Murder with Orange Pekoe Tea

by Karen Rose Smith

  “Who did you hear?”

  “I overheard two of the nurses from the Hope Clinic talking. It’s possible they were techs, I’m not sure. They had those scrub outfits on.”

  “Blue ones,” Daisy said, remembering.

  Sarah Jane nodded. “Yes, that’s right. How did you know?”

  “I just happened to visit the clinic not so long ago.”

  Sarah Jane stared at Daisy. “I suppose that had something to do with Hiram’s murder?”

  “I’m not saying one way or another.” She still wasn’t sure she wanted her visit to the Hope Clinic to be public knowledge.

  After a pause, Sarah Jane went on. “I got the sense that the two of them didn’t really know where Thelma Bartik is. But they did say she wasn’t the one who caused the malfunction. One of them said that Thelma knows who did it.”

  “Wow, that’s news. I wonder if Zeke Willet knows.”

  “I didn’t want to call him because, after all, this is gossip, I guess. But if you believe I should, I will.”

  “Did they say anything else?”

  “They think they know why Thelma ran.” Sarah Jane held up one finger. “They’re supposing that she’s afraid that the person who caused the malfunction might want to quiet her because she knows who it is and might spill it!”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Daisy stood outside the side door of the tea garden the day of the Fourth of July garden party. The herbs in the ceramic pots along the patio gave off fragrant aromas as the sun hit them. Especially the lavender perfumed the area. The ornamental oregano was taking off now and wound around a large royal blue pot and the bronze cat statue. Since daylight still prevailed, the tall lantern on a hook near the side door wasn’t glowing with the flameless candle that came on at dusk. Nevertheless, the lantern with its copper exterior and red, white, and blue ribbon, stood out and presented the ambience Daisy and Iris wanted outside.

  Still, Daisy’s mind wasn’t completely on the event. Even as the breeze caught the side of a yellow-and-white umbrella and the red, white, and blue streamers beneath it, Daisy was thinking about dinner the other night and her talk with Sarah Jane. Sarah Jane had called Zeke right after their conversation. He was going to track down the women who had eaten at the diner.

  Cora Sue came up to Daisy, startling her out of her thoughts. “I didn’t expect this many people, did you? Customers are lined up at all the tents.”

  Colorful canopies stretched along the grass down to the creek. Pirated Treasures sold tea ware, antique and new. Otis Murdock was manning the stand and Vi was helping him. She worked part-time for Otis and enjoyed it. Quilts and Notions also had a spot under a blue canopy. Today a part-time helper from Rachel’s shop was selling tea cozies and pot holders. She also had a few quilts that might draw anyone who liked them into Quilts and Notions later in the week to buy others. The thing was, Rachel wasn’t selling her own wares because it was Sunday. Her Englischer clerk was manning the booth. Under the red canopy, Betty Furhman from Wisps and Wicks sold tealights and homemade candles. There were drip pillar candles, tapers, tealights, scented beeswax and soy candles.

  In buckskin breeches with a loose cream shirt, Ned Pachenko was already playing his guitar. It added ambience to the day that was calm, pleasurable, and friendly.

  Lawrence Bishop who was sitting at a table with Piper and Emory waved at Daisy and motioned to her. She approached their table.

  “Are you enjoying the tea service?” she asked them, dismissing her previous fearful thoughts about Piper.

  Piper assured her quickly, “We are. Emory especially likes the whoopie pies, and I think Dad’s ready to buy a couple dozen snickerdoodles.”

  After studying Emory, Daisy wasn’t sure he even wanted to be there. His expression wasn’t one of pleasure but of resigned resistance.

  “The whoopie pies come in several different flavors,” she told him.

  “Chocolate’s fine,” he said, an odd inflection in his voice.

  Piper gave him a look. “Emory, we’re supposed to be enjoying today, relaxing, getting away from everything that’s making us so tense. Why can’t you just enjoy the weather, music, and company?”

  He looked at Piper as if she should understand exactly the expression that was on his face. Then he stood and laid his patriotic napkin on the table. “I think I’ve had enough enjoyment for one day. I’m going home. You can get a ride home with your father.”

