“Sure.” Mercedes peeked inside the dumbwaiter and then hurried to catch up with her mother and TG, who were already walking down a narrow hall to the back of the property.
TG pushed a swinging door open and they stepped into a light, bright, state-of-the-art, gleaming commercial kitchen.
Carlita blinked rapidly. “Wow. I never saw this one comin’.”
Mercedes jostled in next to her mother. “Holy smokes.”
“Do you mind if I take a picture of your kitchen? I’m gonna be openin’ an Italian restaurant soon and I need some ideas.”
“You’re Italian?” TG asked and then chuckled at her own joke. “I’m kidding. Your accent is a dead giveaway, not to mention the Garlucci name.”
Carlita snapped several pictures of the kitchen with her cell phone and then they followed TG into the restaurant’s main dining room. It was an eclectic mix of nautical, nostalgia and musical. “What’s the name of your restaurant?”
“The Ghost Roast. We serve mostly burgers, sandwiches and wings. Pub type food,” TG said. “The name works nicely with my initials…TG, the ghost.”
Now that they were in the bright light, TG didn’t look nearly as “apparition-y.” She appeared to be young, closer to Mercedes’ age if Carlita had to guess.
“My real name is Tierney Grant, not as spooky and mysterious as TG Flinch.”
“True,” Mercedes agreed.
The trio chatted about the restaurant business and Tierney gave Carlita and Mercedes some tips, telling them if they needed any advice, she would be happy to help them.
Mercedes waved her hand around the room. “How did you happen to get into the restaurant and ghost tour business?”
Tierney smiled. “The same way you did. I inherited it.”
“Before I forget.” Mercedes reached into her pocket, pulled out two crisp twenty-dollar bills plus a ten and handed them to Tierney. “Thanks for the tour. I am a little disappointed we weren’t able to learn more about the Madison Square murder and Mr. Honeycutt’s death.”
“I’ve tried to do a little digging around myself,” Tierney said. “No one in Savannah wants to talk about it. It’s a big mystery.”
“And cover-up,” Mercedes nodded. “I found out about Jon Luis from my author group. The man was working on a book about the Madison Square murder. We planned to meet but he died before I had the chance to talk to him.”
Tierney’s eyes widened. “I planned to meet with Mr. Luis, too. He disappeared off the face of the earth a few years back and then I started hearing rumors he was back in Savannah. Out of the blue, he called me and we began emailing back and forth.”
Mercedes’ heart skipped a beat. “You did? Did he say anything about the Madison Square murder?”
Tierney shook her head. “He said he would only discuss it in person and I think the reason he agreed to meet me was because he wanted to search this place. He claimed he was close to solving Mr. Honeycutt’s murder, but needed to double check something.”
“What a strange coincidence,” Carlita murmured.
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence,” Tierney said. “Your home, the Smythe place, was also the old George Delmario place. Jon Luis told me he was working on three unsolved murder cases in Savannah.”
“His book was about Herbert Honeycutt, who was murdered here and George Delmario, who was murdered at our place? I wonder who else he was investigating,” Mercedes mused.
“I wish I knew,” Tierney said as she accompanied them to the front door. “I guess we’ll never know if Jon Luis figured out who killed Honeycutt.”
Carlita thanked Tierney for the information and they wandered out onto the sidewalk.
Mercedes waited until they were a safe distance from the house before speaking. “Do you think Tierney was lying and she met with Jon Luis?”
“I dunno, Mercedes. What we do know is your author group knew when and where you were meetin’ Jon Luis. If Tierney is right, and Jon Luis was working on the unsolved cases, it would make sense he would agree to meet you. He was probably gonna cut a deal where he shared info on the case in exchange for access to our property.”
Mercedes snapped her fingers. “It makes perfect sense and ties in with what Detective Wilson said, how Jon Luis had written my name and address on a piece of paper. He was already doin’ research on George Delmario’s death.”
“Well, he wouldn’t have gotten far, snooping around in Delmario’s murder, before someone from the family up north got wind of it and came down here to tie up another loose end,” Carlita said. “I have a hunch someone in your author group is either Jon Luis’ killer or knows something about it.”
“I’m getting the same feeling and I asked Autumn to attend the author group. I hope I didn’t set her up to face a killer.”
Chapter 12
Autumn tucked her cell phone under her chin as she spoke. “Don’t worry. This’ll be a piece of cake. My story is almost airtight. Even if the others become suspicious, they can check me out. I work at the newspaper and I’m working on my first novel.”
“I hope you’re right,” Mercedes said uneasily. “I got a bad feelin’ about all of this. The more I think about it, the more I’m certain someone in my group is linked to Jon Luis’ death.”
“Or this Tierney chick you met. She sounds suspicious to me. Didn’t you say she inherited the Honeycutt property, but didn’t elaborate?” Autumn pointed out. “I talked to one of my inside guys at the police department and he gave me some new info on Jon Luis’ case.”
“What did he say?”
“Listen, I gotta run or I’ll be late for the meeting,” Autumn said. “I’ll stop by after it’s over.”
“Okay, be careful,” Mercedes said.
“Will do.”
