Teaberry Total Eclipse

by R A Wallace

  “We might never find them,” Ian said, not for the first time.

  Rhys knew that was a possibility but wasn’t ready to give up. “Maybe we should get with Erica and Jerry. Maybe if we could help solve the murder case…”

  “That should solve the break-in case,” Ian finished. It made sense.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Dan grabbed his wallet and keys from the dresser and tucked them into his pockets as he walked down the hall to the kitchen.

  “What’s the game plan today?” he asked Megan.

  She looked up from her phone. “I texted the information about the antique diamond and the other jewels to Erica last night. She responded this morning that she got it and they’ll follow up on the information.”

  Dan took his lunch from the fridge and set it on the kitchen table. He pulled his coat from the back of the chair next to Megan. After slipping it on, he bent down for a kiss.

  “Take it easy today.”

  Megan felt the smile touch her lips. He’d been saying that every day since they found out she was pregnant.

  “I’m not sure what my plans are just yet. I feel like I have a lot of puzzle pieces, but not the critical one I need to tie everything together.” She frowned at her phone.

  Dan looked over her shoulder. “What are those?”

  “Photos from Lilith Henderson’s European trip when she was younger.”

  “Who else is in them?” He picked up his lunch again.

  “Good question. You would think someone in one of them was her accomplice.”

  “You’re certain she was a thief?” Dan asked.

  “It’s the only thing that makes sense. How else would she have gotten a bundle of jewels that she kept hidden away for decades?” Megan pointed out.

  “And you’re thinking her accomplice is the one who is after the jewels now?”

  She stood and gave him a quick kiss. “Good point. Vince was the only one I spoke with who saw Jimmy arguing with someone. Maybe I should show the photos to him?”

  “Be safe,” Dan said before leaving.

  Megan cleaned the kitchen and finished dressing. She was out the door an hour later. A short drive later, she rang Vince’s doorbell.

  “Megan, twice in one week. Coffee?” Vince asked as he led her to the kitchen.

  “Not for me, thanks. I’m good. I was wondering if you could look at some pictures for me?”

  Vince sat on one of the stools by the large island counter and motioned for Megan to take one near him. He picked up his coffee cup.

  Megan could tell by the newspaper next to his coffee that she’d interrupted his morning routine. She pulled her phone out and brought up the photos before handing the phone to Vince.

  He scrolled slowly through the photos one by one. “Huh.”

  “What?”

  “I should have mentioned it before. The person I saw arguing with Jimmy had red hair.”

  Megan understood his point. “That’s not quite as common and might stand out.”

  “It does. See?” Vince handed the phone to Megan. “That guy right there is the one I saw, except, he’s not.”

  Megan looked up from the phone, a question in her eyes. “Excuse me?”

  “The guy I saw was about this guy’s age. This photo is obviously old. There’s no way the guy in the photo would still be young.”

  Megan enlarged the photo to try to get a better look at the red-headed male.

  “You’re right about that. You think the guy you saw looked like this guy though?” She looked back at Vince.

  He made a face to indicate he believed it to be true. “The guy I saw was a tall bean pole with red hair. Like I said, I should have mentioned that before. It made him stand out in a crowd.”

  Megan looked down at the phone and wondered what the chances for a coincidence like that could be. She decided they were pretty slim. After thanking Vince, she got back in her truck and headed for the one person she thought might know a red-headed male from Lilith’s past.

  It took several moments before she heard him coming to the door to answer it. Archie looked pleased when he found Megan on his doorstep.

  “I was just thinking about you.” His eyebrows danced with his pleasure at seeing her. “Come in. How is the puzzle coming?”

  Megan followed him to his living room and waited until he had settled in his chair. She explained the photos and passed her phone over after pulling up the one with the red-headed man and enlarging it. Archie leaned his head forward to take a closer look at the phone. Megan could see the stain on the chair back behind him where his head usually touched.

