by R A Wallace
Megan heard the murmur of their voices as they greeted each other. There was a soft laugh before Vince returned to the kitchen with Bev following behind him.
“I thought that was your truck,” Bev said as she climbed up onto a stool next to Megan.
Vince took out three small plates and set a jumbo-sized muffin on each one. Then he took out three beautiful cups and saucers and filled them with tea.
“Cream or sugar?” he asked.
“No, this is wonderful, thank you.” Megan split the muffin into large chunks and ate one. “Very good. I might start craving these too.”
“You have a free pass to crave anything you want, no matter how bizarre,” Bev agreed as she split her own muffin.
“Do you remember anything about the Fenimores?” Megan asked her.
Bev thought as she chewed. “Not much about the parents, other than the car accident. I didn’t really know them that well.”
“What about Patty?” Megan asked.
Bev looked at Vince. “She majored in writing, didn’t she?”
Vince made a face indicating he wasn’t sure. “I can’t say that I paid much attention to her.” He smiled at Bev.
Bev shook her head but smiled at him to acknowledge the compliment. “Yes, I think that’s correct. She was hoping to get into the field, like her parents were, but she just never made it. From what I remember, I just don’t think it was something she inherited from them, not matter how hard she tried.”
Megan was surprised at how well she felt after the muffin snack with tea. Her next stop was at the florist shop. She knew that Caitlyn’s mother often helped out during the day. She found Susan in the front of the shop, alone.
“Caitlyn is out making deliveries,” Susan said. “How are you feeling these days?”
“I think I’m doing a lot better, thanks. I was actually looking for you.”
“Another puzzle?” Susan crossed her arms and waited for whatever questions Megan had.
“Yes. Can you tell me anything about the Fenimores?”
“Oh. I wasn’t expecting that one.” Susan looked out the large front window of the florist shop as she thought back. She shook her head. “Not really, no. I remember that they moved away for a while. After Patty’s parents died, she moved back.”
Megan waited a moment to see if Susan remembered anything else.
“She has the phone store now, as you know.” Susan propped one elbow on her crossed arm and put her hand under her chin. “From what I remember, she tried a couple of different types of jobs when she returned. None of them were particularly successful though they should have been.”
“What do you mean?”
Susan waved around the florist shop. “You know one of the keys to success in business is location. Think about it. The space she has is very small now, but it’s in a perfect location.”
Susan was right. “That’s true. Why do you think her business attempts failed?”
Susan made a face. “Have you ever spoken to her?”
Megan thought back to her conversation with Patty at the Jammin’T.
“She is a little terse,” Megan said.
“That’s a very polite way of saying it,” Susan agreed.
By the time Megan reached the Jammin’T, the breakfast crowd had cleared but it was still too early for lunch. She was lucky to see Cy having coffee at one of the booths. She slid in to the bench on the other side.
“Mind if I ask some questions?” Megan asked.
“Are you trying to track down the murderer?” Cy asked.
“And the cow thief, actually.”
“You think they’re one and the same?” The look on Cy’s face was skeptical.
“That’s what I’m wondering. We’ll see.” Megan looked around the diner. “You come in here pretty often, don’t you?”
“With Jill working at the Tea & Thyme all day, it gives me something to do,” Cy agreed. “I’m just beginning to enjoy the retired life now that Tyler and Holly are taking care of my farm.”
Megan watched an emotion cloud his eyes.
“Thinking it’s time to give up farming?” Megan asked.
He let out a sigh. “These old bones aren’t getting any younger.”
It looked to her as though he hadn’t quite made up his mind yet. She didn’t want to push him either way.
“Can you tell me if you ever see Patty Fenimore in here?”
Cy automatically glanced over at the wall. Patty’s phone store was on the other side.
“Sure. She comes in all the time.” Cy lowered his voice. “I don’t think she gets a lot of customers over there.”
“Do you know if she was around during any of the recent… problems?”
“You mean, like when they found a dead body behind the diner?” Cy shrugged. “Can’t say that I do.”
Megan watched Cy’s eyebrows pull together. “What?”
“She was in here when Becca was here to see Tyler the one day. I remember because we were all at the counter.” Cy waved over to the counter. “Casey was on one end. Then me. There were a few empty chairs, then Becca. Patty was on the end.”
