After the onlookers disbursed, AnnaMarie smiled at me. “I remember meeting you last night, but I’m sorry I can’t remember your name. I’m so bad at names, and I was so upset.”
“India.”
“What a pretty and unusual name. I should’ve been able to remember that.” She frowned as if disappointed in herself.
“Nothing to worry about,” I assured her. “I just wanted to stop by and say hello while on my lunch break.” I held up the elephant ear as evidence. “Your brooms are beautiful. I tried my hand at broom making once. It’s hard work. I remember my hands hurt for days afterward.”
She smiled. “You get used to it after a while, and it builds up your hand strength. There isn’t a bottle or jar I can’t open myself. My husband asks me to open jars for him, not the other way around.” She sat on a folding chair she had behind her booth. “Looks like most people are off in search of lunch. Why don’t you come around and have a seat?”
I shuffled around the booth, offering her part of my elephant ear as I sat.
“No, thanks. I’m not much for sweets.” AnnaMarie didn’t make eye contact. Instead, she looked across the field. Following her gaze, I noticed for the first time she was directly across from David’s papermaking booth. He was in the middle of a demonstration but caught us staring. He smiled and gave us a half wave. “David’s been so supportive,” AnnaMarie said finally.
The way she said it made me wonder if there was a story of unrequited love there.
“He seems to believe in the co-op.”
“Oh, he does. It was his vision. He wanted Stripling artists to have a place they could work within the community. David’s a strong believer in community-building.”
He should talk to my parents, I thought. On second thought, a very, very bad idea.
She met my gaze. “I want to apologize for how I behaved yesterday. I was such a mess.”
I swallowed my bite of elephant ear. “There’s nothing to apologize for. You’d just lost your friend. It’s completely understandable.”
She shook her head. “Derek’s the one who’s suffered the greatest loss. He’s a sweet boy, especially considering everything he’s gone through.”
I nodded. “Do you remember anything in particular about the day Tess was killed?”
She winced slightly but answered my question readily. “Nothing out of the ordinary. We’ve done hundreds of these craft fairs or festivals. It’s always the same drill, generally the same clientele. There were more young people about this year, but I think it’s because we were on campus. Usually there’re only a handful of those. I left at five. I had to pick up my daughter from band practice. She goes to the middle school. The only small thing I remember . . .” she paused.
“Yes?”
“. . . was Tess bringing Zach here.”
I took another bite of elephant ear to hide my disappointment. Powdered sugar puffed around my head in a sweet-smelling cloud, my idea of perfume.
“When I saw him with her that morning, I told her she shouldn’t have brought him.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because this was her brother’s turf and bringing the dog here was like, well, like rubbing his nose in the fact that Victor left her the money.”
“How’d she take that?”
AnnaMarie bit her lower lip. “She laughed and said I was silly to worry. Now, I’m not so sure.”
“About what?”
“Maybe he was so upset she brought the dog, he did something.”
“You think her brother killed her? Is that what you think?”
“I . . . I don’t know. I just can’t think of anyone else who was upset with her. Sam really wanted that money.”
I stuffed the remainder of the elephant ear in my mouth. I’d certainly seen Lepcheck mad before, but mad enough to kill his own sister? I couldn’t buy it, and he most certainly wouldn’t do it on campus. Talk about bad press for Martin, and Lepcheck loathes bad press.
“Tess really loved Zach,” AnnaMarie said reflexively. “After the initial shock of course.”
“Shock?”
“Over the trust. She had no idea why her uncle would leave the trust and Zach in her care. At first she didn’t want to take the money. It was too much responsibility. Tess was a free spirit. She didn’t want to be tied down, most especially by money.”
“I suppose she could have turned down the trust.”
“She almost did, but in the end she felt she couldn’t, not really. She had to think of what was best for Derek, too. Private college tuition is expensive, and with the economy in the tanker, there’s no guarantee Derek will be able to pay off his loans after graduation. Zach can’t live forever. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great dog, and I’d hate for anything to happen to him. But after Zach passed on, Derek would’ve been well taken care of. I don’t know what will happen to either of them now.”
“I heard she planned to give a portion of the money to the co-op.”
“She did. A quarter of it at least, which is more money than the co-op’s ever seen. It would have been nice, too. We’d use the money to renovate the rest of the outbuildings. We could add more artists and pay someone to improve our website. One of the outbuildings would be transformed into a gallery with a shop to sell our pieces. It would have been fabulous and put us on the bus tour route if done right. So many plans flew around the co-op when Tess made her announcement.”
“She announced this?”
“Yes, at the last members meeting. It was the first Monday of October. All members meetings are on the first Monday of the month.”
“Didn’t that seem a tad premature? Why did she make that announcement when Zach could live for many more years?”
She shrugged. “That’s Tess for you. When she got an idea in her head, she went for it.”
“Was everyone happy with the news?”
“Well, no. Jerry was upset and stomped out of the meeting.”
“Do you know why?”
“He didn’t know about Tess’s decision.”
“She didn’t tell her husband before she made the big announcement?”
“It probably didn’t occur to her. I’m not saying Tess was insensitive, but she didn’t always think things through before running full speed ahead.”