  “Oh, sure. I know him. We called him Red, of course. Everyone had nicknames back then.” Archie made a face. “I never really cared for him. Didn’t know what she saw in him, that’s for sure.”

  “She? You mean, Lilith?” Megan asked.

  Archie leaned his head back against the chair. “He was one of those moths. Always fluttering around her. I was surprised when she came back from Europe and married someone else. I thought Red would have found a way to be the one. They were pretty inseparable for a while.”

  Megan watched as Archie frowned.

  “Funny. I never saw him around after she got back. I guess I never thought of it back then. I just figured it was because she was married.” He handed the phone back to her.

  “Do you know his real name?”

  “Oh, sure. It was Arnold.” Archie rubbed his bald head for a moment then pointed as though the man were standing in front of him. “Arnold Kaminski, that was it.”

  ***

  Miles flipped the closed sign on his front door to open then turned the classical music on to play over the system. He wanted to check if he’d had any interest in the jewelry he’d purchased at the estate sale. He’d posted photos of the pieces on one of his favorite message boards for other jewelers and had high hopes that one or more of them might want to buy them from him.

  He turned his computer on and took out his duster as he waited for the computer to boot. It was his normal morning routine. He followed the exact same routine each morning when he opened his store. He went around and carefully dusted the areas of the store that needed it. Then he took out his window spray and washed not only the front windows and those in the door of the store but also the display cases that held his precious stock. It was important to him that they were displayed to their best advantage.

  He paused when he looked at a particularly fine engagement ring and sighed. His mind turned to the woman he’d dreamed of giving a ring to for years. Harriet was out of his league, of course. Still, knowing that had never stopped his heart from wishing. Miles finished cleaning and put everything away. He returned to his computer and pulled up the web site for the bulletin board he’d posted his jewelry on. The system seemed to be running a little slow. Miles frowned at the computer as he clicked on the page to bring up his posting.

  The bells on the door startled him from his task. The automatic smile on his face as he turned to greet his client froze when he saw who it was.

  “Hello, Miles. Do you have a minute?”

  Miles stared up at the statuesque beauty in front of him. He must be dreaming.

  “Miles? Is everything alright?”

  “Harriet.” Miles willed his muscles to work. He moved away from the computer and stepped over to the counter across from Harriet. He forced what he hoped was a natural smile on his face. “What can I do for you today?”

  He knew that she wasn’t in to purchase anything. He had never known her to wear jewelry of any kind.

  Harriet reached into her purse and pulled out an envelope. She opened it up and took out a ring.

  “This is my mother’s. One of the prongs broke. I wondered if you could repair it.” Harriet passed over the ring. “She’s been pretty upset about it.”

  Miles nodded confidently. “Yes, of course. Not a problem at all. Shouldn’t take me but a day.” He knew he could actually have it fixed sooner but figured if he
were smart, he’d find a way to see her two days in a row. “Would you be able to come back tomorrow to pick it up?”

  Harriet smiled warmly. “Oh, that would be nice. She was hoping she wouldn’t have to be parted from it for very long.”

  “Excellent. I’ll see you tomorrow then.” Miles returned her smile and watched as she walked out of his store. Sighing, he took the ring over to his computer and set it down. He’d work on it as soon as he checked his posting. He could see that the web page had now loaded. He adjusted his glasses and bent over to check if there were any responses indicating interest in buying any of the pieces from the estate sale.

  What he saw made him reach for his phone immediately to call the police.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Caitlyn gazed steadily into the serious eyes staring back at her. Just as she was certain she was going to lose the staring contest, Maddie’s face screwed up and she yawned.

  “Ah, that is so cute!” Caitlyn brought Maddie to her shoulder and began rubbing her back gently.

  Erica smiled indulgently from across the room. She felt the same way every time.

  Megan sat on the floor with Grace in her lap. The baby was on her back resting on Megan’s crossed legs and staring up at her. Megan leaned down periodically and blew raspberries on her neck or belly just to see her reaction. Grace seemed delighted each time.

