Tea Cups and Carnage (22 page)

Harrold had brought in all the rest of the bags and boxes. He stood going through one of the bags, pulling out white ribbon for chair decorations.. “I haven’t seen this much craft stuff since Agnes was helping Lille with her wedding planning.”

I picked up a bag of blue marbles and tossed them in the air. “I know, it’s like craft central in here.” Then Harrold’s words hit me. “Wait, Lille was married?”

He sat down the roll of ribbon and leaned against the table. “Actually, no. The wedding was called off. The groom got cold feet.”

“I’ve never heard this. Who was she dating? Do I know him?” Lille was a mystery to me and I’d always wondered what made her tick. Thinking of her planning a wedding that never happened made me see her in a more positive light. Man, that had to sting.

“He’s dead now, but right after he broke it off with Lille, he married someone you do know.” Harrold watched me carefully.

The only person I knew who had a deceased spouse was Sadie. And it couldn’t have been her, but as I thought it, I realized it made perfect sense. “Sadie’s husband? He was engaged to Lille?”

Harrold nodded. “It about killed the girl when he brought his new bride back to South Cove. And when Nick came along just shy of nine months later, Lille sat on my living room floor and cried for a full day. She was in love.”

“Is that why she’s so guarded now?” I didn’t want to talk bad about Lille, since she and Harrold were still friends.

“I thought you were coming right back up,” Aunt Jackie’s voice echoed down the stairs as we heard her thump down each step. She paused at the doorway. “Oh, Jill, I didn’t realize you were here.” Using the furniture as handholds, she moved toward the table.

Harrold grabbed the office chair and put it behind her. “Here, use this to move around.”

“Thanks.” This time she actually smiled at him as he tried to help her rather than bite his head off. The rest must be helping her control her pain. She considered each of the items out on the table. “These are lovely, Jill. They are just what I would have bought if I’d been able to go shopping myself.”

I glanced at the clock. I still had to get ready to present to the council. For this being my day off, it sure felt like I was working. “I’ve got to get back to the house to be ready for the council meeting. Don’t stay up too late.”

When I pulled out of the alley, Greg’s truck was heading the opposite way down Main Street. He pulled alongside me and rolled down his window. “Hey, I just stopped by the house to let you know I won’t be at the council meeting.”

“Seriously?” My heart started pounding. I had counted on him being there for moral support. “What’s more important than being there for me?” My voice had taken on a squeak.

His eyebrows raised in response to my obvious emotion. “My job? Sorry honey, but you know the drill. Ballistics came back on the bullet they took out of Darryl and even though I don’t think she killed the guy, I have to know where Kathi thinks her gun has been.”

I felt my eyes widen. “Kathi? She killed Darryl?”

Greg drummed his fingers on the side of the truck. “That’s not what I said. Look, all I meant to say was I won’t be there tonight but I’m thinking about you.”

And with that he drove away. A horn blared behind me and I went home, thinking about what Greg said. Sometimes he fed me information to see what I could do with it. I didn’t feel like that was the case with the gun evidence. I think he just slipped. I thought about the blonde who kept her glasses a secret from the world because she was worried about what people might think. No way could she have killed someone, much less a relative.

If I didn’t get a move on, I’d be presenting in the tank top and capris I wore into town. I ran upstairs for a quick shower and change. When I was done, I grabbed my laptop and ran through the presentation one more time.

I closed the computer and headed to the door. Pausing at a mirror to check my hair, I figured I looked at least presentable. I knew these were just other business owners, like me, but for some reason, I was nervous for this particular presentation. Mostly since I knew Mayor Baylor would be there, judging every word and gesture I made.

Think of him in his underwear.
The old speech saying popped into my head and I grimaced at the visual image that followed, Mayor Baylor, all portly and pink sitting in a chair glaring at me. I decided instead to find some friendly faces in the crowd, like Bill and Amy, and focus my attention there.

I glanced at my watch. In two hours tops, this would be over and I’d be back here in my pajamas, celebrating with a slice of double chocolate cheesecake.

