Ward Cooper knew where she had gone. That was obvious. But how did he know? Could he have been following her? Why would he do that unless he had been afraid she was getting closer to the truth?
She finally decided to deal with this head on. “You were jealous of Margaret, weren’t you?”
“Jealous? I deserved everything she inherited. She deserved everything that happened to her. And you deserve everything you’re going to get for poking into this.”
Ward lunged at Daisy, but she took off running.
He yelled after her while he chased her. “She didn’t deserve Uncle Con’s money or my aunt’s jewelry. She took care of him for a year. I knew him for a lifetime.”
The closest place to run was up the staircase, but when she reached the top, the theater went dark. Ward had shut down the lights. Daisy knew she was trapped on this landing.
She searched her mind for a way out. As they’d been talking, Ward had been standing near the expensive oriental rug that Margaret had insisted on buying.
Suddenly she heard Ward’s voice. “Come on down, Daisy. There’s no place to go up there. We can talk some more. Or do you want me to come up there after you?” That last question had been asked in a much nastier voice . . . closer to her too.
If she hadn’t been practically breathless with fear before, she was now. How could she coax Ward to stand on that rug?
In her pocket she found her wallet. Fingering it, she decided to take a chance. After all, he was threatening her. She deserved to act a little irrational.
“If it’s money you want, I can write you a check. I always carry a check in my wallet for emergencies. It’s my business account so I can wipe it out.”
Pulling her wallet from her pocket, she threw it in the direction she wanted Ward to go.
The stage was as dark as spades, but she was pretty good at sensing direction. Her hand was on the banister at the front of the staircase. Moving slightly to its corner, she stood in the juncture of the two banisters. “Take my money. Look in the wallet for the check. I’ll be glad to sign it.”
He wouldn’t kill her if he knew he could access thousands of dollars and get away, right?
She heard him scuffling around. It sounded as if his feet were on the rug. She reached up and as far out as she could for the pulley ropes that were holding up the chandelier. Her foot slipped in her ballet shoes, and she caught herself before she fell off the small makeshift balcony. Anchoring her foot under the lowest rung of the banister, she reached farther and felt the rope. She unhooked it, and the chandelier crashed down. Ward Cooper screamed.
Using the banister to guide her down the stairs, she ran, jumped over the last step, and headed for the theater’s back door. When she ran across the stage, she couldn’t see where the steps were that led down to the back hall. She wanted to know if Ward was following her, but she couldn’t spare even a moment to listen. It might only take a second to catch up to her.
She missed the first step on the down staircase from the stage and almost tumbled down the rest of the stairs. Somehow she regained her balance, scrambled down the last two steps, and sped toward the back door. She went at it full force and pushed it open.
Spotting Rowan climbing from his sedan, where Glenda was sitting too, she ran toward him yelling his name. Then she took a deep breath, pulled out her phone, and called 9-1-1.
Epilogue
Daisy sat across from Detective Rappaport in a conference room at the police station. They had just begun when Jonas burst in.
Daisy’s mind was still reeling from everything that had happened. Truth be told, her legs were shaking too. Detective Rappaport had driven her car to the police station because he didn’t think she was able to drive. He’d been kind, which had almost made her feel worse.
As soon as she saw Jonas, she hopped up from her seat and ran to him. He caught her in his arms and hugged her tight. He buried his nose in her neck, and she thought he was shaking a little bit too. From his tight hold, she knew he didn’t want to let go any more than she did. But she had to give her statement to the detective.
After what seemed a timeless few moments, yet not enough time at all, Jonas raised his head and looked over Daisy’s shoulder at Rappaport. “Is it all right if I stay?”
“As long as you don’t interrupt Daisy as she goes over again what happened. We went through this once, but I think she was in shock.”
Jonas released her and stood about a foot away, studying her carefully. “Are you all right?”
She gently touched his jaw. “I’m fine. Honest. You’ve got to believe I never expected what happened. I just went to the theater to talk to Rowan—”
“Whoa,” Detective Rappaport said. “Slow down, Daisy. Come and sit down. Let’s start this from the beginning so I can record you. I want you to go slow and give me as much detail as you can.”
That’s exactly what Daisy did.
After she finished, and the detective completed all of his questions, Jonas moved his chair closer to hers and took her hand.
Detective Rappaport’s phone buzzed. He picked it up and listened. After he was finished, he told Daisy and Jonas, “Zeke took a few days’ personal leave. The police captain is interrogating Ward Cooper at urgent care. From what I understand, he needed a few stitches. You’re lucky the chandelier stunned him and pinned him down.”
From the expression on Jonas’s face, he looked relieved that he didn’t have to face Zeke or speak to him here.
“Bart Cosner is with the chief at urgent care . . . or rather he was,” Rappaport explained. “He just got back. Apparently, Cooper didn’t ask for a lawyer and he spilled his guts. I’m going to go out and see what he’s learned.” He looked at Daisy. “You have a right to know. Do you want to stay or do you want me to give you a call later?”
Daisy straightened her spine. “I’ll stay. I want his story. I want to know exactly why Margaret died.”
Rappaport nodded and left the office.