“Did he feel better about it when he cooled down?”
“You’d have to ask him, but I don’t think so.” She thought for a minute. “I don’t think he believes in the co-op as much as Tess did. He was a successful independent blacksmith before becoming a member. He joined the co-op after he and Tess were married. David and the others weren’t too keen on letting him in but agreed in the end because they knew the large commissions a good blacksmith could bring in. A portion of whatever we make through selling our works or through commissions goes to the co-op.”
“Were they reluctant because of Celeste’s history with Jerry?”
AnnaMarie reddened. “You heard about that?”
“That they were once engaged? Yes.”
AnnaMarie looked away from me. She watched David again. He clothespinned freshly made paper on a clothesline strung from one end of his booth to the other.
“And how long has Celeste been a member of the co-op?” I asked.
“Since the beginning. She, Tess, and David were the three founding members.”
“Was it awkward for Tess to be in the same co-op with Celeste?”
“There was tension, yes. Celeste and Jerry were engaged when the co-op started.” She blushed slightly. “I believe that’s how Tess met Jerry—through Celeste.”
No wonder Celeste wasn’t one of Tess’s biggest fans. “That must have been uncomfortable.”
AnnaMarie shook her head. “Tess didn’t let that type of stuff bother her. She always claimed Jerry was the one for her. I think it was hard for Celeste though. She made no secret about how she felt about Tess.”
“How so?”
“She’d make a snide remark about Tess’s baskets or talk b
ehind her back. Petty things like that. She never said anything much to me because Tess and I were such good friends, but I heard it from other people.”
“Who?”
“I can’t remember exactly,” she said vaguely.
I let it go for the moment. A little chat with Celeste was overdue. I stood and thanked AnnaMarie for her time.
She grabbed my wrist. “I don’t want it to seem as if Tess was a man stealer. It’s just when she saw Jerry, she had to have him.”
Unfortunately, a man stealer was exactly what Tess seemed like, and people have killed for far less.
Chapter Twenty-Six
When I returned to the booth, I found Ina painting my nephew’s smooth cheek. “Hi, Dia!” Nicholas greeted with his usual enthusiasm.
I flopped on a lawn chair. “Where’s your mom?”
Nicholas shrugged.
Ina, wearing her green pioneer dress, looked up from her handiwork. “She’s looking for you.”
I gulped. “She saw you here? Have you been painting faces?”
Ina peered at me. “What was I supposed to do? There was a line five deep of children waiting to get their faces painted with you nowhere to be seen. I did the neighborly thing and pitched in.”
“I’m sure Carmen was surprised to see you.” That was putting it mildly. I was in for a tongue lashing when Carmen found me.
“She did seem a little taken aback.”
I bet.
“Where were you anyway?”
Nicholas, who was painting spirals on the vinyl table cloth, asked in a shout, “Do you like my shark?” Shouting was his normal speaking volume. He tilted his head so I could get a better look at his cheek.
I looked at the blob, trying to envision a shark’s fin. It was tough going. “It’s great.” I turned back to Ina. “I just had an interesting conversation with AnnaMarie, one of the co-op members.”
Nicholas wiped his hand across his cheek, smearing blue paint from cheek bone to the bottom of his chin. The shark, if that was what it really was, didn’t appear any worse from wear. It looked like Celtic war paint streaked along his face. I wondered if that had been Ina’s intention all along.
I reached under the table for my paper towels and began to clean him up.
Ina hopped out of her chair.
“Where are you going?” I picked dry paint out of Nicholas’s bangs. Then I spotted Juliet standing in front of Jerry’s blacksmith booth and knew my answer. Juliet was a bit older than Ina, a few years on the other side of eighty. She had sky-blue curls, always wore panty hose even when wearing pants, and used a four-prong cane she held in a death grip. She still had her own car and drove herself everywhere. She’d flattened two of Ina’s leprechauns recently, so I wondered how much longer the state would let her keep her license. It should be noted the leprechaun flattenings were not reported to the police. If it had been anyone other than her best friend, Juliet, Ina would have certainly gone to the cops.
Ina stood beside Juliet, and white and blue curls mingled as they consulted each other.
“Whoa!” A collective yell rose up from a group of preschoolers who watched Jerry’s blowtorch presentation.
The two older ladies nodded as if they had reached a decision. This was bad. Ina muscled her way through the children toward Jerry. “I know what you’re up to buster.”
I swore.
“Dia, you said a bad word.”
I winced.
Nicholas ran the dirty paper towel on his right cheek so that now both cheeks were blue. “Is Ina going to hit the blacksmith?”
“No, of course not.” I jumped out of my seat.
“Is she going to go to jail like Grandma and Grandpa?”
That one I wasn’t so sure of.
I was out of the booth and hurrying toward the escalating scene. Ina was threatening Jerry with one of his own iron kitchen hooks.
“Should I call the lawyer?” Nicholas called.
Now, that was a kid raised in my family.
Preschoolers ran screaming in all directions. A harried teacher held a hand over her head in the universal teacher attention-getter and yelled, “Class! Class! Form a line!”
