Chapter 16 Lottie
LOTTIE
The Evergreen Manor ballroom may have been transformed into a chocolate paradise, but at the moment, there’s an underlying current of social chaos as the crowd descends on the dessert tables with the enthusiasm of people who’ve never met a cocoa bean they couldn’t afford.
The classical music strumming from the string quartet can barely be heard over the increasing volume of excited chatter, clinking silverware, and what sounds suspiciously like Carlotta loudly explaining to a waiter that chocolate fountains remind her of her dating life—messy, addictive, and best enjoyed with multiple dipping options. She’s not wrong.
I reach Gina just as she steps down from the stage, her face glowing with satisfaction after delivering a speech that must have gone exactly according to plan. She spots me and breaks into a genuine smile.
“Lottie!” She gives a quick wave before reaching out and offering up a warm, tight hug. “I’m so glad you could make it! What do you think of the presentation?”
“It’s incredible,” I tell her. I might be here to investigate her brother-in-law’s murder, but there’s no denying that Gina and the rest of the family know how to put on a show. “That new bakery sounds absolutely amazing. The Whitmore family is really lucky to have you.”
Lenny offers up a quasi-friendly roar. He nods my way with his glowing and glorious mane, radiating the kind of focused intensity that suggests he’s ready to help extract some serious family secrets, even if it means using a fang or two to do so.
“Ask her about the family dynamics,” he rumbles, and a few stray stars shake out of his fur. It’s sort of a mesmerizing sight. “She knows where all the bodies are buried—figuratively speaking. Though given recent events, maybe literally, too.”
Interesting.
“So tell me,” I say to Gina as we move slightly away from the main crowd, “how’s everyone holding up after Duncan’s death? I can’t imagine how difficult this must be for the whole family.”
Gina’s expression shifts to something more serious, and she glances around to make sure no one is listening. “Oh, Lottie, it’s been absolutely horrible. I mean, losing Duncan is tragic enough, but the way it happened... and the timing couldn’t be worse for the business.”
“The timing?”
“Well, Duncan had been dealing with some pretty serious challenges lately,” she admits, lowering her voice. “The company’s been under a lot of pressure, and there were some family tensions that were getting pretty intense.”
Lenny perks up with interest, and so do I. “Now we’re getting somewhere,” he says with a snarl. “Ask about Bunny first. She and Duncan may have been siblings, but that woman’s been a thorn in Duncan’s side for years.”
I certainly understand sibling rivalry, but I can’t imagine resorting to murder.
“How is Bunny handling everything?” I ask with a wince.
Gina’s expression darkens for a moment. “Bunny? Well, she’s Bunny. You know she’s been running that wellness empire of hers, right? All natural this, organic that, avoid processed foods at all costs? She’s kind of out there.”
“I went to one of her seminars yesterday,” I tell her. “I thought it was very enlightening.” I wrinkle my nose without meaning to. I can’t help it. The woman single-handedly might have lowered my profit margin for the rest of the year.
“Oh, I bet it was,” Gina says with a laugh as if she knows exactly why I wrinkled my nose.
“Did she tell you that chocolate is basically poison wrapped in pretty packaging? Because that’s been her signature message for the past three years.
You can imagine why the rest of the family has never been happy with her. ”
“Ooh, I guess I can.”
She shakes her head in frustration. “The fact that Bunny’s wellness consultations include telling clients to avoid all Whitmore products specifically hasn’t exactly been met with a warm reception around here.
Talk about awkward Thanksgivings. She actually wrote a horrible book called Death in a Designer Wrapper, and our sales dropped thirty percent after it came out. ”
“Geez.” I gasp at the thought of my bottom line plummeting like that. “That must have been tough for Duncan.” And honestly, I’m shocked the killer didn’t go after Bunny instead—that is, if the killer is in the family.
Lenny gives a slight chuckle. “I know what you’re thinking, Lottie. Bunny has an easy target on her back. But I think we both know chocolate is a hard habit to break. She’s not a real threat to their empire.”
That thirty percent drop in sales begs to differ.
“Tough doesn’t begin to cover it.” Gina sighs as she gives a quick glance around the bustling room.
“But it gets worse.” She leans in. “Bunny has been spreading rumors about us using unethical labor practices, and she’s been trying to convince our suppliers to drop us.
She actually contacted our Madagascar vanilla supplier and told them we were planning to switch to artificial flavoring to cut costs. ”
Lenny growls beside me. “She was always jealous of Duncan’s success.”
