I couldn’t bear the thought that Agatha might have murdered someone. I couldn’t even bear the thought that she may have been unkind to someone. In my mind, it was absolutely impossible. But what Karen had said made me sick. Cade still hadn’t answered my text and when I finished at the newspaper, I stopped off at the grocery store to pick up the ingredients to make chicken noodle soup for Agatha. I’d make it and pay her a visit just to ease my mind. I was sure I’d find her convalescing in front of the “telly” as she liked to call it.
I whipped up the soup in no time and put it into a mason jar and drove over to her house. She normally parked her red SUV in the driveway, but the driveway was empty. I pulled up to the curb, shut my car off, and gathered my courage. I didn’t want Agatha to think I suspected her of Tori’s murder, but I needed to talk to her about what Karen and Kayla had told me.
I picked up the reusable grocery bag with the jar of soup from the seat beside me and headed to her front door. I knocked and waited, looking around the neighborhood. Everything was quiet and peaceful.
When Agatha came to the door, she looked at me wide-eyed for a moment, then she smiled. “Rainey,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting you. How nice to see you.”
I gave her a smile. She was dressed in slacks and a blouse, not the bathrobe and slippers I was hoping for. “Hi Agatha. Cade and I stopped by the coffee shop and the barista said you weren’t feeling well. It isn’t like you not to come to work, and I was worried. I made you some homemade chicken soup.”
“Well, aren’t you a lovely girl,” she said and stepped back from the door, motioning for me to enter. “It’s having friends like you that keep me from missing my homeland.”
The statement made me feel a little guilty. I was Agatha’s friend, and I wasn’t coming here to accuse her of anything. I just needed to understand what was going on.
“You know you’re a friend of mine,” I said and followed her into the living room. “Are you feeling better?” Agatha looked in the pink of health. I couldn’t imagine why she wasn’t at work.
“You know how it is dear,” she said with a chuckle. “Sometimes ailments come on you surprisingly fast in your old age. I was feeling perfectly fine, but when I woke up this morning, I had a terrible headache. It was a migraine really, I haven’t had one of those in decades and it sure reminds me how glad I am that we live in the modern age were we have simple things like ibuprofen to knock it out.”
She motioned to the sofa and I sat down I sat down, setting the jar of soup on the coffee table. “I agree completely. I get migraines occasionally, and I know exactly what you’re talking about.” The barista had said Agatha hadn’t come in because she didn’t want anyone to catch what she had, but last I checked migraines weren’t catching.
“I’ll just put that soup up. It’s so sweet of you to make it and bring it by. While I’m in there, I’ll get us a pot of tea and we’ll sit a spell,” she said and headed to the kitchen.
Agatha had done her living room in British antiques, and it was always a delight to stop in and take a look around the room. My eyes traveled along the credenza filled with Christmas villages. It reminded me that I needed to get my own Christmas ornaments from the basement and put my Christmas tree up.
“Here we are dear,” she said, returning quickly carrying a tray with a teapot, two teacups, cream, and sugar. “I already had a pot of tea on. I’m so glad you stopped by and I’m even happier that you brought me soup.”
I nodded. “Your barista thought you had the flu.”
“Oh,” she said waving the idea away. “I told her I was sick to my stomach and had a headache. She must not have understood,” she said.
I nodded. “Well, I’m glad you’re feeling better now.”
She motioned to the tea. “Help yourself dear.”
I picked up a teacup and poured some tea into it. “You are feeling better now, aren’t you?”
She nodded. “I’m feeling right as rain. I’ve had a nice long rest this afternoon, and I’ll be back at work tomorrow morning.”
I nodded. “Where’s your car? I didn’t see it parked out front.” She could have put it in the garage, but I couldn’t remember her doing that in the past. Maybe Kayla was mistaken about the dent.
“I had a bit of front end damage I’m afraid. I took it in to be repaired.“
I looked at her, concerned. “Oh no, did you get into an accident?”
She chuckled. “Actually, I kind of feel like an idiot. I wasn’t watching what I was doing when pulling into a parking space at the grocery store. I got too close to the buggy catcher. I hit the side rail of it and it smashed in the front edge of my car. Can you imagine how embarrassing that was? Everybody turned to look and I’m pretty sure I turned as red as my car.”
I chuckled. “I can imagine exactly how embarrassing that would be. I would be embarrassed too. It sounds like something I would do.”
She poured herself some tea, still chuckling over what she had done. “What isn’t funny is the amount of the bill to fix it, according to the estimate I received.”
“No, I don’t think there’s going to be anything funny about that. But thankfully, no one was hurt.”
She stirred some sugar into her tea and nodded in agreement. “You can say that again. How is that man of yours coming on solving Tori’s death?”
“I know he’s working hard on it. In fact, he’s still at work this evening.”
“He does work hard, doesn’t he?” She took a sip of her tea.
