Murder with Cinnamon Scones

by Karen Rose Smith

  “So the police have talked to you?”

  “Yeah. The guy’s name was Detective Rappaport. He called me back here today to question me again. Like I need to lose another day of work.”

  “And you told them what you spoke to Reese about?”

  “I did but I cut my answers short.”

  “Did the police ask you to stick around?”

  “I told them I can’t afford to do that. I have to work. Rappaport said something about the Pittsburgh PD keeping an eye on me.”

  Daisy really wasn’t hungry. She wrapped up her sandwich once more and put it back in the bag. Then she capped her bottle of water. “Thank you for talking to me. I know what it’s like to be grilled by the police and it’s not easy.”

  As she stood to leave, the man stuck out his hand. “Bud Turner. And, you know, I’m sure the police will be keeping an eye on me until they have this thing solved. Are you sure your friend didn’t do it?”

  “I’m sure,” Daisy said with certainty.

  “Then good luck finding whoever did. Maybe Masemer made more than one mistake as a surgeon. Sometimes that kind of thing doesn’t always hit the headlines.”

  As Daisy nodded and left Dutch’s Deli, she thought about what Bud had said. And he was right. How many cases got settled before they went to court?

  The police were probably following that lead too.

  * * *

  “I can’t believe you didn’t call me first, or call me to meet you there.” Jonas scolded Daisy with an arched brow of disapproval.

  “I had to get over there right away,” she explained. “Bud might have left.”

  “If you had texted me, I would have met you there,” Jonas repeated again, as if what he’d said hadn’t sunk in.

  Acting as sort of a referee, Tessa stepped close to both of them. They were inside Daisy’s office, so no one outside of the office could overhear.

  “So he actually said Reese killed his wife?” Tessa asked, getting to the point of the conversation.

  Daisy switched her focus to her best friend. “He didn’t go into details but I imagine any surgery can go bad for whatever reason. I don’t know if the fact that Reese settled means that it was his fault or not.”

  “He would have felt guilty about it,” Tessa decided. “I know he would have. Reese had a good heart. What I can’t believe is that he used to be a doctor and he didn’t tell me.”

  When Daisy glanced at Jonas, she knew what he was thinking. It was the same thing she was thinking. She put it into words. “Tessa, if he didn’t tell you that, there are other things he didn’t tell you too.”

  “You mean secrets?”

  “I mean about the life he left. You have to ask yourself if you really knew him.”

  “I thought I did.” Tessa’s voice cracked and Daisy suspected how hard this was for her.

  Jonas cleared his throat. “One good thing has come from this, Tessa.”

  “What could that possibly be?” she asked.

  “The police will definitely be looking at Bud Turner as a suspect and that should take some of the pressure off of you.”

  “But as Bud said,” Daisy mused, “if Reese was dead, Bud wouldn’t be able to get any more money.” She’d been running that fact around in her mind on her walk back to the tea garden.

  Jonas’s expression was grave. “Maybe he couldn’t get any more money, but the revenge itself could have been what he needed. I’ve seen it before.”

  Daisy noticed that Jonas looked like a man who didn’t want to see revenge at work again.

  * * *

  Daisy didn’t like funeral homes. They brought back memories of pain and sadness that she’d rather forget. When she remembered Ryan, she wanted to remember him as they were when they were happy, when they went on vacation with their whole family, when they came back to Willow Creek for visits.

  She tucked those memories away on Sunday as she walked into Parson’s Funeral Home with its tall pillars and Colonial-style brick. In her mind Daisy knew that funeral services provided closure, at least the beginning of closure. But that still didn’t make them any more palatable.

  She was greeted by a representative of Parson’s in a dark suit who waved her toward the guest book. After she signed her name, she walked on tastefully chosen carpet into the main room where funeral-goers were gathered. The room was filling up quickly with business professionals and store owners who had come to pay their respects.

