“They’ll probably get diversion and end up doing their fair share of community service,” Sheriff Wender said. “Don’t look so worried. Picking up trash from the side of the road will do those two lads some good.”
“I suppose it will. I hate to think of them getting a record because of me though.”
“They’re not getting into trouble because of you,” the sheriff said, tapping his forefinger on the table for emphasis. “They’re getting into trouble for their own actions. About time too if you ask me. They’ve been running around wild for far too long.”
“It must be hard for Barrett’s mother, working all hours and having to home school him as well.”
“Yeah.” Sheriff Wender nodded. “I’m sympathetic to her on that point. The school should have found a way to keep him in class rather than expelling Barrett and making it solely her problem.” He sighed. “I’ve meant to drop by and offer her some suggestions for trade programs that Barrett might fare better at, but it always just came bottom of a long list.”
“If I’m not allowed to blame myself,” Willow said, heaving herself up from the chair to tidy away their dishes, “then you’re not allowed, either. Now, we’ll all be keeping a close eye on him, so if he tries to get into trouble again, someone’ll notice and be straight on his case.”
Sheriff Wender laughed and got to his feet. “You’re probably right. The poor lad’ll never be able to set a foot wrong again.”
“That’s the benefit of small-town living,” Willow said as she walked him to the door. “Once you’ve brought attention to yourself, you can never get rid of it again.”
* * *
After fixing herself a light supper—all she needed after helping herself to snacks every time work was on a lull—Willow headed over to Hilary’s house. The woman’s striking defense of Barrett the night before tickled at Willow’s nerves and she wanted to check and see she wasn’t going mad.
Of course, a better decision would be to stay in and get an early night, that way, she’d be fresh for work the next day. But doing what she should wasn’t Willow’s strongest point. As she let herself out the back door, she poked her head around the side of the house to make sure that the fabric cover was still draped over the painted letters. Come the weekend, she’d get a fresh coat of cream over it and wipe the evidence of the crime away.
The cold night breeze was refreshing on Willow’s face as she walked into the center of town. It was only a twenty-minute journey, but since preparation for the tea rooms had taken over her life, it was a journey she didn’t take often enough.
Willow was buried deep in reverie when she heard her name being called out by a familiar voice. She turned and saw Charley Lacy waving at her from across the street.
“How're things going?” he asked before planting a kiss on her cheek. “I’ve been desperate to know how your opening day went but I didn’t want to get in your way.”
Willow gave him a mock hit on the shoulder. “Don’t be daft,” she said in a growl. “I’ve been sitting at home, wondering why you seemed to forget all about me just as I opened up the shop.”
“Well, from what I’ve heard about town, you had quite the exciting start.”
“And the fun continued,” Willow said, filling him in on everything that had happened the night before.
Charley’s face blackened as her story drew to a conclusion. “That lad’s lucky that the sheriff found him, otherwise, he’d have my foot up his backside,” he growled.
Willow hooked her arm through Charley’s and nudged him in the ribs. “I really don’t think giving him a kick would do him any good. At his age, finding him a job would do him a good sight better.”
“Aye, you’re probably right,” Charley said, then turned to her with a grin. “I didn’t know you were one of those liberal types.”
“You don’t know nearly enough about me, Charley Lacy.”
“But I can’t wait to find out more,” he said with a cheeky grin.
They knocked on Hilary’s door, but the woman either wasn’t in or wasn’t answering. “I suppose, I’d better get back home,” Willow said when their knocking came to no avail.
“How about I take you for a quick drink at The Old Chestnut?”
It was hard to resist Charley’s charm when he turned it on her full swing, and the pair walked arm in arm down to the local pub. As they passed the alleyway running down the side, Willow caught sight of Hilary turning the corner.
“What on Earth can she be doing down there?” she asked, pulling on Charley’s arm and pointing.
“It’s not a place for a lady at this time of night,” he agreed, and together they turned into the dark and narrow street.
