Read Death By the Glass #2 for Free Online

interlaced. He lifted his thumbs, inviting her to elaborate.
    “I’ve never met him, but I know that he’s one of Vinifera’s owners. As a matter of fact, I heard his name for the first time last night. I was over at Vinifera cooking for Night of Five Stars.”
    Steve nodded. “Well, I’m afraid I have some bad news. They found Nathan Osborne this morning in his home at about eleven-thirty. He’d been deceased for a day or so already.”
    This was the last thing she expected to hear, and she wasn’t sure what to say. For a moment, she said nothing.
    “The cause of death appears to have been cardiac arrest,” said Steve, “but we won’t be sure until the coroner’s report comes back tomorrow or the next day.”
    “Cardiac arrest. How old was he?” she asked.
    “Fifty-eight,” said Steve.
    “That’s pretty young for a heart attack.”
    “I guess it depends. Depends on your health, diet, how much you exercise, stress level, family history.”
    “They must be pretty shook up over at Vinifera,” said Sunny.
    “Like you’d expect,” said Steve. “It’s always a shock to have someone die suddenly. No one so far has indicated an awareness that he had heart trouble or any other serious illness, so it was completely unexpected.”
    She looked out the window, considering the news. He didn’t show up for Night of Five Stars because he was already dead. She thought about everyone gathered around the table for family meal last night, and Andre asking where Nathan was. It gave her a chill to think of it.
    “Well,” she said, “that’s a terribly sad piece of news.”
    She looked from Officer Dervich to Sergeant Harvey with anticipation. They weren’t here just to keep her informed of affairs at Vinifera, no matter how grave. She wondered when they were going to get to it.
    Sergeant Harvey seemed to think it was time. “We understand you cooked at Vinifera last night,” he said, despite the fact that she had already stated as much.
    “I did. It was Night of Five Stars,” said Sunny. “They bring five different chefs together. Each of us prepares one course.”
    “Okay, so you’re working this Night of Five Stars thing last night,” said Steve. “Did anything out of the ordinary occur?”
    That was it, the mushrooms. They were here because of the false morels. Was it possible that Nathan Osborne got hold of some? And if he did, would they have been toxic enough to kill him? She thought for a moment, remembering last night and choosing her words carefully.
    “Yes, something strange did happen,” said Sunny. “I was preparing a mushroom sauce and I discovered several false morels mixed in with the supply of dried morels from Vinifera’s pantry.”
    “What are false morels?” asked Officer Dervich.
    Sunny explained.
    “How unusual is that, for someone to make that kind of mistake?” asked Steve. “I mean, do the wrong mushrooms turn up now and then in your supplies, so that you’re used to watching for them?”
    “No, definitely not. I’d say it’s extremely unusual. I’ve never seen it before. Frankly, I can’t imagine how it could have happened. Andre Morales, the chef at Vinifera, is looking into it.”
    “We’re looking into it too,” said Officer Dervich.
    “What did you do when you discovered them?” asked Steve.
    “We got rid of the entire supply of morels and everything that had had contact with them, just in case. Andre felt fairly confident that no one else had used any of them recently. There hasn’t been anything on the menu at Vinifera with morels for the last couple of weeks.”
    “Would he know everything that gets used in his kitchen?” asked Steve.
    “It’s hard to say. Very little happens in my kitchen without me knowing about it, but Vinifera is so much bigger, with a much bigger staff.”
    “And you don’t know what you don’t know,” said Steve.
    “That’s true,” said Sunny, smiling. For an instant it was impossible to tell if Steve was being funny or