Murder on the Riviera Read Online Free
Author: Anisa Claire West
“I’m going to check into work now. Won’t be more than a half hour. Promise.” He laid a kiss on my lips and strode towards the internet café as I scampered out of my seat.
Digging into my straw beach bag, I pulled out the brochure and my cell phone. As I was typing in the name and address on the catalogue, a shrill voice interrupted me:
“There’s my brochure! I’ve been looking all over for it!”
Chapter 4
Giving myself whiplash, I snapped my head up and locked eyes with a woman who looked frighteningly like the corpse I had discovered. Her hair was milky white and her skin slightly sunburned. She had eyes the palest shade of blue and those eyes were unnerving me to my very core.
Feeling like I was talking to a ghost, I whispered hoarsely, “Who are you?”
“I’m Gardenia Lewis. You can see my name plain as day on that brochure,” the woman replied testily, holding out an empty hand.
Shakily, I placed the brochure in her hand and gasped, “But I don’t understand…”
“Understand what? Oh, I don’t have time for this. My sister died yesterday and I can’t be making chit chat with idiotic strangers.” The woman’s dry lips etched into a straight line as she stomped away.
Ignoring her insult, I leapt to my feet and followed her. As I pursued her, I remembered that there had been two white haired ladies at lunch yesterday. I hadn’t noticed a resemblance then, but I hadn’t been paying close attention either. “I’m so sorry about your sister. I’m the one who found her…”
Gardenia stopped dead in her tracks and peered at me with those haunting pale eyes. “You found my sister?”
“Yes, on that lounge chair over there,” I pointed and her eyes followed my finger.
“Poor dear. She had high cholesterol. We think she died of a massive heart attack. Too many bacon cheeseburgers,” Gardenia quipped as I raised an eyebrow.
Her comments seemed flippant for a grieving sibling, but I merely said, “I’m sorry. I assumed that brochure belonged to your sister and that her name was Gardenia. You see, I found the booklet in a wooden slat near the sand.”
“My sister was always going through my things, especially my catalogues. She’s not quite as wealthy as I am. Perhaps there’s always been a little sibling rivalry, especially since I’m the one who financed this trip,” Gardenia explained as I wondered why she had suddenly become so candid after appearing furious not more than a minute ago.
“And what about the other ladies in your room? The redheads, are they your sisters too?” I asked as the grimace returned to Gardenia’s face.
“How do you know about them?” She demanded.
“My husband and I were seated next to you ladies at lunch yesterday,” I said with as much politeness as I could muster towards the shrewish woman.
“They’re friends of ours,” Gardenia said flatly.
“Oh okay, well I won’t hold you up,” I said slowly, knowing there was one vital morsel of information I needed to extract first. “What was your sister’s name, by the way?”
Gardenia had turned her back to me before I could finish asking the question. Opting not to follow her a second time, and risk her calling hotel security, I found a shady spot under a palm tree and typed the name Gardenia Lewis into a search engine. Before I could retrieve the results, a text message beeped into my phone.
Hi Chelsea, this is Chef Martin at Oyster Palace. Do you and Charles have time today to swing by the kitchen and work your magic?
It was a message that required my immediate attention. Charles and I had been given such a generous employee discount, twice as much as the usual offering of 20%, and we needed to earn our keep. I sent a quick response to Chef Martin, telling him that Charles and I would be at the restaurant in 15 minutes.
***
Charles was sitting at a desktop computer, furiously typing a message. Creases lined his forehead and he looked as stressed as though he were
Digging into my straw beach bag, I pulled out the brochure and my cell phone. As I was typing in the name and address on the catalogue, a shrill voice interrupted me:
“There’s my brochure! I’ve been looking all over for it!”
Chapter 4
Giving myself whiplash, I snapped my head up and locked eyes with a woman who looked frighteningly like the corpse I had discovered. Her hair was milky white and her skin slightly sunburned. She had eyes the palest shade of blue and those eyes were unnerving me to my very core.
Feeling like I was talking to a ghost, I whispered hoarsely, “Who are you?”
“I’m Gardenia Lewis. You can see my name plain as day on that brochure,” the woman replied testily, holding out an empty hand.
Shakily, I placed the brochure in her hand and gasped, “But I don’t understand…”
“Understand what? Oh, I don’t have time for this. My sister died yesterday and I can’t be making chit chat with idiotic strangers.” The woman’s dry lips etched into a straight line as she stomped away.
Ignoring her insult, I leapt to my feet and followed her. As I pursued her, I remembered that there had been two white haired ladies at lunch yesterday. I hadn’t noticed a resemblance then, but I hadn’t been paying close attention either. “I’m so sorry about your sister. I’m the one who found her…”
Gardenia stopped dead in her tracks and peered at me with those haunting pale eyes. “You found my sister?”
“Yes, on that lounge chair over there,” I pointed and her eyes followed my finger.
“Poor dear. She had high cholesterol. We think she died of a massive heart attack. Too many bacon cheeseburgers,” Gardenia quipped as I raised an eyebrow.
Her comments seemed flippant for a grieving sibling, but I merely said, “I’m sorry. I assumed that brochure belonged to your sister and that her name was Gardenia. You see, I found the booklet in a wooden slat near the sand.”
“My sister was always going through my things, especially my catalogues. She’s not quite as wealthy as I am. Perhaps there’s always been a little sibling rivalry, especially since I’m the one who financed this trip,” Gardenia explained as I wondered why she had suddenly become so candid after appearing furious not more than a minute ago.
“And what about the other ladies in your room? The redheads, are they your sisters too?” I asked as the grimace returned to Gardenia’s face.
“How do you know about them?” She demanded.
“My husband and I were seated next to you ladies at lunch yesterday,” I said with as much politeness as I could muster towards the shrewish woman.
“They’re friends of ours,” Gardenia said flatly.
“Oh okay, well I won’t hold you up,” I said slowly, knowing there was one vital morsel of information I needed to extract first. “What was your sister’s name, by the way?”
Gardenia had turned her back to me before I could finish asking the question. Opting not to follow her a second time, and risk her calling hotel security, I found a shady spot under a palm tree and typed the name Gardenia Lewis into a search engine. Before I could retrieve the results, a text message beeped into my phone.
Hi Chelsea, this is Chef Martin at Oyster Palace. Do you and Charles have time today to swing by the kitchen and work your magic?
It was a message that required my immediate attention. Charles and I had been given such a generous employee discount, twice as much as the usual offering of 20%, and we needed to earn our keep. I sent a quick response to Chef Martin, telling him that Charles and I would be at the restaurant in 15 minutes.
***
Charles was sitting at a desktop computer, furiously typing a message. Creases lined his forehead and he looked as stressed as though he were
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