As they reached the back of the bar, Willow heard Hilary’s voice pleading with someone. “I need to know that it’s the only copy. I can’t get by if I lose my job.”
A young male’s voice came in reply. “You should have thought of that before you stole from the guests.”
“It was only once, and it was just a handful of change,” Hilary said, her voice sounding on the verge of tears.
The young man snorted then, the sound so full of derision it put Willow’s nerves right on edge. “It’s the only copy,” he said a moment later. “It’s not like I’m going to fill up my memory card with your picture. Twenty years ago, maybe, not now.”
Willow took a step forward, ready to storm around the corner and give the young man a piece of her mind, but Charley wisely held her back.
“Until we know who we’re dealing with,” he whispered to her, “I think we’re better off staying out of sight.”
She followed his lead, recognizing that her wish to take care of things herself had led her straight into trouble the night before. If Willow was going to stay fit and healthy enough to run her business, she should learn to reign in her impulses.
“This is the end, okay,” Hilary said, her inflection curling up the end to turn the statement into a question.
“I said it was,” the gruff young voice came back. “You should take people at their word.”
Hilary gave a low, exasperated sigh. “One of my colleagues is sitting in a jail cell, no thanks to you. Can you blame me if I want a few reassurances?”
“It’s nothing to do with me,” the young man said, his voice sounding aggrieved. “If the sheriff said he did it, then he probably did. It’s not as though you kept me out of trouble, anyhow. I’m in front of the youth judge next time he makes the rounds.”
“Then perhaps you should stay home and keep your nose out of other people’s business from now on,” Hilary snapped.
There was the sound of heels clipping along the alleyway, followed a minute later by the lower shuffle of sneakers or canvas shoes. When Willow judged that the young man must be almost at the far side of the building, she shook herself free of Charley and stuck her head around the corner.
Between her poor eyesight and the dim light of early evening, Willow couldn’t make out the figure too well. Still, from what she saw and what she’d overheard, Willow surmised that it was Barrett Glasner.
* * *
“He must be blackmailing her,” Willow exclaimed.
After the eavesdropping in the back alley, neither of them had felt like going in for a drink, after all. Instead, Charley was escorting Willow back home, so she could sit on the couch and worry instead. “Why, poor Gary might be sitting in jail just because of what she said.”
“From what you told me yourself, the sheriff was going to arrest Gary Riley either way.” Charley’s voice was one of reason, and Willow had to admit that he was right.
“But, she still leaped to Barrett’s defense, saying he wasn’t there, but if he had something held over her head, then Hilary’s statement isn’t trustworthy.”
“I agree with you on that point,” Charley said. “But the rest of it is nothing to do with us. I’ll go into the sheriff’s office in the morning, on my way to work, and tell him what we overheard.”
“Be ca
reful,” Willow said, thinking of the red paint on the side of her house. “Barrett vandalized my business just because he thought I was saying something about him to the sheriff.”
“But you weren’t,” Charley said with a puzzled look on his face. “That’s what I can’t understand. Why would he come after you when all you did was escort Gary into the station?”
“I don’t know,” Willow said, puzzled by the connection, “but if he’s willing to do that on some mistaken belief, then you should be doubly careful that nobody sees you.”
“I’m not skulking about town just in case a criminal gets the wrong idea,” Charley said, his voice filling with heat. “Nor should you, or anybody. If we let a couple of ruffians determine our actions, then we’re practically giving in.”
“Just be careful,” Willow said. “That’s all I’m saying. If Gary Riley is innocent of the crime, then we’ve still got a murderer loose in our community and I’d rather you weren’t the next target for an attack.”
“Believe me, if a pair of teenage boys try to take me on, they will end up with more than they bargained for.”
Charley put his fists up in front of his face and gave a few sparring shots at the air.
“Come here, Mavis,” Willow cooed, catching sight of her kitten hiding in the corner. “It’s just Charley playing at being tough.”
