by Cassie Page
Olivia examined them, then smacked her forehead. “Suffering pond scum, Cody. This is what I was afraid of. The base is in good condition but the shade is damaged.”
She pointed out the tear along the spine. Its twin was perfect but she had unfortunately shown a photograph of the lamps to Mrs. Fredericks, who had fallen in love with them, so she couldn’t make a substitution. How was she going to get the shade repaired in time?
6:4
The phone rang. Olivia leaped for it when she saw it was Matt. He got right to the point. “Do you know where she is?”
“Can’t read your mind, detective,” she said as she stuck the invoice for the lamps in her to-do pile. She’d have to call the insurance company. “Do I know where who is?”
“The wife. Fisher’s wife.” Matt’s voice was full of urgency.
“You mean Victoria? With the baby? She’s missing?”
Olivia sat down to absorb this news.
She could hear Matt tapping his pen on his desk, a habit when he was anxious. “I needed to ask her some questions so Johnson and I drove over to her house in Marin City. When she didn’t answer her phone or come to the door, I was worried that something might have happened to her. If someone was after her husband, she might be a target as well. We had a justifiable concern for her safety so we broke into the house, but she had cleared out.”
Olivia gasped. “Go on, tell me more.”
Matt said, “We can’t search any further without a warrant. But my guess is that whatever her husband found, and we’re pretty sure after talking to the crew that he had found something significant, well maybe the killer is still looking for it and snatched the wife and baby. I was hoping you knew something. I saw you talking to her after, well, you know after.”
Yes, Olivia knew. After her husband’s body had been unearthed.
“I don’t have a clue, Matt.” She was trying to keep her voice even, but the thought of the fragile wife and cheery baby being in danger put a lump in her throat.
“When I left the site yesterday morning almost everyone was gone, but your officers were still questioning her. Well, I don’t know that’s all they were doing. Probably trying to help her, you know, get her home and all. Does she have family around here?”
“Olivia, that’s the problem. We really don’t know much about her. Haven’t had a chance to question her. She was a mess yesterday. You know, upset. Why wouldn’t she be? We sent her home with a female officer. But she insisted she didn’t want anyone staying with her. Said she needed to be alone. She was going to call someone later to stay with her. A relative, I guess. We thought we’d get all of her information this morning and she was pretty much set for the night.”
Olivia shook her head, trying to make sense of this new, really awful, development. “Well, I haven’t seen her. It would be hard to hide a woman with a baby, though. Someone has to have seen her buying baby food and milk.”
“Yeah, well, we’re asking around. Thought I’d start with you. If you hear anything, even if it’s a long shot, let me know.”
“Of course I will. I just wish I knew more about her. What about asking Scott? Her husband worked for him, maybe he knows her contacts.”
Olivia could hear someone come into Matt’s office; he put his hand over his phone to talk to them. Then he came back on the line. “We may put this out on the local news if we don’t find her in an hour or so.”
What else could go wrong with this day? Death threats, wiring problems, damaged lamps. Olivia couldn’t imagine. “Yes, of course I’ll call you. Now I’m worried about her. Tell me what I can do to help.”
“Just keep your eyes and ears open. Tell me anything you notice, even if it seems silly.”
“Got it.”
Olivia hung up and stared pensively at the ruined lampshade, but all she could see was the anxiety written on Victoria’s face, the sweet baby tugging on her own hair, the life they would have to forge without Jed, the husband and father. From the pieces of the puzzle Olivia could put together, he was an honorable man, willing to point out a problem with the site when he could easily have hidden his evidence and allowed the project and his job, and perhaps his life to move forward.
Her phone jangled again. The number was vaguely familiar. Oh, yes. The editor from Auto Classics and Design. The guy who had given her the brushoff yesterday. She answered the call.
“Olivia Granville, speaking. Representative for the Boston pork store.”
She waited and after a few seconds an officious east coast voice said, “Miss Granville, this is Mark Swanson from Auto Classics and Design. I’d like a few words about the scandal that occurred on your project yesterday. How do you see this impacting the future of the art scene? When amateurs try to impose their money on a project for name recognition with no experience or taste that is? We’re recording. Go ahead. Comment when you hear the beep.”
She heard an electronic tone. “You’ve got an impressive pair of pickled pigs feet, Mr. Salami. I’ll give you that. When you learn a few things about taste and decorum, I’ll have a comment for you. Record that!”
6:5
Tuesday Afternoon
The phone wouldn’t stop ringing. This time Olivia welcomed the voice at the other end.
“Sonia, hi. No, no news. Well, maybe a little. You haven’t seen the victim’s wife, have you? Yes, Detective Richards is having trouble locating her. Okay, let me know if you run into her in town and thanks for checking in.”
Next, while she proofed the monthly invoices for her clients, she tried the voice activated assistant on her phone to call Charles Bacon.
The phone said, “Calling Royal Baxter.”
Olivia barked, “No. Bacon. Charles Bacon.”
The phone responded with, “Order bacon.”
Olivia snarled at her phone. “You have enough computer power to send a rocket to the moon but you can’t understand my voice?”
Then she manually punched in Charles’ number.
