Teaberry Total Eclipse

by R A Wallace

  “Did you notice anything while you were at the estate sale that might help?”

  “Maybe. I don’t know anything about the break-ins at Caro’s or Tom’s, of course. But I did see the security guard, Jimmy Garcia.”

  “Did you know him?”

  Vince shook his head. “No, he was out of school before I even started. I probably saw him around town when he was a police officer, of course. But not to speak to him, no. In fact, I hadn’t seen him for so long, I didn’t really recognize him. Not in that context, you know?”

  “What was he doing when you saw him?”

  “Arguing, actually. That was what caught my attention. He was arguing with some man.”

  “Did you hear what it was about.”

  “No, they were too far away and there were too many other people there. I guess mostly I was just focused on what they had for sale.” Vince smiled when he heard the oven timer go off. “Good thing I set that. I would have forgotten all about it.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  The witness claimed they didn’t know the victim prior to their discovery of the body. She was certain that must be a lie. How else would they have known what the victim’s necklace had looked like? There was no way they would have been able to see it when the victim was face down on the ground. And another thing, didn’t someone else say that they saw the witness in the general location of the murder on another day? Leah looked up from her e-book reader when Megan entered Vintage Teaberry.

  “Megan, you’re just the person I need. I’m trying to figure out this mystery.” Leah stood from her chair behind the counter as Megan entered the shop. “I thought I had it, but the author had just thrown in another red herring.”

  “Is that one of your book club mysteries?” Megan asked.

  “It is. Tia said she’s been trying to get you to join.”

  “That she has. It sounds interesting, but for right now I have a different sort of mystery to solve.”

  Megan smiled a greeting when Daryl entered from the other side of the shop.

  “Does this have anything to do with the death of the security guard?” Daryl asked. He walked over to his wife and stood next to her.

  “Maybe. But it also has to do with something that Caro and Tom bought from the estate sale.” Megan explained the discovery of the jewels in the telescope.

  Leah turned to Daryl. “Now, why couldn’t that have been us?”

  Daryl smiled at her jest and turned back to Megan. “We weren’t really in the market for a telescope.”

  “I understand that you were at the sale though? Vince said he saw you there.”

  “We were,” Daryl confirmed.

  “We would not have passed that estate sale up. There were a lot of interesting things there,” Leah added.

  “Did you buy much?” Megan asked.

  Daryl motioned for Megan to follow him to the other side of the shop.

  Leah followed and kept talking. “We were actually hoping to get some of the larger things during the auction at the end. We figured we might get a better price at that point. We knew the relatives wanted to sell everything and get out of there.”

  “They aren’t from the area?” Megan asked.

  “No, they both moved out of state years ago.” Leah stopped next to Daryl.

  He explained the things that they had purchased.

  Leah pointed to some boxes on a shelf. “Some of those were sold in lots.”

  “You mean, you had to take it all to get what you really wanted to buy?” Megan asked.

  “Yes. I’m not sure what we’re going to do with some of it.” Daryl pulled down a box and took the lid off. “These are mostly old photos of Mrs. Henderson when she was much younger.”

  Daryl passed the pile of photos to Megan.

  “She was very pretty, wasn’t she?” Megan said as she looked at each of the photos. Then she remembered something Jennifer had told her about Mrs. Henderson. “Do you know where these photos were taken?”

  Leah looked over Megan’s shoulder. “Does it matter?”

  Megan frowned. Maybe not. She looked at each one again. “I don’t know. Do you mind if I keep these for a bit?”

  Leah shrugged. “We don’t really have a use for them. From a marketing standpoint, I doubt there’s much demand for them.”

  “We spoke with the police,” Daryl said. “We didn’t really see anything that might be helpful about the security guard’s death.”

  “They might be back around to speak with you again now that they know about the jewels,” Megan pointed out.

  Leah and Daryl shared a look.

  “Maybe we should go through everything again more carefully.” Leah turned to Megan. “If we find anything, we’ll call the police and let them know.”

  They all turned when they heard the bells on the door ring.

  “There you are,” Emmet said as he joined them. “Megan, nice to see you too.”

  “I was hoping to catch up with you,” Megan responded.

  “Let me guess. The death of Jimmy Garcia?” Emmet asked. “That was something, wasn’t it?”

  “Did you know him?” Megan did the math. Emmet was around Tom’s age. They were both younger than Jimmy.

  “I did, but not well. I spoke with him on that first day of the estate sale.” Emmet made a face. “The day he died, I guess.”

  “Can I ask what you talked about?”

  Emmet gave a half shrug. “Nothing of any importance, really. I hadn’t seen him in a while and didn’t know he was still working.”

  “How did he seem to you?” Megan asked.

  “Honestly? He seemed tired. I was pretty surprised to find him working, really. There were a lot of people at that sale and a lot of activity. It was a big job for anyone to try to keep track of it all.”

  “Did you manage to get what you went for?” Leah asked.

  Emmet frowned. “No, I was too late. Someone else got there first.”

  “I’m sorry, Emmet,” Leah murmured.