  Piper stood too. “Emory, wait.”

  But Emory was already walking out toward the front of the tea garden and Market Street.

  Lawrence put his hand on Piper’s shoulder. “Come on, honey. You try to relax.”

  “It’s hard to do when I know I have to deal with Emory later.”

  Daisy wasn’t exactly sure what to do next when she eyed Zeke standing at the back door of the tea garden. He was studying everyone with a detective’s eye. Had he just seen the argument between Emory and Piper? Did it matter if he had?

  “Excuse me,” she said. “I need to talk to someone.”

  “I see Willet over there,” Lawrence said. “Is that who you’re going to talk to? Maybe you can find out where this investigation is headed.”

  “Lawrence, Zeke won’t tell me what he’s planning. That’s the way detectives are. I do want to find out why he’s here, though. So if you’ll excuse me . . . Please try to enjoy your tea.”

  After heading Zeke’s way, she stood beside him and asked, “Can I convince you to have a tea service?”

  “I thought I’d look at candles,” he joked.

  Becoming serious, she faced him. “Why are you here?”

  “I like to see suspects in their everyday lives. It helps me get a better picture of them . . . like the picture I just noticed of Emory and Piper.”

  “They’re under a lot of tension right now.”

  “I guess they are, but I think Emory has a short fuse. That’s what I noticed most.”

  “Who else are you interested in?” Daisy asked, hoping to catch him off guard.

  With an impassive expression, he gave her one of those detective looks. “I’m not telling you. I’m just going to mosey around and overhear lots of people’s conversations. Isn’t that how you find clues?”

  “Sometimes,” she admitted.

  “Is Jonas around?” Zeke asked

  “Not right now. He’s down at his shop. He’s going to come back at the end of this and help tear down and clean up.”

  “You have a real event going on here. The tea garden’s packed inside too.”

  “That’s how I keep the place running, Zeke. These special events help.”

  “I’ve got to give you credit, Daisy. When I first met you, I just thought you were a pretty blond with deep blue eyes, and that Jonas had made a good choice.”

  “We weren’t seriously together then,” she reminded him.

  “Oh, you were together. The two of you just didn’t know it yet. Anyway, I’ve realized since then that you have good business sense. Not only that, but you have good deductive skills.”

  “Why, Detective, you flatter me.”

  “That’s not flattery if it’s true. There’s somebody waving to you. You’d better go see what she wants.”

  “Tell me one thing before you leave. Did Sarah Jane help you?”

  “She helped some. Every little clue helps. But we still don’t know where Thelma Bartik is.”

  Ramona was the one waving at Daisy. She was sitting at a table for two with her little boy Petey. From the way he was jittering around on his seat, Daisy didn’t think they’d be there very long.

  After an “excuse me” to Zeke, she went to the table where Ramona was seated. Instead of asking Ramona what she thought of the day, she looked at Petey. “Hey, little guy, do you like all this?” She motioned to Ned who was playing the guitar.

  Petey wrinkled his nose. “I don’t know his songs.”

  Daisy easily saw that Petey’s plate was empty. “What about the goodies? Did you lik
e any of them?”

  Now his head bobbed up and down enthusiastically. “I liked them all.”

  Ramona laughed. “Yes, he did. When we get home, I have a feeling he’s going to be wound up. It’s worth it to sit out here on this beautiful day, hear the birds chirp, and just enjoy everybody’s company.”

  Daisy agreed. “Sometimes we just have to slow down.”

  Ramona brushed crumbs from above Petey’s upper lip. “I imagine this was a lot of work to plan.”

  “It was, but I have help.”

  “I suppose you do need a team to get anything done,” Ramona said.

  Suddenly her pleasant, relaxed expression changed. Lines formed around her lips as she frowned and glanced toward a table closer to the side door.

  “Is something wrong?” Daisy asked. Maybe Ramona had just gotten a bad swig of tea and didn’t like it.

  The young adult brought her attention back to Daisy. “No, nothing’s wrong. I’m not going to let my stepbrother spoil my afternoon out.”

  “The two of you don’t get along?”

