Murder with Orange Pekoe Tea

by Karen Rose Smith

  She knew she stood out in what she’d worn for work today—white cotton culottes and a yellow short-sleeve T-shirt. After all, they both went nicely with the yellow apron with the daisy logo on it. She was thinking about that now because it was a detail to distract herself. Yes, she was nervous. She was tired of being fearful and even feeling panicked. Tired of needing the reassurance that she was safe. Tired of worrying about whether the killer was going to murder her too.

  Yes, she could be all wrong about this. Zeke could call her an idiot if Jonas had texted him. She didn’t care. She knew if the police questioned this person whom she considered a suspect, they might not get anywhere. She felt as if she could coax out more information on several different levels.

  Daisy’s car and her work van were the only two vehicles in the parking lot. The person she was meeting had told her she took a run most evenings and would meet her in the parking lot.

  All at once, Daisy heard the pounding of running shoes. When she turned toward the sound with her flashlight, someone blocked her sight line six feet in front of her. That someone was dressed in black running shorts, a black light-weight, short-sleeved hoodie, a baseball cap, and . . . gloves. The gloves should have made Daisy more fearful, but they didn’t.

  Daisy spoke first. “I’m glad you agreed to meet me, Ramona. I think we should talk.”

  “Maybe we should,” Ramona agreed, taking something from a pouch on her hip, letting her hoodie drop back. “But let’s move down the path toward the creek.”

  That wasn’t what Daisy wanted to do at all. But she wanted the truth from this woman who had seemed so caring but might have so much rage inside that it had led her to murder. The long blades of grass were damp around her ankles as they headed down the path toward the creek, Daisy’s flashlight showing the way. A pine grove scented the air. Mock oranges and damp willow branches sweetened the rest.

  “Let’s stop here,” Ramona said, moving off the path, closer to the creek’s bank.

  Daisy’s heart raced, knowing she shouldn’t be standing this close to the creek’s rocky bank. Was that a rustling she heard in the grass? Jonas? Or was it the breeze? She could run from Ramona toward the tea garden if she had to. The truth was, though, that Ramona was the runner.

  She could hear the creek rustling over rocks near the shore, the mustiness of the water, moss and algae scenting the air.

  “I don’t know why you wanted to meet me tonight,” Ramona said.

  “I thought maybe we should talk, mom to mom.” Daisy considered moving toward the grass near the path, but didn’t want to become distracted by the questions she had lined up for Ramona.

  “Really?” Ramona asked, a bit of curiosity in her tone.

  “You wouldn’t want Petey to suffer more than necessary for what you’ve done, would you?” Daisy asked as calmly as she could manage.

  “Just what do you think I’ve done?”

  Unable to see Ramona’s expression in the dark, she thought about bringing the flashlight up directly into Ramona’s face. But that could be interpreted as an aggressive move. Instead of answering Ramona’s question, Daisy said, “I spoke with your stepbrother.”

  “Oh, really. Just what did that imbecile have to say?”

  “Among other things, he told me Hiram had a low blood sugar episode during a meeting with you to discuss his father’s will. Fred is still bitter that you contested it,” Daisy said.

  “Fred is bitter?” The acerbic vitriol in Ramona’s tone almost made Daisy take a step back, but she stood her ground.

  Ramona flipped her ballcap off and tossed it to the ground as if it bothered her. Anger laced her every word. “I was supposed to inherit antiques from my mother . . . my mother. They even had sticky notes on them with my name. My mother had shown me that was what she was going to do.” Ramona’s voice rose. “They were labeled. But do you know what my stepbrother did after his dad died? He trashed them all according to Hiram Hershberger’s advice.”

  The hoot of an owl soared above them. Daisy caught her breath because it startled her. After a moment, though, she tossed a statement at Ramona. “Fred told me that nothing about the antiques was in his dad’s will.”

  “Of course not. My stepfather would have put them in the will if he had thought enough of me. But he never did. Fred was the only one who mattered to him. So I contested the will and that angered Fred. But that had nothing to do with anything else. So why are we here?”