“The thing is,” Gina adds as her gaze shifts to the refreshment table, “Bunny is basically a walking apothecary. She can get her hands on anything that’s supposedly good for you—or anything that can kill you, if you know what I mean.”
“Kill?” I lean back, and Gina gives a quick laugh.
“Don’t worry, Lottie. I’m pretty sure you’re safe.
But seriously, she knows all of nature’s tricks and secrets.
Herbs, plants, extracts, tinctures—if it grows somewhere on this planet, Bunny probably has it in her collection and knows exactly what it can do to the human body.
This is going to sound strange, but Duncan believed for years that she was out to get him, and just a few weeks ago, when she brought some of her special cookies by the office for him, Duncan threw them out.
He said the witch was trying to poison him. ”
“What?” I shake my head at the thought.
She shrugs. “I’m just telling you what I saw. It was more than odd. I mean, I knew the family was a little kooky, but that was over the top.”
“Why would Bunny want Duncan dead?” both Lenny and I ask at once, and I must say, we harmonize quite nicely.
“I don’t know.” Gina’s eyes widen a notch. “I don’t even know if the two of them were serious or just bantering. But she’s accused Duncan of poisoning the masses with chocolate for years.”
I file this information away for future reference, because a woman with access to natural poisons definitely belongs at the top of my suspect list.
“What about Muffin?” I ask, because I might as well get the full family dirt while Gina’s in a sharing mood.
“Oh, Muffin,” Gina groans despite shedding a little laugh. “Where do I even start with that woman? I guess you heard all about her romance novels, right?”
“I heard everything Duncan had to say that afternoon.” I’m right back to wincing.
“Everyone heard that,” she muses. “Well, from what I heard, those aren’t your run-of-the-mill dirty books,” Gina says with a knowing look.
“They’re memoirs. Every affair, every secret rendezvous, every passionate encounter—it’s all been documented in excruciating detail and published for the world to read. ”
Lenny perks up. “That’s what Bunny implied.”
I give a covert nod his way before looking back at Gina.
“How do you know that?” I ask. Come to think of it, I don’t know what made Bunny so sure she knew that either.
Gina leans in closer. “Fairbanks told me.” She bites down on her lower lip at the mention of her husband.
“It turns out, Duncan found out about her current affair about six months ago. He hired some private detective to have her followed, got pictures and more details of anything he ever wanted. The detective spoke to the guy Muffin was sleeping with, you know, bellying up at the bar with him. The guy didn’t know he was talking to a P.I.
Anyway, the guy basically spilled the beans on Muffin’s books.
He said his night moves were infamous and were recorded for the whole world to see. ”
“He was actually bragging?” I ask in disbelief.
“That’s right.” She laughs. “I guess after a few beers, he was shouting it from the rooftops. That’s how Duncan got the information on Muffin’s pen name.
And, of course, he told Fairbanks and me.
I read the books. She may have fictionalized a few things, but I was shocked that she basically wrote about her life, right down to being a church secretary and a secret romance writer by night.
It was pretty detailed in the bedroom as well, if you know what I mean. ”
“Wow,” I muse. “I guess she was treating it as a diary of sorts.”
“That’s not all.” Gina ticks her head to the side. “The guy’s been pressuring Muffin to leave Duncan and marry him instead. But here’s the kicker—Duncan had filed for divorce the week before the festival.”
“Oh my word,” I breathe, because this is getting juicier by the minute.
“The prenup is ironclad,” Gina explains. “If they divorce, Muffin gets essentially nothing. But if Duncan dies while they’re still married, she inherits everything—millions and millions of dollars, plus controlling interest in the company.”
Lenny snarls with disgust. “That gold-digging harpy never loved him. She loved his bank account and his family name.”
“The timing of Duncan’s death was very convenient for Muffin,” Gina adds quietly. “Very convenient, indeed.”
From across the ballroom, I hear Carlotta’s voice rising above the general chatter. “Is it just me, or does that chocolate fountain look like it needs a stripper pole?”
I shoot a look her way. She had better behave. But I know better.
Here’s hoping she’s not about to cause a scene that will cut short my very productive interrogation session.
Lenny growls, “Cut to the chase, Lottie. I have a feeling she’s about to dart in the crowd.”
Judging by the way Gina is assessing the room, I’d say he’s right.