  “Let’s just say we have different values and ideas about family. Fred was totally against Jim and me trying in vitro. He said it was unnatural. He and I never agreed on much, but that really separated us. I haven’t talked to him since that discussion.”

  So many questions filed through Daisy’s head about Ramona’s relationship with her stepbrother. On the other hand, none of it was her business. Families were what they were, and sometimes they just didn’t get along.

  Brielle and Glorie Beck were sitting under one of the maple trees.

  Daisy said to Ramona, “You enjoy the rest of your afternoon. I’ve got to circulate a little more.”

  Ramona said, “I understand, and Petey’s getting restless. We’ll probably leave soon.”

  As Daisy walked toward Brielle and Glorie, she had to sidestep Ramona’s stepbrother and the man he was talking to. They looked as if they were having an animated discussion. Passing them, she heard Ramona’s stepbrother say, “Hiram was a good lawyer. He could win a case with one arm tied behind his back.”

  Daisy knew what Ramona thought about lawyers. She wondered if Ramona’s stepbrother had been a client of Hiram’s.

  * * *

  Monday was Daisy’s day off, and she needed it after yesterday. The event had been a success. This morning she’d gone with Jonas and Jazzi on a five-mile biking trek. Now she and Jonas were driving to visit Adele Gunnarsen at Whispering Willows Assisted Living Facility which was about two miles outside of Willow Creek. Daisy realized why it was named that as they drove up to it. There were willow trees all over the property. Daisy guessed the back of the property stretched to Willow Creek. Willow tree roots searched for water and they did well along the shoreline of the deep creek.

  On the drive here, Jonas and Daisy had discussed Ramona’s stepbrother and his comments about Hiram. She’d said, “Hiram was involved with so many people. In a practice, when somebody loses and somebody wins, you can bet Hiram made enemies.”

  Jonas had agreed with a nod. “I don’t think we realized how many. I hope Zeke does, though.”

  Suddenly Felix, who was accompanying them to see his former mistress, nudged his head up between their seats.

  Daisy reached up and rubbed his neck. “I know you’re going to like where we’re going,” she told him. “I’m sure Mrs. Gunnarsen is going to be pleased to see you.” Daisy had called the facility that morning to make sure Felix would be welcome and to ask about visiting hours. The person she’d talked to said their visiting hours were very flexible and, of course, Felix was welcome too if he made one of their residents happy. Afterward she’d spoken to Adele to ask if she ate sweets. She assured Daisy that she did.

  Daisy retrieved the basket of baked goods she’d assembled for Adele from the back of the SUV. After they walked inside the pleasant lobby decorated in mostly green and yellow with a few roses in a wallpaper border around the ceiling, they signed in. The receptionist told them that they kept a log of everyone who visited their residents. She informed them that Adele had a suite with one bedroom and a kitchen.

  Afterward, the receptionist pointed to a board that listed the activities for the day. She told Daisy and Jonas, “If Adele feels like it, you can all join the bingo game. We have gift cards today for their favorite online stores as prizes. A girl scout troop is coming in later to sing some of their favorite Broadway songs.”

  As Daisy, Jonas, and Felix started down the hall toward Adele’s room, Daisy said, “They even have chair yoga listed with the activities. I’m glad to see that. The more active the residents are, the happier they are. Wouldn’t you think?”

  “The activities keep them motivated, I suppose,” Jonas agreed. “We’ll have to ask Adele if we’re keeping her from anything.”

  At the door to room twenty-three, a welcome wreath with sunflowers hanging on it, Daisy knocked lightly. The door was propped open and Felix decided he didn’t need to wait. He ran right in.

  By the time Jonas and Daisy walked inside, Felix was sitting at Adele’s feet, being loved on all over. Adele’s book lay open on the sofa beside her and she had obviously been reading.

  She looked up at Jonas and Daisy with a wide smile but tears in her eyes. “I’m happy to see him,” she said.

  Jonas’s voice was husky when he responded, “This is only the first of many visits.”

  Daisy put the basket of goodies on the small coffee table. “Mrs. Gunnarsen, we just want to tell you how happy we are that Felix has come to live with Jonas. He’s a wonderful dog.”

