Tea Shop Cozy Mysteries - Books 1-6

by Katherine Hayton

  “Was this before the take with the bad sound?”

  Trisha sucked in her bottom lip, then nodded. “It must’ve been. After that, everyone went off for a few minutes, and Thera took her light cardigan off. See?”

  Trisha pointed to the screen and Willow nodded even though she couldn’t really make out the difference in clothing. She held it farther out, and the features came into sharper focus. Yes. There was a difference between the earlier and later shots.

  “What argument?” Trisha asked, picking up on Willow’s earlier comment. “I didn’t know they’d had a fight.”

  “Reg overheard them the night before when he was out scouring the dark skies for alien craft. He went to check on a woman screaming and found Thera shouting at Angel. It was all very dramatic. Something about seeing him in hell before he could be in another woman’s arms.”

  Trisha gave a gasp but shook her head when Willow glanced over at her. She held up a finger, “I’ll just be a moment. I want to verify something.”

  Willow sat down and continued to look through the images while she heard Trisha searching for something in another room. There was a small shout of triumph and the woman returned, clutching a sheaf of papers in her right hand. “I knew I’d heard those lines somewhere before.”

  “Where? What are those?” Willow went to stand up, but Trisha waved her back into her seat and joined her.

  “These are the scripts for some upcoming shows,” Trisha said with glee, “and before you ask, I can’t tell you where I got them. A little birdie dropped them off one day, and I was very thankful.”

  Willow clapped with excitement and put the phone to one side as her eyes fixed on their new treasure. “Am I allowed to read them?”

  “As long as you don’t tell a soul I have them,” Trisha said. “But before we get into that, have a look at this passage.”

  She pointed to a line three-quarters of the way into the bound script. It only took Willow a few seconds to nod. “Those are the exact words that Reg said he overheard Thera shouting.” She turned the page and gave a gasp at another discover. “This direction is for the woman to push her ex-lover out of the room. That’s what Thera and Angel were doing when Reg decided it was time to leave.”

  Trisha took the pages back and nodded as she read through the lines. “It’s a pity Reg didn’t stay for a few minutes longer.”

  “We need to go and tell the sheriff,” Willow said, squeezing Trisha on the shoulder. “The two of them were running lines!”

  Chapter Ten

  Sheriff Wender’s lack of interest in what Willow had to say took the wind straight out of her sails.

  “I didn’t have enough evidence to hold the woman anyway,” he said with a sniff, not even pretending to take notes. “I’ve released her, so she’s probably halfway back to Hollywood by now.”

  “At least you can feel more confident that letting her go was the right decision,” Trisha said in a small voice. Her attempt to find the good in the situation warmed Willow’s heart, and she gave her a smile. The words didn’t impress Sheriff Wender though.

  “I don’t need anyone to pat me on the back about my decisions,” he grumbled. “I’ve got enough to worry about with the county breathing down my neck because of the high profile of the case. On top of that, the insurance investigator from the studio keeps poking his nose in. The last thing I need is you two coming in here daily to keep me apprised of whatever tidbits of gossip you find.”

  “Jacob Wender, how dare you be so rude?” Willow stood up, placing the palms of her hands against her belly as though to hold in her anger. “We’re trying to help the investigation by offering up information as we find it. How are we to know what’s useful and what’s not? You’re the one with the badge. That part is your job.”

  For a moment, Willow thought the sheriff would give her a retort back. His eyes blazed with fire and his face set into a hard line. Then the stiffness in his shoulders collapsed into jelly, and he gave a sigh. “I’m sorry, you’re right. There’s no reason for me to take out my frustration on you ladies. In the end, I’d much rather have too much information than not the bits I need at the right time.”

  Trisha thanked him while Willow gave the man a nod, swallowing hard to calm her nerves. She didn’t like confrontation, even when people needed to be called on something. Her throat felt as though it had swollen up from the fire of her words and Willow didn’t trust it to work correctly.