“Yeah?” Megan prompted.
“I looked down to watch how Tyler was doing with his girl. She came to ask him out on his day off. You know he’s sweet on her, right?” He watched Megan nod. “Patty was looking at Becca too. Except, she was scowling.”
“Did you wonder why?” Megan asked.
“Not really. To be honest, with Patty it’s not that unusual.” Cy made a face as he lifted his coffee cup. “It did seem a little excessive though, even for her.”
Megan thought about what she had learned as she drove to her next stop. The address that Ava gave to Megan on the phone brought her to a small office space on one of the tertiary town streets. It wasn’t one of the main streets right in town, but it was close enough. Megan realized that the rent would be less than it would be for a prime spot on one of the main streets. Yet, it was still conveniently located in town. The logo on the front window was familiar. Megan had designed it for Ava.
“I didn’t know you had a storefront now for your Maid in Teaberry business,” Megan said after greeting Ava.
“I’ve been doing more administrative-type work. It got to the point where I needed something,” Ava explained. “What brings you in?”
“A hunch, actually. Or, maybe you would call it wishful thinking. I’m hoping you have more information about something you said to me recently that might help.”
Ava raised her brows in confusion.
“It was your comment about the old manual typewriters,” Megan said.
The confusion cleared. “You’re working on a puzzle and you’re hoping that’s a clue.”
“Exactly. Can you tell me where you’ve seen them?”
“Well, the Teaberry Times have some. They’re more for decoration, though. I don’t think anyone at the newspaper actually uses them. They’re displayed on shelves with some other old equipment.” Ava tapped her finger on her desk as she thought. “Mr. Peabody had one before he passed away. He used to teach business classes at the high school in the fifties and sixties.”
“Do you know what the family did with it?” Megan asked.
Ava shook her head.
Megan was about to ask another question when Ava’s phone rang.
Ava pointed at her phone. “Oh, Patty Fenimore has one too.” Ava held up a finger as she answered her phone.
Megan waited for the call to end. “You’re sure about that?”
“Yes. I didn’t think about it until my phone rang. I remember seeing it when I went in to have my phone serviced not long ago. She was actually using it at the time.” Ava turned to her computer to enter a service request for the customer who had just called. “I don’t know where she keeps it the rest of the time. I’ve never seen it the other times I was there,” she said as she typed.
Chapter Twenty-Five
It was after three o’clock and the Jammin’T was closed f
or business for the day. They sat around the diner on the restaurant side, each with a beverage of their choice and some leftover pie.
“I still can’t believe anyone would do all of that,” Holly said for the fourth time. She looked around the room at the people who had come to be her friends since she and Tyler had moved to Teaberry. “Why did she do it?”
Rhys stretched out his long legs. “She just fixated on you. It can’t always be explained.”
Holly turned troubled blue eyes toward him. “But we didn’t do anything wrong.”
“No, you didn’t,” Erica said firmly. “None of this is on you.”
“I still can’t believe she stole a cow,” Cy said.
“Yeah, what was up with that?” Tyler asked.
“It was just a matter of making life difficult for the two of you,” Jerry explained. “She was just trying to get to you any way that she could.”
“She figured if she made it look like you sold one of the cows that Cy would throw you both off the farm,” Ian explained. “That would leave you homeless, the way she felt.”
“Why did she feel homeless?” Holly looked guilty for unintentionally causing anyone to feel that way.
Lynn patted Holly’s arm. “Honey, that’s not on you. Her parents lost their jobs and their homes in Teaberry. Their death was an accident. None of that had anything to do with you. Some of it was before you were even born.”
“Like Rhys said. There’s no way to explain why she blamed the two of you for everything,” Erica said.
“What about Tyler’s gloves?” Cy asked. “The ones that were found at the fire?”
“Patty said she found those in the alleyway behind the diner. Her phone store was next door. She went behind the building all the time,” Ian explained.
Tyler groaned and he covered his eyes for a moment. “I had my gloves for the delivery. I wear them whenever I have to handle the frozen food. When we didn’t get any, I took them off. I must have dropped them back there.”
Holly’s eyes grew wide. “Patty burned down Bert and Betty’s house?”
“No,” Erica said quickly. “We got the results back from that a while ago but didn’t release them to the public. It wasn’t arson. There was a problem with some wiring.”
