Cheddar Off Dead--A Cheese Shop Mystery by Korina Moss

Author:Korina Moss
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

CHAPTER 18

Walking in was Detective Heath. Huckleberry.

“It was nice meeting you,” I said to Constance hurriedly, grabbing my truffle fries. I wanted to leave before she got the chance to spill the beans to Detective Heath that she’d been talking to me about the murder. But when I turned, he was directly in my path. I couldn’t glide by with a quick wave.

“Hello, Detective,” Constance called in a flirty voice.

“Hello, Ms. Yi,” Detective Heath replied. Then he looked at me. “We meet again.”

I suddenly felt like a teenager who’d been caught out past curfew. This was ridiculous. I was allowed to go anywhere I wanted. Still, I found myself explaining my actions. “I was looking for the way to the bar.”

“Mind if I join you?”

Like I had a choice. “Of course not.” I gave a short wave to Constance, who replied with a double thumbs-up, presumably for getting a drink with the hot police detective. If only she knew.

I found the red door down a short hall as Constance had directed me earlier. As soon as we opened it, the tranquility the inn’s lobby had exuded turned on its heel. Country music commingled with overlapping conversations, all of it becoming louder as we descended the steps.

The Cellar looked like an English pub plopped into a medieval dungeon. Wrought-iron ring chandeliers hung from the ceiling, the candle-like bulbs playing up the castle elements of the stone walls and floor. The room seemed to hold as many tables and chairs as would fit, leaving only narrow pathways to get to and from the bar. The back of the room beyond the long bar had been cleared for the acoustic band. The half dozen couples dancing in the small space in front of them didn’t seem to mind occasionally bumping into one another. The crowd had a slow, unbothered vibe, much like the California country ballad the band was playing.

Several oak-lined arched nooks broke up the long wall, each with just enough space for booths for two to be tucked into. As we approached one of the nooks, a couple was just getting up to leave, so we snagged the table.

I was glad the nook had muffled the music a bit. “This is an interesting space down here. You don’t usually see lower levels in California,” I said.

“I heard it was originally built as a wine cellar.”

“I can picture it. It’s very different from Apricot Grille’s bar. I see why they can co-exist in such a small town.”

A server stopped at our table and cleared off the used glasses while she asked for our drink order. I ordered a white Burgundy off the cuff. I hadn’t expected to be drinking tonight. I looked longingly at the bar, certain the man behind it must be Del. I wouldn’t be talking to him tonight thanks to Heath babysitting me. The server left, weaving her way between tables to return to the bar.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Heath said, looking over at the bar, as well.

“Oh?”

“This was the last place he was seen alive, so it was one of the first places we checked out.

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