Read Online Turn up the Heat by Jessica Conant-Park, Susan Conant - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Jessica Conant-Park, Susan Conant
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clean page. I provided basic information about who I was.
“And your boyfriend is the chef here? Josh Driscoll?” she asked, scanning her previous notes.
I nodded.
“Take me through everything you can remember from this morning, okay?”
I narrated the details of picking up Owen and talking with Snacker. The linens had been delivered, I said. Owen had used the office for faxing. Finally, I described the gruesome discovery of Leandra’s body. I consciously opted to avoid mentioning the lines of cocaine I’d seen in the bathroom, and I said nothing of my suspicion that not all the employees here were legal residents of the U.S.
“Tell me why Owen’s truck was parked here overnight. And did you know Leandra well? Were Owen and Leandra involved?”
I explained that Adrianna was pregnant and went on to say that because she’d been exhausted last night, she’d wanted Owen to drive her home. He’d done what Adrianna asked, and then he’d walked to his nearby apartment. In response to the question of whether I’d known Leandra well, I said no. I added that she’d been involved with Gavin Seymour, who’d seemed to be crazy about her. No, there was no relationship between Owen and Leandra. Owen was going to marry Adrianna. Just because Ade and Snacker had had a meaningless fling a while back didn’t mean that my friends weren’t perfect for each other! I stressed that no one should listen to anything Snacker had to say about Owen, because Snacker was not his biggest fan. As I didn’t say aloud, I resented the implication that Owen had had anything to do with the murder. Instead of saying outright that Owen shouldn’t be treated as a suspect, I emphasized his loyalty to Adrianna. I didn’t say this aloud, either, but if Owen had been going to kill someone, it would’ve been Snacker! “Owen was the one who wanted me to see his truck,” I said. “It’s not like he was hiding it from me.”
Detective Waters continued her questions. “Was Leandra involved with anyone before Gavin? While she was with Gavin?”
I shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. I knew her from spending time here because of Josh, but we weren’t close. Not by any means.”
“Gavin is a handsome man, don’t you think? There must have been other women who were interested in him.”
“Probably,” I said. Women who could’ve killed Leandra to get a shot at him? Obviously Isabelle’s harmless crush didn’t count, and I certainly didn’t want to bring up her name. “I’m sure he’s got tons of women all over him, but I don’t know of anyone specific.”
After another twenty-five minutes in which I described my observation of the linen deliveryman and gave a step-by-step description of finding the body and calling 911, I was done. I hoped I hadn’t said anything to implicate Owen. Or Snacker. Had I given the impression that Snacker despised Owen so much he could have plopped a dead body in Owen’s truck to frame him?
Josh and Snacker stood together, both increasingly irritated that they couldn’t get into the kitchen. Owen stood with them but was uncharacteristically quiet.
“It’s not like anyone got poisoned, right?” complained Snacker. “Everything probably happened in the alley and Owen’s truck, not in the restaurant and certainly not in our kitchen.” Snacker was taking every opportunity to point out Owen’s connection to this crime.
“The thing is, we don’t know how Leandra died. There were red marks on her neck, but there wasn’t any blood, right? Did you see any?” I asked.
“No,” Snacker admitted.
“Her death just couldn’t have been natural. It’s not like she suddenly felt ill, wandered into an unlocked fish truck, shut the door, and died.” I paused. “At least that’s not very likely.”
“Maybe she killed herself,” Josh suggested.
I rolled my eyes. “In a fish truck?"
Josh looked over my shoulder. “I’m up, I guess.” He left to be grilled by Detective Waters. Owen finally
“And your boyfriend is the chef here? Josh Driscoll?” she asked, scanning her previous notes.
I nodded.
“Take me through everything you can remember from this morning, okay?”
I narrated the details of picking up Owen and talking with Snacker. The linens had been delivered, I said. Owen had used the office for faxing. Finally, I described the gruesome discovery of Leandra’s body. I consciously opted to avoid mentioning the lines of cocaine I’d seen in the bathroom, and I said nothing of my suspicion that not all the employees here were legal residents of the U.S.
“Tell me why Owen’s truck was parked here overnight. And did you know Leandra well? Were Owen and Leandra involved?”
I explained that Adrianna was pregnant and went on to say that because she’d been exhausted last night, she’d wanted Owen to drive her home. He’d done what Adrianna asked, and then he’d walked to his nearby apartment. In response to the question of whether I’d known Leandra well, I said no. I added that she’d been involved with Gavin Seymour, who’d seemed to be crazy about her. No, there was no relationship between Owen and Leandra. Owen was going to marry Adrianna. Just because Ade and Snacker had had a meaningless fling a while back didn’t mean that my friends weren’t perfect for each other! I stressed that no one should listen to anything Snacker had to say about Owen, because Snacker was not his biggest fan. As I didn’t say aloud, I resented the implication that Owen had had anything to do with the murder. Instead of saying outright that Owen shouldn’t be treated as a suspect, I emphasized his loyalty to Adrianna. I didn’t say this aloud, either, but if Owen had been going to kill someone, it would’ve been Snacker! “Owen was the one who wanted me to see his truck,” I said. “It’s not like he was hiding it from me.”
Detective Waters continued her questions. “Was Leandra involved with anyone before Gavin? While she was with Gavin?”
I shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. I knew her from spending time here because of Josh, but we weren’t close. Not by any means.”
“Gavin is a handsome man, don’t you think? There must have been other women who were interested in him.”
“Probably,” I said. Women who could’ve killed Leandra to get a shot at him? Obviously Isabelle’s harmless crush didn’t count, and I certainly didn’t want to bring up her name. “I’m sure he’s got tons of women all over him, but I don’t know of anyone specific.”
After another twenty-five minutes in which I described my observation of the linen deliveryman and gave a step-by-step description of finding the body and calling 911, I was done. I hoped I hadn’t said anything to implicate Owen. Or Snacker. Had I given the impression that Snacker despised Owen so much he could have plopped a dead body in Owen’s truck to frame him?
Josh and Snacker stood together, both increasingly irritated that they couldn’t get into the kitchen. Owen stood with them but was uncharacteristically quiet.
“It’s not like anyone got poisoned, right?” complained Snacker. “Everything probably happened in the alley and Owen’s truck, not in the restaurant and certainly not in our kitchen.” Snacker was taking every opportunity to point out Owen’s connection to this crime.
“The thing is, we don’t know how Leandra died. There were red marks on her neck, but there wasn’t any blood, right? Did you see any?” I asked.
“No,” Snacker admitted.
“Her death just couldn’t have been natural. It’s not like she suddenly felt ill, wandered into an unlocked fish truck, shut the door, and died.” I paused. “At least that’s not very likely.”
“Maybe she killed herself,” Josh suggested.
I rolled my eyes. “In a fish truck?"
Josh looked over my shoulder. “I’m up, I guess.” He left to be grilled by Detective Waters. Owen finally
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