Charley laughed and held his hands up in the air. Mavis took a cautious step forward, then trotted over to rub the side of her neck against his leg.
“That’s not much of a guard cat, you’ve got there,” Charley remarked.
“Mavis is all sweetness and light until you get on her wrong side,” Willow said with a wink at her cat, “then she’s all teeth and claws.”
“Are you going to be all right?” Charley asked as he prepared to leave. “I don’t like to think of you sitting in here all by yourself.”
“I’ve been perfectly safe for the last few years, thank you very much.” Willow smiled as she shoved Charley out the door. The company was lovely, but for now, she just wanted to get to bed—and she was definitely doing that on her own. “I’ll catch up with you tomorrow.”
“I’ll call you after I visit the sheriff,” Charley agreed. “Or I might pop in for a cup of tea and a scone.” He gave her a wink. “I know the proprietor, so if I play my cards right, I might even get a discount.”
Willow laughed as she closed the door behind him, then turned down to scoop up Mavis. “He might get a shock when I charge him full price,” she whispered. “But I’ve heard giving discounts, is a slippery slope!”
Chapter Eleven
As she packed up the tea room after the next day’s service, Tiffany asked about the fabric hanging alongside the house. “It was just some kids, fooling around,” Willow said and tried to believe it. She still hadn’t heard from Charley and didn’t know whether that was because he hadn’t yet gone to the sheriff’s office, or if he’d just forgotten.
“Was it Barrett Glasner?” Tiffany asked. When Willow raised an eyebrow at her, the young woman blushed. “I’m not making gossip, I just wondered if I should be worried.”
“Why would it worry you if Barrett had vandalized my house?” Willow shook her head. “Surely that would only be something to worry me?”
“It might be that friend he pals around with,” Tiffany said as she replaced the sugar bowls in the tray for setting the tables. “Justin is bad news, from everything I’ve heard.”
“I don’t know either of them, to be honest,” Willow admitted. “Just what I’ve picked up from other people over the years, or just learned in the past couple of days.”
Tiffany looked around to make sure that Wendy was out of earshot, scooting a step closer. “I heard he was involved in that incident up at the hotel. You remember the one?”
“Of course, I remember it. It trapped me there for hours when it happened.”
“Sorry, I forgot that.” Tiffany shook her head. “You’d probably know more about that than I would, then.”
“I didn’t see him about at all, that day,” Willow said. “But the woman I was talking to that morning is adamant that the boy wasn’t anywhere near the hotel.”
“Well, that’s just a lie,” Tiffany said, accompanying her words with a frown. “My friend Alice works as a waitress for room service down there, and she said he was hanging around there the night before and that morning.”
“Did she tell that to the sheriff?”
Tiffany shrugged. “I don’t know. I think she wanted to steer well clear of the questions on the day. Her husband had a spot of trouble with the police when he was younger, and he told her to volunteer nothing unless you’re specifically asked.”
“What a lot of hooey,” Willow said, saddened by the attitude. Sure, Jacob Wender had been a year below her at school, and his grades had been faltering at best, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t trying his hardest to do a good, upstanding job. The fact that he was re-elected each time he ran for sheriff spoke to that. “Crime isn’t just a matter for the sheriff or the police,” she said, trying not to descend into a lecturing tone. “It’s something that a community has to work on together.”
Once again, Willow’s thoughts flicked back to the previous night. Why hadn’t Charley rung? This was one time she’d be glad of the phone call, or even a text!
“I suppose,” Tiffany said, the doubt clear in her voice. “Do you need any more help, or can I head on home now?”
“I’m set for the night, thanks,” Willow said, mindful that her staff had other commitments, three of them very young and needy commitments at that. “See you tomorrow.”
As the two women left the tea rooms, Willow decided that she should tell the sheriff what she’d seen the evening before. It wasn’t fair to leave it to Charley, and she wouldn’t feel right about keeping it to herself.