The meeting room at city hall was crowded when I entered, but I took my laptop up to Amy at the front where Bill and the other council heads sat. She gave me a hug. “You look great. You should do the report for the business group all the time.”

I blew out air and shook my head. “I’m a great liaison, I know how to delegate to just the right people. Mary’s perfect for this. If she ever plans on coming back now that the baby’s here.”

Bill turned my way after hearing my comment. “Mary will be back on Thursday. She’s excited about the library event. And I’m leaving Saturday morning for my visit with the little tyke.”

“Boy or girl?” Amy asked.

We talked about the new grandson for several minutes, until we heard a gavel and Tom Hudson, the council chair, trying to call the meeting to order.

“I didn’t give you my slides.” I whispered to Amy, feeling sick. If I didn’t have the slides to use, I couldn’t remember the presentation points Mary wanted me to make.

Amy leaned close and whispered. “Mary already sent them to me. I’ve got your back.”

We found chairs and I found myself sitting next to a woman I didn’t know. I looked around the room. Kathi and Greg were absent from the group of business owners and city employees. Pushing Kathi’s possible guilt aside, I smiled at the woman next to me. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Jill Gardner, owner of Coffee, Books, and More and council business liaison.”

She turned toward me and I realized she had to be almost Aunt Jackie’s age, even though she dressed in tight jeans and a v-neck top that showed off her ample cleavage. Her lips had a too-red lipstick covering her off-white teeth that made her smile look a little evil. “Tilly Voss. I’m the manager over at The Coastal Inn. My boss told me to come and see if we could get the crime scene tape off one of our rooms. It’s kind of bad for our business.”

The others were still milling around not following Tom’s instructions so I leaned closer. “I’m sorry about the murder. Did you know Darryl well?”

Tilly snorted. “Darryl? Was that his name? He signed in as Joe Cook. I guess it could have been worse, he could have used Smith. Do you know how many Smiths I get a week?”

“Don’t you have to show a driver’s license or credit card?” Every hotel I’d ever stayed at required some sort of identification. I wondered if it was just in case something went wrong, more than a financial payment issue.

“We’re kind of a mostly cash business.” The grin reappeared and I tried not to recoil away from the woman. “If they want class, they tend to stay elsewhere.”

Now, that I believed. Most of the audience had taken their seats so I needed to hurry if I was going to ask her what I wanted to know. “Darla said that Ivy Corbin visited her cousin with another man often. Did you happen to get a look at the guy? Or his name?” Now I knew I was just wishing for miracles.

“Not really, I mean, I watched them for sure. I figured there was some action going on in the room, if you understand my meaning. One day, I was checking housekeeping in one of the rooms when they walked by. The woman called the big guy Bobby.” She looked around the room. “I don’t see that police guy here at all. This was a big waste of time.”

“He’s not coming tonight.” The words were out before I had a chance to stop them and Tilly did exactly what I didn’t want her to do. She stood up to leave.

“I’m out of here. I’ve got shows to watch tonight.” She grinned at me. “And a six pack that’s been calling my name all day.”

I thought about following her out and trying to get a better description of this big guy, Bobby, but then Tom announced me and it was time for my talk. I put on my aren’t-you-all-charming smile and headed to the front of the room.

Then my autopilot turned on.

Leaving that night, I stopped to say goodbye to Amy. “I’m out of here. If you’re ready, do you want to walk together?”

She held up the loose papers. “I’m here until I get this all in order. But the good thing is I get to take off early on Friday to make up for the time. The mayor hates paying overtime.”

“Are you coming to the library event or do you and Justin have surfing plans?” Amy’s boyfriend had been deep into geocaching a few months ago, but once the waves started up again, he and Amy had been spending most of their free time on the ocean.

“Sorry, we’re heading to a beach a little south of here. I don’t think I’ll be back for Sunday brunch either.” Amy nodded to Tom who called a good night greeting as he left the room. “But I’ll see you tomorrow and Thursday at the gym. I’m so glad we’re taking this class together. I love doing things with you.”

I loved having brunch and maybe a girl’s night out at Darla’s winery, but loving working out? It still wasn’t growing on me. I pasted on a smile and nodded though, wanting to let her know I totally agreed, even if it was a total lie. “Yeah, me too.”

