Fit To Be Tied

by Elizabeth Craig

  Ramsay’s brows arched just a little in recognition of Mark’s statement then he said, “The state police are on the way. We’ll be sure to find out who’s responsible for your father’s death.” The grim way he said it made Beatrice wonder if it was a threat or a promise.

  Ramsay added, “Speaking of the family business, how were things going over there? I’d imagine it would be mighty hard to work with family all the time. Business doing okay?”

  Mark said briskly in a practiced way, “The business is doing very well. We’ve had lots of retailers ask to partner with us in selling to the public and we’ve stepped up our distribution accordingly. We’ve also had a lot of excellent media coverage lately.”

  “Was it hard to work with your father?” pressed Ramsay. “It’s just that spending all day with someone that you’re closely related to can be challenging, I’m sure.”

  Mark gave him an unwavering, direct look. “Of course not. We were lucky to have the founder of the business so invested in the company and its growth. Dad was good for the company. He was the face of the company and having him around and having the employees see how hard he worked was motivating for everyone who worked for him. Including me.”

  Ramsay changed tack. “What were you doing this morning?”

  Mark shrugged. “Nothing remarkable. Until a few minutes ago, it was about as normal of a day as you could possibly imagine. I took the dog out, showered, dressed, drank coffee, and looked over my schedule. I answered a few emails, ate two eggs for breakfast, brushed my teeth, and hopped into the car. The usual.”

  Ramsay said, not unkindly, “And your wife can verify all that?”

  Mark shook his head. “I’ve been divorced for the last year. My former wife lives in Florida now.” He paused. “Look, what’s the plan for today? I need to know what to tell the employees.”

  Ramsay said smoothly, “I’m afraid the business is going to be closed for the day, likely tomorrow, too. We’ll have forensics guys here and other investigators. But we’ll get you up and running as soon as we can.” He paused and then continued, “It’s hard to imagine, but did your father have any enemies? Did he maybe make folks unhappy in the business world? Competitors?”

  Mark considered this a second and then shook his head decisively. “No. Dad had lots of peers, instead—fellow businessowners who were growing in their own field. Sometimes he advised other people, especially those who were up and coming or new to owning their own businesses. But there wasn’t any sort of competition for him, really, in terms of pimento cheese.” Mark’s voice ended up on a proud note before he became somber again.

  “On a personal side, then?” pressed Ramsay. “Is there anyone who he’d upset? Someone who held a long-term grudge or who he’d recently made angry?”

  Mark didn’t have to consider this as long. “Well, you know Dad. He did pretty much whatever he wanted to do. Sometimes he rubbed people the wrong way. He could be blunt, which is a trait that I admire, but I know it could sometimes come across as abrasive. When you asked the question, there was one particular person who did come to mind, although I’m not saying that she had anything to do with it.”

  “Who is that?” asked Ramsay.

  “Her name is Salome Hewitt. She used to work for Dad; actually, she worked for him for many years,” said Mark.

  Beatrice said slowly, “I know Salome. She’s helping Posy part-time at the Patchwork Cottage.”

  Mark said, “Is she? Well, it’s good that she has work somewhere.”

  Ramsay asked, “What makes her an ex-employee? And what are her feelings about your dad or not working for the company any longer?”

  Mark sighed. “Dad was a good businessman, but he didn’t have a lot of people-skills and he could sometimes be fairly miserly. Salome has a small child and asked Dad for a raise in pay to feed two mouths instead of one. I doubt that she’d had a raise in all the years she’d worked for him, but he fired her instead for her impudence in asking him.” He shook his head.

  Beatrice and Wyatt glanced at each other.

  Ramsay said, “I see. So clearly, she wasn’t happy about that. Getting the axe after years of loyal service.”

  Mark shrugged his shoulders. “I’m sure she was completely shocked. She went into Dad’s office expecting a raise and left without a job. Dad told me that there were plenty of people who’d love to have her job. And it didn’t take him long to find one of them. Although I don’t think he’s been nearly as happy with her as he was with Salome. Salome was used to all of Dad’s idiosyncrasies and knew how he liked things organized in his office. Dad was always very particular about his files.”