Ina was oblivious to all the commotion she stirred up and shook the iron hook in Jerry face. Thankfully, Jerry had the good sense to turn off the blowtorch.
“Class! Class! Over here! Come away from the crazy lady.”
“You nearly killed me! What right do you have to jaywalk across the square? Don’t you have any concern for your elders?” Ina shouted.
“Ina, what are you doing?” I asked dismayed. “I’m so sorry, Jerry, I don’t know what’s gotten into her. She’s not usually like this.”
Okay, the last part was a lie.
“Is she your grandmother or something?”
I gave an involuntary shudder. Good heavens, people thought Ina and I were related? Why was I surprised, with all the other kooks in my gene pool?
“Just because I’m old you think I’m a grandmother, is that it? To you ‘old woman’ instantly equals grandmother. There’s respect for you.” Ina did a good impression of an angry pirate as she thrashed the hook about.
“Ina, please.”
The teacher grabbed the last member of her class, and she hurriedly ushered her brood away. As she crossed the yard, I saw her stop Carmen and gesture violently at Ina. Uh-oh! Carmen glared at me.
“Ina, we discussed this last night. Jerry said you must have been mistaken.”
“That’s right,” Jerry said. “Leave me alone. You’ve scared away my customers.”
“No, no, young man, I’m sure you were the jaywalker. I saw the whole incident.” Juliet said meekly. She adjusted her thick glasses.
Ina looked triumphant. “See, two eyewitnesses.”
“Two crazy old bats,” Jerry muttered.
“What did you say?” Ina balled her fists.
“I said you were a crazy old bat.”
Carmen marched across the yard, punishing the ground for our misbehavior.
Nicholas scrambled out of my booth and showed my sister his cheek. Carmen tilted her son’s face up, and her eyes narrowed.
Oh, it gets worse and worse.
“What were you doing last Thursday morning running like a banshee across the square? Someone would think you’d just knocked over a liquor store. Were you running away from the scene of the crime?”
Ina continued to harangue Jerry, but all my thoughts pooled into her last phrase, “running away from the scene of the crime.” Thursday morning. My conversation with Lew just a few hours before played over in my mind. The missing antiques. Lew’s assessment that it must have been an inside job. If Jerry could steal from Victor’s estate, which I was sure he had, could he murder his own wife? Maybe Tess had found out about it. Maybe he’d needed to silence her.
I looked at Jerry. His upper lip was sweating, and I didn’t think it was from the heat of the blowtorch, which was no longer firing. A knot grew in my stomach.
Jerry’s gaze met mine. Was that understanding I saw in his eyes? I didn’t have a chance to find out because Carmen was upon us.
“India, is it your mission to destroy this festival?”
Nicholas was right behind her. My nephew pulled on Jerry’s pant leg. “Can I see your blowtorch?”
All the adults shouted a collective, “No!”
“Whatever argument you’re having, it can wait,” Carmen said in her most authoritative voice, sounding just like our mother. “There are only a few hours of the festival left. Let’s not ruin them.”
Ina gave Jerry another beady look. “Fine, but I’m going to find someone to arrest you after the festival. Come on, Juliet.” Ina stomped off, and Juliet hobbled behind.
Carmen dragged a protesting Nicholas, who eyed the blowtorch enviously, away from the blacksmith’s booth.
I watched them go, wondering if I could be right. Did Jerry steal those antiques? I had no evidence, just a hunch based on a phone conversation with Lew and suspect e
yewitness accounts from Ina and Juliet. If it had been Juliet alone who claimed Jerry was the jaywalker, my suspicions wouldn’t have even occurred to me. However, Ina was involved, and despite all her idiosyncrasies, Ina had a sharp memory. If she was that certain the jaywalker was Jerry, then Jerry was the jaywalker.
“Can I help you?” Jerry asked, stirring me from my jumbled thoughts. I still stood just outside the blacksmith’s booth staring off into space.
“Actually, I think you can.”
Jerry frowned.
“I spoke to Lew on the phone a few minutes ago. He said he was conducting an inventory of Victor’s estate and some of the coins and small antiques were missing.”
“So?”
I shrugged as if unconcerned. “I just wondered if you’d heard.”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but I hadn’t.” Jerry hung the kitchen hook Ina had threatened him with back on the Pegboard. “I don’t know why this is your problem anyway.”
“I’m taking care of Zach while the trust is being settled. I thought Lew told you.”
“He said he’d found someone to take in Zach. He didn’t say it was you.”
“It’s only temporary. Lew’s looking for a kennel,” I said, even though I knew the kennel idea was becoming more and more unlikely. I got back to the subject I really wanted to talk about. “Lew thinks someone must have known about the antiques because a lot of the most valuable items were stolen.”
Jerry grunted and started packing some of his tools—the festival would be closing soon.
“I just wonder if Ina’s jaywalking story is connected to this. Victor’s house isn’t far from the square. Ina said you were carrying a big box . . .”
“You think you have it all figured out, don’t you?”
“No, not all,” I said honestly.
“No one was using those things. I needed the money. Blacksmithing is an expensive trade. I only sold a few things from Victor’s house, some small antiques that wouldn’t be missed.”
Murder in a Basket (An India Hayes Mystery) Page 15