Prologue to Murder

by Lauren Elliott

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Marc all but spat out. Addie flinched.

  Simon scrawled something on the notepad and handed it to Jeanie. “Remember, show this to the triage nurse when you arrive, and they’ll page me right away. But if you start feeling sick to your stomach or the dizziness gets worse tonight, call an ambulance immediately. Don’t wait till morning.”

  “Thank you so much, Doctor.” She squeezed his hand.

  “I really wish you would reconsider and let me take you in tonight. I’d like to run a few tests.”

  “No, I’m fine, and Mildred said she’d stay over and keep an eye on me, and I’ve been enough trouble to you already. Now, you and Addie go on and enjoy the rest of your evening.”

  “I’m glad to hear you’re feeling better, Jeanie.” Addie crossed the dining room into the living room, shooting Marc a piercing side glance as she walked by him, and clasped Jeanie’s hand in hers. “Make sure you listen to the doctor and keep your appointment in the morning. Promise?”

  “I promise, and I’m sure Mildred will make certain I do.” She chuckled.

  “Damn sure.” Mildred stood up. “You can be stubborn, Jeanie, but I’m a match for you.” She moved to the far end of the sofa at Jeanie’s feet.

  Simon packed up his bag. “Okay, ladies, I’ll be off, then. If you promise me again that you’ll be in first thing tomorrow?”

  “I promise. Thank you so much, but I’m fine, so don’t worry.”

  Mildred patted her foot. “I have first aid training, so she’ll be okay. I’ll keep a close eye on her.”

  “I’m counting on it, Mildred.” He placed his hand on the small of Addie’s back and escorted her around Marc, who was looming in the doorway. Simon sidestepped past him. Marc turned his full body, and their eyes locked, never wavering off each other’s, like two bucks posturing to show dominance. Two bullheaded bucks was more like it. She grabbed Simon’s wrist and tugged him out the door.

  He opened the passenger door for her. “Well, based on what I overheard coming from the kitchen and that performance, I’d say we just visited one of your ghosts, if I’m not mistaken.”

  “You have no idea.” She slid into her seat and let out a deep breath.

  Simon got in and looked at her. “Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?” She shook her head. “Okay, if you say so.” He pulled out onto the road. “I’ll be honest though, Carolyn told me that you and Marc worked closely together, but based on what happened just now, I’d say it was more than the working relationship she told me it was, am I right?”

  She stared out her window at the blur of lights passing by her tear-filled eyes. “You and Carolyn seem to talk about me a lot. What’s up with that?”

  He let out a heavy sigh. “I saw you in the window of your shop one day and was intrigued and wanted to know—”

  “Was that before or after the articles came out in the newspaper? Because I guess I must be a really intriguing sideshow now.”

  “It was before, and I wanted to know if you were single.”

  She laughed.

  “What’s so funny about that?”

  “I guess tonight you got your answer.”

  “Look, Addie, with whatever that was back there and the newspaper articles, if you ever need anyone to talk to, remember I’m a doctor, besides your new friend, and I’m here.”

  “What, you have a degree now in psychiatry, too?”

  “It doesn’t take a specialist in the area to see you are dealing with a lot lately.” He glanced at her as he pulled up in front of her house. “Just remember I’m here if you need me, that’s all.”

  “Thanks, I’ll remember that.” She flung the door open.

  He clasped her arm. “Wait, aren’t you forgetting something?”

  “What?”

  “The tea.”

  “Oh, yes!” She exclaimed. “I got it, plus a piece of a broken cup.”

  “Good work, Nancy Drew.”

  She smiled and pulled the packages out of her purse and handed them to him. “I hope it’s enough to test.”

  “It looks like more than enough, thanks.”

  “No, thank you . . . you know, for indulging my grand crime-solving delusions.”

  “Anytime.” He winked as she hopped out. “Wait, I thought we had a bonding moment tonight, so aren’t you going to invite your partner in crime, me, in for a drink?” He leaned out the window, grinning like a schoolboy.

