A prickle of concern inched up Carlita’s back. This…this was the real reason the woman was there. To personally inspect the food she’d served. “As soon as the guest fell ill, we covered the leftovers and placed them in the side-by-side refrigerator.”
“Which is…”
Carlita reluctantly led her to the refrigerator. She opened the door, her heart plummeting at what she found. Despite having put a note on the containers, they were gone. “The containers were stored on these shelves.”
“Hmm.” Ernst clearly wasn’t buying it.
“I don’t know what happened to them.” Carlita excused herself and hustled into the kitchen. Thankfully, Arnie had returned. She caught his eye and motioned him off to the side. “A health inspector is here. The woman asked to see the food from the party. It’s gone.”
“Gone?” Arnie blinked rapidly. “Are you sure?”
“Positive, despite having taped a do not touch sign to the containers.”
Arnie eased past Carlita, walked to the fridge, and opened the door. “The leftovers were there last time I looked. Let me check with the employees.”
The woman tapped the top of her clipboard with her pen. “This is an interesting turn of events.”
“The only thing I can think of is the note I stuck on the food fell off and one of the kitchen workers cleared the shelves, unaware of what had transpired.”
An uncomfortable silence ensued, except for the occasional clicking of Ernst’s teeth.
Finally, Carlita spoke. “Is there any other area you need to inspect?”
“I’ll take a look around the kitchen.” Turning on her heel, the woman strode into the kitchen. Starting at the far end, she poked, swiped and scrutinized the kitchen’s surfaces.
Halfway through her inspection, Arnie returned. “Paisley cleaned the fridge out. She said she didn’t see a sign and thought she was being helpful.”
“What did she do with the food?”
“The animal feed company stopped by last night and picked it up along with some other scraps.”
“Crud.” Carlita had contracted with a local animal feed company that picked up the scraps every week. Through some sort of mechanical process, they dried the food and used it for feed.
Not all food scraps were used for the program, but items such as grains, breads, fruits, and vegetables were recyclable. It was a win-win. The animals were fed, and Carlita was thrilled to be doing her part to help the environment and not waste food.
“Animal feed?” the woman echoed.
“A company recycles our leftovers and scraps. It saves us from having to dump them.”
“The containers the food was stored in have been…”
“Run through our sanitation system,” Arnie said.
Carlita almost mentioned having dropped off samples at the lab for testing, but kept quiet, thinking it would be some sort of admission of guilt.
The woman scribbled additional notes. She made her way into the dining room, which is where she concluded her surprise visit.
“I’ve finished my inspection. A written report will be submitted to the county, and a copy mailed to you within a week.”
“I’m sure Ravello’s passed with flying colors.”
“There were a few minor issues. All in all, it was a positive inspection. Unfortunately, I had hoped to examine the food from the party.”
“And I do apologize. I had no idea it was gone.” Carlita accompanied her to the door and watched her leave.
“Well?”
She spun around and found Arnie standing behind her. “How did we do?”