If there was an innocent explanation for Hilary meeting a young man—possibly Barrett Glasner—in a back alley then she could tell that to Sheriff Wender. Willow would rather be told off for volunteering too much information than do as Tiffany’s friend suggested and just sit back.
* * *
Willow bumped into Charley coming out of the sheriff’s office as she headed in. “Any luck?” she called out, pleased to see him as usual.
But Charley shook his head. “That lady on the counter…”
“Mary-Jo,” Willow supplied when Charley’s mind ran dry for the name.
“Yeah, she says the sheriff is out investigating an offense on the road halfway to the next county.” Charley leaned close into Willow and lowered his voice. “When offered the choice of talking to a deputy or waiting, I thought it prudent to wait.”
Willow laughed and nodded. She’d have done the same. “Why don’t we pay Hilary a visit?” she suggested. “If the meeting last night was innocuous, as I’m hoping, then we could get it cleared up just as easy by talking to her.”
“Sounds good,” Charley said, hooking his arm through hers. “Do you know where she lives?”
Willow had looked Hilary up in the phone book before heading out, possibly with a nudge from her intuition that this might happen. “I do. It’s just past Grant Street, so only a ten-minute walk away.”
The spring nights were still lengthening as summer gradually took hold. As they walked over the ten blocks to Hilary’s place, birds were singing their good nights to each other, collectively causing a racket but such a beautiful one that nobody could mind.
Their knock at the door was answered quickly this time, although Hilary’s automatic smile faded as she saw who waited for her outside. Willow tried not to take it personally as the woman’s expression switched to a frown.
“Can we pop in for a second?” Willow asked Hilary. “We won’t take more than a few minutes of your time.”
With her finger’s crossed that her words were true, Willow forged inside when Hilary took a slight step to the side. Charley bowled in after her and sat down without bothering to ask.
“What’s thi
s about?” Hilary asked. “I know I said I’d drop my resume into you, but I haven’t had a moment to myself.”
“Don’t worry,” Willow said, having forgotten the promise in the events that had unfurled since that discussion. “It’s nothing to do with work.”
The reassurance didn’t seem to ease Hilary’s mind any, and her hand clutched at the pearl buttons holding her blouse together near her throat. After a minute spent twisting them, Willow spoke again before she spun them right off.
“We overheard you and Barrett talking yesterday,” she said, boldly meeting Hilary’s eyes to disguise the flush of shame she felt at the admission. “It sounded like he might have influenced your report to the sheriff in some way.”
“Don’t be silly,” Hilary said after a long pause. “I don’t answer to Barrett Glasner, I can tell you that much.”
“But you leaped to his defense yesterday, at the sheriff’s office,” Charley said. “Are you certain that everything you said at the time was true?”
At that implication, Hilary’s cheeks filled with color and her eyes narrowed. “If you want to call me a liar—”
“No, we aren’t saying anything of the sort,” Willow said, stepping forward with her hand raised. She shot an annoyed glance at Charley, though he’d just asked the question she was dying to. “But how can you be sure that Barrett wasn’t in a room upstairs at the hotel on Monday?”
“Because he can’t get into the rooms without a key.” Hilary folded her arms across her chest. “And, yes, I gave him one the night before, and the little rascal dropped stuff out of the upstairs windows onto the pedestrians passing below. That’s why I refused to give it to him again on Monday when he came calling.”
“So, Barrett was at the Bonaventure?” Willow stepped forward, moving her face closer to Hilary’s and catching her eyes in a firm gaze. “Otherwise, he wouldn’t have asked for a key.”
Hilary gave an exasperated sigh and ran a hand through her hair. “Fine. He was hanging around the hotel that morning. I refused to give him a passkey to the room he’d been in the night before, and I don’t know anyone else who would’ve given one to him.”
Tea Shop Cozy Mysteries - Books 1-6 Page 24