  “Phffft, you’re so transparent.” She headed toward the door.

  “No, not usually, keep pretty guarded actually,” he called out the window as he made a U-turn in the drive, “but I’m starting to think you have X-ray vision and can see right through me.”

  “That’s not hard to do.” She laughed and shook her head.

  He beeped his horn and slowed down in front of her. “That’s a better look on your face.” He smiled. “I’ll call you tomorrow.” He accompanied his goodbye with a wave and drove off.

  Chapter Twenty

  Addie broke into a grin as she spotted Catherine outside waiting for her to open. “Catherine, how nice to be greeted by you first thing in the morning.” Addie smiled.

  “Good morning.” Catherine said. “I wanted to catch you before you got busy, and”—she produced a key from her pocket—“to give you this on behalf of Brian.”

  Addie retrieved the key dangling from Catherine’s fingers. “He left my new door key with you?”

  “He does apologize, but had another appointment and was running late, and since I was here waiting . . . I hope you don’t mind?”

  “No, not at all, and thank you. Come in.” Addie opened the door. “Would you like to join me for some morning coffee before I start doing nothing for the day?”

  “Oh dear. So business hasn’t picked up then?”

  Addie shook her head, tossing her purse on a shelf under the front counter.

  “I’m truly sorry to hear that.” Catherine slid onto a stool. “I really thought once the gossip column stuff settled down, people would move on and everything would return to normal.”

  “It seems they have very long memories.” Addie plopped a pod in the coffee maker.

  “Too long. Some are still fighting battles that happened generations ago.”

  “Yes.” Addie’s eyes narrowed. “I hear some can carry on for hundreds of years.”

  Catherine smiled, accepting the steaming cup Addie handed to her. “Well, I’m not sure about that but who knows? People can be strange.”

  “Some more so than others.” She dropped another pod in the machine.

  “So, the reason I’m here is the girls and I have decided we’re going to move right along with the club meeting. Is tonight too early for you?”

  “No.” She stirred cream into her coffee and slipped onto the stool next to Catherine’s. “Is Jeanie aware? After all, it was only yesterd—”

  “Actually, it was her idea.”

  “Really?” Addie took a sip, watching Catherine’s face over the rim. “Is she feeling up to it today, you know, after last night?”

  “Why, what happened last night? Well, other than the tumble she told me that she took, but I’m sure she was just exhausted.”

  Addie reflected on the events that had occurred at June’s house the night before and the odd-smelling tea sample she’d taken with her. “You’re right.” She shook her head. “She was probably just tired.”

  “She sounded fine when she called me first thing this morning and said it was time some normalcy returned to our lives and suggested having the book club meeting tonight.”

  “Well then, sure. That gives me all day to run out and pick up some snacks. What do the girls usually have at the meetings?”

  “That’s the wonderful thing. Jeanie said she has so much food left over at her mother’s house from yesterday and doesn’t want it to go to waste, so she’s bringing it. You don’t have to do anything.”

  “Even better, but I really don’t mind if it’s part of the
job as chair.”

  “We usually take turns anyway, bringing snacks and stuff, as long as you supply the coffee and tea.”

  “No problem. If Paige ever gets in, I’ll run next door and pick up some tea.”

  “I saw Paige go into SerenaTEA when I was waiting out front.”

  “Really? That was over fifteen minutes ago. I wonder what’s keeping her?”

  “I best be off.” Catherine stood up. “I’m supposed to be meeting Dorothy, one of the club members. You’ll meet her tonight. We swim at the Y three times a week, and today is one of those days.” She headed for the door and turned around. “By the way, I hear you and the very handsome new doctor make the loveliest couple.” She winked.

  Addie sputtered out her mouthful of coffee.

  Catherine laughed.

  Dabbing her chin, Addie said. “We’re not a couple. We just met.”

  “Not according to Mildred.”

  “Mildred? What does she know about it?”

  “She said there were lots of sparks between the two of you, and she guessed—”

  “ ‘Guessed’ is right. We’re just friends, new friends, that’s all.”