  “Well, it’s good news that Thera Bourne has been released, in any case,” Trisha said as they exited the building. “I didn’t like to think of her locked up in there, like a common criminal.”

  “I must say, after being on the show for as long as she has, it would’ve been disappointing for her to get caught on her first murder.”

  Trisha gave Willow a look of absolute horror before realizing that it was a joke. She collapsed into laughter. “Yes, I certainly expect much higher standards from someone with that many years of investigating under her belt.”

  “Since I got you up and about so early, do you want to come back to my place for a cup of tea? I’ll need to whip up something for my breakfast, so if you’re partial to blueberry pancakes, you’re welcome to those too.”

  Trisha turned pink with pleasure at the invitation. “That sounds fabulous, to be honest. Usually, I’m stuck ferrying Mael from sports event to sports event on a Saturday, but he’s away at camp for the week, and I’ve nothing planned.”

  “It’s a date, then,” Willow said, hooking her arm through Trisha’s. “We’ll also put on our Miss Walsham hats and see if we can come up with any more facts to annoy Sheriff Wender with!”

  They turned the corner into Willow’s street, both laughing, and saw a familiar figure standing at her path on the side. Thera Bourne! Willow hurried forward, hoping that her eagerness didn’t scare the great lady away.

  “Can I help you?”

  Thera pointed to the sign that Willow had lazily left propped against the house the day before rather than storing away. “Are you open? I’ve had a rough couple of days, and I’d love to have a cup of herbal tea to settle my stomach.” She held out a hand that shook in the morning breeze. “And my nerves.”

  “Come inside,” Willow said, hurrying to unlock the door. “I don’t usually open on a Saturday, but for you, I’ll make an exception.”

  “As long as I’m not putting you out,” Thera said, cautiously entering Willow’s home and staring wide-eyed at the tunnels and boxes that made up Mavis’s play home. “I can always try at the hotel down the road instead.”

  “The Bonaventure?” Willow snorted and opened the connecting door to the tea room, ushering Thera and Trisha through. “I don’t think so. Whatever they may call their brews, they’re certainly not fresh or herbal. And you’re not putting me out at the slightest. I was just about to put together a breakfast for my friend and me, so you’re also welcome to join us.”

  Thera still looked nervous about the informal situation but when Mavis walked by, her head spinning on a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree angle to keep tabs on the new arrival, all the actress’s reticence fell away.

  “What a darling cat,” she exclaimed, crouching down and snapping her fingers. Mavis didn’t need a second invitation. She trotted over and let the worshiping administrations begin.

  “I am rather fond of her,” Willow said with a grin. “And she’ll be overly friendly for a few minutes because she’s also waiting for her breakfast.”

  She pulled out some chairs from her best table, ready for Trisha and Thera when they stopped administering to Mavis and walked through into the tea room kitchen. With the zip heater on, Willow called back through, “What herbs do you fancy?”

  “What’s the best for getting my energy back?” Thera asked. “After a night spent in the sheriff’s office, I’m just about dead on my feet. The only things noisier than the cell were my thoughts.”

  “I have some nice, dried orange,” Willow decided. “And I’ll throw in a few chili fl
akes to give it even more pick-me-up power!”

  “That sounds good for me, too.” Trisha sat down at the table and looked out the side window at the garden. “It appears like it’ll turn out lovely today.”

  “Every day is beautiful if you have the right cup of tea to start it with.” Willow walked back through with a tray and poured out two cups.

  “You should make that into your slogan,” Trisha said, taking a tentative first sip and smiling at the taste. “Oh, it makes my lips tingle.”

  “Mm. I’ll be back in a minute with the pancakes.”

  While the griddle was heating, Willow also set out a bowl for Mavis. Suddenly, the kitten tired of the demonstrations of affection and ran away from Thera to eat.

  “This is a great spot,” Thera agreed, belatedly taking a seat at the table. “Claud told me he was in here earlier.”