  “Come on, Ramona. I’m not naïve. Hiram was the reason you didn’t inherit those antiques. Hiram was the reason you lost when you contested the will. Hiram is the reason the Hope Clinic wasn’t going to pay for what they let happen.”

  Ramona was shifting back and forth from one foot to the other, seeming to become more agitated.

  Daisy went on, goading her. “I can put two and two together and come up with four. I can understand how upset you were that your dreams were dust. You knew a class action suit wouldn’t mean much to the people who were suing, simply the lawyer who brought it against the clinic. Hiram was a good lawyer. He could have defended the clinic well. I could see how you were filled with rage over that. You also knew insulin would kill him.”

  “Yes, I was mad. Yes, I knew he had episodes of hypoglycemia. You bet, I killed him!” Ramona screamed, her voice ringing in the near silence. “And my admission is going to do you no good at all.” Suddenly she raised her arm with a stun gun in her hand. It was easy to see she wanted to use it again on Daisy.

  As she charged Daisy and Daisy dropped her flashlight, a growl came from the nearby bushes. At the moment Ramona was distracted by it and turned toward the sound, Daisy lunged at Ramona, hitting her wrist and causing the gun to fly into the creek. The problem was, the two of them were near the shore. Ramona grabbed Daisy by her T-shirt and pulled her toward her so she could physically overtake her. But Ramona’s ankle turned on the rocky bank and they toppled into the water.

  The cold water snatched Daisy’s breath. She flailed underwater until she propelled herself up and broke the surface. She heard a splash as Felix jumped into the creek and paddled toward her. His head out of the water, he aimed straight for her. As she doggy-paddled to keep her head above water, she heard, more than saw, Jonas jump in too.

  Immediately before Felix reached Daisy, she felt a tug on her foot and then her leg. She was pulled under once more.

  She heard Jonas yell, “Let her go!”

  The next few minutes were a blur as Felix ducked under the water and she caught him around the neck. She kicked as hard as she could. Suddenly she was free, out of breath, and floating with Felix as Jonas reached her.

  There was a splashing and grunts a few feet away. Daisy noticed immediately that the reason she’d been freed wasn’t only her kicks. Zeke had gone after Ramona. He dragged her flailing and screaming to the shore.

  All at once, patrol officers appeared on the bank and Tommy and Bart cuffed Ramona while Zeke wiped creek water from his face.

  In the meantime, Jonas helped Daisy then Felix climb from the creek. The three of them sat on the grass, trying to shake off the fear and panic of what had just happened.

  Tommy lifted a plastic evidence bag. Daisy could see something inside of it.

  “What is that?” she croaked to Tommy, as Jonas hugged her so close she almost couldn’t breathe.

  “It looks like a syringe,” Tommy answered with no expression at all.

  Felix stuck his nose under Daisy’s arm while Jonas wrapped his arms around them both.

  EPILOGUE

  The evening a week later couldn’t have been any more pleasant for the barbecue at Daisy’s house. When she’d asked Detective Rappaport to join them, he’d insisted on bringing his smoker over the night before. Now it was almost time to check the pork butt, the brisket, and the macaroni and cheese that would be smoked along with the meats.

  The detective seemed happy to be there. He was having a conversation with her father while her father stood at the traditional gas gri
ll flipping burgers and rolling over hot dogs. Jonas, Foster, and Felix were playing fetch. Gavin, his daughter Emily and son Ben had joined them too. Gavin held Sammy high in the air, making his grandson giggle. Talking between them, Jazzi and Vi brought out dishes from the kitchen. Daisy’s mom, who was already at the picnic table with her Aunt Iris arranging the food, had made deviled eggs and baked homemade rolls. Aunt Iris had brought along chow-chow and a slow cooker filled with baked beans.

  Daisy had made the dessert and had gone all out with apple and blueberry fry pies and apple dumplings with maple syrup glaze.

  When Rachel, Levi, and their children arrived, Daisy went to greet Rachel. Her friend hugged her close. “You’ve recovered from your dip in the creek, ya?”

