Trifles or Truffles?
Mac Taylor was on his way to a crime scene. He had decided that New York was right where he belonged…at least for now. He had gotten a call to this crime scene…of course, it was 3am. Mac sometimes wished they could locate a dead body some other time besides this time of the morning. It was common to find a body this time of the night though…night or morning? He was not sure he called this morning, although it was in the AM, ante meridiem. To Mac it was the dead of night when most people were trying to get some sleep…but not CSI's.
Mac finally arrived at the crime scene, where Don Flack was already waiting for him. "Morning, Mac," Don said. "Do you think we'll ever get any sleep in this lifetime?"
"Not as long as we stay here," Mac replied. "What have we got?"
"Inside."
Mac followed Don into the restaurant. "This is a gourmet restaurant," Mac said. "What's somebody doing here this time of the morning?"
"Someone saw the light on here and called the police," Don said. "I guess there are people who notice things." He pointed to the victim, who was lying on the floor between the stove and the food storage racks. "We got here and we found the victim there. His name is Pierre Manicotti."
Mac looked at Don with one of his inquisitive looks. "Yeah," Don said. "That's his real name. He's the owner of this restaurant."
"So, someone killed him over what?"
"I guess that's the question."
Just then, Danny Messer walked in along with Jo Danville. "So, what have we got?" Jo asked.
"Our victim was the owner of this restaurant," Mac said.
They squatted beside the body. "Shot right through the heart, looks like," Jo said.
Mac looked at the wounds on the victim, one through the heart, one in the abdomen. "Shot twice," he pointed out. "Whoever did this wanted to make sure he died."
"I agree. Now, if we can figure out why, we can get this case out of the way."
Mac looked at the victim's hands. "Nothing under the nails," he said. "Doesn't look like there was much of a struggle except that bruise on his face there."
They looked around the area as Danny took pictures of the crime scene. Mac picked up a piece of food from the floor…or at least it looked like food. He smelled of it and it had a pungent aroma. "Wow, this has a strong smell," he said.
Jo looked at it. "It looks like a mushroom," she said.
"It's black." Mac considered that. "There aren't that many black mushrooms in the world." He put the piece of mushroom in an evidence bag. "We'll have to see what kind of mushroom this is."
Jo stared at Mac a moment. "You think a mushroom is worth killing over?"
"You know that there are mushrooms in France that sell for a thousand dollars a kilo?"
"A thousand dollars?"
"Yeah, and we know that money is always a big reason for murder."
"So these truffles have caused someone some trifles?"
Mac chuckled at that connotation. "Looks like it could be possible unless he has a refrigerator full of them here somewhere."
"If they sell for that much in France, imagine what you pay for them to get them here?"
"I'm sure there is quite a price on their…heads."
When they were done with the crime scene, they went back to the lab. Don Flack came to Mac's office later with some information about the victim. "He had his restaurant willed to his niece, Julia. She lives in Boston. We contacted her and she's on her way here."
Mac looked at the information Don had. "I don't really think this is the reason for this murder," he said. "If she wanted to kill him to inherit the restaurant, why would she do it at three in the morning?"
"I don't find anyone who didn't like this guy. All his customers have been satisfied over the last few months. There have been no complaints about the food. As a matter of fact, he has a four-star rating."
Mac considered that. "Then it must be something else," he said. "What would he be meeting someone at three a.m. about?"
"Beats me. I would never have a meeting that early in the morning for any reason that's legal."
"So maybe our chef was dealing in something besides food?"
"I don't know."
"I guess I need to go and see what Sid found."
Just then, Danny came to the office. "Mac, I found out something about that mushroom," he said. "It 'was' a mushroom."
"So, what did you find out?" Mac asked.
"The Black Truffle is native to South and Southeastern France. It is the most expensive mushroom you can get and it is even fought over in France. These things have a shelf life of about three weeks and grow about a foot underground around Oak, Pine and Willow trees and they use dogs and female hogs to sniff them out. These things are rare because of deforestation and acid rain, so they are worth a thousand dollars for about two pounds. Since they're harvested mostly in winter, they are very rare. We're still testing the mushrooms. There were several on the floor."
