The Trouble with Dessert-Part 3

"I wonder if the wrong person died," Mary was talking to her best friend, Pete, later that evening.
"What do you mean?"
"I think that maybe Mr. Hughs may have been the target."
"You are basing that on your own opinion. You have no proof."
"Says the policeman."
Pete worked for the local police department. He worked a desk job, but he took the policeman’s handbook very seriously.
"I mean it, Mary."
"It doesn’t make sense."
"Why not? Mr. Hughs wanted Mr. Cragicze dead."
"Not more than his wife."
"That is true. Maybe there is a bigger picture here. We are basing this on a small part of Mr. Cragicze life. Does he have a wife?"
"I’m not sure."
"Mary, you need a lot more information."
"Easy. I can go find out some background stuff on the Internet."
"Fine. It won’t tell us everything though."
"How do you figure?"
"What kind of person was Mr. Cragicze?"
"I don’t know. I didn’t see him very often. Mostly, he just came into see Mr. Hughs. He was always polite to me."
"What we need to do is find out a little bit of background information on him, then go talk to those who know him."
"We?"
"Yes, I want to help you. Don’t worry, I won’t interfere."
"I am not worried about that. What about our jobs? We do still have to work."
"That is true. I’m up for some vacation or I could use up one of my many saved sick days. Did you know that you could lose those if you don’t use them?!"
"You are getting a little off subject."
"Sorry, you can say you need time to get over the horror of seeing Mr. Cragicze’s dead eyes looking up at you."
"Thank you for bringing that image back to my mind."
"Good, go make that call now before it leaves."
"Such sensitivity on your part."
Mary went and made the call. She wasn’t going to admit it to Pete, but he came up with some good excuses. Mary felt a little strange calling Mr. Hughs with all that happened that day. She got over it though.
"What is it?" was his angry answer.
"Sorry, Mr. Hughs it’s Mary."
"Who?"
"Mary, your receptionist from the office."
"Oh, what do you want?"
"Well, I just wanted to request a few days off. I’m not doing so well after what happened today."
"That’s impossible."
"Excuse me? Mr. Hughs, I normally work like a dog for you because I need the income. However, I am not going to be subjected to seeing such a horrible sight and then expected just to come into the office the next day. As if nothing had happened!"
"Mary, the police are requiring that everyone comes into the office tomorrow.""Why we all gave our statements today?""Yes, but that was before the second murder."
"Second murder? What second murder?"
"Some receptionist was stabbed at her desk."
"Please, Mr. Hughs, what was the receptionist’s name?"
"How could I know? Alright, hold on let me ask my wife."
Mary waited while Mr. Hugh’s grumbled out a few words to the other person that was with him. Mary doubted highly that it was his wife.
"Mary, are you still there?"
"Yes, Mr. Hughs."
"She isn’t sure what the receptionist’s full name. She just knows that her first name was Kim."

