The Heart of Teaberry

by R A Wallace

  Mandy nodded quickly then sat across from Megan, her hands still clasped in front of her.

  “I’ll bet you were enjoying the writing class. Your classmates all seem so nice.”

  “They do seem nice,” Mandy agreed quickly.

  “What genre are you interested in?”

  “I write children’s books.” Mandy’s eyes shifted to a stack of paper on a table next to Megan.

  Megan raised her eyebrows in question with her hand poised over the pages.

  “May I?”

  Mandy pressed her lips together, then quickly nodded once in agreement.

  Megan scanned the first few lines. The smile that touched her lips was genuine. Knowing that she didn’t have time to read through it all, she lifted the first page and glanced at the second. There were pencil drawings on it. They were quickly made, she could tell, but the few strokes that were used were done without hesitation and clearly demonstrated amazing skill. The artist easily captured the essence of their subject with only a few strokes.

  “You do your own drawings also?” Megan asked in surprise.

  Mandy took in a quick breath and nodded again.

  “I’ve never showed anyone those before.”

  “They’re beautiful. You have such a talent.” Megan thought of her own child on the way and any others that come after it. She would love to have books like this to read to them.

  “Do you have a publisher?” she asked.

  Mandy shook her head. “I don’t know any. I mean, I don’t know how to contact them.”

  Megan thought of Everett. “I might know someone who does. Would you mind if I speak with him about your work?”

  Large blue eyes shone with hope. Mandy nodded.

  “I’ll bet Chad was very interested in your writing,” Megan guessed.

  “No, not really.” Mandy shrugged.

  Megan saw confusion in the young girl’s eyes. She was confused herself. The girl obviously had an amazing talent.

  “He didn’t offer to review your work for you? Or, do any editing or anything?” Megan wasn’t an expert, but she didn’t really think it needed editing. Still, she remembered what Carol had told her. Chad had offered to edit Carol’s historical fiction and had tried to invite himself to the homes of others to review their work.

  Megan watched Mandy shake her head. She thought maybe Chad wasn’t interested in children’s books but that didn’t matter. He should have still been impressed with the talent.

  “What did you think of the class?” She could see the confusion return to Mandy’s eyes. “The assignments, for instance. What did you think of them?”

  “They seemed okay. I didn’t always understand why he assigned some of them, but I thought it would make more sense over time.”

  Megan had thought the same thing.

  “I mean, I just didn’t agree with the importance of some of them, you know? Material things. That’s just not something I want to write about.”

  “That was one of your assignments?” She remembered that Oliver had said the same thing.

  Mandy nodded again. “He wanted to know what was important to us. You know, like, how much money we have in the bank and our credit cards and things like that. I wrote that I wasn’t interested in any of that. I just want to write my books. I don’t even have a credit card.”

  Thoughts swirled around her head as Megan drove from Mandy’s place to the next one on her list. Her circuitous route was taking her back to the center of town now. This house was in one of the large, historic homes closer to the center of town. The woman who answered the door was probably in her sixties. Megan introduced herself. She declined the polite offer of coffee when they took a seat in a large, beautiful living room with a high ceiling and an ornate fireplace that had been converted to gas. It was on now and the heat reached Megan in the wingback chair where she sat near the fire.

  “I read on our message board that you’ve spoken to nearly all of us,” Fern said. “I wondered when you’d get to me, though, I have to confess. I don’t think I can tell you anything.”

  Megan didn’t agree. She suspected that she had learned some pieces to the puzzle. She hoped that both Fern and the final student in the class would be able to give her more.

  “What genre are you interested in?” Megan asked.

  “I’m in period mysteries. I love a good murder, but only if it’s make believe and set in a time and place faraway.”

  “I can understand that,” Megan agreed. “What did Chad think of your work?”

  “Oh, he was very supportive. He said that I had a great deal of talent.”

  “Did he offer to review it for you? Outside of class?”

  Fern looked surprised that Megan would know that.

  “Yes. He did. He kindly offered his services as an editor. I was very honored, of course, that he would single me out that way.”

  A thought occurred to Megan. “Did he ask you not to mention it to the others?”

  “Yes. It made perfect sense, of course. He couldn’t devote as much time to the other students. I didn’t want to make anyone else feel as though their writing wasn’t worthy of his time.”

  Megan nodded her understanding.

  “He came here?”

  “Yes. I have everything on my computer.” Fern made a face. “Which isn’t always a good thing.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “I almost couldn’t get into my computer when he was here. Can you imagine? The man went out of his way to make the time to help me like that and my computer chose that moment to act up.”

  “You were able to fix it?”

  “No, and Chad confessed to being helpless with computers as well. We had such a laugh over that. Fortunately, he has a neighbor who knows computers.”

  “Chad contacted them?”

  “Yes. He joked that he needs his friend so often with his computer problems that he keeps him on speed dial.”

  Interesting. “Did he happen to mention his friend’s name?”

  Fern looked up at the ceiling for just a moment, then her face brightened.

  “Les. That was it. I remember thinking that it wasn’t all that common anymore. At first, I thought it might be a woman’s name and short for Leslie.”

