“
Best guess? He sees everything spinning out of hand. Since you’ve been here, you’ve been witness to Elias’ drop, which wasn’t supposed to happen. Your family watches over him. You’ve been investigating. You met with the ambassador, his enemy who’s chased him for years. You showed up at Turnbull’s shop, a man whom he bought equipment from. You’ve been stepping on his toes since you arrived. If he took you, with your contacts and reputation, it would bring in too much chaos. He was just waiting you out.”

Hannah sat up straight.
“You could have just told me who you were?”

“
I wasn’t sure I could trust you. You could have taken the diamonds yourself. Besides, I’m not even supposed to tell you who I work for now. Regardless, would you have believed me?”

“
I doubt it. I kind of suspected you.” She looked him straight in the eyes. “Can’t say I still don’t to some degree. Don’t suppose you have any ID?”

“
Undercover and IDs don’t really mesh. But you already know that.”

“
Then you can see my dilemma.”

Ducky acknowledged with a head bob.
“But just to put it out there, I’m one of the good guys. So is Sam.”

“
Samori.”

“
Shortened names, dude. It’s the American way of saying we like you.”

Hannah gestured to the
outside, then over to the clerk. “What about them? And what if someone comes?”

Ducky rolled his finger along the bottom of his chin.
“We call Detective Betts. She’s not on the take as far as we can tell, but we keep it low key. She might be able to buy us some time. The man with the case is going to go back and they’ll move quickly. They have everything they want now, so nothing to keep them around.”

Hannah rose and lifted up the flash drive.
“Let’s see if we can find out what’s on this.” She eyed both the men. “Given that I buy both your stories, I’d imagine it will confirm some things.”

“
Suspicious mind,” Ducky said. “I bet you were a heck of an agent.”

With some reluctance, Hannah stepped over the clerk
’s body as Ducky called Betts. Samori followed over beside Hannah.

“
You know computers as well?”

“
Not exactly,” she said, pushing the drive into the side of the computer on the office desk. “Password.”

Hannah tried several possible words. After a few minutes, she pulled out her phone and dialed. Cate answered.

“Hey, sweetie, need your skills.”

“
Oh, no greeting. Never a good sign. What do we have?”

“
I need to get past a password on a flash drive.”

“
Ouch, tough one. The logic comparison of the real/bogus password isn’t performed by the software. It’s done on-chip by sub-controller of the stick.”

“
And now, for those of us who don’t speak nerd.”

“
Ain’t happening. Do you know anything about the owner?”

“
Elias.”

There was a moment of silence.

“Okay, driven, obsessive, protective, as I recall. I take it you’ve tried the usual?”

Hannah went through the list.

“Not to bring up bad memories, but you used to know it, back in your dating days. It’s why you broke up, remember?”

Hannah
’s eyes lit up. “Yeah, I did and yeah, I do. Thanks, sweetie. Call you later.”

“
You better. Later.”

             
Samori looked at Hannah for an explanation. As she typed, she explained.

             
“A few years ago, Elias and I dated. I got too curious about some of his activities and hacked his laptop. His old password was my name and the date we met.”

The screen opened.

“He’s a man of routine and habit, so he used his wife’s name and the day they met. He once told me it was on Valentine’s Day two years ago. So…”

             
She pointed to the screen. “Voila. Open says me.” Reading down the screen, she gave her signature of thought. “There,” she said, tapping the screen.

             
Ducky leaned in and read. “Everything we need, but we still have to stop him. By now, they’ve met up. They could be over the border, on a plane, or who the heck knows where.”

             
Hannah disagreed. “I doubt it. They don’t have what they think they have.”

             
Ducky and Samori waited for an explanation. Hannah closed the program and removed the drive, handing it to Ducky.