  Lauren held Mason. “He’s a squiggly one, isn’t he?”

  “Never wants to stay still,” Erica agreed.

  “How has the working mom thing been going?” Lauren asked.

  Megan and Caitlyn looked up to see Erica’s response.

  Erica’s gaze passed over the twins. “It’s been working,” she said slowly. “Thanks to Kaylee. And my parents, believe it or not.”

  “They’ve been helpful?” Caitlyn’s brows rose. She couldn’t remember that ever being the case. Erica’s parents had always ignored their daughter in favor of the son, Josh. The very same Josh that Megan had once been married to.

  “Thanks to an intervention by Megan’s parents, mine have turned a new leaf.” Erica watched as Maddie’s body relaxed in Caitlyn’s arms.

  “How did the Jimmy Garcia case turn out?” Lauren shifted Mason. He was also beginning to get heavier as his eyes drooped.

  “Based on everything we’ve learned, Lilith Henderson traveled to Europe in her youth. She didn’t go alone. Arnold Kaminski went with her.” Erica shifted her focus to Megan.

  “There were several reports of missing jewels and jewelry wherever they traveled,” Megan added. “That’s how the jewels came to be inside the telescope. Lilith brought them back from Europe with her.”

  “Along with the jewelry that she’d kept in her safe, for whatever reason. Miles Craney discovered it was also stolen when he posted it on a message board for other jewelers.” Erica smiled as Mason’s eyes closed completely.

  She returned to her story. “Someone recognized the jewelry because it had been so widely publicized in the papers over there at the time. The current owner of a family-run jewelry store showed the photos Miles posted to his grandfather because he could tell the jewelry was old. He thought his grandfather would enjoy seeing the photos with the old jewelry. The older gentleman had been the original owner of the jewelry store at the time of the theft back in the fifties and was familiar with the story.”

  “Was Mr. Henderson involved?” Caitlyn asked.

  “Not that we can tell, no. Apparently, Lilith met him in Europe and fell in love with him. He was actually fairly wealthy in his own right, or his family was anyway. He did very well once he moved here also. Lilith left Arnold, or Red, as everyone else called him, to marry Mr. Henderson and returned to Teaberry and a normal life.” Erica shrugged. “Sort of. Of course, we know now that she never left the house after that for whatever reason.”

  “It was like she was in her very own prison of sorts,” Lauren said. “Maybe she felt guilty about everything she had stolen?”

  “Red Kaminski kept sending her letters demanding the rest of his cut. They’d divided the goods evenly when they broke up. He felt he was owed more than what he was given because he kept his silence and stayed away from her after Lilith’s marriage.” Megan watched as Grace’s eyelids fluttered.

  “He couldn’t have been the one to argue with Jimmy. Was he?” Caitlyn asked.

  “No. That was his grandson, Lenny Kaminski. We have the letters that Red sent to Lilith. Those are the ones that were found in Lilith’s books. Lenny found the letters that Lilith sent back to Red. So, he knew about the thefts and that his grandfather wanted more of what they’d taken. He also knew that the jewels were stashed in the telescope because Lilith had told Red in one of the letters.” Erica stood and reached out for Mason. “I’ll lay him down.”

  Caitlyn stood and followed Erica to the nursery with Maddie. They returned a few moments later and picked up the story.

  “Why would Lilith tell Red where the jewels were?” Lauren asked.

  Erica shrugged. “I can tell you that it was after Mr. Henderson died. The tone of Lilith’s letters to Red changed. She seemed to get sentimental about Red again. Unfortunately for her, Red passed away soon after as well, leaving her completely alone.”

  “Once Lenny realized that the telescope had been sold, he followed Tom and tried to get it back.” Megan was glad that both Caro and Ethan wouldn’t have to worry about that anymore. “He didn’t go after the other jewelry because he knew that was kept in a safe and that a reputable jeweler had bought them. He figured he couldn’t breach that kind of security.”

  “Poor Miles Craney. He was out a lot of money for buying the stolen jewelry and then having to return it to the heirs in Europe,” Lauren said.