  Ramsay nodded and closed his notebook. “Thanks for this, Mark. I’ll be asking you some more follow-up questions later on, but that’s all I have for now.” He walked over to greet the state police, who’d just pulled up.

  Mark blew out a breath and said to Wyatt, “I’m glad you’re here, Wyatt. Could you be sure to reserve the sanctuary for us for Dad’s funeral?”

  Wyatt said, “Of course I will.” He pulled out his phone. “When should I reserve it for?”

  Mark said, “One second.” He hurried back over to Ramsay and consulted with him and then walked back. “Let’s plan for four or five days from now, to be on the safe side. I’ll have to check in with Laura, Dad’s wife, of course. Do you think there’s availability?”

  Wyatt peered at the calendar on his phone. “It looks like there is, although I’ll check in with Edgenora, our church admin, to make sure.”

  Mark said, “Thank you. I’ll be in touch.”

  A few minutes later, Wyatt and Beatrice were walking to their cars.

  Beatrice saw how quiet Wyatt was and gently said, “That must have been very hard, seeing Gerald like that.”

  He sighed. “It was. In fact, I think I’m going to head straight home and regroup. I originally thought I might run by the store for more groceries to make for easy meals, but I think I need to sit down.”

  “I can run by the store after I drop Piper off later. I’ll follow you back now, since it’s too early to meet up with Piper.”

  Wyatt nodded absently as he unlocked his car and Beatrice followed him back home, walking into the house behind him as he sat down in the living room.

  “What do you make of all that?” he asked Beatrice. “I mean, you’ve seen Ramsay run investigations before. Do you think he thought Mark had something to do with his father’s death?”

  Beatrice said slowly, “I think Ramsay is just asking all the questions that he has to ask. The police always say that the most likely culprits are people who are closest to the victim.”

  “I don’t suppose it was some sort of random crime?” asked Wyatt, rubbing his temples.

  “It would be nice to think so, wouldn’t it? Except it doesn’t make any sense. Why would a stranger kill Gerald Carpenter?”

  “A theft gone wrong?” asked Wyatt.

  Beatrice shook her head. “A factory isn’t the kind of place that has money on hand. And Gerald was more of a penny-pincher, remember? He wasn’t the sort to have fancy computers and monitors there. No, it’s more likely to be a family member or an employee or someone Gerald did business with.”

  Wyatt said, “Mark mentioned a woman who used to work for Gerald. You know her?”

  “I wouldn’t say that I know Salome, but she’s helped check me out when I was buying fabric at the Patchwork Cottage. She seems really sweet and knows a good deal about quilting, too. Posy recently hired her for extra help; I guess Salome must have started working there when she lost her job at the factory.” Beatrice added, “It sounds as if Gerald was a tough person to work for.”

  Wyatt said, “I think he was a tough person altogether. I know that he was used to people doing whatever he wanted them to do, which was why I didn’t say anything when he offered to handle the bidding for the air conditioning and heating work. Besides, with all of his business experience, I figured he was a good guy for the job. He was also always incr
edibly organized and stayed on top of tasks well.”

  “That’s probably why he was able to be so successful when starting his own business,” said Beatrice. “People like him are completely driven.”

  “I forgot to ask whether you were you get hold of Dale about the work,” said Wyatt, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands as if he was exhausted.

  “Oops. No, unfortunately, he didn’t answer—and then I ran over to the factory when you called me. I’ve totally forgotten about the kitchen until now, but I can give him a call.” Beatrice pulled out her phone.

  “Honestly? I know this is awful, but I think I’d rather deal with eating yogurts out of the living room fridge again than deal with the construction racket today. My head is already pounding. If Dale ends up stopping by, that’s fine. But I don’t think I want to try to get him over here, if that makes sense.” He walked back to the bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet for an ibuprofen and then joined Beatrice again. He had a worried expression on his face. “What did you think about Mark?”