             
“Okay, look. When I found the case, I checked inside. What Lukas told me made sense. All this effort was too big for just truffles. It had to be about the black market trade in general, or as he suggested, the diamonds. It made me think that if Elias was going to play the part of a smuggler, he would do so to the best of his ability. He would want to get in on the good graces of whomever he worked for. So he wouldn’t just carry them in with truffles. He’d find another way. When he made the case, he had a special compartment.”

             
Ducky ran his hand through his hair. “How James Bond of him, but you don’t think they’ll find it? You did.”

             
“Oh, I’m sure they’ll find it, but I doubt they even look for it. They’ll just rip the case apart. And when they do, they’ll find candy.”

             
Samori eyed Hannah with a quizzical expression.

Ducky stiffened and lifted an eyebrow. “Come again?”

“Rock candy. Kind of looks like uncut diamonds.”

“Why would he do that?” Ducky asked, throwing his hands into the air.

“Something to negotiate with, if I were to guess. He moved the case here. I can tell you that he’s protective to the point of obsession. He’d never let his truffles out of sight. That’s why he used fake truffles. He was dealing with gophers. The average person can’t tell the difference between a truffle and a regular mushroom. I’m also betting he figured the average hired gun wouldn’t know the difference between a real diamond and a piece of lump candy. They wouldn’t even touch them. If they did, they’d treat them as if they were fragile.”

“Diamonds are the hardest known substance,”
Samori informed.

“Yeah
, but people don’t handle them like that.” Hannah made a fist and squeezed. “We don’t palm them or try to crush them.” She held up two fingers and positioned them as if they held something small. “We barely touch them. When they were delivered, whoever got them would be pissed. So, when push came to shove, Lukas would have to deal with him face to face. Elias set it up so he could find out for sure who he was working for. Probably never got the chance to tell you.”              

             
A dumbfounded look took over Ducky’s face. “You got all that from a piece of rock candy?”

             
Hannah shrugged. “Well, I did taste it.”

             
“You are an odd woman, Ms. Starvling,” Samori said.

*****

              Betts arrived with Officer Bland per Ducky’s specific request. Upon entering the office and seeing the clerk’s body, she looked at Hannah and pointed.

             
“I know there’s more.”

             
“Three,” Ducky informed, “third row over.”

             
Betts ran her thumb and forefinger along the side of her nose. “I’m going to regret this.” She looked up and cracked her neck. “Chief got a call from high up the food chain. I’m supposed to help out, do as told, and otherwise stay out of the way.” Her eyes moved between Ducky and Samori. “Which one of you is Henry Something I can’t pronounce?”

             
“That’d be me. Just call me Ducky.”

             
“Just call me Betts. So, what do you need, Ducky?”

             
Ducky peered at Hannah. “When he finds he doesn’t have the diamonds, what do you think he’ll do?”

             
“I doubt he’s going to leave them. They’ll come for me, I suppose.”

             
Samori shook his finger. “Or your family.”

             
Panic moved across Hannah’s face as she pulled out her phone and dialed. Betts did the same.

             
“Gran, I can’t explain. You have to find a way to get Janine out. You’re all in danger. Just out. Find some place safe like downstairs in the cafeteria. Anyplace they can’t catch you alone. Call me when you find a place.”

             
“Chief, where are James and Clay?” There was a pause as she listened. “A disturbance at the Victoria. Is anybody else on duty?” Another pause and a hard expression followed. “Get them to the hotel. I’ll explain it later.”

             
Betts waved for everyone to follow. Looking at Bland, she said, “Find something to cover the bodies out back. Lock the place down, then get to the hotel like your life depended on it.” She reached over and flipped on the closed sign.

             
Hannah, Ducky, and Samori took seats in Betts’ car. She spun it out onto the street, headed back toward Gresham. Hannah dialed again. It rang several times. “Pickup,” she said in a panicked voice. She clicked off and dialed again. The phone rang three times and then someone picked up. “Hym, listen. Get out of the room, head downstairs, and make yourself scarce. Lukas is behind it all, and the diamonds aren’t diamonds. They’re…”