  Daisy walked up the main aisle toward the area where Tessa stood in front of a velvet rope that was a barrier to a pedestal which held the urn with Reese’s ashes. That was surrounded by bouquets of flowers. Immediately, she spotted Chloie Laird seated among the assembled group. It was easy to see that Chloie’s gaze was shooting daggers at Tessa. As if she could be a buffer, Aunt Iris was standing beside Tessa. In Daisy’s experience, funerals and their counterpart—weddings—could bring out the best in people . . . or the worst.

  When she reached Tessa, she gave her a long hard hug so her friend knew that she understood. Words in a situation like this could only be platitudes that were like a pat on the head. Her Aunt Iris gave her shoulder a squeeze as Daisy ended the hug. True to her nature, Tessa was wearing a pantsuit with black and teal wide-legged pants, a teal shell, and a black and teal jacket with flowy lapels and sleeves. Her long gold earrings and her loose hair made her look very different from the woman who ran the kitchen at the tea garden. This was the woman Reese had fallen in love with.

  On the other hand, Aunt Iris wore a simple black sheath with long sleeves and a high neck. Daisy had also dressed conservatively in a deep violet skirt suit. Around her neck she wore the pearls Ryan had given her as a wedding present.

  “I’m glad you’re both here,” Tessa said gratefully. “Chloie’s been giving me the stink eye every chance she can ever since she arrived.”

  Iris harrumphed. “The Willow Creek gossip mill says that Chloie is furious that you’re Reese’s executor.”

  Tessa nodded. “I know. One of our regulars told me Chloie said that she should have been executor since she worked with Reese over a year, not a woman he had had a short affair with.”

  There was only one thing for Daisy to say. “I’m sure you were much more than a short affair to Reese, Tessa. In your heart, you have to know that too.”

  When Tessa nodded, Daisy could see her friend’s eyes fill with tears. She was feeling a little misty herself and she fingered the pearls at her neck.

  Tessa brushed a loose tear away from her cheek and nodded to a man who had just come in the room. “That’s Abner Cogley. He owns the gallery property and he leased it to Reese.”

  Abner Cogley was a stocky man of medium height who looked uncomfortable in his suit. His tie was pulled a little loose around his neck. He wore his dark brown hair in a combover, and Daisy wondered if he dyed it. She wasn’t sure what gave her that impression. Maybe because no strands of gray shone under the parlor lights. He had to be at least fifty-five. She sighed when she considered how petty that description sounded. Maybe she needed a distraction.

  Tessa shifted a bit so she was behind Daisy instead of in Chloie’s line of vision. “I’m going to need that week off. I have to have the gallery cleaned out sooner rather than later, or else I’ll have to pay Cogley another month’s rent.”

  Did all property owners act that way? Daisy didn’t think she would. She’d be giving Tessa a little latitude. But she didn’t lease property to renters. Well, except Tessa, of course, but that was different.

  Several residents came up the aisle to speak with Tessa, so Iris and Daisy took their seats in the first row. Although Tessa was shedding a few tears, the condolences of clients and friends of Reese were likely to comfort her.

  As Daisy sat beside her aunt Iris, she spotted Foster across the aisle. He gave her a wan smile. She imagined this service brought back memories for him, too.

  Her aunt bumped her elbow. “There’s George Beck and his wife,” she whispered close to Daisy’
s ear.

  George and his wife walked up the middle aisle. They waited while a couple in front of them gave Tessa their condolences and then they took their place. A few moments later, Daisy saw Tessa motioning to her. What was that about?

  She stood and made her way up to Tessa and the Becks.

  Before Tessa could say anything, the attractive brunette with George extended her hand to Daisy. “I’m Tanya Beck. We’ve just invited Tessa to dinner, and we’d like to invite you, too. I’m thinking of starting up my own business, a gift basket shop. I’d like to pick your brains about the startup. Do you think you’d be free to come?”

  Out of the corner of her eye, Daisy glanced at Tessa. Tessa gave a little nod. “Sure, I should be able to come. I don’t like to leave my daughter Jazzi at home alone too much since we live in a rural area. But she can always stay with a friend.”

  “Oh, I understand that,” Tanya said.

  With a smile, Daisy responded, “We have an alarm system but I still like to be there.”

  “That’s understandable,” George said.

  Tanya asked, “How about tomorrow evening around seven o’clock?”