“Patty just took advantage of the fire and the gloves she found to frame Tyler for it,” Jerry added.
“I still don’t understand how she got the picture of Halle,” Tyler said. “The one she put in the book at the library. I can see Patty writing the note warning Becca to stay away from me. But I just don’t get how she had access to the photos from when we were kids.”
Jimmy turned to Holly and pointed his thumb over his shoulder toward the kitchen. “Don’t you have some old pictures hanging on the cork board back there?”
Holly jumped up. “Oh, that’s right.”
They watched her run to the kitchen. When she returned, she had a photo in her hand.
“This is one of them. Jimmy’s right. I pinned others up there and one is missing.” Holly passed the photo to Erica’s outstretched hand.
“I recognized her from the pictures you showed me at your place,” Megan said. “I knew it was your girlfriend and could tell that the photo was taken at the same time because she had the same clothes on.”
“The one that is missing was a group shot. Halle was standing in between me and Tyler,” Holly said.
“Patty cut out Tyler and Halle and made it look like they were a couple,” Megan said.
“I’m really glad Becca didn’t fall for that,” Tyler muttered.
“We’re really glad the librarians knew so much about manual typewriters,” Erica said.
“The notes for the sale of the cow and the one found at the library match up with the typewriter we found in the phone store next door,” Jerry said.
“Speaking of phones,” Tyler said turning to Jerry. “Any word on mine?”
“She had some sort of blocker in it,” Jerry said. “It was jamming your signal so your phone wasn’t working.”
“I’m an idiot.” Tyler shook his head.
“Why do you say that?” Megan asked.
“It was Patty’s idea that I drive around and try to get a signal on my phone. She knew I wouldn’t be able to do it,” Tyler explained.
“And that you wouldn’t have an alibi for your whereabouts when Bert and Betty were run off the road,” Erica said with a nod. “Clever.”
Holly frowned. “Why would Patty run Bert and Betty off the road?”
“She didn’t,” Ian said. “That was actually Lefty, the murder victim. Lefty and Aaron were also the ones who stole part of the delivery from you. Like Patty, they were just doing it to make your life more difficult.”
“According to Aaron Sorenson, Lefty was jealous of the two of you,” Erica said. “Lefty said you two had it easy growing up. You had your parents and you always got the best jobs at the fairs you worked at.”
Holly made a sound of exasperation. “That’s just because Tyler actually worked. Lefty and Aaron were always goofing off.”
“Why did Patty kill Lefty? You would think she’d be happy that Lefty was helping her make my life more difficult,” Tyler asked, the confusion evident on his face.
“She claims that was her right. The other men were getting in the way,” Erica said.
“She wanted the pleasure all to herself.” Ian finished his pie and pushed the empty plate away.
“That doesn’t make sense,” Holly said with a sigh.
“I never claim to understand the way a murderer thinks,” Erica agreed.
Megan’s Recipe
Banana Wheat Germ Muffins
3 bananas, mashed
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup milk
Line muffin cups with liners. Mash bananas and add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well and spoon into large muffin cups. Bake in large muffin cups at 375 degrees about 30 minutes or until muffins pass toothpick test. Makes 12 large muffins.
Books by R. A. Wallace
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R. A. Wallace is the author of two cozy mystery series:
Indigo Investigations Cozy Mystery Series
Callie Indigo is struggling to make ends meet with her private detective agency, Indigo Investigations, while juggling the complexities of an extended family and life in general. When she isn’t working a legitimate case, she’s often talked into helping out friends and family. Just when she’s wondering if she’ll ever turn a profit, her life becomes even more complicated with the appearance of Greyson Divine who has the uncanny ability to appear just as Callie is solving a case. Callie has to admit, however, that sometimes Greyson Divine may actually be helpful. This cozy mystery offers a clean read with a female sleuth, friends, and family.
Teaberry Farm Bed & Breakfast Cozy Mystery Series
Megan is the main character in the series but interacts with a wide range of other characters in the fictional town of Teaberry. A difficult first marriage ended in the accidental death of her husband. She supports herself with her bed and breakfast, produce from her farm, and her tech skills as a web developer. Over time, she discovers that the love of her life was in front of her all along. Main characters in the series are multigenerational.