  “Mrs. Henderson’s children felt so bad about that, they compensated him for whatever his loss was,” Erica said.

  “I’ll bet they were shocked to discover what their mother had been involved in,” Lauren murmured.

  “You can say that again. They firmly believed that she had led a completely boring life for all of her eighty plus years until her death. They never knew she’d ever left the country and had often wondered how their parents met.” Erica stretched her legs out in front of her.

  Caitlyn thought about Jennifer. “That was pretty funny about Emmet trying to get the ring back that he’d sold when he was younger.”

  Lauren chuckled. “I think Jennifer was somehow meant to have that ring.”

  “I guess Mr. Henderson bought it just to help out Emmet and his wife back when they were younger. They really needed the money,” Erica said.

  “How about you? How are you doing after learning about Jimmy and the other officers trying to get you fired?” Megan lifted Grace to her shoulder and leaned back against a chair.

  Erica considered her answer for a moment. “It’s in the past. I can’t say it didn’t hurt when I first heard about it. It did. But the bottom line is that everything that happened got me where I am now. I wouldn’t change that for anything.”

  Megan’s Recipe

  Hummingbird Cake

  3 cups all-purpose flour

  2 cups sugar

  2 teaspoons baking soda

  1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  3 eggs, beaten

  1 1/4 cups vegetable oil

  1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

  1 can (8 oz.) crushed pineapple, well drained

  1 cup chopped pecans

  2 cups chopped firm ripe banana

  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, sugar, baking soda and cinnamon together into mixing bowl. Add eggs and salad oil to the dry ingredients. Stir moistened. Stir in vanilla, pineapple and 1 cup pecans. Stir in the bananas. Spoon the batter into 3 well-greased and floured 9-inch round cake pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until it passes a toothpick test. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn onto cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting.

  Cream Cheese Frosting

  16 ounces cream cheese, softened

  1 cup butter, ro
om temperature

  2 pounds confectioners' sugar

  2 teaspoons vanilla extract

  1/2 to 1 cup chopped pecans

  Combine cream cheese and butter; cream until smooth. Add powdered sugar, beating with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla.

  Frost the tops of 3 layers and stack, then frost sides. Sprinkle top evenly with the 1/2 to 1 cup chopped pecans.

  Books by R. A. Wallace

  If you enjoy a book, please consider leaving a review.

  Teaberry Farm Bed & Breakfast Cozy Series

  Tempest in Teaberry Book 1 in the Teaberry Farm Bed & Breakfast Cozy series

  Trouble at TeaFest Book 2 in the Teaberry Farm Bed & Breakfast Cozy series

  Teaberry Mystery Theatre Book 3 in the Teaberry Farm Bed & Breakfast Cozy series

  Teaberry Baking Contest Book 4 in the Teaberry Farm Bed & Breakfast Cozy series

  Teaberry Farmers Market Book 5 in the Teaberry Farm Bed & Breakfast Cozy series

  Teaberry for Two Book 6 in the Teaberry Farm Bed & Breakfast Cozy series

  Maid in Teaberry Book 7 in the Teaberry Farm Bed & Breakfast Cozy series

  Teaberry Tea & Thyme Book 8 in the Teaberry Farm Bed & Breakfast Cozy series

  Vintage Teaberry Malice Book 9 in the Teaberry Farm Bed & Breakfast Cozy series

  Teaberry Blues, Brew & BBQ Book 10 in the Teaberry Farm Bed & Breakfast Cozy series

  Teaberry Three Part Harmony Book 11 in the Teaberry Farm Bed & Breakfast Cozy series

  Teaberry Class Reunion Book 12 in the Teaberry Farm Bed & Breakfast Cozy series

  Teaberry Clause for Alarm Book 13 in the Teaberry Farm Bed & Breakfast Cozy series

  Teaberry Total Eclipse Book 14 in the Teaberry Farm Bed & Breakfast Cozy series