  Again Daisy and Tessa exchanged a look. Tessa said, “That should be fine.”

  George glanced over his shoulder. There were a few more people behind him. “We’d better move on,” he said to his wife.

  The Becks moved away before Daisy could. The man who came up behind them was big and burly, and Daisy knew him. Jimmy Standish was one of the farmers who supplied her with produce.

  He gave Tessa an uneasy hug and a pat on the back. “I’m so sorry for your loss,” he said. When he’d straightened again, he lowered his voice to speak to them. “I just want you to know that Reese did some things that nobody knows about.”

  A look of fear passed over Tessa’s face, and Daisy wondered what was coming.

  Jimmy’s voice shook a little as he revealed, “Reese helped me save my farm when I was having a tough year. If he hadn’t loaned me the money, I would have had to sell to Abner Cogley, who was buying up farmland around here for a development. All he had to do was get the farmland rezoned. I’ll always be grateful to Reese. I hear you’re the executor of his estate. I still have a year on that loan. I just want you to know I’ll be paying it. That is all right, isn’t it? I don’t have to come up with the money all at once?”

  Tessa shook her head. “No, of course you don’t. We’ll work something out. I’ll speak with Reese’s lawyer and then give you a call. We’ll talk the next time you deliver produce to the tea garden.”

  Jimmy looked beyond grateful. “I guess folks aren’t supposed to know the good works we do. I have a feeling Reese helped more folks than just me.”

  “Thanks for letting me know about the loan,” Tessa said. “And thanks for telling me the rest.”

  Daisy was about to move with Jimmy back to the seats when she recognized the next man coming to pay his respects. It was Cade. She hadn’t seen him since their lunch. She hadn’t seen him since she and Jonas had talked. Not that they’d settled anything. But if she dated anyone, she wanted it to be Jonas.

  Speaking of Jonas, when she looked down the aisle to the reception area, she saw him speaking with Dutch Pickel, who must have come in about the same time. If she was speaking with Cade and Jonas approached, this could be awkward.

  However, Cade had just hugged Tessa and turned to Daisy when a strident woman’s voice came from the lobby. When Daisy turned to look that way, she saw a woman whose chestnut hair was stylishly pulled back into a chignon at her nape. There was a teenager with her. She held the boy’s elbow and pulled him along as she pushed in front of some of the other people in the aisle. Daisy thought her taupe coat and dress looked expensive, like cashmere.

  Daisy asked Tessa, “Could that be Reese’s son and his ex-wife?”

  “The lawyer might have contacted them,” Tessa answered. “I had no way to do that.”

  The woman practically pushed Cade aside as she and the boy stood in front of Daisy and Tessa. “Which one of you is Tessa Miller?” she asked with some authority in her voice.

  Tessa didn’t hesitate. “I’m Tessa Miller. And you are?”

  “I’m Larissa Masemer, Reese’s ex-wife. This is his son, Eric. Someone had to bring him to his father’s service. I was elected.”

  Larissa’s tone was acerbic. Although she was composed, she appeared angry. The teenager beside her, who looked to be about sixteen, was frowning and his eyes were sad.

  Tessa extended her hand to Eric. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

  “I’m glad you’re not saying that to me,” Larissa said in a low but vehement voice. “Reese was a coward and a deserter. He left our marriage and his son and I hated him for that.”

  If Daisy was making a suspect list, Larissa would be another suspect. With that much vitriol toward her ex-husband, it wasn’t incomprehensible that she could have killed him. Daisy’s common sense prevailed before she asked her, And dumped his body?

  Larissa Masemer was slight but Eric Masemer wasn’t. He had the height, over six foot, and the muscles that looked to be pumped up. How angry at his father was he?

  Eric pointed to Tessa and then nodded to his mother. “She’s the one Dad was sleeping with. She called when I was staying with Dad. I recognize her voice from the answering machine.”

  Tessa’s cheeks had reddened and she looked embarrassed. She told Eric the truth. “I loved your dad, Eric. But when you stayed with him over the holidays, he told me you were his friend’s son.”

  “Just like him,” Larissa muttered.

