Agony of the Leaves: Tea Shop Mystery #13

by Laura Childs

  And then Parker was murdered. At the Neptune Aquarium.

  From Theodosia’s vantage point, the whole sorry mess made Sedakis look very, very suspicious.

  Theodosia straightened up in her chair. “Who did get the franchise?” she asked. The restaurant hadn’t opened yet, wouldn’t for several more weeks, so it was anybody’s guess.

  Shelby shrugged. “No idea.”

  “But it was someone other than Parker?”

  “I suppose.”

  Could it be Peaches Pafford? Theodosia wondered.

  Shelby sipped her coffee and stared at Theodosia.

  “Do the police know about this?” Theodosia asked. “Did you tell Tidwell or one of his investigators that Parker had a possible deal pending with the Neptune Aquarium?”

  Shelby blinked several times. “No, I didn’t. You think it’s important?”

  “Yes, it’s important.” Theodosia was energized and practically shouting now. “In fact, this information could turn out to be a very big piece of the puzzle.”

  “Oh wow,” said Shelby, looking stunned. “I had no idea.”

  But Theodosia had already pulled out her cell phone and was dialing Tidwell’s number. It rang at the police station downtown, and then she had to do some fast talking to get past his gatekeepers. Finally she had Tidwell on the line.

  “Why are you calling me at home?” Tidwell asked, sounding both impatient and grumpy.

  Theodosia quickly delivered the news about the restaurant franchise at the Neptune Aquarium. “Did you know about this?” she asked. “That Parker had been awarded the restaurant deal then shut out?”

  “First I’ve heard,” said Tidwell. “Obviously, no one at the aquarium was particularly forthcoming with this information, either.”

  “Especially from their board of directors,” said Theodosia. “Unless nobody knew about this except Sedakis. Is that possible?”

  “Possible,” said Tidwell.

  “Maybe,” Theodosia theorized, “Sedakis dumped Parker because he was paid to?”

  “You mean Sedakis accepted a bribe from someone?” said Tidwell.

  “Could have happened,” said Theodosia. “The aquarium deal would be a nice fat plum for any restaurateur. Except that…” Theodosia was really rolling now. “Except that maybe Parker threatened to expose Sedakis’s questionable business practices.”

  “You’re making an awfully big leap,” said Tidwell.

  “But it could have happened that way,” said Theodosia.

  “Here’s what I want you to do,” said Tidwell. “Tell your young lady, Shelby, to go on home. Tell her I’ll be sending two investigators over to her house shortly.”

  “Just a minute,” said Theodosia. She dropped her phone and said to Shelby, “You’re supposed to go home. Two investigators are going to come by and…”

  “No!” Shelby wailed. “I’ve already been down that road.”

  Theodosia leaned across the table and grabbed the girl’s wrist. “Listen, Shelby, this is a good thing! The police are going to be very kind and ask you some very basic questions about the aquarium deal.” She held the phone up to her face again. “Did you hear that?” she asked Tidwell. “They are going to be kind and considerate, aren’t they?”

  “Yes,” said a reluctant Tidwell.

  Turning her attention back to Shelby, Theodosia said, “This is good, honey. This could be a break in the case.”

  Shelby still looked doubtful. “You think?”

  “Yes, I do. And kudos to you for helping out.”

  But Shelby was still nervous. “I really hate this. I know the police are still suspicious of me.”

  “If you didn’t do anything,” said Theodosia, “then you haven’t got a thing to worry about.” And if you did, then watch out!

  When Theodosia arrived home, Haley and her boyfriend were waiting in the backyard. Scrunched together among the camellias on a blackwrought-iron bench, they were engaged in a little innocent canoodling.

  “Sorry to keep you guys waiting,” said Theodosia, as she scrambled up the walk and unlocked the back door.

  “That’s okay,” said Haley. “We’re cool.”

  “Well, for gosh sakes, come in,” said Theodosia. She threw open the door and Earl Grey came bounding out, head high, legs churning.

  “Oops,” said Theodosia. She grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up short. “Not so fast, Mr. Dog. Not until we’ve all been introduced.”

  “Theodosia,” said Haley, “this is Jack Dickey. My friend with the van.”

