“Hey.”
The two women ran in the same circles and Missy felt like they would have been close friends, were it not for the fact that circumstances had forced Missy to question Alison not in one murder investigation but in two. Though Missy felt like Alison liked her as much as she liked the other woman, Alison had always kept Missy at arm’s length.
“So that happened,” Alison said, shaking her head.
“Yeah…though I wonder what happened.”
Alison raised an eyebrow. “Have you heard?”
Missy shook her head. Why was she always the last to hear about everything?
Alison whispered. “Poison.”
“Poison?” Missy said, much too loudly. She felt the eyes of a few people nearby swivel to her.
Alison waited till the few people watching them lost interest. “I overheard a couple of the cops. They didn’t realize I’d come around to the side of the building to smoke.”
“Poison?” Missy repeated, in a much lower voice. As much as it shamed her, her immediate thought was about herself. Was it something in the tea? If so, was the poison working its way through her?
Through Tyler?
“I was worried too.” Alison smiled. “But if it hasn’t happened yet, I think we’re okay.”
Poison. Missy couldn’t believe it. But all the same, the two cops wouldn’t have just come up with that. She looked over her shoulder at Tyler. He was still on the phone, with his back to her. She wanted to get his attention.
“So that makes it murder,” Alison said what she’d been thinking.
Missy nodded. Her whole body had tensed up. The parking lot was filled with people who’d been inside. And one of them was a murderer.
“I can’t believe this.”
Alison smirked. “It wasn’t you, was it?”
Missy didn’t see the humor. “No! Of course not!”
Alison was still smirking. “Just kidding, Missy. I know you two didn’t really…gel.”
“Are you kidding or not?” Missy asked. “Because I can’t tell.”
Alison shrugged. “Just having a little fun. I’m getting you back for those two other murders where you interrogated me.”
Missy couldn’t keep her voice down. “I didn’t do this, Alison. I’d never kill anyone.”
Alison raised an eyebrow again. “Not even Tonya?”
“No!”
Alison held out her palms. “Easy, Miss. I’m just kidding.”
“Well, I don’t appreciate the joke.”
Alison stopped smiling and looked her in the eye. “Now you know how it feels, Missy.”
Before Missy could respond, Alison walked away and lit up another cigarette. Missy thought of following and reading her the riot act, but decided against it. Alison had a point. Missy had questioned her before, so she really couldn’t take offense if Alison had returned the favor.
Poison…
Missy began to feel queasy. Though if that was from the same poison that had killed Tonya, or if that was a psychosomatic reaction, or if that was just her stressing because she was worried, she couldn’t tell. Tonya had died two hours ago, and so far nobody else had also. Missy was starting to think that the poison had only found Tonya.
In her mind she replayed the day’s events. With this new information, everything took on a different tone. Tonya and Noreen had served coffee cake only twenty minutes or so before Tonya had died. Missy didn’t know if Tonya had eaten any herself, but that would have been one means of poisoning her.
Missy didn’t know much about poison, but she figured it would have been easier to slip something into Tonya’s tea as opposed to her food. It just seemed logical.
And with that thought, she realized she was a suspect.
She’d poured Tonya’s tea in the hallway where nobody had been watching her. Missy didn’t know if Tonya had had a chance to have any more tea after that.
Racking her brain, Missy recalled the details from earlier. After taking the cup from her, Tonya had put it on the table where it sat untouched for a few minutes. In that time, Missy and Noreen had stood near the cup, though plenty of other people had passed by. Beth, Tonya’s sister, had almost knocked the cup over. Roger, Tonya’s ex-husband and current fling on the side, had bumped into Missy. And…yes, Grant, Tonya’s current boyfriend, had been in the immediate vicinity.
Not to mention any one of the other fifty people that had been within a few feet of the cup. No, the only reason Missy was a suspect was because everybody was a suspect.
Tyler came back. “You okay, Melissa?”
She loved it when he called her by her full name, but right now it didn’t improve her nerves. “Tyler, the rumor going around is poison.”
True to cop form, he didn’t react. Tyler just took the information in calmly and processed it. His eyes roved to the people milling about in the parking lot.
Missy thought back to when Tonya had sipped her tea. She hadn’t acted like it tasted bad.
“Wouldn’t she have tasted it?” Missy asked.
He shook his head no. “Some poisins are tasteless and odorless. And some can work fast. But more likely it was an adverse reaction to a medication.”
“Maybe.” Missy hoped he was right. She’d had her fill of murder over the last couple years, helping to solve no less than four. The last three deaths had all been of friends.
“Don’t get any ideas.” He pulled her close. “Let the Castleton guys handle this.”
“No argument from me.” She wrapped her arms around him. “Who’s the lead detective?”
“Bobbi Evanski,” Tyler said. “I met her at a statie conference last year.”
Missy nodded. “What’s she like?”
“Hey. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”
“I gave Tonya her tea, Tyler.” Missy swallowed hard. “If it really is poison, they’ll have to look at me.”
He didn’t blink or otherwise react. He just looked deep into her eyes. “You didn’t do this, so you’ve got nothing to worry about, Melissa.”