The Trouble with Dessert part 2

"Do you think Mr. Hughs killed him?"
"What?"
"Mary, are you in there? I guess the shock is getting to her."
Mary finally focused in on the voices around her. She was back in the break room surrounded by her fellow workers. She had just finished talking with the police. She had told them all that she knew. She didn't share any of the gossip she heard. She felt that it was just gossip, no need to bother the police with non-facts. The others around her all displayed a mixture of concern, curiosity and plain boredom. She looked at Kim, who had been talking to her.
"I'm sorry, Kim. This is all just overwhelming me right now.""I understand. Why don't you go home? I'm sure Mr. Hughs cannot complain. Listen everyone, move out of Mary's way. She needs to go home." Kim started shooing people away.
Mary started to follow Kim's lead when she saw an unfamiliar face.
"Oh, excuse me Mrs. Hughs. I'm helping Miss Jinkins to get out of here," Kim told the new arrival.
"If you don't mind, I would like to have a word with Miss Jinkins," said Mrs. Hughs.
Kim looked back towards Mary. Mary nodded agreement and followed Mrs. Hughs down the hallway. She had never met Mrs. Hughs before even though she had worked for Mr. Hughs for 5 years. He never liked to talk about his wife. Probably because he tried to come on to everyone in a skirt under a certain age. Mary wasn't sure what that age was either. She studied Mrs. Hughs on the way to her office. She was a very good-looking older women. Her hair was still its natural color of auburn. She had a very peculiar color of eyes. She was thin, but not too thin, and tall.
"Sit down anywhere, Miss Jinkins," Mrs. Hughs said after going inside the office and closing the door. "Can I get you anything?"
"No thank you," Mary replied shyly.
"I know this may seem awkward so soon after Mr. Cragicze's death. Were you in the office today when he talked to my husband?"
"Yes, but only for part of it. At one point, Mr. Cragicze asked me to leave."
"Yes. That is what I believed to be the case. Thank you, Miss Jinkins. That is all. Don't worry about your job. I'll make sure you are taken care of."
Mrs. Hughs opened the door. Mary was about to walk out when she thought better of it. This may be her only chance to ask Mrs. Hughs questions.
"Mrs. Hughs, I hope you don't find this offensive. However, I heard a rumor earlier today that Mr. Hughs may be losing his job. Is that true?"
"I am not sure whether it concerns you, on the other hand, it may have affected your job. My husband was close to losing many things. Please, I need to talk to the police now."
Mary nodded and went out. She headed downstairs to her car. After getting in the midst of heavy traffic, she realized she didn't eat. Of course, she had lost her appetite. Now, it was back with a vengeance. She decided to stop at the first place she came to and forget the expense. She could put her lunch for once on a company ticket. Was it a coincidence that the first restaurant was Chez Moniques? She wondered if Mr. Hughs was still there with his latest. She didn't know if she would be shocked either way. She walked into the restaurant. There was a long line. Of course, it was the best restaurant in town.
"Do you have a reservation?" said a highbrow voice.
"Yes, I was to meet Mr. Hughs."
"His reservation was only for two. There are already two people there.""Well, then there must be some mistake because I was to meet him. If I can just go have a word with him, I'm sure everything can be straightened out."
"No, I will call him....Miss,"
Mary had headed towards the direction the Maitre D had looked. Sure enough, there was Mr. Hughs. She was in shock but only because eating with him was CiCi. The receptionist who received the call from Mrs. Hughs to call the attorney. Now it all seemed to add up together.
"Miss Jinkins, may I inquire why you are here?" Mr. Hughs said as she approached the table.
"Sorry Sir, I'll escort the young lady out," replied the Maitre D who had followed her.
"Wait, I came to inform Mr. Hughs of a event that I did not know if he wanted it broadcast publicly.""Go ahead, what is it Miss Jinkins?""Mr. Cragicze was found dead today at the cafeteria.""Serves the old coot! Show people never to eat in that cafeteria! Ha-Ha," Mr. Hughs joked and grinned towards CiCi, who was looking very uncomfortable.
"If that is all Miss Jinkins, please return to the office. I need to make sure we get that report down," Mr. Hughs continued.
"I'm not returning to the office sir. Mr. Cragicze was murdered and I found him. I'm taking the rest of the day off. By the way, you seem to be the prime suspect so don't be surprised to see the police arrive after me."
Mary loved the look of horror on both Mr. Hughs and CiCi's face. Not to mention the Maitre D's face. Of course, now his look of disgust was towards Mr. Hughs and not Mary.
"Mr. Hughs, I believe we need this table, so if you are all through," he left the rest of the sentence hanging in the air.
Mr. Hughs angrily got up and stormed off, leaving CiCi behind at the table.
"There Ma'am, I believe the problem is solved," the Maitre D helped Mary sit down and then brought her back a menu.
"Eat well, it's on Mr. Hughs check," CiCi said after getting over her shock. She started to get up to leave."Please stay, I hate to eat alone," Mary begged her.
"Alright, I will probably be out of a job anyway.""Why?""I work for Mrs. Hughs. From her phone call this morning, I think she knows that I'm having an affair with her husband.""Why did you send the gossip around if you were the mistress?""I didn't.""Then who did?""It was Mr. Cragicze. I heard him telling Kim right after leaving Mr. Hughs office. I told Abey about that phone call. He told me not to worry about it, soon his wife wouldn't be a problem."
"What did he mean by that?""He said that soon he would control the company.""Did he elaborate on that?"
"He just said he was taking care of Mrs. Hughs and her loverboy.""I wonder who her loverboy was?"
"I know that one, it was Mr. Cragicze."