  Megan turned curious eyes to Emmet. She wanted to know what he’d been looking for, but only if he wanted to tell her.

  Emmet tried to smile. “I was hoping to buy back something that I sold shortly after my wife and I married. We were just starting out and money was tight. I wish I’d never sold it now. I very much wanted to give it to Jennifer now.”

  Leah placed her hand on Emmet’s arm. “I’m so sorry. I’m sure she’ll understand.”

  “Yeah. It’s just that now would be the perfect time for her to have the ring.” Emmet nodded to Daryl. “What was it you were going to show me?”

  Daryl excused the two of them from Megan and Leah. “This way.”

  Megan watched them walk away and wondered why Emmet thought it so important for Jennifer to have a ring now that Jim was pulling away from her.

  ***

  Megan found Linda at the front desk in the library. She waited until Linda completed checking out books for the patrons in front of her in line then stepped up to the counter.

  “Are you here to check out some books or are you working on a puzzle?” Linda asked in lieu of a greeting.

  “I have a sort of odd research question for you. I guess it’s more your type of puzzle than mine.” Megan pulled the photos from Vintage Teaberry from her purse and handed them to Linda. “Is there any way you could tell me where these photos were taken based on what you see in them?”

  Linda’s eyebrows rose. “Wow. That is an interesting research puzzle.” Linda looked up when Becca joined them at the front desk. She lined the photos up on the counter and motioned to them. “Becca, can you help us figure out where these were taken?”

  Becca didn’t hesitate, she quickly pointed to one photo. “That’s the Westminster Bridge in London in the background of this one.”

  Megan leaned over and looked at the photo. The main subject in the photo was obviously a very young Lilith Henderson. There was only the smallest section of a bridge shown. The fact that Becca figured it out
with only the smallest of clues was impressive.

  Becca reached for the computer on the counter and quickly typed something in before turning the monitor around to show Megan. “See, right here. Your photo has one of these lampposts showing in the distance.”

  Linda pushed another photo over. “What you’re seeing in the distance in this one looks like the courtyard in front of the Louvre in Paris.”

  “Oh, and this one.” Becca picked another photo up and handed it to Linda. “Focus on the fountain in the background of that one.”

  Megan hadn’t noticed any fountains in any of the photos. She leaned over to look. When she had initially considered asking for Linda’s help to identify the locations where the photos had been taken, she’d assumed it was something of a wild goose chase. By the time Linda and Becca were done, they’d identified the locations of all but one of the photos.

  It would seem that Lilith Henderson had traveled extensively across Europe in her youth. She wondered why the woman would return to Teaberry and refuse to leave her house.

  “Thanks. Now I just have to figure out what any of this might have to do with a diamond and the other jewels.” Megan gathered the photos up.

  Linda gestured with her hand toward the section where they kept the movies for checkout.

  “There have been a lot of movies made about jewelry heists in Europe,” she said. “Especially diamonds.”

  Becca nodded. “A lot of books have been written about them too. Speaking of books, I know someone else who was at the estate sale. She bought some books there too.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  The afternoon was promising to be as quiet as the morning. Tia Jamison finished the last page of her new book club mystery and stood. She slid the book back onto the shelf and turned her attention to the delivery she’d received shortly after lunch. She opened the box and lifted out the books she had ordered on the subject of eclipses.

  There had been a lot of interest in eclipses recently, and she had decided to create a display of books on the subject in the front window. Carrying the books over to the front of the store, she began arranging them in the area she had cleared in the morning. She was splitting the display area space into two. One half of the space held some of the books she had bought at a recent estate sale. The other half would be used for the books on eclipses. Her mind wandered to the various titles she had found at the estate sale. She was just finishing her task when the bells on the door rang, interrupting her thoughts.

  “Megan, I was just thinking of you,” Tia said after setting the last book down in the display area.

  Megan joined her and looked at the titles. “The subject of eclipses made you think of me?”

  “I was at the estate sale where the security guard was killed on the night of the eclipse.” Tia motioned to a grouping of chairs she had for her customers.

  “I was hoping to ask you about that,” Megan confessed.

  “I’m not sure that I know anything about the security guard to help you.” Tia looked apologetic.

  “Did you talk to him at all?”

  “He helped me to carry out some of the books I bought at the estate sale to my car.” Tia made a face. “I was pretty worried about it. He didn’t get around all that well. I kept telling him that I didn’t need help, but he insisted.” She shrugged. “In the end, I let him carry the lightest box.”

  “He didn’t say anything that might help explain his murder, I take it?” Megan didn’t think that would be the case. Still, it never hurt to ask.

  Tia offered a quick smile. “Sorry, no. Nothing that convenient, I’m afraid.”

  She motioned to the display in the window. “Some of those books are from the estate sale.”

  Megan stood and moved over to take a closer look at the books.

  “Are some of these antiques?” Megan wasn’t familiar with some of the titles.

  “Some are, some aren’t. I had to buy them by the lot, so to speak.”

  “So, you ended up with titles you didn’t want in order to get the ones you did?” Megan was reminded of what Leah had explained to her.