While she waited for the call to go through, she debated whether to tell him about Victoria’s disappearance. He had been so concerned about her, and with his project coming undone, she wasn’t sure she should add any more pressure. Also, there was the troubling news from Matt that Charles apparently knew the couple.
Why hadn’t he told her? True, she didn’t know all of Charles’ friends in Darling Valley, though he had complained that he felt snubbed by many people, at least before the museum project gained national attention. Nor did she expect him to let her know his every move. But this was an important factoid, especially after Jed’s body was discovered. Also, if he knew Victoria, why hadn’t he tried to comfort her?
Charles was so outraged when he answered the phone, he didn’t even greet her.
“Olivia! Pawk staw?”
It took her a minute to understand what he meant. “Oh, no, Charles. I didn’t want you to see that blog post. I didn’t know you subscribed to Auto Classics or I would have warned you.”
Once again, anger at the editor flared up. Charles didn’t need this.
“Oh, a friend sent it to you?” Olivia shook her head in disgust at this news. Some friend. “Listen, Charles, you have to let that go. The guy’s a pinhead.”
Pinhead was one Charles’ favorite words and it had bled into her vocabulary.
“And while I have you on the phone, I’m afraid I have some more bad news for you. Matt Richards wants to talk to Victoria, you know, the victim’s wife, and he can’t locate her. You haven’t seen her, have you?”
He denied any knowledge of her whereabouts.
“Yeah, you’re right,” Olivia said. “She’s probably with family or friends. I don’t really know anything about her, but I’m just asking around, you know, in case.”
She decided to forge ahead and ask him about the Fishers before Matt or Johnson did. She owed him a heads up.
“Listen, Charles, Matt Richards mentioned that you were friends with the deceased and his wife. Is that true?”
Charles spluttered a bit as he responded, taken aback by the question.
“No, I don’t know who told him, but if you were friends by any chance, it would be a good idea to let the authorities know. You know how they are. Everybody’s a suspect until they catch the bad guy. You don’t want them thinking you’re hiding something.”
He said, “This is too much, Olivia. You and I saw him at the site that one time. I don’t think we even talked to him. Scott pointed him out as the logging guy.”
Olivia said she remembered.
“Then one other time when I was by myself I stopped by the site to see how things were moving along. I walked into the woods. I feel like, you know, Ellie’s spirit is there.”
Olivia could believe that, as the meditation center had become Charles’ favorite spot.
“So anyways, the guy was finishing up work, everybody was leaving for the day and this woman with a baby had come by to pick him up. But, you know, the guy didn’t know me from Adam, so he asks who I am. He checked me out to make sure I wasn’t trespassing. I like that. He was looking out for the place. When he found out who I was and why that spot was important to me, he introduced himself, we shook hands and he says that he loved woods and nature, etc., etc. I guess one of the other guys was watching and figured we were drinking buddies or something.”
Olivia felt better as Charles finished up. “Then being as he was trying to get home, the baby was crying and all, we just said adios and that was that. How’d the police find out? I guess maybe some of the guys saw us. But it was nothing.”
“But Charles, why didn’t you go over to Victoria yesterday after Jed was found.”
“Tell you the truth, Olivia, I didn’t know who she was at first. Jed didn’t introduce us or anything because she was walking around bouncing the baby trying to get it to stop crying. So, yesterday I didn’t recognize her. When I heard she was the guy’s wife, well, it threw me for a loop, but everybody was around her, the police, some women. I didn’t think it was my place. You think that’s gonna be a problem for me?”
Olivia didn’t have a clue, but there was no point causing him more worry, so she said, “How about this? If you see Matt or Detective Johnson, why don’t you just tell them about running into Jed that night, then they won’t think you’re hiding something.”
“Right. Now there’s something else. When’s the building gonna get back on track, Olivia?”
This was what everyone wanted to know. “Honestly, Charles, I don’t know when work will get started. Soon, I hope. We all want that. You know you will be the first person I call as soon as I hear anything. Hang tight, Charles. Call me if you need anything. Bye.”
She looked up from her desk. Cody was still fighting the packing from the lamps. Foam peanuts and cardboard littered the floor by the back door.
“Let me help you with that,” she said, getting up from her desk. Cleanup was Cody’s job but she was at a loss as to what to do next. She scooped the peanuts into one of the plastic bags that had covered the lamps. Together they opened the door and headed for the trash cans.
Cody and Olivia caught Mrs. Harmon by surprise, again. She was quietly replacing the lid on the trash can. Olivia had a pang of compassion for her when she saw her shuffling, imagining her adult diapers problem.
When Mrs. Harmon saw them, she jumped, startled, then rushed down the driveway to her front door to avoid speaking to them.
Cody scratched his head. “What’s up with Queenie? What, do I smell bad or something?”
Olivia brushed his complaint away with a wave of her hand. “She’s like that sometimes.”
Cody, on good terms with everyone, couldn’t get it. “But why? Why are you on her bad side?”
Olivia let out a long frustrated breath. “That’s just it. I never know.”
Cody bypassed the black garbage can, and stuffed the cardboard packaging into the recycling bin. Olivia heard a noise and saw the cat scurry into the rose bushes.
