Tea & Treachery
Page 26
“Rose and I decided to pay her a call then and there,” Bernie said.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I knew how busy you were baking for tomorrow Which is now today. You won’t be able to use what you made, anyway, because the police took it all away as evidence.”
“That’s one night’s work that’ll never be seen again.” The glass bowl in front of Simon was filling up with sliced fruit. “It’ll all mysteriously disappear from the evidence locker.”
Edna chuckled. I groaned. Bernie helped herself to a piece of melon.
“Janice didn’t even try to pretend it hadn’t been her creeping about that night and planting the threatening note,” Rose said.
“She thought it dreadfully funny,” Bernie added. “She’s got a screw loose somewhere.”
“Why?” I said.
“She’s rich, spoiled, and bored,” Rose said. “And she enjoys making trouble. She denied having anything to do with her husband’s death. I believed her, but in the unusual event that I might be wrong, I planned to give Detective Williams a call when I got home and let him know what we’d learned. Obviously, that almost immediately became unnecessary.”
We sat in silence for a few minutes. Rose poured a small amount of tea into her saucer, and Robbie helped himself.
Matt Goodwill stepped into the kitchen. “Is this a private party, or can anyone join?”
“Come on in,” I said. “The more the merrier. Coffee?”
“Thanks.”
Bernie jumped up to pour it. Matt gave her a warm smile, and she returned it. Rose caught my eye and wiggled her eyebrows.
“I have news,” he said. “Anyone want to hear it?”
“I do,” we chorused.
“I bought the house.”
“What?”
“What house?”
“You don’t mean the one next door?”
He grinned at us. “Yup. When I got home last night, the email I’ve been waiting for had arrived. I called my dad and told him I want the house and I’m prepared to pay full value, cash up front. He wisely decided to take what he can get now rather than hope for more if the property is rezoned and if a developer wants to buy it.”
“We’ll be neighbors,” Rose said.
“We will. I plan to move in right away, as soon as I can get the water and electricity reconnected. Maybe even before that. Parts of the house are habitable enough for now, although living conditions are a bit rough. I intend to restore the house and the grounds to their full and former glory, but that’s going to take a long time. Years probably. Maybe decades. I’ll get it done as time and money permit. I can do much of the work myself, and I’ll hire contractors as and when I can afford them.” He smiled at Bernie. “You can come and visit anytime.”
“I’m not very good with a hammer,” she said.
“Then you can sit on the porch and watch me work. I’m rather good with a hammer.”
“You know, I might just do that.” Bernie’s cheeks threatened to turn as red as her hair, and she buried her face in the coffee mug.
“What sort of email would you get that would enable you to buy yourself a house?” Rose asked. I’d been wondering that myself but thought it too much of a personal question to ask.
“A contract I’ve been expecting came in. I couldn’t make my move before it was a sure thing, but now it is. I’m a writer.” He grinned at Bernie. “Same as you. Last night I was offered a seven-figure advance for my newest book.”
Bernie sucked in a breath. “But . . .”
“But you’ve never heard of me. Which is understandable, as I write under a pseudonym and don’t make public appearances in America. I write true-crime books, stuff about serial killers and mass murders, and the name Goodwill isn’t exactly suited to that. My pen name is Lincoln Badwell. My dad wasn’t entirely pleased that I took his first name, but I thought it would work. And it has.”
“I’ve heard of you,” Simon said. “Those books are huge in the UK. My dad loves them.”
“That’s nice to hear,” Matt said. “Thanks.”
“Did you know about this?” Rose asked Edna.
“Of course I did. Matt has occasionally used back issues of the paper to do some research. Remember when I told you I couldn’t keep a secret? I lied.”
Voices came from the dining room, and Edna and I got to our feet. Time to get back to work.
Simon had finished preparing the fruit. He stood up and handed me the bowl. Our fingers brushed, and I smiled at him.
He smiled back, and then he turned to Matt. “If you need any help on your new house, mate, give me a call. I know my way around a hammer, too. And next time we go round the pub? Drinks are on you. Cheers.” He left to start his day’s work.
Bernie cradled her coffee mug. “I’ve had the best idea ever!”
“I hate to ask.” I put sausages into the frying pan. Éclair’s nose twitched. “But I will. What idea might this one be?”
“Rose—my Rose—and Tessa have to join forces when one of them is accused of killing the local magistrate who’s in the pocket of the evil landowner. It’s going to be a historical mystery! Isn’t that great?”
“Marvelous,” Rose said.
“I’m going straight home to get started. I suppose I’ll have to learn something about policing back then. I wonder if Matt knows about things like that.” She ran out the door.
“Edna,” Rose said, “I’ll have another cup of tea.”
“Don’t push your luck,” Edna said.