  “Nice to meet you, Jack,” said Theodosia. “And thanks for offering to help us move all our stuff.” She gave him a sideways glance. “Or did you get shanghaied?”

  “Hard to say no to Haley,” Jack grinned, as Earl Grey twisted and strained to get closer to him.

  “Hey, boy.” Jack stuck out a hand for Earl Grey to sniff. “You’re a nice guy.” He looked at Theodosia. “What breed?”

  “Dalbrador,” said Theodosia.

  “I have a Sharbrador of my own,” said Jack.

  “Also an excellent pedigree,” said Theodosia. They all trooped into her kitchen then, and she kicked at one of the boxes with her toe. “Here are the boxes. All tea and T-Bath products.”

  “Piece of cake,” said Jack, bending to scoop up two boxes at once. “And you want these delivered to the Coliseum?”

  “That’s right,” said Theodosia. “Right to the dock. There’s supposed to be someone there until ten tonight.”

  The three of them bent and hoisted and grunted for a few minutes until all the boxes had been stacked in the back of Jack’s van.

  “Perfect,” said Theodosia, giving the rear fender a little tap. “Thanks so much.”

  “Anytime,” said Jack, as Haley beamed at him.

  “You’re sure I can’t pay you for this?” asked Theodosia.

  “Just happy to help out,” said Jack.

  “You be sure to drop by the tea shop,” said Theodosia. “The way I see it, you’ve earned quite a few chits for free lunches.”

  “Sounds good,” said Jack, smiling at Haley.

  “Good night,” said Haley, waving. “See you at the expo tomorrow.”

  Theodosia turned to go back inside, while Earl Grey lunged after Haley and Jack.

  “Earl Grey?” said Theodosia. She clapped her hands together. “Come on, fella.”

  “I think he wants to go with us,” said Jack.

  Haley took up the cheer. “Hey, pup, you want to take a ride with us? Maybe stop for a burger, then sleep over at my place?”

  As if he were being invited on an outing (which he was), Earl Grey threw Theodosia an eager Can I, Mom? look.

  Theodosia was tickled by Haley’s invitation. “Are you sure you want to take him? You have to be at the expo first thing tomorrow.”

  “No problem,” said Haley. “Anyway, it’ll be fun. Like a doggy pajama party.” She bent down and ruffled the fur on Earl Grey’s shoulder. “And you’re already wearing your fleece jammies, aren’t you?”

  Theodosia considered this. Haley now lived in the apartment above the tea shop where she used to live. So, really, Earl Grey would be going back to his old familiar haunt.

  “Well, sure, I guess so,” said Theodosia. Why not? “Okay.” She waved both hands. “Bon soir. See you all tomorrow.”

  With Earl Grey gone for the night, Theodosia had the place all to herself. She wandered upstairs, where she’d set up her own little reading room in thesecond-floor turret and settled into an overstuffedred-and-blue chintz chair. She grabbed a book she’d beenreading—a really finethriller—then propped it open and tried to concentrate.

  But she found herself too keyed up to read. The funeral this morning, Aunt Libby’s tea party this afternoon, and then her meeting with Shelby tonight had left her feeling jazzed and unsettled. And, of course, Parker’s death still hung heavy over her head.

  Theodosia was also half hoping and waiting for Tidwell to call back. Surely he’d call and gi
ve her a quick report, wouldn’t he? After all, she’d been instrumental in uncovering what could be a rather important clue.

  But by the time her old Seth Thomas mantel clock hammered out its ten o’clock chime, Tidwell still hadn’t called. And Theodosia decided he probably wasn’t going to call.

  Typical Tidwell.

  She snuggled in, determined to plow through another few chapters. Finally, her mind engaged and she tumbled down the rabbit hole to lose herself in her book.

  But an hour later, when Theodosia was ready for bed, her cozy little cottage seemed like a very lonely place indeed without her beloved Earl Grey.

  16

  The Coffee & Tea Expo had been the brainchild of the Eastern Seaboard Coffee Association, a loosely formed coalition of coffee wholesalers and distributors. They’d decided to stage a major coffee expo at the North Charleston Coliseum to appeal to the many retailers and coffee shops who bought and resold their products, with expectations and high hopes that these retailers might buy and resell even more.