The Trouble with Dessert

For the next few blogs it will be Mystery. A mystery story that is and at the end, we'll see who knows what happened. This is my first attempt so please excuse the mistakes. Unless there are many then by all means, burn me at the stake. Here we go:



Mary never liked eating in the cafeteria. It was always full of noise and strange odors. However, because of her short lunch hour, she was forced to eat in the cafeteria more times then she cared to remember. Her boss, Mr. Hughs would take a 3-hour all-expense paid lunch at one of the finer restaurants in town. This left Mary with his workload. She didn't mind. She preferred her boss to be out of the office more than not. Today, she was shocked though at Mr. Hughs' choice to take a long lunch. His boss had stopped in for one of his surprise visits. Apparently, they were not impressed with Mr. Hughs' expense sheet. Mr. Hughs got raked over the coals till his face was the color of melted lava. It remained that way a long time after his boss had left. However, about an hour before Mary's usual lunch time, Mr. Hughs approached Mary with a conspiratorial smile upon his face.
"Mary, make reservations for two at Chez Monique for 1 p.m.," he told her.
"Yes Mr. Hughs," Mary was always getting in trouble for speaking her mind. That is why she couldn't resist saying, "Do you think that is wise after the visit from Mr. Cragicze?"
"Not that it is any of your business, but I don't think Mr. Cragicze will be anymore trouble," Mr. Hughs, knowing Mary's capacity for questions, left after making that statement.
Mary made the reservations at the most expensive restaurant in town. She wondered the whole time about Mr. Hughs' comment. Mr. Cragicze was the co-owner of the company. There was no way that Mr. Hughs could muscle him out of his current position. Maybe Mr. Hughs had a big connection to the other owner. Mary decided to go get coffee. Not for the coffee itself, but to receive information from some fellow gossip lovers. It must be a good day for Mary because the biggest information gatherer was sitting at a table sipping her coffee gingerly. This meant two things, that she had information that she desperately wanted to share and that her coffee was very hot. Mary made her coffee and then sat down. She really couldn't afford the time without staying late that evening. She felt like this might be worth it though.
"Hi Kim, how is your day going?" Mary asked.
"Good Mary, I heard you had quite the morning."
"Not me so much as Mr. Hughs."
"I could hear Mr. Cragicze all the way down at my desk. I don't know why he bothers though."
"Whatever do you mean?"
"Well, Mr. Hughs is married to Mrs. Hughs who owns the other half of this company.""I was wondering. He is eating today at Chez Moniques."
"I am shocked to hear that."
"Really, why?"
"This is just office gossip. However, I heard that Mr. Hughs is banned from Chez Moniques. His wife had him banned for bringing his latest armcandy there for lunch."
"That is very tacky."
"True. Mrs. Hughs allows his affairs as long as she doesn't hear about them. Taking them to her favorite restaurant is a different matter all together."
"I would say so!"
"Do you know, I wonder if that's why Mr. Cragicze chewed Mr. Hughs out this morning?"
"How do you mean?"
"Maybe Mr. Hughs wife has had enough. I heard CiCi talking on the phone. She was making an appointment for Mrs. Hughs' with her attorney."
"I didn't know that Mrs. Hughs worked here in the office."
"She doesn't. Her specialties are shopping and taking long vacations. CiCi was having a slow morning and so she received the phone call from Mrs. Hughs."
"Why call the secretary pool to make a personal phone call? Oh, I think I know. To spread around the fact that she is seeing her attorney. She won't be divorcing Mr. Hughs anytime soon."
"Why not?"
"She is letting him know in a roundabout way that he better tow-the-line. She must have worked here one time to realize how fast office gossip spreads."
Kim felt a little offended by this remark. She knew she was the one to spread most of the gossip. She quickly grabbed her coffee and said goodbye to Mary. Mary went back to her desk and worked until her stomach demanded some sustenance. She hoped that by stopping off at the horrific cafeteria she would save some of the time she wasted. She waited in the unbelievably long line. Unbelievable in the fact that this many people actually ate at the cafeteria. When she finally got to the food, there wasn't much left except a grayish Jell-O mold. Not surprising, no one else had touched it. She looked at the lunch lady in hope of more food. She just shook her head and pointed to the Jell-O. Mary went over to the mold and tried to decide whether she would take the plunge. It had a strange white looking filling. She peered closer. That is when she realized eyes were looking back at her through the Jell-O. Those eyes had no more life in them however and they belonged to Mr. Cragicze!