  “Please call me Adele. Have a seat so we can have a real visit.”

  To Daisy, Adele Gunnarsen looked a little like Betty White with snowy white hair and curly bangs brushed to the right. A bobby pin held her hair back over the left ear. Wire-rimmed glasses hung from a turquoise beaded chain around her neck. When she smiled, huge dimples appeared on either side of her mouth. She was wearing a mauve flowered blouse with buttons down the front. It hung out over mauve knit slacks.

  Felix now rested across her white tennis shoes, his tail swishing back and forth.

  A gray-and-black tweed throw rug lay across the vinyl tile floor. As Daisy glanced around the small suite, she saw that the cabinets were finished in pale green. The counter was a dark sage laminate. White appliances matched a small round white table with two chairs.

  Adele peered under the cloth napkin covering the treats Daisy had brought. She watched Daisy glance around and she asked, “What do you think of my home?”

  “I think the question is,” Jonas said, “how do you like it?”

  She motioned Jonas to a chair. “Don’t hover. My son does that.”

  He sank down into a small side chair. The fabric on the sofa where Adele was sitting was a sunflower print. The easy chair Daisy had chosen was covered in a pale green fabric.

  Felix raised up again and laid his head across Adele’s legs. He looked up at her with adoring brown eyes.

  “I miss my home,” Adele said. “I miss it a whole lot. It was a craftsman with two floors and a backyard. My rose bushes were my pride and joy along with Felix here. But the truth is, I couldn’t take care of most of it any more. The hardest part was giving up Felix. I told my son I wanted a background check on anybody who adopted him.”

  She made eye contact with Jonas. “We went over your adoption application with a fine-tooth comb. We saw that you had been a police detective but now you made handcrafted wood items. We were intrigued. He stopped into your shop without you knowing it, I’m afraid. I’m sorry for that little bit of spy work.”

  “If I was giving up a pet, I might have done the same thing,” Jonas said. “You know, that means your son cares about you a lot. He wanted you and Felix to be happy.”

  “Yes, he did. He said he liked what he saw when he met you. Your furniture is worth the money and he didn’t feel as if you tried to take advantage of anyone. He heard you talking with other customers and you didn’t hig
h pressure them, you just stood by your work.”

  “I’m glad I passed muster.” Jonas gave her a crooked smile. “Felix goes to work with me every day. Customers will soon find out he’s part of the shop. We’re still getting to know each other, but I think we’re becoming good friends.”

  Adele looked down at Felix and asked the dog, “Are you obeying his commands?”

  Felix gave a little ruff as if he understood exactly what she was saying. Smiling, she petted him more.

  Adele looked at Daisy. “You told me a little about yourself when we talked. You have that nice tea garden restaurant downtown.”

  “I do. My aunt and I run it.”

  “Since I’m too old to mince words . . .” Adele paused and pointed her finger first at Jonas and then at Daisy, then back to Jonas. “Are you two involved?”

  Jonas’s gaze connected to Daisy’s. He answered, “We’re dating and finding out how much we mean to each other more every day.”

  “That’s a nice way of putting it,” Adele agreed approvingly.

  Their conversational ball never dropped as Adele wanted to know about their lives and she revealed much of hers. She explained how she and her husband Horace had been inseparable. Her husband had been a plumber. After he retired, they played cards with friends, went on daylong road trips, and ran a book fair at the elementary school twice a year.

  “When Horace passed, I was lonelier than I ever thought I could be. I had Felix, though, and that helped, and my son stopped in whenever he could. Then I moved here for lots of reasons, mostly because I wanted to make new friendships and those are nice to have at my age.”

  Felix had settled on the floor, his back against Adele’s foot.

  Adele went on, “I have a subscription for the Willow Creek Messenger so I keep up-to-date on most of what’s going on. My son got me one of those electronic tablets. I use it for games. I have a cell phone too. It’s nothing fancy. My son made sure I’m on what he calls a neighborhood app. People post on there what they’re concerned about and there’s all kinds of replies. There was a big back and forth about that protest at the social for the homeless shelter.”