Chapter 26
I didn’t enjoy my forced day off. We had reservations for a full house again today, and I didn’t fancy turning people away, but I had no choice. The police had closed the tearoom kitchen as part of their investigation. Yellow tape was strung around the back door and the patio gate, cruisers still filled the parking lot, and forensic officers were crawling around the driveway, searching for evidence.
I also didn’t like doing Cheryl and Marybeth, particularly Marybeth, who I knew didn’t have much in the way of extra money, out of a day’s wages, even though I’d have no income today.
Once everyone except Edna had left and I was furiously attacking a bowl of innocent eggs prior to making scrambled eggs, I called Marybeth. I told her briefly what had happened and asked her to take a seat by the patio gate and tell guests when they arrived we were closed and to give them a sanitized version of the reason why.
Better that way, I thought, than have the rumor mill in overdrive. I wouldn’t want anyone thinking the police had closed my kitchen because someone had died in there.
When breakfast service was over, I left Edna to clean up and headed into town in Rose’s Ford Focus. If I wanted to open the tearoom tomorrow, I had a heck of a lot of baking to do today. I couldn’t get into the tearoom to get my ingredients or my equipment, but I could do some work in the kitchen of Victoria-on-Sea.
Which reminded me that my marble rolling pin, the one I’d carried with me all around Manhattan, the one that might have saved my life, had last been seen lying in a field somewhere. Now it was probably in the police evidence locker.
On my way into town, I waved at Marybeth, relaxing in the shade under the oak tree with a thermos, a lunch box, and a book. I stopped the car next to the back door of Tea by the Sea, told Éclair to stay, and got out. I asked the young officer guarding my premises if anyone had seen my rolling pin. He raised one eyebrow at me and grunted something that might have been, “Ask the detectives.”
It might also have been, “Got any more of those cookies?”
* * *
At twelve o’clock, I was balancing trays of scones, trying to figure out how best to rotate scones, cupcakes, and tarts—all of which baked at different temperatures for different times—in the one small oven of the B & B, when Éclair leapt to her feet. A fraction of a second later, Rose came into the kitchen, followed by Robert the Bruce.
“Detective Redmond is here,” Rose said. “She wants to talk to you
.”
“If I must,” I said. “I gave my statement last night. I hope Roy Gleeson isn’t still saying I attacked him for no reason.”
“I don’t know what he’s saying.”
I slipped the baking sheet of scones into the oven. “Can you keep an eye on these scones for me? They come out in twelve minutes.”
“No,” she said.
“No?”
“I’m not going to be left out.” She left the kitchen.
I took the sheet out of the oven, washed my hands, and followed Rose and Robbie into the drawing room. Éclair followed me.
Amy Redmond was standing at the big bay window, looking out into the garden. She turned and smiled at us, and I assumed she wouldn’t have smiled like that if she were here to arrest me.
“Would you like a cup of tea, Detective?” Rose asked as she settled herself into her chair. “Lily will be happy to get you one.”
“I will?”
“Yes, you will.” Robbie leapt into her lap, and Rose stroked his long fur. Éclair jumped onto the window seat next to the detective and gave her a thorough sniff.
“Thanks, but no.” Redmond bent over and gave the dog a hearty pat. “I’ve been up all night, and I’m on my way home. But first, I thought you might like to know what’s happening.”
I sat down. Over Redmond’s shoulder, I saw Simon climbing the steps to the verandah, a bag for garden refuse in his hands. “Has Roy confessed to the killing?”
“He says it was an accident. That Jack leaned on the gate and it broke and he fell.”
Rose snorted. “An accident, yet he didn’t run for help and pretended to know nothing about what happened when he showed up all calm and collected and so innocent.”
“Not to mention,” I said, “that he actually accused you of killing Jack.”
Redmond grinned at us. “Yup. So he’s going down, one way or another. He was supposed to meet with Ford and Lincoln Goodwill at nine o’clock on the Goodwill property. Jack Ford’s phone records show that Roy called him at eight that morning. Roy said, when originally questioned, that he’d called to confirm the time. He now says he wanted to have a private chat with Ford before Lincoln Goodwill arrived. Ford had threatened him if the rezoning didn’t go through, and Roy was worried it wouldn’t. He needed to talk it over.”
“I assume that talk didn’t go well.” Rose rubbed the fingers of her right hand together in that absentminded way of hers.
“No, it didn’t. The two men went for a walk—Roy says he was too restless to talk in the car or on the porch of the Goodwill house. So they walked and ended up here, on your property.”
“I’m thinking of getting a guard dog to keep the riffraff out,” Rose said. “Maybe a team of armed guards to go with it.”
“That will certainly help our family-friendly, home-away-from-home image,” I said.
“I suppose it would be like closing the barn door after the horses have escaped. Continue, please, Detective. What happened after they took this companionable little stroll into my yard?”