  Daisy wondered if she had recovered. She wasn’t sure about that yet. It wasn’t the water from the creek that she’d absorbed into her skin and hair. She was afraid some of Ramona’s vitriol and bitterness had rubbed off on her. The police had retrieved the stun gun along with the insulin syringe. It was obvious Ramona had planned another murder.

  Closing her eyes for a moment to escape Ramona’s image, Daisy opened them and scanned Rachel’s pale blue dress, her black apron, and her white prayer kapp, along with the pale green and pale lilac dresses of her daughters, the black trousers and the light-blue shirt that her son was wearing. Daisy sometimes longed to fade into Amish life. It seemed simpler and more wholesome.

  Giving a smile to her friend, Daisy answered her question. “I’m working on recovering.”

  A moment later, Zeke emerged from the sliding glass doors, carrying a huge red cooler. Rachel’s husband Levi hurried to help him with it, taking one of the handles while Zeke took the other. Two very different men who were sharing in a joint task.

  As Rachel’s girls ran to play with Felix, Rachel said, “I put the shoofly pies on the counter. From the look of all the desserts, I think you’re going to have leftovers.”

  “I’ll send some home with whoever wants them,” Daisy assured her.

  “How are you really feeling, Daisy?” Rachel asked.

  Daisy knew she couldn’t duck the question when her friend added, “I just know that look. You seem bothered by something.”

  What had been uppermost in Daisy’s mind came flowing out. “I shouldn’t have taken the chance to speak with Ramona,” she confessed. “I shouldn’t have been so eager to finger the killer. I should have let Zeke handle it.”

  “And what does Jonas say?” Rachel asked softly.

  “Jonas says hindsight is twenty-twenty.”

  “Listen to him so you can sleep and have peace again. You have a gift for helping, Daisy. I don’t think you can run away from that.”

  The sliding glass doors opened once more, and Tessa and Trevor tumbled out, holding hands and grinning at each other. Tessa called to her, “I’m sorry we’re late. Trevor had a blog he had to post.”

  “Not my fault,” he said with fake outrage. “You didn’t finish the potatoes in time.”

  Daisy smiled at their banter. She knew Tessa had planned to make sweet and sour hot potato salad.

  “I put the casserole in your oven on warm until everything is ready,” Tessa assured her.

  Glancing around at the friends and family that had gathered for the picnic, Daisy circulated for a while as Gavin and Jonas set up folding tables and chairs. She quickly unfolded white paper tablecloths and stretched them over the tabletops. Next she put out baskets with silverware and napkins decorated with watermelons.

  Zeke had taken a soda from the cooler and popped the top as she stacked cups on the table and offered him one.

  “Not necessary,” he said with a grin and took a swig from the can.

  Since she had Zeke right in front of her, she asked, “Has all the paperwork been finished on Ramona’s case?”

  “She’s been charged with murder one for Hiram, two assault charges and an attempted murder on you. She confessed again, no surprise there since there was a witness to her confession with you plus your recording. I can’t believe the tech could still get that off your phone even when it was wet. My tech guy is really good.”

  Then as if Zeke believed she’d like to know, he added, “Her little boy and his dad are moving into the paternal grandparents’ house. They’re all going to help each other.”

  Zeke spent a long moment as her eyes misted over. He advised, “Let it go, Daisy. You called Jonas to back you up and he texted me. I wish you hadn’t gone after Ramona Lowell yourself, but I understand that you didn’t know for sure if she was the killer.”

  “You’re not going to lecture me about it?”

  “No. I have to live with my choices and you have to live with yours. In your case, it all worked out well. Be grateful for that.”

  She and Zeke had always been honest with each other, and he was being honest now.

  The sliding glass doors to the kitchen opened once more. Glorie, Brielle, and Nola stepped out.

  Brielle ran to Daisy and hugged her enthusiastically.

  “What’s that for?” Daisy asked, grinning. She couldn’t help but be happy that Brielle was happy.

  “We settled it. We settled all of it,” Brielle said.

