Murder On The Menu: A Romantic Comedy Culinary Cozy Mystery (A Celebrity Mystery) Read Online Free PDF Page A

involving a celebrity, with the added pressures of the world’s gossip-hungry media breathing down their necks.”
    “Fantastic!” I throw my hands in the air in frustration. “So you’re saying there’s an even higher likelihood of me being wrongly accused of murder because the local police are way out of their depth.”
    “Look, like I said, try to keep calm. The local guys might not be winning any awards for their investigative abilities, but I’ve worked far more complex cases than this before with far more at stake. I can catch this killer with my hands tied behind my back.”
    I eye him sceptically. “Won’t you get into trouble? You said you were on a sabbatical from this agency you work for. Plus, you haven’t mentioned how much I’ll have to pay if I do decide to get you to help me.”
    “For you, no charge. And naturally I’ll be working freelance on this one,” he says, pushing a hand through his hair and then sipping his coffee, looking annoyingly laidback. “The agency doesn’t need to know a thing about it.”
    I flop onto the opposite end of the sofa. “What happened with you and this crime investigation agency you work for? You say you’re on sabbatical, but in reality, are you suspended or fired or something? What did you do to get into trouble with your employers?”
    “Let’s say there was a bit of a disagreement about the interpretation of a couple of agency rules, and so I took some time out to come up to Cumbria and help my big brother with the farm.”
    I sigh in exasperation. “And that’s as much as you’re going to tell me?”
    He nods. “For now.”
    “But what…”
    Leaning across the sofa cushions he rests a hand on my arm. “Just trust me. I won’t let you down. The way I see it we could, in a way, be helping each other out. Working this case will ensure you stay out of jail. And when I catch the killer and the agency finds out, it will go one of two ways. Instead of being suspended from active duty, they’ll fire me for working without jurisdiction, or I’ll have redeemed myself and they’ll reinstate me. Either way, it’s got to be worth a shot, right?”
    So he was suspended. I shake my head. “I don’t want you getting fired for trying to keep me out of prison.”
    “I won’t be trying to keep you out of prison; I will keep you out of prison. And if I get fired, then I’ll find work elsewhere with a different agency.” He grins confidently at me. “I’m good at what I do. I admit I might bend the rules a little too far some of the time but if it gets the job done, what’s the harm?”
    “I’m thinking your employers have a different opinion on that front but right now I need professional help. I can’t go to prison!” I feel sick at the very thought of it.
    His hand is still on my arm, rubbing soothingly through the fabric of my shirt. “And you won’t be going to prison. I will track down who killed this chef guy and you can carry on running Eskdale as a free woman. Now, do we have a deal?”
    A vison of Armand, stabbed with a knife, police constantly questioning and harassing me, and my lack of an alibi for last night all crowd into my head. My hands go clammy and my shoulders tense up even more. I nod. “Yes. We have a deal.”
    Jack pulls away. “Right. I need a notepad and a pen, and then I need you to tell me all about your expired boss.”
    I find the requested items and hand them to Jack, my hands shaking as I do so. He catches my fingers as he reaches for the pen and flashes me a smile. “It’s going to be OK.”
    I nod and try to believe him. We take seats at opposite ends of the oak kitchen table.
    “So, tell me everything you know about Armand,” he says, pen poised over the notepad. “I need to figure out who our other suspects are.”
    Picking up on his words I gasp, “Other? So you’re including me on your suspects list?”
    “I have to. I need to go through the details of who is in Armand’s life and what motives and