Free Murder at the Cooking School: Book 7 of the Cedar Bay Cozy Mystery Series by Dianne Harman

the kitchen. I’d like a glass of the white wine,” she said to
Domenico, the wine steward. He poured her a glass of white wine and then turned
to take the requests of the other guests.
    Mike put his hand on her
elbow. “Why don’t you come out on the porch with me? The sun is setting on the
hills and the entire countryside for as far as you can see is bathed in a soft
golden light. It’s really quite beautiful.”
    They walked out the glass
doors which were encased in Mediterranean pine. “Mike this is gorgeous. The
colors in the sky are going to the soft mauves and blues of early evening. What
a spectacular sight. I’m so glad you thought to bring me out here to see it.”
    “Yes, it’s beautiful, but that’s
not the real reason I wanted to come out here. I found out from the chief of
police today that Signora Nardo was murdered. The coroner’s report
indicated she was evidently given a large dose of sleeping pills and then given
a lethal injection of a substance which evidently caused her to die instantly.
The coroner said it might take weeks to find out exactly what the substance
was, but whatever it was, it resulted in her death.”
    “Oh, no! Mike, that’s
terrible. Now what?”
    “Well, I felt kind of
silly telling the chief of police what you’d overheard today, but he was very
grateful as it provided him with a place to start. He said he intends to
investigate each one of the people you heard the two women talking about, and
he’s asked me to help him.”
    “Mike, I biked into town
today with Caesar and found out something interesting.” She told him about her
conversation with Berto Moretti’s son.
    “I’m not surprised,” Mike
said. “The chief told me that although the Nardo family is very well known in
this area and has been for centuries, Signora Nardo was not very
well-liked. He finds it hard to believe that Giovanni Rizzo would have had
anything to do with her. Carlo said Giovanni’s wife, Angelica Rizzo, is a
beautiful woman and loved by everyone and her husband, Giovanni, is a very
handsome man. He told me it was common knowledge that Giovanni had had many
affairs, but they’d always been with a beautiful woman, and Signora Nardo was definitely not beautiful.”
    “You know, Mike, there’s
an afternoon excursion tomorrow to the Rizzo’s olive oil processing plant
located on their estate. I’m going to take that trip. Maybe I’ll have a chance
to meet Angelica Rizzo and find out some information about her relationship
with not only her husband, but also with Signora Nardo.”
    “You’re on your own for
that. The chief is picking me up tomorrow morning, and I’ll be spending the
better part of the day at the police station with him. He’s very interested in
finding out if Signor Nardo has an alibi for last night when Signora Nardo was murdered, and likewise if the Signora’s brother, Salvadore,
has an alibi. I did find out something interesting that I don’t think you
know.”
    “What? And by the way, I
think there’s a whole lot I don’t know.”
    “ Signora Nardo’s
brother, Salvadore, is married to Chef Bianchi.”
    “Well, I heard the same
thing from Signor Moretti’s son. Do you know why she uses the name
Bianchi?”
    “Evidently that was her
maiden name, and when Signora Nardo hired her sister-in-law to be the
chef at the cooking school, they thought it would look more professional if she
had a different name.”
    “That sure fits in with
what the younger Moretti told me about her. He was not very impressed with her
credentials. In fact, he made it quite clear she doesn’t even have any
credentials, and that the only reason she was hired was because her husband was
blackmailing Signora Nardo about her affair with Giovanni. Evidently he
threatened to tell her husband.”
    “That’s becoming more than
a coincidence, and you know how I feel about coincidences. What I don’t
understand is, if it’s true, why Giovanni would be having an affair with her,”
Mike