She gave him a look. “Oh really? Because innocent people never get arrested.”
Tyler frowned. “Sure, but those are the exceptions to the rule. As police we have to build a case carefully. Good cops don’t make a move until they’re sure and have somebody dead to rights.”
She didn’t remind him of arresting Noreen for a crime she didn’t commit. But then again, she didn’t need to.
“Oh I get it. Noreen.” He shook his head. “Come on, Melissa, all the evidence pointed at her. We had nothing else to go on. You should be able to see that.”
Why was she suddenly so angry with him? She knew he was right. Tyler had only been following the evidence when arresting Noreen. Missy had stuck with the case only because she knew in her heart of hearts that Noreen would never have killed anyone. But at the time, everybody else had given up on her friend.
“Sorry.” Apologizing took the anger out of her. “I’m just worried, Tyler. Even though I’m innocent, it doesn’t mean this detective won’t make my life hell for the next few weeks while they investigate and clear me. I’m not looking forward to that.”
The tension went out of his body, and his face softened. “You’re right, babe. I’m sorry. As a cop, I forget what it’s like to be on the other end of questioning sometimes.”
There was a commotion, and Missy looked back at the tea room. Noreen had emerged, her head bowed, looking very dazed like the news was just now hitting her. When she looked up, she stared vacantly. Her eyes were dull as she moved slowly into the parking lot. The crowd parted, nobody knowing what to say.
But then her eyes changed when they spotted Missy. Noreen came over, her face serious.
“The detective is looking for you,” Noreen said.
“Nor, I’m sorry about what happened.”
Her friend just nodded absently. “Thanks.”
As Missy turned, Tyler latched on to her arm. “Melissa, hold up.”
“What is it?”
She was so nervous.
“I love you.” He smiled. “Everything’s going to be fine.”
She put on a brave face. “Love you, too.”
Chapter Four
Detective Evanski was a short woman with grey hair and a serious, almost studious, demeanor. Her partner was at least a decade younger than her and chewed his gum loudly and annoyingly. Detective Bryant smiled when Missy entered. Detective Evanski did not.
“The famous Missy DeMeanor?” Bryant asked, offering a hand.
“Yes.” She remembered to smile and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“And you.” He grinned ear-to-ear. “Tales of your legend have made the rounds in departments across the state.”
“I don’t know about that,” Missy said, uncomfortable with his praise because she felt like he was buttering her up so she lowered her guard.
“I know it for sure. Four murders in a couple years? You got a hundred percent clearance rate,” Bryant said. “We should get you to help us out on cases.”
During this exchange, Evanski just watched Missy with a pinched expression on her face, like she needed glasses.
“Hi.” Missy broke the awkward silence and offered her hand. “I’m Missy.”
“Detective Evanski.” The other woman gestured at the table. “We’ve got some questions for you.”
“Okay.” Missy took the seat nearest the exit and crossed one knee over the other. She didn’t know what to do with her hands.
“Hey, before we start.” Bryant wore a concerned look. “Are you feeling alright?”
“Not really,” Missy said. “I feel awful that Tonya’s…”
He nodded sympathetically while the emotionless robot that was Evanski did or said nothing.
Bryant went on. “Physically, are you okay? You’re not feeling ill, are you?”
She already didn’t like where these questions were going. If the rumor about the poison was true, then Bryant was pointedly asking her this to gauge her reaction.
“Queasy.” Missy fidgeted in her seat. “But I think that’s just from nerves and because I haven’t eaten all day.”
“You haven’t eaten?” Bryant asked. “Well, I wish we could get you something but unfortunately we can’t.”
Missy nodded and waited for the questioning to begin.
Evanski put a digital recorder on the table, her pointer resting on the record button. “You don’t mind if we tape this, do you?”
Missy did mind, but she didn’t want to say that. She kept reminding herself she had nothing to worry about. She was innocent.
“Go right ahead,” Missy said.
“You’re sure you’re feeling okay?” Bryant asked. “Because you don’t look well.”
She shrugged. “A woman my age just died and…” Should she reveal the rumor going around about poison? She decided against it. “…that’s always unsettling.”
“Always?” Bryant asked. “Oh. Right. Because you’ve been around several dead bodies. Probably more than our junior detectives working in Castleton.”
Evanski never took her eyes off Missy. “Melissa, please tell us how you came to be here today.”
The detective’s words fell into a monotonous cadence, like she purposely intended to dull the senses and put Missy’s mind into a stupor.
“I’m good friends with Noreen, one of the owners. We’ve known each other since high school, so I was really looking forward to being here for the grand opening. I wanted to support her dream to open this place.”
Missy gave them the details of her day, leading up to her arrival with Tyler at Do Re Tea. Evanski watched her with steady eyes and did not emote once. Bryant, on the other hand, sat on the edge of his seat like he was hanging on her every word, his expression varying almost word-to-word.
“So I’ve been here all day,” Missy said, bringing her account to a close. She didn’t want to volunteer any information, but at the same time she didn’t want to look like she was holding anything back. “I was talking to my boyfriend when we heard the crash, followed by the scream, in the kitchen.”
