Tea Shop Cozy Mysteries - Books 1-6 Page 13

  “Give me my keys, then,” Charley demanded when he righted himself. “I need them to drive home.”

  “You’re not driving anywhere.” The bartender gave Willow a curious look. “Unless you’re here to bundle him home, love? I could hand them to you.”

  “I don’t even know where he lives,” Willow admitted with a short laugh. “So, I doubt I’m the best option.”

  “Go down Gardiner’s Lane, take the main road out to Pine Fields, then turn right. It’s halfway along the street.” The bartender issued the directions while rummaging in the register. “Here you go. It’s a red Ford parked just a few spots down.”

  When Willow hesitated, the barman winked at her. “It’ll give some tired mother a nice spot to park when she’s doing her shopping. Otherwise, old Charley here will just end up with another ticket for overstaying his welcome.” The man raised his voice. “Something he has a tendency to do everywhere.”

  Charley flapped his hands in annoyance at the bartender, but from the rapport between them, Willow guessed they were old mates.

  “Okay.” She grabbed the car keys. “Are you alright to walk to your car?” Willow asked Charley. After a few staggers, the man straightened up, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

  Outside, the bright sunlight hit them both, sending Willow into a furious bout of blinking. By the time she got a hand up to shade her eyes, Charley had managed to wander out onto the road, earning himself a shout from a cyclist passing by.

  “No, you don’t.” Willow grabbed hold and steered him toward the vehicle the bartender had described. She felt a twinge of guilt as she pressed the button, then relief as the car beeped back at her and the doors unlocked. It wouldn’t do her reputation any good if it looked like she was stealing a vehicle in the middle of the day.

  After she helped Charley into the passenger seat, it occurred to Willow that it wouldn’t look good for her either way.

  The drive was just a short distance. A lucky thing, too, otherwise Willow would have faced an unexpectedly long walk back to the town square.

  After bundling Charley inside the vehicle, it was just as much of an effort to reverse that and tug him back out to escort him through the front door. Not wanting to intrude any more than she already had, Willow didn’t worry about putting the car in the garage. She just left it parked in the driveway.

  “Do you want a cup of tea, then?” Charley asked her as Willow was smoothing down her skirt, ready to leave.

  She turned back to him, seeing that the bleary look in his eyes was already starting to clear. A hot drink would be nice but getting home would be nicer.

  You tracked him down for a reason, her internal voice insisted. Remember that your friend is currently being interrogated.

  “That’d be lovely.” Willow sat down in the dining room, presuming that the tipsy wave of Charley’s hand was an invitation.

  “It won’t be as good as yours, but it’s strong.” Charley brought a teapot over to the table, along with a couple of cups and saucers made from delicate china. They were so incongruous with the man bringing them across that Willow laughed.

  “Hey. Isn’t a man allowed nice things?” Charley asked with a grin. He was close to being back to the same man who’d been at her house yesterday. Either the effects of alcohol were short-lived, or he hadn’t been nearly as many sheets to the wind as he’d seemed.

  Willow thought about all the things she wanted to ask him, not sure the right way to go about it. Where subtlety might work on another person, she doubted it would have the same effect on Charley, especially if his state of drunkenness hadn’t been an act.

  “I heard Jeff yelling at you yesterday,” Willow said, an old admonition from her mother coloring her cheeks a little as she realized the admission amounted to eavesdropping. “He was very loud,” she added defensively, even though Charley hadn’t said a word.

  “Wasn’t just me he fired. The poor kid on his apprenticeship was kicked out, too.”

  “That’s Lee Harrington, right?”

  Charley nodded, taking a sip of his tea. Willow tried hers as well and swallowed with gratitude as it turned out to be nice and tasty.

  “He was set to finish out the year, then he’d be able to call himself a qualified builder and go out on his own. Now—” Charley shrugged “—he’s back to square one.”

  “Couldn’t someone else just take over his training?”

  “There’re none others who offer it around here. That’s how Jeff roped a lot of young men into working for him in the first place. I mean, it’s great if you’re starting out, but after a decade at the same wages, it grows a bit thin.”