  “It wasn’t?”

  “No. Chad held his phone up while Les walked me through the steps. I could hear his voice clearly.”

  Megan continued to shift the puzzle pieces around as she parked her truck in front of Harriet’s bookkeeping place in town. Harriet didn’t look surprised when Megan walked into the small shop.

  “We’re down to me then,” Harriet said.

  Megan took the chair across from Harriet’s desk.

  “How are you holding up?” she asked.

  “To be honest, I’m not. I’m just so worried about Miles. I can’t even think straight. You have to know that he would never have harmed Chad.”

  Megan looked down at her hands in her lap for a moment, then back up at Harriet. She could tell that Harriet believed in what she was saying.

  “Tell me about Chad.”

  Harriet inhaled a ragged breath as she tried to calm herself.

  “There’s not much to tell. I met him in the writing class. He asked me about my writing. He showed interest in it, you know?” Harriet looked at Megan to gauge if she was following.

  Megan nodded encouragingly.

  “I didn’t feel comfortable meeting him at my house. That’s what he suggested.” Harriet stopped and took another breath. “I suggested that we meet for coffee instead. I wasn’t comfortable, but I was still vain enough to think that my writing merited his attention.”

  “It wasn’t vanity, it was just being human,” Megan murmured. “We all want to feel that our efforts are worthy of encouragement.”

  Harriet managed a brief smile.

  “Miles heard him. Can you imagine? In that one moment and place in time, Miles happened to be there to hear it.” Harriet shook her head slowly. “I couldn’t bel
ieve it.”

  She brought her hand up to her mouth and covered it.

  “What is your relationship with Miles? If I may ask?” Megan didn’t want to upset her any more, but she needed to know.

  Harriet shrugged and lowered her hand. “That’s just it. We don’t have one. I mean, not really. It’s just… well, in my head I always imagined there was one. It’s like there was always this bond of special friendship between us, even though we’ve never spoken of it. It’s hard to explain.”

  Megan thought of the years she had Dan had been friends. Their whole lives really, before they had married.

  “I think I understand. What happened once you met with Chad?”

  A frown formed between Harriet’s eyes.

  “That’s the odd part. Instead of talking about my murder mystery story, he seemed more interested in my business.”

  Megan thought about the work that Harriet did.

  “What about your business, exactly?”

  “Well, he has always encouraged me to write about my customers, you know? I just don’t feel comfortable doing that. When we met, he was asking me about my customers, their retirement investments, and how much of everything I do is handled on my computer. He even wanted to know about Miles.”

  After speaking with Harriet a little longer, Megan left Harriet’s office and walked the few blocks to the Tea & Thyme. Rather than going to the small addition where they had seating for customers interested in ordering a drink and a bite to eat, she took a seat at the counter where they make their energy drinks. One of the twins came from the addition into the shop area a moment later.

  “Megan! We were wondering when you would get to us.”

  Megan looked at the woman in front of her and ran the mnemonic through her head. This twin parted her hair on the right. That made her Janice.

  Jill came in from the back room and stood near her sister. “You were right, Janice. She did come.”

  Megan chuckled. “I was just hoping for a cup of decaf tea.”

  “Ah, but we may actually have a clue for you this time,” Jill said.

  “For real,” Janice agreed as she went around the counter to get a pot of hot water. She set a beautiful tea cup and saucer in front of Megan with a sampler of tea bags.

  “Do you want any of these or would you rather I brew something fresh from loose tea? It isn’t a problem at all.”

  “This is fine,” Megan assured Janice as she chose one of the tea bags. “What clue do you have?”

  “We aren’t sure if it’s really helpful,” Janice confessed. “But it is relevant.”

  “The man that was killed used to come in here,” Jill explained.

  “He was a fan of tea?” Megan guessed.

  “No, he used to buy an energy drink,” Janice explained.

  Megan wasn’t sure how relevant that might be, but she thanked them for the information anyway.

  They both looked crestfallen that Megan hadn’t been more excited about their clue.

  Jill turned to Janice.

  “I was so certain that him buying the energy drink for his neighbor all the time would be a clue.”

  Megan’s hand paused as she lifted the tea cup to blow on her drink.

  “Neighbor?”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  The room at the rear of the Station Pub & Grill was filled to capacity. Megan raised her glass of sparkling water as Tom gave the toast to his daughter, Marcy, and her new husband, Casey. She could tell by the look on Tom’s face that he was ecstatic. His daughter was finally married to the man who had loved her for as long as anyone could remember. Ethan had the same happy look on his face. He sat on the other side of his mom and leaned forward to clink his glass of soda with Casey’s glass of champagne.

  Once the toast was complete, Megan turned back around to face forward in her seat. There were several tables set up in the room. The one Megan and Dan were sitting at was a large circle that allowed room for eight chairs around it.

  “That was nice,” she said to Dan.

  He nodded his agreement and turned to Justin next to him.

  “Who’s babysitting tonight?”

  “My mom. Why? Are you volunteering for more torture?” Justin asked.