  Catherine smiled. “I’d say the lady doth protest too much.” With a laugh, she closed the door behind her.

  Addie dropped her head on the cool countertop. “Just what I need—more rumors.”

  The door chimes rang, and she lifted her face to see a sheepish Paige bolt in and head to the back storeroom. “Sorry I’m late,” she called out.

  Addie straightened her shoulders and stood up, following her into the back. “Is everything okay?” She leaned against the doorframe. Paige hung up her coat, and Addie noted she hadn’t brought a take-out cup back with her. “Was the tea shop swamped this morning?”

  “Yes.” She looked at Addie and, with a flushed face, skirted past her to the front.

  Addie watched Paige busy herself by straightening and rearranging bookshelves. She shrugged and went back to the counter to review yesterday’s receipts. “I can see it was a good call to send you home early yesterday. Not one customer in all morning?” She looked over at Paige, who stood motionless in front of a bookshelf. “Paige? Did something happen? Are you okay?”

  Paige shook her head and righted a book that had fallen on its side.

  Addie’s eyes narrowed as she studied the girl, obviously lost in her own thoughts. She closed out the receipt totals, or lack thereof, and checked to see if she had any consignment customers booked in today. She scanned the blank page and slammed the appointment book shut.

  Her phone vibrated. She grabbed it from her pocket, and when she looked at the unknown number her heart sank. Secretly, she’d been hoping Marc would call today to apologize for his boorish behavior last night, but . . . She sighed. “Hello . . . Oh, good morning, Simon . . . Fine, thanks, and you? . . . Oh dear. No rest for the wicked, as they say.” She laughed and tucked the phone closer to her ear. “Umm, tonight? No, I’m afraid I can’t do dinner. I have a book club meeting at seven and doubt we’ll be done by eight . . . Yes, Jeanie will be here, why? . . . Oh, I see. Sure, I understand, patient-doctor confid—” She frowned. “Okay, I guess it wouldn’t hurt for you to sit in and observe . . . Sure . . . See you about eight, then.” She set her phone on the counter and stared down at it. “I hope her test results this morning were okay.”

  The rest of the day plodded on in silence. Paige didn’t have much to say and appeared to be avoiding Addie, or at least avoiding making eye contact with her, at any rate. To occupy her own mind, and to put Paige out of the misery of trying to avoid her at every step and turn, Addie set up shop in front of her blackboard in the back room. Her mind was racing with possibilities, and she knew she had to see them in black-and-white before any of it might even take on any semblance of sense.

  She whisked the sheet covering from it and stood eye to eye with the last name she had written. Lacey Davenport. “Well.” She picked up the brush and wiped the name off the board. “Not sure you’re a murderer, but you’re definitely guilty of something—” She stopped when she got to the side where she had written the notes about Lacey, then stood back, tapping her chin. Used fictitious stories as a leg up popped out at her. “Would she go as far as murder to create her own story? One that could potentially kick-start her failing career?” She circled her notes and wrote LD above them.

  Addie stood back, crossed her arms, and tapped her foot, staring at the space across the top of the board. “Think, what do you know? Start with the facts, as Dad would say, and see where they lead.” She wrote, June Victim, Map, Tunnels, Research, Book, and then paused, tapping her chalk on the board. “The book? The book’s important, but the original research is more so, I think, so here’s one link.” She drew a line between them. “But something is missing.” She scratched her head. “Oh my God, the original. That’s it.” She scrawled original manuscript and stabbed the chalk, drawing an exclamation mark. “Where is it, and what’s in it that the town council didn’t want published?” She drew a large question mark beside it.

  “Okay, think, think, Addie.” She stood back and studied the board. “What else do you know?” She could almost hear her father’s voice. An idea hit her, and she wrote:

  The salt-and-pepper-haired man?

  The black-haired man with glasses?