  “Tell me what you settled,” Daisy suggested, amused.

  “Grammy is going to rent out her house. My mom and Grammy are going to build another house right there near Grammy’s old one. We’ll all live together so we can take care of Grammy. She’ll still have all the memories from the house. Won’t that be great? By the way, Grammy brought coleslaw and Mom and I brought a whole tray of veggies with a dip.”

  Daisy kept her arm around Brielle’s shoulders. “Let’s go talk to your mom and Glorie about this house they’re going to build.”

  A short time later, everyone had taken a seat at a table. After moments of silent thanks, something Levi’s family did before every meal, they all dug into the food. It was much later when fireflies danced in the tree branches and near the grass. Jonas and Daisy sat on the glider he’d made for her. Felix rested beside her leg, waiting for any pat she wanted to give him. She looked over at everyone gathered who were interacting as if they’d known each other for a lifetime.

  Jonas put his arm around her.

  When she turned toward him, she said, “Zeke told me I should be grateful for the way things turned out at the creek.”

  “What do you think about it?” Jonas asked.

  “I am grateful, and I do have to let it go. I’m even more grateful for my family and friends that are all around us.” She gazed into his eyes. “And I’m grateful for you.”

  As Jonas leaned down to kiss her, Daisy thought about the day when she and Jonas and Jazzi would be living in the house together as a family. She would be even more grateful for that.

  ORIGINAL RECIPES

  Corn Chowder

  1 cup chopped red onion

  4 tablespoons bacon drippings

  1 can chicken broth (14 ounces)

  2 cups sliced carrots

  1 cup sliced celery

  ¼ cup chopped fennel (the stalk)

  2–3 cups cubed potatoes

  1 can whole kernel corn (14 ounces)

  1 clove of garlic, grated

  ½ teaspoon salt

  teaspoon ground white pepper

  1 can creamed corn (14 ounces)

  2 tablespoons flour

  1¼ cups milk

  Sauté onion in bacon drippings in a soup pot. Add chicken broth, carrots, celery, fennel, potatoes, can of whole kernel corn, garlic, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then simmer until potatoes are tender (about 15 minutes). Stir in creamed corn. Bring to a boil and stir. Return to simmer.

  Whisk flour into milk and add to soup and stir well. Simmer 5 to 10 minutes, stirring now and then.

  Serves 8.

  Crunchy Slaw

  Salad ingredients

  1 pack coleslaw mix (16 ounces)

  ½ pack grated red cabbage (4 ounces)

  ½ cup shaved almonds />
  ½ cup sunflower seeds (kernels, no shells)

  1 tablespoon sesame seeds

  1 pack ramen noodles broken into small pieces

  ½ cup chopped red onion

  3 chopped scallions

  Dressing

  ¼ cup low sodium soy sauce

  Juice of 1 lemon

  ¼ cup virgin olive oil

  2 tablespoons rice vinegar

  1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

  2 tablespoons honey

  teaspoon pepper

  1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

  Mix dressing ingredients and pour over tossed salad ingredients. Stir well and refrigerate for at least an hour. Stir well before serving.

  This salad will serve about 12 as a side dish.

  Chocolate Espresso Cookies

  1 cup softened butter

  ½ cup granulated sugar

  ¾ cup packed dark brown sugar

  2 large eggs

  1½ teaspoons vanilla

  1 teaspoon baking soda

  1 teaspoon salt

  1 tablespoon espresso powder

  ¼ cup Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa

  ¼ cup sour cream

  2¼ cups all-purpose flour

  6 ounces milk chocolate morsels

  6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate morsels

  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

  Cream butter and sugar in mixer bowl. Add eggs, vanilla, baking soda, salt, espresso powder, cocoa and sour cream. Mix well. Add flour ½ cup at a time. Stir in chocolate morsels.

  Using a heaping dinnerware soup spoon, scoop onto an ungreased baking sheet, two inches apart. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-11 minutes. Cool on the cookie sheet for about 2 minutes before removing to cooling racks.

  Makes about 30 cookies depending on scoop size.