  Eric looked sullen, but he admitted, “My dad wanted a complete break from the past. He wanted to start over. If he claimed he had a son, that would lead to questions.” He looked at his mom and said bitterly, “If Mom and Dad had been civil with each other, maybe my dad wouldn’t have left Pittsburgh.”

  His mother stepped in immediately. “Eric, you know that isn’t true. Don’t idealize your father now that he’s dead. Everyone blamed Reese for that woman’s death. He couldn’t face his peers or country club members or his own family because he’d known he used poor judgment and her death was his fault.”

  “Can you tell me what happened?” Tessa asked.

  “Why do you care?” Larissa asked.

  “I do. Reese didn’t share what had happened to him with me, and I’d like to know.”

  After a huff and a shrug of her shoulders, Larissa explained, “He didn’t read the patient’s chart correctly. He ordered an antibiotic that she was allergic to. It wasn’t a mistake an intern should make let alone a respected surgeon. He’d had too many surgeries that day and not enough sleep.”

  “Then you divorced because of what happened to him?” Tessa asked quietly.

  Larissa looked as if she might erupt, but after a brief hesitation, she explained, “We’d been having problems for a while. Doctors’ schedules are the pits. Then with the lawsuit and stress, all of that ended our marriage.”

  This time it was Eric’s turn to mutter, “But he was still my dad and he should have admitted it.”

  Daisy knew some men could walk away from their children, but she didn’t know how. She felt sorry for Eric and she could see that Tessa did, too. Just what would Tessa do now that Eric and Reese’s ex-wife were in town?

  Chapter Fifteen

  Daisy knew Tessa could be antagonistic toward Eric and Reese’s ex-wife. Or she could take another road. Which would she choose?

  Watching her friend, Daisy was proud of Tessa when she said to Eric, “I’m going to be emptying your dad’s apartment, as well as the gallery. Would you like to stay here and do that with me?”

  Immediately Larissa jumped in. “I can’t stay. I have to get back to my job.”

  But Eric was looking at Tessa with questions in his eyes. “I can stay in a motel. I have my own money. If you don’t let me, Mom, I’ll hitchhike back here just like I did over Christmas.”

  So that’s what had happened. E
ric had probably turned up unexpectedly on Reese’s doorstep. And the only explanation Reese could think of for Tessa was to say that he was the son of a friend . . . or else his secret wouldn’t be a secret any longer.

  No one wanted Eric to run away from his home or hitchhike back here. They were all looking at him, even Cade, with compassion in their eyes. The teenager was definitely grieving.

  “I have a pull-out couch,” Tessa offered. “You’re welcome to stay on that.”

  Larissa was already shaking her head. “That would be totally inappropriate. No way will I agree to that.”

  Unexpectedly, Cade stepped forward and extended his hand to Eric. “I’m Cade Bankert,” he said. “I went to high school with both Tessa and Daisy. We’re all friends and they can vouch for me. I have a small house but I do have a spare room if you’d like to stay with me. I knew your dad and I liked him. I’m the one who found him the property to rent when he was looking for a space for his gallery. Reese used to tell me about his trips to museums. He went all over the country.”

  “I used to go with him,” Eric piped up. He leaned a little closer to Cade. “Art isn’t my mom’s thing, but me and my dad, we both like it. If I stay with you, could you tell me some of his stories?”

  “I’d be glad to,” Cade said.

  Because of their friendship, Daisy knew Cade’s parents divorced when he was around ten. He obviously had compassion for this boy, who was now truly fatherless.

  Apparently still not convinced, Larissa said, “I can’t just leave Eric with strangers.”

  “I’m old enough to take care of myself, Mom. I know tae kwan do.”

  “I can assure you, Mrs. Masemer,” Daisy said, “Tessa and I will both make sure Eric is okay. He’ll have three adults watching over him.”

  “I’ll even videoconference with you, Mom, if you let me stay. We can do it every night.”

  His mother hesitated a few more moments. “All right. I can write a note for you for school. But there are conditions. You conference with me every night and tell me what’s going on. You text me every morning. You have three days and then I’ll be back for you.”