In fact, why don’t you leave now so you won’t be rushed?”
“If you’re sure.”
“I’m sure.”
“Leave the tray. I’ll deal with it in the morning.”
Jake waited until Mel closed the door behind him, then said, “My bet is your eager-as-a-puppy assistant is on the sunny side of twenty.”
“He turns twenty-one next month,” Nicole replied. “Mel’s two semesters from getting a degree in marketing. He works here full-time and takes care of his mother—she has severe diabetes and arthritis. Her prognosis isn’t good,” Nicole added, feeling a tug of worry over the increasingly frail woman. “Mel has a lot of responsibility, but he never complains. He does a wonderful job and he isn’t afraid of long hours. I consider the day he answered my ad for help one of the luckiest in my life.”
“Well, there’s a glowing recommendation.”
“Trust me, Sergeant, Mel has earned every word.”
Jake’s gaze dropped to the file she’d placed on her lap. “The M.E. called this morning with a cause of death on Ormiston.”
With the change of subject, her hands became so unsteady that she replaced the china cup on its saucer. “It wasn’t a heart attack, was it?”
“No. Someone gave your client an injection that paralyzed his lungs. He basically suffocated to death.”
“Poor Phillip.” She spoke quietly, feeling the blood drain from her face when a dizzying realization set in. “It wasn’t something in the muffins, then?”
Jake angled his head. “They’re at our lab for analysis. But, no, the M.E. doesn’t think the muffins had anything to do with Ormiston’s death. Even if they did, the bakery verifies your story. Mel called and placed the order, had the muffins delivered to Ormiston’s office.”
She nodded slowly. “That doesn’t mean I didn’t inject Phillip with whatever it was that killed him.”
One corner of Jake’s mouth lifted. “Here’s a tip. Don’t point out things like that to a homicide cop.”
She gave him a thin smile. “I’m sure you’ve already thought of that.”
“Everyone’s a potential suspect, until I can prove them innocent. In fact, why don’t you tell me where you were yesterday afternoon so we can get that out of the way?”
Nicole shifted on the love seat’s cushions. Logically, she understood why Jake had to ask the question. Still, that didn’t stop a little ball of discomfort from wedging in her stomach.
“I attended a benefit luncheon at the Overholser Mansion,” she began. “After that, I drove downtown and met with my attorney about the prospect of franchising my company.”
“Met with him until when?”
“About four. I drove to my decorator’s shop where I spent an hour or so selecting fabric for drapes I’m having done.”
“Then?”
“I came back here, worked out at Sebastian’s and drove to Phillip’s house. You know the rest.”
Jake’s gaze returned to the file in her lap. “I need the names of the women you fixed Ormiston up with.”
When she hesitated, he added, “I can have a subpoena here within the hour if you have a problem giving me the information.”
“No.” She slicked her tongue over her lips. “It’s just that I promise my clients privacy. Confidentiality.”
“You promised that to Ormiston, too. If someone he met through this dating service killed him, they gave up all right to privacy.”
“Yes.” She stared at the fingers she’d linked together. “It’s my company’s responsibility to make matchmaking a safe process. We do an intensive screen on all of our clients. Conduct background checks. Credit history. Psychological and personality tests. What if we missed something?”
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