Sitting quietly together for a few minutes, Daisy and Jonas didn’t speak. Finally, he leaned back in his chair and sighed. “I know why you didn’t contact me when you went to the theater. It’s because I hadn’t been in contact with you. If I had been with you, Ward wouldn’t have tried what he did.”
Daisy placed two fingers on Jonas’s lips and shook her head. “Don’t do that. What happened certainly wasn’t your fault. Jonas, I know when you’re upset, you need time alone. I was giving it to you. Even if we had been in contact, you can’t be with me every minute. You can’t stop me when I want to explore. As I told the detective, all I wanted to do was speak with Rowan and try to dig a little deeper into the beginning of his relationship with Margaret. That’s all I wanted. When I learned Ward was the second heir, I was pretty sure he was the murderer. After talking to Rowan, I intended to call Zeke. If I couldn’t get hold of him, I would have asked for Rappaport. But plans can get derailed, and so can relationships.”
Jonas looked as if he was about to say something, but Detective Rappaport returned to the room. With a sigh, the detective sat down heavily in his chair and lowered his elbows to the table. “This is one of those stories that is so senseless and makes you want to cringe when you hear how foolish people are . . . or maybe how fake people can be.”
He looked at his notebook, where he’d scribbled notes. “Apparently, Margaret thought Ward Cooper was over his snit that she’d inherited from his uncle. She’d worked for Conrad Eldridge for a year. But she’d not only worked for him, she’d taken care of him until he died.”
Rappaport glanced up at Daisy, then back at his notes. “Apparently, Margaret had been devoted to him. Ward knew he couldn’t contest the will for alienation of affection or something like that because it simply wasn’t true, and too many people knew it. All of Conrad’s old friends thought Margaret was an angel. Ward thought her break with her own father had always affected her, and Conrad became that father figure she’d never had.”
“I wondered what happens w
hen children leave the faith like that, especially if they’re shunned or cut off. It’s so sad,” Daisy said.
“It is sad,” Rappaport agreed. “The problem was—Margaret thought Ward didn’t resent her any longer. She hadn’t done anything wrong, but she’d wanted to smooth things over. That’s why she invited him to join the staff at the theater, hoping they could erase any bad feelings that might still be unresolved.”
“And Ward pretended to go along?” Jonas asked.
The detective checked his notes again. He squinted at them as if he’d written in a hurry. “You have to understand from what Ward said, he’d only pretended to care for his uncle in the few visits he’d paid him. Ward had never put in time with him because he was on the road. So he pretended to go along with Margaret in a similar way. But he was looking for revenge.”
“How was he going to get revenge? Had he planned to murder her?” Daisy wanted to know.
“I don’t think he thought it would go that far,” Rappaport said. “But that’s for somebody above my pay grade to decide. From what he says, revenge consisted of revealing Margaret’s past as a stripper. He’d decided to blackmail her. They argued about what she should pay him more than once.”
“They must have argued the day Tamlyn told me Margaret was in a bad mood. Margaret had argued with someone before I had a meeting with her.”
“Ward was frustrated with Margaret putting him off. The day of the tea, he came in the back door of the house at the butler’s pantry. He planned to barge in and tell everyone assembled there that Margaret was a stripper, not an actress. He knew she’d be embarrassed. But their argument in the butler’s pantry got out of hand. His anger boiled over. When she wouldn’t give in to his demands, he stabbed her. When he realized what he’d done, he’d gotten even more enraged. That’s why he’d tossed the clotted cream over the brooch. He’d pulled the tennis bracelet from her wrist but dropped it and didn’t have time to retrieve it. My guess is he’ll be arraigned on the second-degree murder charge for Margaret, and an assault charge and attempted murder charge for Daisy. By the way, he said something about pushing over those trees on you at the theater. And something odd.”
“What?” Daisy asked.
“Something about damaging flour and cherries?”
Daisy explained what had happened to the supplies at Thanksgiving.
After making a few final notes, Rappaport shuffled papers on his desk, signaling the end of the conversation.
Jonas must have realized it too. “I have something to ask you,” he said.
“About this case?”
“No. I’d like to know if what Zeke said at the bonfire is making the rounds at the station. I got some odd looks when I came in.”
Rappaport rubbed his hand down his face. “Jonas, you know how this goes. You know how gossip flies. I’ll step on it when I get the chance. I’ll try to remind these men they wouldn’t want their personal history put up on a screen or an assignment board. But gossip is gossip. It will die down . . . eventually.”
Daisy wondered if eventually was one month, two months, six months? If Jonas and Zeke were around each other in the same town, would it die down at all?
Detective Rappaport laid his hands on the table and pushed himself to his feet. “I have paperwork on top of paperwork to fill out. And I have to check with the chief first and see if he needs backup at urgent care with Cooper. I’m sure you two can find your way out.”
He opened the door and left it open.
* * *
Jonas drove Daisy home in his SUV. She assured him that she could find someone to take her to pick up her car the next day.
They were silent as he drove. When they reached her house and pulled up the driveway, they both sighed. There were cars there and lights on in the house.
“I see your aunt’s car . . . and Tessa’s,” Jonas said.