  “Exactly. It isn’t uncommon, especially when the whole idea behind the auction is to get rid of everything, including the house,” Tia explained.

  Megan focused on the other half of the display dealt with eclipses. She had just been asking Linda and Becca about them after seeing the display in the library. She thought about the jewels she found in the telescope and the photos that Leah had purchased with her bulk buy.

  “Did you find anything interesting, or unusual, mixed in with the books?”

  Tia stood quickly. “That’s why I was thinking of you actually. I found some letters stuck in some of the books. I’ll be right back.”

  Megan took her seat again and waited until Tia returned with the letters. She handed them to Megan and offered some hot decaf tea. It sounded wonderful to Megan. She settled back in the comfortable chair and began reading. She’d finished the first letter when Tia returned with two mugs. Both mugs had the Olde Tomes logo of the bookstore on the side.

  “Did you know Lilith Henderson?” Megan asked.

  Tia held her tea mug in front of her with both hands. She shook her head to indicate that she didn’t.

  “I was too young to know the Henderson kids in school. Portia graduated around the time I was in kindergarten. Both Henry and Portia went away to college and never really returned. And, I don’t ever remember seeing Mrs. Henderson in town. Do you?” Tia blew on her tea.

  “No.” Megan held up the letter she read. “What did you make of this?”

  Tia lifted the reading glasses from the chain around her neck and held them in front of her eyes.

  “That’s not even the most interesting one.” Tia took the packet of letters from Megan and sifted through them. She pulled one out and handed the whole pile back to Megan. “Read this one.”

  Tia continued drinking her tea while she waited for Megan to finish reading.

  “Wow. Did you show these to the police?” Megan asked.

  “That’s why I was thinking of you. I was wondering if I should. They talked to me about the death of the security guard and wanted to know if I saw anything suspicious when I was there. But they didn’t ask me anything about Mrs. Henderson and I hadn’t found these yet when I spoke with them.” Tia’s gaze was drawn back to the display in the front window.

  “They weren’t connecting Mrs. Henderson’s life and the death of the security guard at the time when they spoke to you.”

  Tia nodded. “Exactly. It was like the two things were completely unrelated.” She shrugged. “Maybe they are, I don’t know. That’s why I wasn’t sure if should bother them.”

  “Would you mind if I keep the letters for a while? I’ll pass the information along to them. If they have any questions, they could always stop and speak with you again.”

  Tia looked relieved. “That would be great. I mean, the letters are interesting, but they’re from decades ago. It’s hard to believe that anything that happened in Mrs. Henderson’s youth could have anything to do with the death of a security guard decades later.”

  Megan was beginning to wonder if that were really true. The bells on the door stopped her from responding.

  “There you are,” Archie said as he moved slowly into the bookstore.

  Tia stood. “Mr. Travis. I have that book you were interested in. It’s in the back. I’ll go get it for you.”

  Archie went towards Megan and the seat that Tia had vacated.

  “Are you working on another puzzle?” Archie lowered himself slowly into the chair.

  Megan knew that Archie was well into his seventies. “Did you know Jimmy Garcia?”

  “I knew him to see him. Can’t say I ever spent any time with him.”

  “What about Lilith Henderson?” Megan asked.

  “Now, that’s a different story. She was a real pistol, that one.” Archie’s eyebrows danced as he warmed to his subject. “If anything was happening
in Teaberry, she was in the center of it.”

  Megan thought again about the description of Lilith her children had given to Jennifer.

  “Of course, she was a real looker too. That’s partly what drew everyone to her. Like moths to a flame, really. Mostly men, of course. There was never any shortage of those. Every day was a party for Lilith. In her youth, anyway. Even I got caught up in it a little at the time.” Archie’s eyes grew distant.

  “Here it is,” Tia returned with Archie’s book and handed it to him.

  “Thank you,” Archie said to Tia. He turned back to Megan. “Now, where was I?”

  “You said Lilith was different in her youth?”

  Archie chuckled. “That’s for sure. Up until the time she went to Europe. That must have been one crazy trip. Backpacking all over Europe for months on end.”

  Megan tried to do the math. “When would that have been?”

  Archie took off his knit cap and rubbed his mostly bald head. The hair that he had left rimming around his ears looked alive with static from his cap. “Why, I guess it was the late fifties. Those were some crazy times back then.”

  Megan and Tia shared a smile.

  “I still think something serious must have happened to her there.” Archie frowned.

  “Why do you say that?” Tia asked.

  “When she finally came back, she was completely different. There were no more parties. She no longer collected men around her. It was like the light inside of her went out. She never left that monster of a house outside of town.” Archie looked down at the book in his hand.

  “Did you know Mr. Henderson?” Megan asked.

  Archie shook his head. “Lilith brought him back from Europe. Few from Teaberry ever met him. They kept to themselves out there.”

  Tia helped Archie up from his chair so that he could pay for his book and be on his way. Megan picked up the letter that Tia had said was more interesting and read through it again, hoping to get more clues into the life of Lilith Henderson. Instead, it left her with more questions.