Serving Up Spite by Devon Delaney

Author:Devon Delaney
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: small town, amateur sleuth, recipes, new england, women sleuths, family secrets, missing person, black sheep, cooking mystery
Publisher: Beyond the Page Publishing

Chapter 17

Sherry, Marla, and Chutney arrived at Patti’s townhouse on schedule. Sherry brought a heaping helping of last night’s dinner leftovers. They found Patti on the shabby chic off-white couch with both legs propped up on pillows. Sherry was slow to react when Chutney wedged his canine body next to the puffiest cushion Patti wasn’t propped up on. The light-colored couch and Chutney’s not-immaculately clean paws were not a good fit.

“Don’t even think about it, Chutney,” Sherry said. Her dog lowered his head and made a beeline for the kitchen, where Sherry knew he’d make himself useful by vacuuming up any crumbs on the floor.

“Hi, Patti.” Sherry’s tone was upbeat but hard to maintain when she saw Patti’s unfortunate state. “You look a bit worse for wear. Thankfully not as bad as I imagined. Your legs took the brunt of the fall?” Sherry asked. When Patti shifted her body Sherry spotted more damage. An arm wrapped in a bandage. “Your poor arm. Is it broken?”

“My legs are black and blue. Bad elbow sprain. I was lucky. Nothing’s broken,” Patti said. “And I have a good-size bruise on my back. I’m sure someone shoved me hard from behind.”

Sherry shuddered. “You didn’t see anyone in the stairwell with you?”

“No, not until Clem found me. Thank goodness for his safety rounds, which he’s vigilant about. The assailant was stealthy. I didn’t hear anyone, but I felt an intense push for sure.”

“Why were you in the stairwell and not the elevator? It can’t still be broken, can it?” Marla asked.

“I was working late last night. The cook-off will get my full attention next week whether I can attend or not. In either case, I had to put this week’s work to bed.” Patti squirmed to find a comfortable recline. The sudden squint of her eyes said she hadn’t found one. “Yes, the dang elevator was out again. It worked for a while. I rode it up to the office in the morning. By the end of the day, it conked out again. It’s been difficult on one bad knee to climb four flights of stairs since I slipped on the ice. I shouldn’t complain. Our poor cleaning lady, Beatrice, can’t even work because her cleaning cart can’t make it up the stairs. I know she needs the money.”

“Always thinking of others,” Sherry said.

“Not always. I’m thinking about getting myself back to work. What am I going to do? Everything hurts. Sorry, I’m so rude. And cranky. Please, have a seat.”

Sherry spotted the empty glass on a table next to the couch. “We’ll fill your glass. Water?”

“Please,” Patti said. “I owe you both, big time.”

“And I brought you a meal. We’ll microwave it before we leave. Be right back.”

Sherry found Chutney in the kitchen sniffing for goodies on the floor. She filled Patti’s glass with tap water. She returned the glass to Patti’s side table, next to a photo. “Sigmund. Was this taken in Iceland?” She picked up the picture and studied the subject.

“No, that was taken right here in Augustin.

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