Couples
Chapter 46
If Ginny Wygard ever had a bigger smile on her face, Dana can't remember it. She didn't glow this brightly when he won the Lee award. "Alexis is such a dear girl. And she understands every scientific word you say. I'm thrilled you're not letting her get away, and I'd love to help you organize your wedding. And at a house in the Hamptons! It will be like something out of a storybook."
Dana swallows a chuckle. "I think you and Alexis's father are on the same page about that. But in less than three months, it better be a short story."
Ginny pats her graying perm. "My group made a quilt that won the exposition in less time than that. But I need to put my head together with your bride. You should bring her to dinner."
In his mind, Dana unfavorably compares his mother's meals with the cookery at the Castle loft. "Maybe we could go out somewhere," he suggests. "She really likes banana splits, and Spangler's specializes in mountain-high sundaes. The pot roast is pretty good too," he adds.
"Yes, it is," Ginny agrees, nodding slowly. "I don't know how they get the gravy that smooth. I can never get the lumps out of mine."
"It must be a chef's trick," Dana offers. "If you're OK with Spangler's, I'll call Alexis. Her shift at the C.S.U. lab is officially over at four p.m. She usually stays longer, but she can probably make dinner anytime after five. Five-thirty or six would be good for me. That would give us plenty of time to talk."
"Your father's on a stakeout or something. He just said he'd be on the job. Six would be fine with me, and Alexis can take her time," Ginny offers.
Dana grabs his phone from his jeans pocket. "I'll text her right now."
The words on the screen blur as Rick attempts to integrate a secret hidden in a puzzle toy into a Derrick Storm adventure. He rubs his eyes. He couldn't get much sleep the night before, and what he did get was filled with dreams of Princess Alexis in a coma, trapped in a castle surrounded by a wall of thorns. Two evil sorcerers from the land of Werkill had poisoned her plate at a feast to celebrate her engagement.
In a lab outside the thorn wall, Prince Dana was running tests to determine what herbicide would destroy the barrier while working on an antidote for his beloved. Rick woke up before the young man had any success.
As they often do in dreams, events in Rick's nightmares made a frightening kind of sense. Even knowing they were dreams, he still checked to make sure Alexis was all right. That was hours ago.
It's midmorning, now. Rick's about to call Kate to find out if she has anything on Werner and Fishkill when her ringtone sounds from his cell. He smiles knowingly to himself. As sleepy as he is, their mind meld is in full force.
"Babe, the lab results on the dishes Werkill was trying to foist off on you are in. They leach lead and cadmium. According to the report, the materials in them are banned in the U.S. They should never have made it into the country."
"Which means Werkill crossed someone's palm with silver," Rick surmises. "And considering Garces' death, it was blood money."
"If Garces confronted Werkill about poison dishes, he would have given them a motive for taking him out. But we don't have any proof that he knew," Kate reminds her husband. "Fiona Garces didn't seem to have any idea what was going on, but if Garces had a lab analyze something, the bill would be in his records somewhere. I can order his financials, but that would take time. Fiona would probably have an idea where to look right now. I need to talk to her again."
"Meryl turned in her article. She's available today. MG's big rush would be for dinner. I could try to get us a reservation for lunch. We could both talk to Fiona and check out the food. Want to try a bunch of small plates?"
"Sounds like fun. Give getting a reservation a shot and let me know. If it works out, I'll swing by and pick you up."
"Roger that," Rick acknowledges.
Kate savors a mini empanada. "I don't know that I ever want to order anything on big plates again. This place is like a collection of perfect bites."
"Either I'm beginning to rub off on you, or you've been watching the Food Channel," Rick teases. "But I'm not about to give up on a Chateaubriand for two or a heaping serving of pasta. Everything in its plate. See what I did there?"
Kate groans. "It would be hard to miss it. I saw Fiona poke her head out of the kitchen door a couple of times. She's keeping an eye on things. We can catch her when we finish eating. I'm still trying to decide on dessert."
Rick wiggles his eyebrows. "That's the great thing about a tasting menu. You can try a little of a lot, even sweet nothings. And this place must go through dishes like crazy. The other restaurant Garces wanted would have too. No wonder Werkill tried to get an in with him."
At her desk, Fiona Garces leans her chin on her closed fist. "You'd want to see purchase orders for around the time Werner and Fishkill made their visits. I remember the dates from the information I found for you before. All our transactions are on our accounting program. It shouldn't take me long to look up any testing Manny ordered. There's a lab he used to check if food represented to him as organic and pesticide-free really was. He probably would have ordered the work from them."
Fiona types on her computer for several minutes. "Yes, here it is, Northeast Testing Labs. Manny ordered heavy metals tests on several pottery samples."
"Does the paperwork say what the results were?" Rick asks.
Fiona shakes her head. "They would have called him with the results and attached the report to an email. I can't access his emails from this computer, and I have his old one put away. He might have printed out a hardcopy." She indicates a file cabinet. "If he did, it would be in there."
"Mind if we have a look?" Kate asks.
"Please," Fiona urges. "If lab reports will get you closer to who killed Manny, take them. Take them all."
Rick is already striding toward the metal drawers. He quickly examines the labels on hanging files. "Neelan, Nilsson, Norbert. Here it is! Northeast Testing Labs." He quickly flips open a folder. "This is all produce analysis. It's a good thing your husband had it done. Some of the tomatoes and apples had pesticide residues."
Kate puts a hand on his shoulder. "What about the dishes?"
Rick quickly skims the contents of three more folders before finding the one he needs. "This is what we're looking for. Garces sent in four sets of dishes for the government-approved leaching test. They all showed higher than allowable levels of lead. One of them showed cadmium as well. Damn! Werkill could be slowly poisoning the city's or even the country's diners."
"And now we know that Garces knew. That confirms motive, but we have to establish means and opportunity." She turns to Fiona. "Ms. Garces, I'll need to have our M.E. review your husband's autopsy report."
"Whatever you have to do, Detective," Fiona agrees. "Just nail those bastards."