Mac looked at the report Danny had brought. "So, this guy was buying mushrooms from somebody?" he asked. He had an amused look on his face. "Who kills over mushrooms?"
"You kidding?" Danny asked. "People fight over these things, even pull weapons on each other."
"Fighting over mushrooms?" Don asked. "I think I've heard it all now. Can't they just go to the grocery store and buy some?"
"Not these. These things are extremely rare and they're a delicacy. Some people even consider them an aphrodisiac."
Don snorted at that. "I'm not even going to comment on that," he said.
"Alright," Mac said. "Let's see if we can find out who was trying to sell him these mushrooms."
"If they're selling them on the black market, I'm sure they are well hidden."
"Well, maybe we can dig them out."
Don laughed as he was walking back to the elevator. Mac looked at Danny. "Get Adam to find out who sells these in the United States and find out if they were doing business with Mister Manicotti," Mac said.
"I'm on it," Danny said and headed down the hall.
Jo came to Mac's office next. "So, what have you found out?" she asked.
"Our victim may have been killed over truffles," Mac said. He explained it to her as they were walking to the elevator. "We have to see what Sid has to say."
"Maybe the victim had tasted the mushrooms and they weren't authentic."
"They were. Danny's analysis confirmed it."
"So, if the mushrooms were authentic, why was he murdered over them?"
"I guess that's the burning question."
They went down to the morgue where Sid had finished the autopsy. "Sid, what have you found?" Mac asked.
"Well, your victim had eaten mushrooms," Sid replied. He gave Mac a container. "He ate them quite close to death."
Mac looked in the container. "You find anything else?" he asked.
"He was shot twice, once through the abdomen and the killing shot went right through his heart. If he had not been shot through the heart, he might have survived." He gave Mac a container with two bullets in it. "They're both the same caliber."
"Is that all?"
"Yes. There's no indication of any other injuries besides some bruising on his face. Looks like someone hit him with their fist."
Mac and Jo took the evidence and went back to the lab. "So, he had tasted the mushrooms," Mac said. "Maybe they had been kept too long."
"Or maybe they weren't as authentic as the seller claimed," Jo suggested. "Maybe he threatened to expose them as a fraud."
"Or maybe they were trying to soak people and he was blackmailing them."
"Or maybe he was tired of paying their inflated prices and decided to try a little blackmailing and it backfired on him."
Mac put his lab coat on and analyzed the stomach contents while Jo analyzed the bullets. "These are forty-fives," she said. "No hits."
"He definitely ate some of the mushrooms that we found on the floor," Mac said. He leaned on the lab table. "Question is: what happened after that that caused him to be murdered?"
"Argument?"
"We have some work to do."
Danny came into the lab. "There are two sellers of this type of mushroom," he said. "They import them directly from France, but they don't even import them this time of the year. These are seasonal mushrooms, mostly harvested during the winter."
"We had quite a harsh, long winter last winter," Mac said. "But if the mushrooms are only harvested in the winter, then where did they get these?"
"Maybe they had them in storage and claimed they had found some this time of year."
"If this chef is a professional like he claims, he would know that they weren't fresh."
"Exactly. Maybe our chef accused the sellers of overcharging for them and threatened to sue them or turn them in."
"It's just mushrooms," Mac said. "So they're not fresh…why would they care? Half the food in this country is kept in storage."
"Because they can't get as much for them if they're not fresh. If these had been kept in cold storage, they would not last long. Maybe they were defrauding people claiming they had fresh ones. A thousand dollars a kilo is a lot of money."
"So, let's go visit these two importers and see what they have to say," Mac said as he took his lab coat off. "Danny, you take Don and go to the first and Jo and I will go to the other. Let's see what we can find out about the mushroom business."
"Mushrooms," Danny said. "I think I've heard it all now."
"I doubt it."