Amy burst out laughing. “You’re such a liar. I know you hate it, but at least you have someone to suffer with you.”

We said our goodbyes and I left City Hall to walk home. The night was chilly, but the stars were already out and beautiful. Greg’s truck was still parked at the north side of the building where the Police Station had its own entrance. I still couldn’t believe our new resident beauty queen capable of killing someone, especially, her own family.

Then who?
I pondered the question as I made my way home and still didn’t have an answer by the time I turned back the covers to go to sleep. The mysterious Robert/Bobby was high on my list, but then there was also secretive Ivy who lived like a queen, but acted like a pauper. And what about her claim that Kathi was engaged? And who had beaten up Blake? I’d kind of forgotten about him and wondered if Darla had any word on her band’s lead member.

I wrote down a few notes and questions on the pad I kept on my nightstand and then slipped into the covers. Tomorrow would be an early day and with the festival this weekend and the library event on Friday, I hadn’t had much of a break from work this week.

I fell asleep thinking of the Mexican beaches and big frozen drinks Greg and I would be enjoying in a few weeks. If he was talking to me after our tiff this afternoon. I pushed away the thought with another one.
Greg loves you.

The shop was empty from the time I opened in the morning until ten when my first customer arrived, a commuter who had late work hours for the summer. He looked around the empty shop as I poured his large black to go and shrugged. “Everyone stay home today?”

I laughed, putting the lid on the to-go cup. “Seems that way. This is your Monday, isn’t it?”

“Actually, I work at home on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday during the summer. I only go in for meetings on Tuesday and Thursday.” He took a sip of coffee, apparently not in any hurry to get to his day job. “Did you hear about the murder last week? They really need to shut that rattrap motel down. You know its clients are either hookers or druggies.”

“I’ve heard that.” I didn’t know why Darryl had chosen The Coastal Inn as his home for the short time he had been here in South Cove. Maybe it was the price, or maybe, like the customer had insinuated, Darryl had enjoyed the extra benefits. If he hadn’t been shot in his room with Kathi’s gun, would his death be written off as a drug deal gone wrong? Maybe his being related to Kathi and Ivy was just a coincidence. Maybe he had messed with the wrong people.

But for some reason, that explanation felt off.

“So I guess I’ll see you Thursday. My wife and I are looking forward to the library event. Anything we can do to support reading in our schools we’re more than willing to participate in.” He walked out with his coffee and I wondered how much of his conversation I’d totally blanked out on while thinking about Darryl’s death. I really needed to stop doing that.

Walk-in traffic stayed slow until Toby arrived for his shift. He put his hand up, “Look, I’m not mad about the bank thing. I should have been more careful with the deposit slips.”

“The money has been found. I guess the teller looked up the wrong account number.” I looked at him. “Do you remember who helped you that day? Margie?”

“Nope, some new girl. She just kept giggling. Man, she was making mistake after mistake. She tore up the first deposit slip and had to handwrite a new one.” Toby put the apron on over his head. “That’s when it happened, huh?”

“I guess. I just wish we hadn’t worried so much about the money.” What I really wanted to say was I wished I hadn’t asked him if he’d taken it, but it didn’t seem to fit.

Toby’s regulars typically arrived a few minutes before he walked in. I saw them parked on the street, refreshing their makeup and staring into the shop windows waiting for Barista Babe. Even though he was off the market again, the women still came to spend their breaks with him. I guess I couldn’t blame them, but I didn’t really understand why someone would continue to put themselves out there with no chance of success. The dating world was hard enough.

I went to the back and changed into my workout clothes in the employee-only bathroom. Then as I walked through the shop to leave, Toby called out. “Have a great workout. Greg says you’re killing it.”

If we’d been alone, I would have told him what to do with his words, but the girls in line smiled at him like he’d told me I had just won a marathon. I knew he was giving me grief since I hated the class more than anything I’d ever done, except maybe yoga. I despised that. Amy had dragged me to a month of classes last summer before I’d called uncle. She still attended the early bird class down at the Bakerstown senior center. I’d rather run with Emma.