you know prospective clients are not going to bother to remember that it was some stalker. I’ve got my sterling reputation to maintain.”
I nodded. “Can I help you with anything? Fee said you were running a bit behind.”
“Thank you, no. You’ll understand if I say I’ll get this done a lot faster without you getting in the way.” Victoria picked up the odd platter and fixed me with a look. “And that Fee can say I was late all she wants, but I told her sixty times that I’d be here at ten-thirty for eleven-thirty. I was fifteen minutes early, and so were my assistants. And I’ll say no more on that subject.”
“I’ve…worked with Fee before. I understand.”
Chef Victoria nodded. “I’ll put this away, unload the rest of the food, and then adorn myself with my hat, so everyone will know who to thank for the amazing meal they’re about to eat.” She picked up the platter, and looked at it more closely. “Pity. It’s a pretty pattern. German, I bet; my mom used to collect china. A little old-fashioned. Love the lilies of the valley.”
I had just turned away but was arrested by her words. “Chef Victoria. Please be very careful with that plate, how you handle it. I don’t think there is any Aunt Melina and I’d like to save it.”
After a few hours, people began to clear out. The food was decimated, and yet the chef had managed to keep everything looking neat and presentable down to the last crumb. I noticed that she sent one of her assistants to the car for more business cards, they flew away so quickly.
Chef Victoria packaged up the leftovers beautifully, and Meg wouldn’t need to cook for the next week. She saved the china plate for me.
I took it. “No Aunt Melina?”
“Nope. No Aunt Melina.”
“Okay, thanks.”
She looked at me, politely curious. “What are you going to do with it?”
I looked over to where Brian was talking with Neal; both had a bottle of beer. Brian was obviously giving Neal his patented “how-to-stay-married speech.” There was the joke version: “learn to say, ‘Anything you want, dear.’” Then there was the real list: don’t go to bed angry, try to argue about what you’re arguing about, trust the other person, keeping up fifty percent of the relation isn’t nearly enough, etcetera. “I’m going to give it to a chemist I know,” I said to her. “See if he can tell me anything about it.”
She gave me a look that suggested that she still thought I had a few bats in the belfry. “Well. I hope you enjoyed the rest of the wedding.”
“Oh, yes. Very nice.” My stomach was in a knot, but now slowly unclenching. Meg and Neal were married, and I wouldn’t tell them about the plate or my worries.
Victoria’s mouth twitched. “If you find I’m going to be catering any other functions you attend this summer?”
“Yes?”
“Give me the head’s up first, would you?” She was smiling ruefully, and I found I had to, too. “I’ll want to keep an eye out for Aunt Melina.”
“You got it.”
“What’s that?” Brian was looking at the plate of food I handed him when we got home. “Can I have some?”
“No! It showed up uninvited to the wedding. And no one claimed it. I want you to test it for me. Test it for poisons. So don’t eat it.”
He cocked his head. “What exactly do you want me to do with it?”
“Can’t you test it, see if there are compounds in it that shouldn’t be? I mean, take your favorite poisons and try them out. Or something?”
He asked, “Why would I want to torment a perfectly nice looking plate of spanikopita? Em, I didn’t see anyone there who looked dangerous.”
Trust a man to believe that he could sense evil from afar. “Because no one came to collect the plate afterward. Because Meg was the one to stop Tony—she shot him—and the wedding is too public, too good an opportunity to pass up, if he’s looking for revenge.” I looked him in the eye. “Because I very seldom ask you to do anything like this. And it’s no more cautious than you’ve been on other occasions.”
Brian’s lips compressed and his eyes narrowed in thought. “Okay. There’s a toy I’m quite desperate to use and I happen to be owed a favor by its keeper. But if it comes up negative, not poisonous, can I eat it then?”
I wrinkled my nose. “Who knows how long it was