“My parents’ car. And maybe Gavin’s.” Daisy sighed. “The garage apartment is dark too,” Daisy noted. “That means Vi and Foster and the baby are over at my house.”
“Are you up for this?” Jonas asked.
“I have to be.”
After they went inside, all of Daisy’s family came around, hugging her with tears in their eyes, saying how happy they were that she was all right, that nothing had happened to her. Even Gavin was there with Ben and Emily. He’d wanted to make sure she was unhurt and safe.
Daisy simply wanted to go to bed, but she felt the love and care these people were giving her, and she couldn’t just desert the group. Her mom, her aunt, and Tessa had set out refreshments. They’d made iced tea, sandwiches, coleslaw, and fixed a tray of snickerdoodles and chocolate chip cookies. Daisy tried to get around to talk with everyone. Jonas, however, didn’t stay by her side. He must have felt she had enough support and didn’t need him too. He seemed to be on the fringes. She was worried about what he was dealing with and how it was going to affect them. When she could, Daisy took Sammy in her arms. Smelling that baby shampoo, having his warm infant body against hers, she felt as if her soul was filling up again.
At one point when Daisy was standing in the kitchen rocking Sammy, her mom came to her and gave them both a huge hug. “I’m not going to say anything about what happened today,” her mom said. “I know you were only trying to help. But plans we make get scrambled, and other things happen. Maybe that’s the way it’s supposed to be so we learn lessons.”
Her mother’s attitude seemed different since they’d talked about her postpartum depression. She hoped they could continue to talk. She might as well tell her mother about the gossip Jonas was battling. She’d hear it sooner or later. “Mom, when Jonas and I went to the bonfire . . .”
Her mom waved her hand up and down. “You don’t have to say it. I heard about it. They’ll never know who the father is, will they?”
Daisy shook her head. “No, and that’s tearing up Jonas inside.”
“You know, Christmas is coming,” her mom said. “There’s always hope for Christmas miracles.”
Daisy could only believe her mother was right.
Shortly after her talk with her mother, Gavin and his family left along with her mom and dad. They saw that Daisy was tired. Next, Aunt Iris and Tessa took their leave with big hugs and the support that Daisy depended upon. Daisy and Vi had a short talk about what had happened, then Daisy shooed Vi and Foster back to their apartment. Finally, Jonas and Jazzi were the only ones left.
Jazzi took a look at the two of them. “I’m going upstairs with the cats.” She gave her mother a wink.
Jonas lifted Daisy’s chin. “Take a bubble bath, get some rest, try to block out everything that happened today.”
“I don’t want to block out running into your arms. I finally felt safe. I didn’t even feel that safe with Detective Rappaport.”
Looking conflicted, Jonas’s brows drew together as he said, “Daisy, this thing with Zeke . . . I need to sort it out. Can you bear with me?”
She didn’t move her gaze from his. “Maybe we have to practice going through thick and thin.”
After a moment, he nodded. “Maybe we do. But I think in the next week or so, like Zeke, I’m going to take a trip.”
Her heart sank. “Where?”
“I think to Flagstaff, Arizona. I can drive north to the Grand Canyon or south to Sedona. I need to think and I need some of those good vibes out there while I’m doing it.”
The trip sounded reflective and positive. “You’ll be back for Christmas?”
Jonas smiled tenderly at her. “I’ll definitely be back for Christmas. I wouldn’t miss Sammy’s first Christmas.”
Daisy didn’t want Jonas to miss any part of her family life, but she did have to give him time. If she did, maybe they’d have the rest of their lives to celebrate many more Christmases.
ORIGINAL RECIPES
Apple Gingerbread
1 cup sour cream (I use Daisy Pure and
Natural)
¾ cup dark brown sugar
⅓ cup
dark Karo syrup
¼ cup water
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2½ cups flour
2 cups diced apples
Grease and flour two 8-inch cake pans (unless they are nonstick).
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In mixer, beat sour cream, brown sugar, and Karo syrup. Add water. Beat in eggs, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger. Mix in flour little by little until batter is smooth. Stir in apples and pour evenly into both cake pans.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until a toothpick poked into the center of each cake comes out clean. Serve with a dollop of clotted or whipped cream.
Beef and Lentil Soup
1½ pounds stewing cubes
3 tablespoons high heat sunflower oil
¾ cup onion plus ½ cup
2 14 oz. cans diced tomatoes
1 qt. culinary beef broth
1 cup water
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 clove garlic, grated
¾ cup lentils
¼ cup wild rice
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup sliced celery
Brown stewing cubes in sunflower oil. Add ¾ cup onions and sauté about 2 minutes. Stir in diced tomatoes, beef broth, water, salt, pepper, and garlic. Bring to a boil, then turn to simmer for ½ hour. Add lentils and wild rice, bring to a boil, and simmer for another ½ hour. Add carrots, celery, and the remainder of onion. Bring to a boil and simmer for another ½ hour. Serve piping hot with crusty bread. This recipe will serve 6.
Fall Fruit Salad
2 apples cut in small chunks (I use 2 different
kinds for color and flavor—perhaps Granny
Murder with Clotted Cream Page 25