  Beatrice said, “I don’t really know Mark all that well. I mean, I see him at church sometimes, but he’s not exactly a regular. I think he was surprised by Gerald’s death, but I don’t think he was very upset by it. And I might be completely wrong; I know that grief is expressed in different ways by different people.”

  “That’s true. There doesn’t seem to be a really standard grief reaction. I thought he seemed stunned, but you’re right—I got the impression that he was more concerned by the impact on the business. But maybe that’s just his background—always to worry about the business side of things. He does have a lot of employees that are depending on the company to do well and Mark likely feels very responsible toward them.” Wyatt sat down again.

  Beatrice said, “It makes sense. But it did come off as slightly cold. Maybe he and his father didn’t get along very well.”

  Wyatt said, “It might be that they had a good business partnership but simply didn’t have very much in common and weren’t all that close.”

  Beatrice smiled at him. “You always have such a generous mindset toward people.”

  Wyatt grinned back at her. “As a minister, it’s part of the job.”

  The doorbell rang and Wyatt made a face. Then he chuckled. “Why aren’t I in a generous mindset right now?”

  Beatrice sighed. “I suppose it’s Dale. With any luck, maybe there’s a light at the end of the tunnel with this kitchen project. Unless it’s the light from an oncoming train.”

  She opened the door and Dale stood there with an apologetic expression and his arm in a sling.

  “Dale! What on earth happened?” Beatrice ushered Dale inside.

  The young man looked abashed. “Well, I somehow managed to fracture my shoulder when I was out four-wheeling with my cousin. I reckon that’s the last thing you want to hear from me, but it’s the truth.”

  Wyatt said, “If you had an accident on an ATV, you’re fortunate that a shoulder fracture is all that happened.”

  Dale nodded. “Ain’t that the truth? My mama always told me not to go four-wheeling with Duane. She never thought he had any sense. And we was lucky the thing didn’t flip on top of us. Anyways, I won’t be doing that again.” He paused and looked at them apologetically. “The doctor says I gotta have this arm in a sling to keep it still and let the bones heal the right way. I’m sorry, y’all. I know you was counting on me to finish up the job.”

  “If you can’t do it, you can’t do it,” said Beatrice. She looked at Wyatt. “We’ll just have to find someone who’s available to complete the kitchen.”

  Dale said, “My cousin does a lot of construction work. Of course, he mostly works for a business, but he’s starting to do some stuff on the side.”

  Beatrice raised her eyebrows. “Not Duane? The four-wheeling free spirit?”

  Dale laughed. “Nope. I wouldn’t recommend Duane for much of anything. He’s kind of reckless. But I have another cousin, Len, who knows his way around a kitchen. I can send him out to talk to you this afternoon, if you like. I feel bad about leaving you in a spot.”

  Wyatt said, “If Len can come by this morning or afternoon, that would be great. I’m going to be here.”

  Dale gave them Len’s contact information and a few more apologies before he left.

  Beatrice leaned back against the front door after Dale had gone out of it and closed her eyes. “It’s the never-ending project.”

  “With any luck, maybe Len has some references or can inspire confidence in some way,” said Wyatt. “Unfortunately, I think we’re starting to run out of options. Whoever is available is probably going to be key.”

  “I think you’re right.” Beatrice glanced at her watch. “Okay, it’s about time for me to go pick up Piper. Do you want me to drop off Noo-noo at Posy’s in case Len comes over and is ready to immediately start?”

  Wyatt hesitated, looking at Noo-noo, who had a hopeful expression on her face. “Why not test it out and see how it goes? Maybe it would be better to try a Patchwork Cottage visit in short spurts.”

  Beatrice nodded. “Good idea. Then I can pick up Noo-noo after Piper and I have lunch and see how it went.”

  Chapter Four

  “NOO-NOO,” SAID POSY in a tender voice as the little dog trotted in. Noo-noo wriggled her entire rear end and then flopped over immediately for a tummy rub while grinning lovingly up at Posy.

  There were a handful of customers in the Patchwork Cottage, and they all hurried over to ooh and ahh over Noo-noo and then show pictures on their phones of their own dogs.