  But the Coffee Association had been able to persuade only three dozen or so coffee and food vendors to participate. And three dozen booths did not an expo make.

  After much scratching of heads, someone had the brilliant idea to expand the expo to include tea wholesalers and vendors. The tea people, enthused by this invitation, had jumped on board wholeheartedly and even pulled in several trade councils as well as a few overseas vendors. Then they suggested that tastings, cooking demos, and a few breakout seminars be added to the roster of events. That really kicked the expo into high gear and boosted the number to more than eighty exhibitors, a number that seemed to resonate happily with everyone.

  And now Theodosia was making her way down the first row of exhibitors, checking her program, fairly impressed by the variety and caliber of the exhibitors. A spectacularblack-and-greenbamboo-themed booth housed the Chen Lung Tea Company from Taipei. They were already handing out samples of their silver jasmine tea. Down the row were two food service vendors, Chatterly Cheesecake Company and Dixie’s Fine Chocolates. Plus there were umpteen booths that displayed teakettles and tea cozies, coffeepots and funky coffee mugs, as well as booths showcasing Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee and Kenyan rooibos tea.

  Theodosia rambled through the expo, thoroughly enjoying herself, and finally stumbling upon the Indigo Tea Shop booth, which Haley had designed and pretty much volunteered to honcho. At least for a short time this morning.

  They’d opted for thebare-bones booth, which consisted of a plain black backdrop, asix-foot table, and two chairs, then added their own touches to make the whole thing pop. Now exotic posters depicting mountainous tea gardens in China and India formed the backdrop, and a large Indigo Tea Shop banner topped the whole thing. A shelf was prominently lined with T-Bath products, and a larger, lower shelf held silver tins filled with Drayton’s proprietary blends of tea. They’d debated over which of his teas to wholesale at the expo, then selected Cooper River Cranberry, Britannia Breakfast Blend, and Lemon Verbena, just because those were the ones Drayton had pushed and because those blends had proved to be perennial best sellers. As Theodosia liked to say, “Shoot the easy ones first.”

  Haley was perched behind the table, chatting away with two women. When she saw Theodosia elbowing her way through the already sizable morning crowd, she grinned and waved her over.

  “This is the tea shop owner I was telling you about,” Haley said to the two women who’d convened at her booth. “Theodosia Browning. She’s a really smart entrepreneur and the founder of the Indigo Tea Shop.”

  Both women nodded politely and with interest.

  “Theo,” Haley burbled on, “I want you to meet Helen and Andrea. These two ladies are planning to open a tea shop in Florence.” Florence was amedium-sized town some two hundred miles north of Charleston.

  “Nice to meet you,” said Theodosia. “And best of luck to you.”

  “Thank you,” said Helen, who looked at her expectantly. “Haley was just pitching us on the idea of buying some of your tea blends in bulk.”

  “For brewing in our tea shop,” added Andrea. “And, I guess, retailing, too.”

  Haley jumped in again. “Like I mentioned before, our tea master, Drayton Conneley, really knows his tea. He worked for a tea wholesaler in London and has even attended several of the tea auctions in Amsterdam.”

  “Tea auctions?” said Andrea. This was news to her.

  “Oh yeah,” said Haley. “Amsterdam is pretty much where all the world’s tea is bought and sold. That’s where the best tea leaves are bought by the pickiest tea companies. Then what’s left over, the dust and dregs and things, is snapped up by the tea bag companies.”

  “That’s how it works?” said Helen. “I had no idea.”

  “Tell you what,” said Haley, “take one of our brochures and think about it.”

  “And if you’re interested in retailing your own brand of tea, we can help you with private labeling,” said Theodosia.

  “Sounds good,” said Helen.

  “And call if you have questions,” Theodosia added. “We’re always happy to help out fellow tea shop owners.”

  “Hey,” Haley said to Theodosia, as the two women wandered off, “what do you think of our booth?”

  “Looks great,” said Theodosia. “And it would appear you’ve been fairly busy.”

  “Aw, not so much,” said Haley, “it’s only the first day. I think tomorrow will be the biggie.” She pushed herstick-straight hair behind her ears. “I didn’t think you’d show up quite this early.”

  “I thought you might be anxious to head back to the Indigo Tea Shop,” said Theodosia.

