Evermore (Devil's ʻĀnela) [ON HOLD]

X

GROCERY STORE

Lucifer walked up to a woman. "Ah, ah, ah. You know, there's only one way to pick the perfect strawberry."

"Are you talking to me?" The woman asked, still keeping most of her attention on the strawberries.

"Yes, of course."

"Why not?"

"Uh, most people think it's just about the outside. You know, the, uh, shape and the color. But they're just like us." As Lucifer spoke, the woman looked into his eyes. "Sneaky little devils, hiding tasty secrets inside. It's never the ones you expect. But there's no way of finding what deliciousness is underneath without giving it a little taste."

The woman ate the strawberry. "Mmm. Mmm."

"You like that?"

"Oh God!"

"Really? You have to bring him up now? I mean, we were having a moment."

"Uh--"

"Lucifer," Chloe and Lani called.

"The hell are you doing?" Chloe asked.

"Pardon me," Lucifer said, walking towards his partners. "Right, so what have we got?"

"Well, this is an interesting one. Our victim's a 60-year-old male. Collapsed in broad daylight. No obvious injuries, no sign of struggle."

"And the interesting part is?"

Lani cleared her throat. "This. Based on the bloodshot eyes and the closed throat, seems like this guy was poisoned."

"No, no, no, no, no, this is horrific."

"You know who this is?" Chloe asked.

"This is Chef Javier."

"Javier Arias, yeah. Owner of Sol De Javier."

"Did you know him?" Lani wondered.

"Well, only by his work. I mean, this chap was, uh, an artist in the kitchen. He made the most exquisite Mexican cuisine I've ever had, And now," he sighed.

"It's okay."

"I'll never taste his perfect tamales again."

Chloe frowned. "So this isn't about the man, this is about your stomach."

"This is about a crime against good taste, Detective, Deputy. Well, someone definitely needs to be punished for this."

"According to the grocers, he came here every morning after having breakfast at his restaurant. ME says that the poisoning happened about 90 minutes before he fell, which puts him squarely at the restaurant."

"Well, you two can't think his own staff poisoned him. I mean, the man was a visionary."

"With a heck of a temper, by all accounts," Lani said. "Everyone at the restaurant's a suspect. We need to interview all his employees and do a full sweep for toxins."

"And find out whether he wrote down his recipes. It's the last of Chef Javier's brilliance gone forever. I wonder if police recovered any leftovers from his last meal."

"Well, it was most likely poisoned," Chloe reminded him.

"Ah, well, it's well worth the risk."

The staff was gathered in the hall.

"Hi," Chloe greeted an officer. "So is this everyone that works here?"

"Yeah, that's everybody," the officer said.