  “I didn’t know you were still on speaking terms,” Willow said after an awkward pause. From what she remembered of the conversation between the director and Presley Sampson, they were keen on dismissing Thera Bourne from their minds forever.

  “Why do you say that?” Thera frowned up at Willow as she handed over a plate, piled high with warm pancakes. “Did he say something about me?”

  Willow sat between Thera and Trisha and took her time shaking out a napkin for her lap. What was the right protocol in these situations? How much overheard gossip should she offer?

  “I just heard him discussing what would happen if the sheriff didn’t release you from custody,” Willow said, wishing she hadn’t started this line of conversation. Luckily, an avoidance tactic was sitting in the middle of the table. She piled a plate high with pancakes hot from the griddle and poured over a trickle of maple syrup.

  “I suppose he has to do that,” Thera said with a sigh. “It’s an awful thing, but the show must go on.”

  “I would never watch that show again if it went on without you,” Trisha said, tapping on the tabletop in emphasis. “As if Polly could step into your shoes. It’s a travesty to even think of it.”

  “Thank you.” Thera smiled and served up a small helping of pancakes. “It’s nice to know I still have a few fans out there.”

  “You have plenty,” Willow said. “And you’ll grow more with every episode. I’m sorry I mentioned Claud at all.”

  “I’m the one who brought him up.” Thera shook her head. “All I want is for us to get a chance to grieve Angel’s death and then to carry on.”

  “I’m so sorry, I didn’t think.” Willow put a comforting hand on top of Thera’s. “You and he were close, weren’t you?”

  Thera nodded, ducking forward as a tear rolled down her cheek. “It’s silly. We just had an on-set romance. When the end of the season filming came, we probably would’ve gone our own ways with no worries. Now, it feels like we had so much unfinished business it’s difficult to work out how to move on.”

  “It has only been a few days,” Trisha said with a small frown of concern. “And in that time, you’ve been put under a lot of strain by the sheriff. I can’t imagine that you’ve given yourself a chance to process Angel’s death at all.”

  Thera nodded in agreement and took a bite out of her pancake. Willow’s sharp eyes detected that the gesture was made to be polite but then the woman’s mouth curled up at the edges and she took another, much larger, bite. “These are wonderful!”

  “Thank you.” Willow helped herself to a few more bites from her own plate. “They turned out nicely. The blueberries were straight out of my garden yesterday. They’re always a special treat when they come into season.”

  Thera gave a small laugh. “A season means something completely different to me.”

  “Are you going to continue the show here?” Trisha asked. “Or do you think the crew will pack up and leave as soon as possible?”

  “I think they were always going to do that,” Thera said with a sad smile. “But I imagine that whether we finish the episode set here will depend on the insurance company. At the end of the day, they’re the ones who must foot the bill for everything that’s gone wrong. It’ll be their risk assessment that determines what we do with the show.”

  “You mean, if the risk is too great, they’ll just pull the entire episode?” Trisha asked.

  “Or the entire show.”

  At the gasps of disappointment, Thera added, “It’s not the most likely result. We’ve already got eighteen episodes of twenty-two in the bag, so it’s probably better to finish out the year.” She shook her head. “I don’t know about renewals though. The studio mightn’t think we’re worth the risk.”

  “Well, you stay in contact and let us know if they make that terrible decision,” Trisha said firmly. “We’ll start one of those social media campaigns to get you back on the air!”

  While Willow looked astounded at the idea, Thera gave a nod of gratitude. “I’m sure that the studio would love that, strangely enough. A bit of positive publicity might offset the tragic events of this week.”

  “Did the sheriff tell you anything more about Angel’s death?” Willow cleared away the empty plates and brought back a fresh pot of tea for the table. “He was so short-tempered this morning, I guess he’s been working around the clock.”

  “All I know is that I felt a lot safer locked up in the jail cell than I feel having to go back to my hotel tonight.”

  Willow stared at the actress in astonishment. “Why on Earth do you say that? I can’t imagine anything worse than being locked up by the sheriff.”