  “I am,” said Haley, “since we’ve got the Broad Street Garden Club coming in at noon.”

  Theodosia glanced at her watch. “What time is Jenny supposed to take over?” Jenny Hartley was a friend of Haley’s who was going to man the tea booth until Haley could come back in midafternoon.

  “She should be here around ten, ten thirty,” said Haley. “Think you can hold out until then?”

  “I’ll do my best,” said Theodosia.

  “Oh, hey,” said Haley, “I already wrote up a couple of orders for our Vanilla Honey Blend.” Vanilla Honey Blend was one of Drayton’s house blends that combined white tea from China’s Fujian province with hints of vanilla and honey. “Isn’t it neat,” Haley continued, “how giving out free samples really helps?”

  “Yes, it does help,” said Theodosia, who’d logged several years as a marketing executive before she’d left thathurly-burly 24/7 world to run a tea shop.

  Theodosia slipped behind the table then and took over the booth. She handed out samples, greeted a few tea vendors she knew, and tried to look friendly and approachable as retailers streamed past. She wasn’t sure how beneficial this booth would prove to be, but she was anxious to test the results. After all, tea drinking was still growing by leaps and bounds and she had almost two dozen house blends she could retail. To say nothing of her T-Bath products. In this tight economy, every little bit helped when it came to fluffing up the bottom line.

  “Well, Theo-do-sia,” brayed Peaches Pafford. She sidled up to the booth and gazed around. “I didn’t expect to find you here. And manning your own little booth at that.” Peaches’s laugh was almost a snicker. “Aren’t you just the eager beaver little entrepreneur.”

  Theodosia, who’d been explaining the difference betweenfirst-flush andsecond-flush Darjeeling to a potential customer, stopped what she was doing and took a long, hard look at Peaches. What is she doing here? Besides interrupting me?

  Peaches, meanwhile, jabbed an index finger at a tin of Indian spice tea. “Indian spice,” she said loudly, “does that mean it’s genuinely spicy or just fruity?”

  “Excuse me,” Theodosia said to her customer, then turned to deal with the disruptive Peaches. “Peaches? Is there something I can help you with?” Her tone was cool and the subtext of her question was, Why are you being so rude?

/>   As if Peaches knew what Theodosia was really asking, she said, “And do you have chocolate tea also?”

  Theodosia sighed inwardly as she stared at Peaches. Today Peaches was wearing a pink pantsuit with her slightly pinkish hair lacquered into a lazy swirl. Somewhere, in the back of Theodosia’s brain, was a fuzzy memory of a character named Strawberry Shortcake.

  “Chocolate tea?” Peaches said again.

  “Um, you’re planning to serve chocolate tea at one of yourfour-star restaurants?” It was all Theodosia could come up with at the moment.

  Peaches let loose a throaty laugh. “No, silly. I’m thinking seriously about expanding my company and opening a patisserie.” She hesitated. “Among other things.”

  “Really,” said Theodosia. Now what does she have up her proverbial sleeve?

  Peaches assumed a pussycat grin. “I was thinking of calling my patisserie Bittersweet.” She tapped a tin of tea with a manicured forefinger. “You like that name?”

  “Sure,” said Theodosia, with just enough enthusiasm to remain polite. “It’s a great name.”

  Peaches rattled on. “Like I said, it would be a strictlyParisian-style patisserie. And with a name like Bittersweet, we’d no doubt serve indulgences like chocolate walnut bread, chocolate velvet brownies, chocolate latte scones, and even chocolate biscotti.” She paused. “Who knows? If I get Bittersweet off the ground we might even have to enter the chocolatier contest.”

  “Which Haley recently won,” said Theodosia.

  “Oh, did she?” said Peaches, making a big show of not knowing. But, of course, she really did know.

  “Anything I can do to help,” said Theodosia, moving away from Peaches, “be sure to let me know.”

  Peaches waggled her fingers. “Oh, I will, dear. I will.”

  Thirty minutes later, Jenny showed up and Theodosia was quite happy to relinquish her apron as well as her booth duties.

  “You’ll be okay?” Theodosia asked Jenny. “Haley briefed you?”

  “She did,” said Jenny. “But I’m pretty much an old hand at this. I worked the exotic food show at Johnson and Wales last year.”