“Melissa, please describe your relationship with Tonya.”
“We didn’t have much of one, to be honest.”
“Why not?”
Missy paused, considering her words. “It’s no secret we didn’t get along. We were both friends with Noreen, but Tonya and I couldn’t have been any more different.”
“How were you different?”
“Tonya was a career-minded woman with expensive tastes. She managed her own consulting firm. I wouldn’t know how to manage my way out of a paper bag.” Missy smiled at the joke. Bryant chuckled, but Evanski remained expressionless. “Anyway, I’m a simple gal. I like my little town, and my quiet life. I love working in the bookstore and doing my crafts in my spare time. I don’t need much or want much. Tonya was the opposite, I think. Very driven. Very competitive.”
“You were both friends with Noreen, so why didn’t you two get along?” Bryant asked. “Just because you were different didn’t make you enemies, did it?”
She noted the loaded question. Enemies. “I can’t point to any one thing. All I can say is we never got on really. We weren’t unfriendly to each other.”
“But you didn’t like each other?”
“Not particularly,” Missy said, feeling the conversation slipping out of control. “But we were always civil.”
Bryant nodded. “Got it. Okay.”
In her neutral voice, Evanski said, “You didn’t argue today?”
Missy frowned. “No.”
“You didn’t have cross words?”
“I don’t want to say anything bad about her but the truth is she just didn’t like me. I don’t know why. I guess we rubbed each other the wrong way.”
“You sure you’re feeling okay?” Bryant asked again, and this time the question annoyed her.
“I’m fine.”
“Okay, good.”
Evanski said, “Did you help serve today?”
Missy felt her stomach drop. So the rumor was true. It had to be poison, otherwise why would the detective be asking her this question?
“Yes,” Missy said. “More people showed up for the grand opening than they’d planned, and they didn’t have enough servers. It was taking so long to pour the tea that I offered to help.”
“And where did you pour the tea?”
“By the kitchen. I was right by Noreen.”
“You poured the tea right over there, out in the open?” Bryant asked.
Missy frowned. “No. In the hallway leading to the kitchen. I needed a counter and there was no space out—”
“Was anyone helping you pour?” Evanski asked. “Or were you back there all by yourself?”
“I was alone, but there were plenty of people standing only a few feet away in the tea room.”
“Could any of them see you?”
“If they turned around and looked, yes.”
“Do you know if they did?”
Missy shook her head no. “I was paying attention to what I was doing.”
Evanski leaned forward. “And what were you doing?”
Missy looked her in the eye. “I was pouring the tea.”
The detective leaned back in her seat once more.
Bryant said, “Who did you serve?”
“A lot of people. Once the line died down, I looked into the tea room and saw Noreen hadn’t gotten any for herself yet. So I poured two cups, one for her and one for me.”
“You poured a cup for Noreen?” Bryant asked.
Missy nodded. “By the time I got out there, though, she had gotten one from somebody else leaving me with an extra.”
“Did you give the extra to someone?”
“Tonya didn’t have a cup, so I gave it to her.”
“Did she sip it right away?” Evanski asked.
Missy’s blood ran cold. Based on their questioning, she knew Tonya had been poisoned and she knew they suspected her. Even though she was innoce
nt, her insides tightened and churned.
“I don’t think so.”
“You don’t think so? Or you don’t know?”
“I don’t think so,” Missy said. “An older woman called her over to the middle of the room, so Tonya put the cup down on that table.”
“Which table?”
Missy pointed. “The one closest to the kitchen.”
Bryant smiled. “She left her cup there?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
Missy racked her brain to recall the details, but she really hadn’t been paying close attention.
“I don’t know. She came back a few minutes later.”
“Two minutes? Five minutes? Ten minutes?”
“I really wasn’t paying attention…maybe five minutes?”
Bryant nodded. “And when she returned, did she drink the tea right away?”
“Yes. I congratulated her and Noreen again and we all toasted.”
Evanski folded her hands. “And she drank from the same cup you gave her?”
“I wasn’t watching the cup the entire time. But I assume it was.”
“Where were you, while the cup was on the table?” Bryant asked.
“Noreen and I were standing right there. I had my back to the table.”
“Where exactly were you standing?” Evanski asked.
“Do you want me to show you?”
“Yes.”
Missy got up on nervous legs and tried not to trip on her short walk to the other table. She got into position, standing with her back to the table and two feet space between her and the chair.
“Right there?” Bryant asked.
“About.”
“You had your back to the table?”
“Yes.”
“And you were that far from the table?”
“Yes.”
Evanski asked her to sit back down. “Did anyone walk between you and the table while the tea was there?”
Missy nodded. “Oh yeah. A bunch of people.”
“Did you see anyone pick up or do anything to the cup?”
“Tonya’s sister, Beth, banged into the table and nearly knocked the cup over.”
Bryant smiled. “Anybody else?”
“There were a ton of people in here. Anybody could have walked by. I wasn’t really paying attention because I was talking to Noreen.”
Tea Room Toxin: Missy DeMeanor Cozy Mystery #5 (Missy DeMeanor Cozy Mysteries) Page 3