  Posy beamed at Beatrice and said in a low voice, “I think Noo-noo might be a big draw for folks to shop here! She’s certainly a conversation-starter.” They glanced over at the women who were still sharing pictures with each other and loving on the corgi, who was soaking it all up.

  Beatrice said, “If she’s not a tremendous distraction! We want them to buy fabric and notions, not pet Noo-noo.” She looked fondly at the corgi, who was grinning at everyone as she lay on her back.

  Posy laughed. “And look at Maisie! Like I said, I didn’t think there would be any issues with our store cat.”

  Maisie, a large white cat, was trotting toward Noo-noo, weaving around the legs of the customers on her way to see the little dog. Then she observed Noo-noo solemnly before going up to groom Noo-noo’s head, which Noo-noo lay very still for.

  Beatrice grinned. “I think they’ve made friends.”

  The whole shop was chuckling over the two and one woman took pictures with her phone.

  Posy said, “Well, I think you can rest assured that Noo-noo will be fine here while you take Piper to her appointment.”

  “She’ll never want to go home!” said Beatrice. “Thanks so much. I’ll check in on her after the appointment and before we go to lunch, just to make sure.”

  Posy shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll send you an update in a little over an hour. Regardless, have a nice lunch with Piper! I know y’all will enjoy that.”

  Piper’s appointment went really well. Beatrice’s eyes had welled up a few times during the doctor visit, particularly when they heard the baby’s heartbeat and saw the baby on the monitor.

  “You have a fine baby,” said the doctor with a smile at them as she very carefully avoided any gender pronouns that might reveal if the baby was a boy or girl. “And seems very healthy.”

  Posy did indeed send Beatrice an update, just as she and Piper were making their way out of the doctor’s office. In the picture she sent, Noo-noo was grinning obligingly at the camera as Maisie lay curled up against her, blissfully sleeping.

  Beatrice showed the photo to Piper as they got into Beatrice’s car. Piper snorted. “That is one laid-back cat!”

  “Posy thought she’d be completely fine with a dog in the shop, and Maisie was,” said Beatrice. She looked over at Piper as she started driving toward downtown. “How are you doing?”

  Piper said, “Great! I really ha
ven’t had any issues and nothing to complain about. The baby has been really active during the day, which is kind of fun. And at night, he or she seems to conk out and go to sleep, which allows me to sleep.”

  “I have a brilliant grandchild,” said Beatrice with a smile.

  Piper picked a restaurant right in downtown. It was a pretty place with cheerful pastel murals on the walls and white tablecloths and a single flower in a vase on each table. Even though the ambience made it feel like a special occasion, the pricing was moderate. And the restaurant offered a huge selection of food.

  They were about to walk in when Meadow approached them on the sidewalk. “How did the appointment go, Piper?” she asked a bit breathlessly. She followed Piper’s appointments religiously and had clearly restrained herself from texting and asking for an update before now.

  “Everything is fine,” said Piper in a soothing voice. “The baby is doing great.”

  Meadow’s face relaxed immediately. “Wonderful news!” Then she turned to Beatrice and said in an urgent aside, “I need to talk to you later. Fill me in!” She gave Piper a hug and said, “So excited!” And she was off again, heading briskly in the direction of the grocery store.

  After they ordered (Piper choosing their chicken salad plate and Beatrice opting for a quiche with a salad), Piper said, “Okay, so what was Meadow alluding to so mysteriously? I can’t imagine it’s the work you’re having done at your house.”

  Beatrice sighed. “Or the work that’s not being done at our house.” She filled Piper in quickly on losing Dale because of injury and ending up with Dale’s cousin, Len. Then she paused. “I think that Meadow was being cautious because she’s being protective of you. She doesn’t want you to be worried about anything right now.”

  Piper lifted an eyebrow. “You mean overprotective. And now my curiosity is definitely piqued. What was it that Meadow was tiptoeing around? Something happened, right? Is everything okay with Wyatt? You’re both feeling well?”