Watchin' The Detective: A Mystery Dinner Romance Read Online Free PDF Page A

room. She introduces herself as the
pathologist and starts looking at the body.
    The wife cries uncontrollably and the
policeman tells her sister, “Can’t you move her across the room so
she doesn’t have to see all this?”
    “Of course,” her sister says. Her husband
helps her walk her grieving sister over to an empty table out of
view of the body.
    Back at Isabella’s table, Gunther looks like
he’s having a nervous breakdown. His eyes are enormous and he can’t
stop his foot from tap, tap, tapping.
    “Yo! Gunther. Are you okay?” Joshua asks.
    “I’m having a panic attack.”
    “We all are.”
    “I mean it. I’m different. I need my
meds.”
    “Where are they?”
    “At home.”
    Nicole says, “Try to relax, Gunther. None of
us can go anywhere right now.”
    Isabella and Nicole look at each other with
sympathy. “What a night,” Isabella says.
    A moment later, Nicole notices that something
is different in her friend’s demeanor. Isabella looks possessed.
Like something has taken over her mind. Nicole looks in the
direction of Isabella’s gaze, and sees a very tall, dark, and
handsome man in a black suit, while shirt, and thin black tie. “Oh,
my God,” Nicole says. “He looks just like Don Draper.”

Chapter Seven
     
     
    Isabella’s mouth is agape as she stares at
the man. He walks over to the policeman and pathologist and says,
“What have we got here?”
    They tell him what is happening and he writes
down some notes. He immediately takes charge of the room. He seems
gracious and doesn’t bark at people. He is perfect. At least
according to most of the women in the room.
    He introduces himself to the actors and
diners, saying, “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is
Detective Don Sterling. We’ll try to finish this up and let you
people go back to your homes as soon as possible. But first, it is
very important that we talk to each of you, since you were eye
witnesses to the murder tonight.”
    Isabella thinks, Start with me. Start with
me .
    As if he can feel her energy, he looks right
at her.
    Oh, my God!
    He walks over to her table, and tells the
crowd, “I’ll start with these nice people.”
    He pulls up a chair at Isabella’s table and
sits next to her. “Has anyone ever told you that you look Joan on
‘Mad Men’?”
    His question calms the table a bit.
    She tries to speak, but her mouth is as dry
as the Mojave Desert. After she takes a sip of water, she manages
to answer, “Uh…yes.”
    He smiles at her and says, “What’s your
name?”
    What is my name? I can’t think
straight .
    When she finally comes to, she tells him her
full name, address, and phone number (“Call me!” she wants to
say).
    He writes down her name. “Isabella,” he says.
“That’s a pretty name. Just like the character in ‘Twilight’.”
    I’m going to have to rent that DVD ,
she tells herself.
    He continues, “Okay, Isabella. Tell me what
you saw tonight?”
    Isabella can’t remember. She’s never been
this befuddled in her whole life. Finally, she collects her
thoughts and says, “I couldn’t see anything. The lights were turned
off and the only light I saw was from the flashlight.”
    “What flashlight?”
    “The ones the actors were holding.”
    Joshua steps in and says, “It was part of the
show. Two actors came out holding flashlights. They both were far
away from the table where the poor guy was sitting.”
    Detective Sterling says, “And who are
you?”
    Joshua tells him his name, address, and phone
number.
    He writes the information down and says,
“Joshua, do you have any idea why this man was murdered
tonight?”
    “No. I didn’t see anything that would lead me
to believe it would end like this.”
    “Have you ever seen this man before?”
    “No.”
    The detective looks at Nicole and Gunther and
asks them the same questions. They both say that they’ve never seen
him before and can’t think of any reason why someone would want to
kill him.
    “Tell me what