“Cody, have you seen a cat skulking around here?”
He shook his head.
“It’s been keeping Tuesday awake at night. Remind me later to knock on a few doors and see if I can find the owner. They are going to have to keep the cat inside at night.
“Good luck with that.”
Cody referred to the frosty reception Olivia received when she moved onto the street. Some of her neighbors still harbored a grudge. They found her “Sale” signs offensive and complained if her customers parked too close to their driveways.
She grimaced. “Yeah, but I can try.”
Tuesday came out of the house just then and announced she was going to take Olivia’s truck and run a few errands. “Do you need anything, Ollie?”
“No, thanks,” Olivia said, picking up a few stray foam peanuts and tossing them in the trash can. “When you come back we’ll have lunch and then I have to track down Mrs. Fredericks.”
Tuesday pulled out her phone and said into its microphone, “Directions to Darling Valley Herbs and Natural Foods.”
The phone immediately started speaking.
“Tuesday! How do you get it to do that? My phone ignores me.”
Tuesday waved goodbye as she got into Olivia’s truck. “You have to treat it right. Talk to it every day so it recognizes your voice. Everybody needs TLC.”
Olivia shouted back, “It’s not an everybody. It’s a machine.”
Cody and Olivia watched her pull out of the driveway. Cody looked perplexed. “A religious habit?”
“No, Cody. It’s a dress from the fifties and a French sun hat.
“She looks like the flying nun.”
Tea For Two
He pulled into Graymoor’s parking lot, the market dubbed Paymoor’s by locals because of their high prices. He was becoming more resentful by the hour. It wasn’t fair. They were turning him into a gofer. The whole deal hinged on him, the part he played. What would they have without him? A product but no market. And here they have him shopping for tea?
He scanned the shelves but couldn’t see the brand they wanted. They were very specific about what to get. Deep in concentration as he examined the labels on boxes of tea, he bumped into a woman next to him. He jerked back in surprise when he got a good look at her. Blue hair? And that getup she was wearing? Maybe she was headed for a costume party. But at ten in the morning? He went back to looking for blue dahlia.
“Can I help you?”
He turned. Clown lady was speaking to him.
“Yeah, I’m looking for something called Garden Vale’s Blue Dahlia.”
“Wow. Exotic and expensive. You might have to order it on line from a specialty shop. Is it your favorite?”
“Nah. I hate tea. I’m buying it for a friend.”
“Your friend has good taste.”
“My friend is an artist. She mixes it in with pigment to get the right shade of blue.”
“Really? I never heard of that. Oh, I know teas are used as dyes, but not that one.”
“Are you a tea expert?” He thought maybe she could recommend a substitute.
“You could say that. I read tea leaves for a living.”
“You mean like you’re a fortune teller?”
“Not exactly. But kind of.”
“I grew up near a reservation in Arizona. You hear about that stuff when you live around Indians.”
“No kidding. And you live in Darling Valley? I didn’t think the residents were into the woo woo stuff.”
“They’re not,” he said. Then he had an idea.
“Listen, could we go someplace, maybe your office or whatever so you could you read my fortune? I’ve always wanted to do something like that.”
“Oh, I’m just visiting. I’m on vacation. I don’t have an office here.”
“Well, how about just getting a cup of tea someplace? There’s a cafe on Darling Boulevard. They serve tea.”
“The Salted Caramel. Yeah, they do, but I’m on vacation, like I said.”
“Don’t worry.
I can pay.”
“It’s not that. I’m supposed to get back to my friend.”
“C’mon, how long can it take? You can have a cup of tea, too. Even an expensive one like blue dahlia. If I can ever find it.”
She pointed to a far shelf. “There it is. I recognize the logo. Wow, sixty dollars for a box.”
Something about the exotic tea changed her mind. “Sure. I have time for a quick reading. Why not?”
They settled into a back table in The Salted Caramel. She looked for Carrie, the one waitress she knew, but a stranger waited on them. After the tea arrived she explained the ritual and took out her silk scarf.
Right away, the arrangement of leaves disturbed her. She couldn’t find a positive aspect in the whole cup. How was she going to handle this? It wasn’t her practice to give only good or bad news. She liked to find a balance. It helped people hear the messages. The principle of a little bit of sugar helps the medicine go down.
But look at what faced her. An alligator signaling treachery or an accident. Then there was a cat, meaning a fight or a false friend was in his future. And here was treachery again in the cabbage. And at the top, a butterfly. He was probably frittering things away, like his money.
She took a bite of one of the pastries he had ordered. Usually she didn’t eat during a reading, preferring to give her full attention to the symbols. But this cup disturbed her. She needed to compose herself.
She wished she had followed her instincts and refused the reading. Oh, well. Best get to the interpretation. She’d start with the one positive symbol, the building. She pointed it out.
“See here, this rectangle? It’s a building.”
She looked up and saw him grow pale, shock widening his eyes. “I didn’t think you’d be so specific.”
She cautioned him. “I’m not putting symbols in your cup. They are coming from your unconscious. I’m just interpreting them. Now this building could portend something exciting. A move of some kind. Are you planning a vacation?”