  Jeanie

  She stood back, looking at the last name she’d written, her eyes narrowing. “Think, Addie, how does she fit into this? Well, the only thing I can see right now is that she’s the link between the black-haired man and the salt-and-pepper-haired man, because I’ve seen her with both of them.” She drew an arch between them. “Jeanie must know they are the same man. If I can see that she definitely couldn’t miss it.” Three question marks marched along behind Jeanie’s name.

  “Okay, now where?” She rapped the chalk piece on the board. “Talk to me, Dad, please.” She took a deep breath. “Back to the victim. What do I know about June?”

  Head librarian

  Author

  Dead from a shove or a fall

  Murder weapon?

  Purse

  “Those all get check marks.”

  Cell phone

  “Not with body. This gets an X.”

  “Addie, do you need anything before I go?”

  Addie jumped. “Paige, you startled me.” She placed a hand to her pounding chest.

  Paige apologized but didn’t make eye contact.

  “Yes, one thing. Could you run next door and pick up a package of black tea for tonight, please?”

  Paige nodded and turned.

  “Just take the money out of petty cash,” Addie called out. However, as per how the rest of the day had gone, there was no response from Paige except for the tinkling of the door chimes. Addie placed the chalk back on the tray and refitted the sheet over the board. She was at a complete loss as to what had made her assistant so distant today. It must be bad, really bad, and her heart ached to reach out to Paige.

  The door chimes rang again, and “I’m off ” was the only thing Paige said before there was complete silence in the store.

  Addie made her way to the front to lock the door, noted the bag of tea on the counter, and peered out the window. Paige was on the sidewalk in front of SerenaTEA, chatting with Lacey. Her skin crawled at how friendly their conversation appeared, and then Lacey hugged her and kissed her cheek. Paige turned toward Main Street and spotted Addie. Her face went scarlet. She put her head down and marched past, her eyes focused straight ahead.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “Enough, girl, you don’t need any more drama in your life. What will be, will be,” Addie said to herself, repeating her grandmother’s favorite mantra. She turned from the window and eyed the configuration of the store, then began clearing and arranging an open space for six to eight people to sit comfortably. She dragged leather chairs from various reading spaces she had set up, and inch by inch, shuffled some of the smaller bookshelves out of the way, cursing herse
lf for not thinking of this while Paige, another set of hands, was still here. When she had managed to set up a cozy meeting space, she stood back and smiled. “Not bad for a start.” She cleared the counter of the books she had displayed there as sale items, making room for the food, and then retrieved a supply of paper cups from the back room.

  The door chimes rang, and she turned as Catherine entered. “Hi, is it that time already?” Addie checked the clock.

  “Don’t mind us. We came a few minutes early to see if you needed help.” Addie nodded at the tall woman accompanying Catherine. “I’m sorry, this is my swimming partner, Dorothy. She was June’s assistant at the library and is a member of the town council.”

  Addie extended her hand. “I’m pleased to meet you.”

  “Likewise.” Dorothy returned her handshake.

  “June’s assistant and a member of the town council?” Addie’s PI radar zapped. “How long have you sat on the council?”

  “I feel like I’ve been there for years.” She laughed.

  “You have.” Catherine chuckled and gave her friend a shoulder nudge.

  Dorothy’s eyes sparkled as she scanned the bookstore. “I love your shop. I can’t believe I haven’t been in here yet.”

  “Thank you.” Addie assessed the woman. Her height and wavy, mid-neck-length, white hair combined with a husky voice that matched her build reminded her of the actress Bea Arthur, who starred in The Golden Girls.

  “I’d love to pick your brain about books another day, when we have more time.”

  “I see some books now that I remember from your aunt’s extraordinary collection. This is exciting.” Dorothy began reviewing titles on a bookshelf. “Yes, I most definitely will be back. I see some titles that the library doesn’t have, and I would love to get my hands on them.”

  “Everything you see here is for sale, and if it’s any of the rarer books I still have at the house, we might be able to arrange something. Although some of those I’ve promised to the Boston Public Library and a few museums. But,” she added, smiling, “I could add the Greyborne Harbor Library to my distribution list, too, if you’re really interested.”