  Dan looked surprised. “What do you mean? Mia and Noah were like angels and baby Grace practically slept the whole time you were gone. I can’t wait till ours is born if that’s what having kids is like.”

  Justin shook his head at him then turned back to his wife.

  “Aliens kidnapped our children and substituted someone else’s kids when Dan and Megan watched them for our anniversary.”

  Lauren laughed.

  Megan leaned over toward Caitlyn to pick up where they had left off on their conversation.

  “It’s official?” Megan asked.

  Caitlyn held out both hands. On her left, she wore her diamond engagement ring, newly retrieved from the jewelry store. On her right, she wore a plastic decoder ring.

  “As official as it gets,” Caitlyn agreed.

  “How long are you going to wear the one from the cereal box?” Lauren asked from across the table.

  Caitlyn pretended to consider it. “I have grown rather fond of it. And, if Megan hadn’t figured out the puzzle in time, it would have been my only option. Not that I would have minded.”

  “We still need to talk about that,” Erica said from the across the table. “That puzzle had us puzzled. We’d learned quite a bit, and we did have our suspicions, but…” She shook her head.

  Megan was happy to see that Erica looked less tired than the last time she had seen her. After speaking with the Swindell twins at Tea & Thyme, she had gone straight to the police station and explained everything she had learned and her theory of what may have happened.

  “I’d like to hear it too,” Doug said. “Not that it matters now. I would have gotten married with the ring from the cereal box.” He smiled down at Caitlyn in the seat next to him.

  “Maybe, but I think a lot of others were happy when Miles was released, and they could pick up their rings,” Erica said. “I thought Jerry was going to do handstands in the hallway when it was all over.”

  “How did you get the neighbor to confess?” Justin asked.

  “Once Megan told us her suspicions, we backtracked through the list of past students in the writing class over multiple semesters. Chad Selway had been teaching it for several years.”

  “They knew something?” Doug guessed.

  “Not directly, no. What we discovered was a high rate of identity theft among them. More so than should have been typical for the number of people. It was just too much of a coincidence.” Erica moved so a waiter could reach between her and Brad to refill their glasses.

  “What made you suspect identity theft?” Brad asked Megan.

  “It was the assignments Chad kept giving in his writing class. Instead of assignments that were focused on character development, plots, dialogue, or anything like that, he wanted them to write about material things that meant the most to them. He was more interested in their income and their credit history than he was their writing ability.”

  “I thought you said he offered to review their work outside of class?” Lauren said.

  “He did, but only because he wanted to see how much they were worth and maybe get some inside information that would help with the theft,” Megan said.

  “You would be amazed at how much you can glean from someone by being in their home,” Erica agreed.

  “And how easy it is to guess passwords and things like that if you know something about them,” Brad added. “Even knowing the name of their pet could be the answer to a passphrase challenge to get into a bank account.”

  “All of that makes sense, I guess,” Justin said. “But it doesn’t explain why the neighbor killed the writing class teacher.”

  “I was wondering the same thing,” Doug said.

  “Chad and Les Winthrop had been a team for years. Les was the behind-the-scenes compu
ter wizard who took the information that Chad fed to him and made money from the victims. He figured they had a pretty good thing going,” Erica said. “But Chad got greedy when he realized that one of his students had a connection to a jewelry store. Les was annoyed that Chad was going to ruin what they had going.”

  “In addition to pumping Harriet for information about her bookkeeping client list, Chad was also curious about her connection to Miles. He could tell by the reaction Miles gave at the college branch when Chad mentioned meeting Harriet for coffee that Miles was upset,” Megan explained.

  “Chad did his homework and found out about the jewelry store,” Erica said. “Chad even visited the jewelry store to check it out.”

  “Everett saw Chad there and could tell that Miles was upset when Chad entered his shop.” Megan took a sip of her sparkling water.

  “Chad Selway was no jewelry thief, however. It was mostly coincidence that enabled him to get into the jewelry store when Miles forgot to alarm the system before he left for the night.” Erica turned back to Megan.

  “Les knew Chad was up to something and followed him there. He hoped that killing him in the jewelry store would throw suspicion on Miles,” Megan said.

  “It worked,” Erica added. “Of course, it didn’t help that Miles kept repeating it was his fault. At the time, we didn’t realize he was referring to the alarm system.”

  “Oh, that makes sense,” Lauren said. “Poor Miles blamed himself for the death.”

  “I still don’t get how Megan knew it was the neighbor,” Doug said insistently.

  “When I brought Emma in for her checkup, I ran into Les there. He had Chad’s cat. I knew that, because Jerry had mentioned the two cats could be twins. Les insisted to me that he barely knew Chad and he implied that he didn’t like him.”

  “Ah.” Lauren looked like she was beginning to get it. “He lied about his involvement with his partner in crime.”

  “As I spoke with some of Chad’s students, they mentioned that Les was the one who helped Chad whenever he had a computer problem. And the twins told me that Chad regularly picked up one of their special energy drinks for Les whenever Chad was in town.” Megan moved aside as the waiter reached around her to begin serving food at their table.