“He does,” I said. My stomach clenched as I tried to come up with a way to ask her nicely if she had ran over Tori and left her to die in the alley. It wasn’t something you could just ask a friend, was it? “Agatha, you know I think the world of you, don’t you?”
She stopped and looked at me quizzically, teacup in hand, raised halfway to her lips. “Of course I know that. Why do you ask that?”
“Agatha, someone may have said you might know something about Tori Wells’ death.” I stopped and looked at her as she considered my words. I wanted to say that I didn’t believe it, but I needed to know what she would say to the question.
She raised the cup the rest of the way to her lips, took a sip and then set the cup back on its saucer. “Rainey, do you think I murdered Tori Wells?”
I looked into her eyes for a moment. The soft baby blue color said she was innocent. But I wanted to hear it from her. “Agatha, I’ve known you for so many years. And never once has it ever crossed my mind that you might harm someone.”
She nodded. “I would never harm anyone. I did not kill Tori Wells. Who put that idea into your head?”
I let the breath out that I didn’t know I was holding. “Kayla Wright and Elizabeth Wells. They’re suspicious of you, but please don’t tell them that I told you.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Rainey, I’m hurt. How could you think that of me?”
I shook my head, and I felt tears spring to my eyes. “Agatha, I swear to you that I never really believed you killed Tori. But I wanted to hear it from you. I’m sorry. Please don’t think that I suspected you. I didn’t.”
“Does Cade think I killed Tori?”
I shook my head. “No, Cade would never believe you harmed anyone.”
She nodded. “I think those women have wild imaginations. Sometimes when people point fingers at others that’s all the more reason for you to look closer at them. But, if you want to know something interesting, it’s that John Greenlee and Kayla Wright dated one another for a while. If you want my opinion, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if the two plotted together and made a quick end of Tori.”
I had no idea that Kayla and John dated. They were both married, so of course they would keep it to themselves. Kayla had pointed out that John Greenlee might have killed Tori. Perhaps Kayla was working hard to shift the blame and the attention from herself if they were both responsible for the murder. “Do you think Kayla might have done it to get Tori back for taking away the business owners associat
ion presidency?” If Kayla was the killer, there could be no other reason.
“I suppose anything’s possible,” she said and took a sip of her tea. “I suppose we don’t know what really goes on in people’s private lives, do we? Perhaps there was something more sinister going on between Kayla and Tori, but I don’t think we’ll ever know with Tori being dead.”
“What do you mean?” I asked her.
She shrugged. “That Tori was an underhanded, evil woman. She was always looking to take advantage of others. She didn’t just brag about herself, she demanded attention and adoration and if anybody dared not give it, they would pay. With the animosity between her and Kayla, I wouldn’t be surprised if she had something on her and that was why Kayla killed her.”
I nodded, taking this in. Most people’s opinion of Tori was similar. It was something that couldn’t be ignored and I had to wonder exactly what kind of mischief she had been up to before she died.
Chapter Nineteen
When I left Agatha’s house and got into my car, my phone rang. It was Cade. I filled him on what Agatha told me. I still felt a little sick when I thought about it. Perhaps I shouldn’t have said anything to her about what Kayla and Elizabeth told me. Cade was surprised that I had gone to speak to her, but he shouldn’t have been. I had a history after all. He would have preferred me to leave it to him to talk to her. He might have thought I would be unkind to her, but this was Agatha we were talking about and I wouldn’t hurt her for the world. And even though she said she understood, I wondered if I did hurt her feelings. She was the kind of person who would say so.
The following day I was minding the flower shop for my mother. She had a dentist appointment and both of her part-time employees had called in sick. I looked up as the front door opened and Sandra Daily, Christine Lundy, and Molly Zepeda walked in.
I smiled. “Hello ladies,” I said. “How are you all today?”
“We’re doing fine,” Sandra said walking up to the counter. “We thought we’d go in on an arrangement together for Tori’s funeral.”
“That’s right, the funeral is tomorrow, isn’t it?” It had been two weeks since Tori had been murdered.
She nodded. “I think there were family members that were coming from out of state, so it was delayed.”
I nodded. Two weeks seemed like a long period, but I supposed that it wasn’t extremely unusual. “We have a lot of nice arrangements in this book,” I said pointing to the book that was open on the front counter.
The three huddled around the book and began turning pages, looking over each arrangement.
“If you need any help with anything, let me know,” I said.
“Thank you, Rainey,” Christine said.
I wandered over to the shelves that held candles and began dusting them. My mother had a lot of candles, vases, and other assorted gift items that she sold along with flowers. I was waiting for her to tell me more about how she was getting along with the Happy Petals flower shop now open, but she hadn’t said much about it. That worried me. I hoped it wasn’t cutting into her business too much, but I supposed it was to be expected with the new business having a grand opening. People sometimes just wanted to try out a new shop, but I felt confident they would return to their old habits and be back at my mother’s shop in time.