  Willow sipped her tea again, staring into the cup and swirling the liquid around against the fine china to reveal its beautiful sheen. “He had nothing to lose, then?”

  At that, Charley snorted. “Lee had more to lose than any of us. He’s got a pregnant young wife to look after, and he’s only nineteen. To lose that job wrecked all his plans in one fell swoop.” Charley rubbed his hands along the length of his thigh, looking downcast. “I’m the reason the kid got the boot.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Charley shrugged, his face filling with color as he gulped the rest of his cup and refilled it from the pot. “The wage that Jeff paid us wasn’t enough. It might be for a young fellow on his own but I’ve got a mortgage to pay for, and Lee had his family. I’d started to do a bit of moonlighting.”

  Willow nodded, relieved that she could admit to hearing that. “But I don’t understand what the problem was? Working a second job is fine with most bosses. Unless it was interfering with the work you were already doing.”

  Charley stood up and walked over to the bench, tipping out the dregs of the tea, then pulling out the strainer and tamping out the wet leaves into the bin. When he came and sat down, Willow thought he looked completely sober again.

  “Jeff wasn’t upset about us working on another job, per se,” Charley admitted. “It was more the fact that the jobs we were working were ones he’d bid on and lost.”

  It took Willow a few seconds to grasp, then she voiced the idea slowly. “So you would wait to hear Jeff’s bid, then go in at a lower price to secure the contract?”

  Charley nodded. “The thing was, even at the lower bid, Lee and I still made more money out of the deal than we would if Jeff took the job. I had the stupid thought that when it all came out, we’d be able to reason with him and it might all turn out okay.”

  Willow bit her lips for a second, shaking her head, then gave a short laugh, unable to keep it inside.

  Luckily, Charley had caught the same thought. “Yeah. I know. It was a silly thought, but brains seem to work on optimism, don’t they? Never look at the reality, always focused on the dream.”

  “I can’t imagine that if Jeff found out he was slighted, he’d be happy to give away more money.” Willow shook her head, the bubble of humor subsiding as the truth of the words struck home. “Everyone might hope for an Amazing Grace moment, but people usually stay exactly the same as they are.”

  “True enough. And Jeff firing us on the spot, without any recourse, that was what we both should’ve expected. It still caught us by surprise, though.”

  “How’d he find out?”

  That question took a bit longer for Charley to answer. He tilted his head to one side, staring at the middle distance while his brow furrowed in thought. “I don’t know. My best guess is that one of our clients called up Jeff, mistakenly thinking he was getting us.” Charley pursed his mouth, a rueful expression on his face. “I can’t imagine how that conversation would go.”

  “Didn’t the other workers know about your job?”

  “If they did, it wasn’t any skin off their nose. Jeff had enough work for us as it was, he didn’t need the piddling jobs on the side.”

  “If Jeff wasn’t after them, he wouldn’t have bid for them,” Willow pointed out. “He must have thought there was the capacity to get them done.”

  But C
harley was shaking his head. “Jeff didn’t just cut corners with our wages, he was money hungry and that led to him doing more with less than any builder should.” The man leaned forward, catching and holding Willow’s gaze. “Make sure you have someone good go over your place with a fine-tooth comb. I haven’t noticed anything shady going on there, but after the disaster with Shelby, I’d hate to think of your place being unsafe.”

  They chatted for a while longer, Willow reluctant to leave for the walk home and an empty house full of silence. Even Mavis couldn’t compete with the intrusive thoughts of the sight Willow had seen that morning.

  In the end, she had to go. Otherwise, neither her nor Mavis would be fed. There was a short tussle with Charley over calling a taxi versus Willow insisting she would enjoy the walk. A man sobering up was no match for her firm insistence.

  As Willow walked back to her street, a journey of over twenty minutes, she thought about the details that Charley had revealed. He was a middle-aged man, not the kind to explode suddenly and strike out in a fit of pique. A young man, however…

  Thoughts whirled and churned in Willow’s head long after she walked in through her front door.