“They argued,” Redmond said. “And we intend to prove in a court of law that Roy Gleeson struck Ford with his hiking stick, forcing him into the fence and over the cliff. His failure to then try to offer assistance, or at the very least call for help, means it’s manslaughter at a minimum.”
“About the hiking pole,” I said. “You’re sure it was his, then?”
Her face twisted, and she turned her attention to Éclair. She stroked her fur, not looking at us. Outside, Simon moved slowly along the railing, trimming the plants in the flower boxes.
“We’ve been checking outdoor-equipment stores all over the Outer Cape in a wild-goose chase. Mr. Gleeson is divorced and lives alone. We searched his house and garage last night but didn’t find the pole’s partner. No doubt it’s currently resting at the bottom of the bay. We hadn’t released the information about the pole, so no one had reason to tell us Gleeson used them. Detective Williams says he wasn’t aware Roy was an avid hiker.”
“Should be easy to find out if that’s true, if they were ever seen together in the presence of these poles.”
Redmond lifted her head. She studied my face. “That line of inquiry, I’ve been told, is not to be pursued.”
“Understood,” Rose said. “Police incompetence doesn’t look good in the newspapers.”
Redmond pushed herself away from the window. “We’ll be in touch as things go forward. Roy has also been charged with the attempted murder of you, Lily, so you’ll have to appear in court.”
“I can do that,” I said.
Rose and I, accompanied by Robert the Bruce and Éclair, walked the detective to the door. Outside, Simon was deadheading the purple and yellow petunias in the baskets hanging over the verandah railing. He threw me a questioning look, and I gave him a nod in return. He grinned, touched his finger to his forehead, lifted his bag, and moved on.
A car came tearing down the driveway. It screeched to a halt at the foot of the steps. Bernie almost fell out.
“I have just had the best idea ever! Even better than my other one. Rose—my Rose—and Tessa are going to set up a detective agency together!”
Recipes
Traditional British Afternoon Tea Scones
Makes 12 scones
These are small light scones that Lily serves with jam and thick cream. I adapted the recipe from a traditional English one. My Canadian mother calls these “tea biscuits,” and they are very different than what are often called “scones” in North America.
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for flouring work
surface and cutter
4 teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
¾ cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 425°F.
Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter cubes to the flour mixture and rub them in with your fingers until the mixture looks like fine crumbs. Add the sugar and stir it in.
Heat the milk in a small bowl in a microwave oven for about 30 seconds, or until warm, but not hot. Add the vanilla extract and the lemon juice to the milk and stir until blended.
Place a baking sheet into the oven to heat it.
Make a well in the flour-butter mixture, add the milk, and combine quickly with a spoon. The dough will seem very wet at first. Sprinkle flour on a work surface and place the dough on it. Sprinkle the dough with flour and then fold it over 2 or 3 times, or until it is smooth. Pat it into a round about 1½ inches thick.
Dip a 2-inch smooth-edged cutter in flour and cut the dough into circles. Rework the remaining dough and cut it into circles.
Place the dough circles on the preheated baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes, or until the scones have risen and are golden on top. The scones should be eaten the day of baking, accompanied with jam and clotted cream. Or freeze the scones the day of baking and serve them later.1
Coconut Cupcakes
Makes 1 dozen cupcakes
Lily includes a mini-version of these cupcakes in her dessert selection, but this recipe makes full-size cupcakes.
Ingredients:
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup packed shredded sweetened coconut
6 ounces (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1⅓ cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, plus 2 large egg whites
1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
¾ cup unsweetened, full-fat canned coconut milk
2 cups of your favorite buttercream vanilla icing2
1⅓ cups large-flake unsweetened coconut (optional)
Instructions:
Preheat the oven
to 350°F. Line the cups of a 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Pulse the shredded coconut in a food processor until finely ground, and then whisk it into the flour mixture.
With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until pale and fluffy. Gradually beat in the whole eggs, egg whites, and vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Reduce the speed of the mixer to low. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three batches, alternating with the coconut milk and beating until combined after each addition.
Divide the batter evenly among the lined cups of the muffin tin, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating the muffin tin halfway through, for about 20 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes from the oven, turn them out onto wire racks, and let them cool completely. Cupcakes without frosting can be stored overnight at room temperature, or freeze them in airtight containers for up to 2 months.
Frost the cupcakes by spreading a generous dome of icing onto each cupcake with a small offset spatula. If desired, garnish the frosted cupcakes with flaked coconut. Store them at room temperature until ready to serve.
Tea-Scented Bath Salts
For 1 bath
Lily sells these bath salts at Tea by the Sea, but they couldn’t be easier to make at home.
Instructions:
Mix ½ cup Epsom salts with 2 teaspoons of your favorite loose tea leaves or two tea bags.3 Pour the bath salts into a hot bath and relax!
Notes
1 These freeze well. Be sure to cool the scones before freezing. Defrost them in a low oven for a few minutes before serving.