“That’s a lot of money,” Molly whispered.
“We don’t want something cheap for Tori’s funeral!” Sandra hissed.
“Yes, but two hundred dollars?” Molly said.
“It’s going to be split three ways, so it isn’t that much,” Christine said. “We are not going to show up at her funeral with a cheap arrangement. I want everyone to look at that arrangement and know how much she meant to me. To us, I mean.”
It sounded as if Christine was near tears as she spoke. I didn’t want to eavesdrop, but the shop was small and it was hard to avoid it.
I moved further down the shelf to give them more privacy. I knew Tori’s husband had already been in and he had spent five hundred dollars on arrangements. It seemed extravagant, but he was grieving and I wondered if he wasn’t thinking clearly.
“I like this one. It’s nice and simple and it’s only eighty dollars,” Molly said. “Tori loved yellow, and this is perfect.”
“I told you,” Christine said. “We’re not going to buy a cheap arrangement.”
“It will be okay,” Sandra said to Christine, placing a hand on her arm.
“Rainey, I think we’re ready to place our order,” Christine said.
I headed back around to the front counter, smiling. “All set, then?”
Christine nodded furiously. “Yes. We want this arrangement. Can you substitute yellow roses for the pink ones?” She pointed to a large arrangement on the page.
I nodded. “Yes, we can substitute. That will be easy to do.”
“Is there an extra charge for that?” Molly asked tentatively.
“No, substituting yellow roses for the pink is no problem at all. We would only charge if you wanted a different type of flower substituted,” I assured her.
She nodded thankfully. Sandra gave her a sideways look that said she needed to keep quiet.
“Well then, we’d like this one to be delivered to the funeral home no later than 9:00 a.m. tomorrow,” Christine said.
I nodded and picked up an order book and began filling it out. “No problem. My mom will get working on these first thing in the morning, and she’ll make sure they get there on time.”
“Your mother does such lovely work,” Molly said in the uneasy silence.
“Thank you,” I said. “She always knows exactly what to put together and how to arrange them just so. They always turn out beautiful. And I certainly appreciate you saying it, and I’ll pass that on to her. It will make her so happy.”
She nodded. “I know there’s another flower shop open in town now, but I can’t imagine going there. Don’t get me wrong, the Richards’ her lovely people, but your mother really does a beautiful job and I wouldn’t switch.”
I fell heartened by her words. “That’s kind of you to say, and I’ll certainly pass it on to my mother.”
I finished filling out the form and began ringing up the purchase. It was a lot to spend on an arrangement, but when you’re close to a person, you want them to be remembered in a nice, thoughtful way.
Christine pulled out a credit card from her purse and ran it through the card reader. “I know Tori would have loved these flowers. I feel terrible that I never bought her something like this while she was alive so she could enjoy it.” Her voice trembled as she spoke.
“I’m sure she knew how much you cared about her,” I assured her.
She nodded and when the transaction had gone through, the three of them turned and left. I put the order slip in the back room where my mother wouldn’t miss it. I’d be sure and tell her about it as well, to make sure it wouldn’t be overlooked.
It was almost 5:00, and I decided closing up the shop a couple of minutes early wouldn’t hurt. I heard the bell over the front door jingle and I went back out front to see who had come in.
Molly stood there, her cheeks flushed. “I know this is going to sound terrible,” she said, glancing over her shoulder and then turning back to me. “But Tori wasn’t the saint the other ladies try to make her out to be. In fact, she was more of a devil than a saint.” She was nodding as she spoke and her eyes teared up.
I wasn’t sure what to make of this. “I’m sorry,” I said. “Sometimes people don’t know how to express the fact that they care for other people.” It was all I could come up with. I wasn’t sure why she came back into the shop to tell me this.
She stepped closer to the front counter, placing her hands palm down on the top of it. “Tori was evil. I just can’t tell you how terrible she was. And the truth is, she terrified people, and that’s why they’re afraid to say anything against her. But she’s gone now. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I would wish death on anyone, but it was kind of a relie
f when I heard about it. Does that make me a terrible person?” Tears slipped from her eyes and she looked at me, silently pleading with me to tell her she wasn’t a terrible person for thinking this.
I shook my head slowly. “No, it doesn’t make you a terrible person to be relieved that she’s out of your life. I understand you don’t wish her dead, but I can kind of understand the relief at not having her in your life anymore.” I was grasping at straws. I’d never had anybody like Tori in my life, other than my ex-husband. But I had made the decision quickly to get out of our marriage, and as terrible as it was, at least I was able to leave and move on with my life.
She nodded. “I swear I’m not glad that she’s dead. I would never wish that on anyone. I just couldn’t take it anymore. I had actually considered moving away from Sparrow to get away from her. I know that sounds crazy, but I’d seen the way she treated other people who didn’t agree with her or didn’t want her in their lives anymore. She made them regret it.”
Roast Turkey and a Murder Page 10