  Thera turned a puzzled face from Trisha to Willow. “But, there’s a killer on the loose. Don’t you understand? Nobody could possibly want Angel dead, but the man was standing right near where my mark should be. If he hadn’t moved over to check the boom mic, then I would’ve been the one standing in the puddle.”

  As Willow tried to get her sleep-deprived brain to unscramble the meaning behind what Thera was saying, Trisha gasped.

  “You mean, you don’t think the murderer wanted to kill Angel?”

  Thera nodded. “Of course, not. I think it’s obvious that the killer aimed to electrocute me!”

  Chapter Eleven

  After that revelation, Willow promptly offered Thera safe harbor in her house for as long as she needed. “Mavis might not be the most ferocious kitten, but she is a great alarm for when people are skulking about.”

  “Are you sure?” Thera still appeared worried. “I mean, I’d love to stay here, and it would make me feel a lot safer, but wouldn’t that ruin all your weekend plans?”

  Willow gave a bark of laughter and waved away the concern. “I don’t have plans. I was worried about what I’d do to pass the time this weekend so having such a wonderful house guest to look after will solve that problem in a delightful way.”

  Just as Thera accepted the offer, there was a knock on the door. Willow opened it to show Charley, standing on the doorstep with a basket of fresh berries in his hand.

  “Come in,” Willow said, leaning forward to accept a kiss on the cheek. “We’re just out back in the tea room.” She dropped her voice to a whisper. “I have an unexpected house guest, and you’ll never guess who!”

  It turned out that Charley had a pretty good idea. He smiled and chatted with Thera right off the bat. His gift of the gab still astounded Willow sometimes. The man could make a new lifelong friend just sitting at a bus stop. She took the basket of fruit into the kitchen and exclaimed over the bounty.

  “Where on earth did you find these?” she cried out in delight, shaking a tub full of wild strawberries. “We used to pick these by the side of the road when I was a kid.”

  “Well, now some of the hipsters who live in the old place down Johnson’s Lane do that for you.” Charley accepted her hug of delight with a wide smile. “They were short of what they owed me for a job fixing their deck, so I traded them out for those instead.”

  “I think you did very well.” Willow sat back down at the table, her mind full of the wonders she could bake up and the he
rbal aromas that would go with each treat to perfection.

  “What’s the plan, then?” Charley asked Thera. “Are we all going to join together and hunt down the killer, or are we just going to sit here and have tea?”

  “There’s no reason in the world we can’t do both,” Willow said with a chuckle. She turned to Thera. “Have you ever performed a hunt for a killer in real life?”

  “Never.” Thera appeared quite upset at the prospect and Willow reminded herself that she’d lost a friend and felt under threat. It wasn’t a game to the actress, it was life and death.

  “We’ll start with another pot of tea and work from there,” Willow announced, getting back to her feet.

  “Sit down, and I’ll make it.” Charley stood up, and although Willow protested, she didn’t try too hard. Being waited on was such a change that every time Charley surprised her with an offer, she reveled in it. Given a million years, Molly would never have done the same.

  “Willow is such a pretty name,” Thera said. “It reminds me of the big trees that hang over rivers in England.”

  “Weeping Willows,” Trisha said. “Although, I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

  “I love your name as well,” Willow said with a faint air of embarrassment. She wasn’t used to compliments and had never quite got the hang of accepting them. “Is it European?”

  “Dutch. I hated it when I was growing up. The kids all used to tease me about how my mom and dad must have a lisp because they said ‘Sarah’ but it came out ‘Thera.’”

  “Having Willow as a name wasn’t any fun in school, either. I used to wish that my parents had called me Jane or Anne or Mary.”

  The two women shared a smile across the table.

  “Well, I never had the slightest bit of trouble in school,” Charley said, coming back with a tray laden with goodies. He’d been at the snack cupboard, and a plate held an assortment of cookies and dried fruit. “With my name, that is,” he amended. “I was in trouble non-stop for a lot of stuff I did.”