  Chapter Seven

  Willow was just sitting down to a hot meal when Reg phoned again, this time almost in tears as he wondered if she’d be free to give him a ride home. After putting plastic wrap over the food, Willow gave Mavis a quick pat and headed out the door.

  The relief on Reg’s face when Willow walked into the sheriff’s office was worth the journey. Even though he was a man usually averse to personal contact, he initiated a hug. As Willow squeezed him tightly, rocking back and forth, her friend started to sob. When he pulled back, Reg buried his face in his hands.

  “I’m sorry. For the past few hours I promised myself I wouldn’t cry and now here I am.” Reg spat out the last few words in disgust. “Tearing up just like a baby.”

  “They don’t put babies through interrogations,” Willow said. “So, I think it’s more you’re crying like a very harassed man.”

  She got him into the car, then stopped, unsure of where it was best to take him. “Are you going out spotting tonight?”

  Reg shook his head sadly. “All I want is to go home, get into bed, and never come out again.”

  Willow patted the back of his hand and promptly drove him home. When she offered to come in and sit with Reg for a while, he declined.

  “I’m sorry to put you to all this trouble just to get me home and not even reward you with a cup of tea but I just can’t. I don’t want to be near anybody for a while.”

  “You don’t need to apologize to me,” Willow assured him. “You’ve been there for me plenty of times when I’ve needed it. Go on and get some rest. We can catch up later in the week when you’re feeling more yourself.”

  Reg nodded sadly as though being himself was an achievement far out of his grasp.

  * * *

  Harmony practically busted through Willow’s front door with her knocking the next morning. Willow had to fling on a robe and fly downstairs, scared that her neighbor Phillip would have yet another noise complaint to add to her tally.

  “What’s the matter?”

  Harmony came staggering through into the entrance hall, gasping for breath as though she’d just been running. Willow stood and stared at her for a moment, then dived for the phone, sure her friend must be having a heart attack.

  “Just give me a second,” Harmony managed, grabbing the receiver out of Willow’s hand.

  Mavis wound a concerned figure eight around Willow’s ankles, and she bent down to pick the kitten up, cradling her against her cheek.

  As soon as Harmony recovered from her exertion, she burst into tears. Still none the wiser for what had happened to her friend, Willow fetched her a box of tissues and sat down on the sofa to wait.

  “It’s Reg,” Harmony finally managed. “I went into the sheriff’s office early this morning before Jacob could get in there and stir everybody up. I caught Mary-Jo and asked her why the hell he’d grilled Reg non-stop for most of yesterday.”

  Her breath got away from her again, and Willow frowned while Harmony gasped. “Wasn’t it just because of the fight? I have to say, I’m sorry I told the sheriff anything, considering his behavior.”

  But Harmony was shaking her head. “It’s not the fight that worried them. That’s just the reason they brought Reg in for questioning in the first place.” She took another second, blowing her nose on a tissue and using another to dab at her eyes. “Reg lied to them.”

  “What?” Willow sat bolt upright, shock running through her spine like she’d been struck with a cattle prod. “What about? Why on Earth would he do that?”

  “One at a time, please,” Harmony gasped. “I did just run all the way here.”

  Willow eyed her friend. “Hm. No need to ask if you took advantage of the gym membership offer I sent you.”

  Harmony threw a tissue at her face and Willow was relieved to see it was an unused one. “You can talk. I’m surprised you even know what a gym is.”

  The two women burst into a spate of giggles, relieving some of their tension, though Willow still felt as wired as a coat hanger. “What does Reg even do that he’d need to lie about something?” she mused. “It’s not as though him going out spotting at night is a secret.”

  “According to Mary-Jo, Reg told the police he didn’t go out the night before last at all.”

  Willow nodded. “That sounds about right. He said he was probably headed straight home after visiting you in the library.”

  Harmony looked taken aback. “What’s that?”

  “The day before yesterday.” Willow frowned as her friend continued to look nonplussed. “I took him out for brunch after he had a fight with the builder.” She shrugged. “He couldn’t stay here, after that, and I wanted to keep him talking since it was the anniversary.”

  Harmony nodded. She didn’t need to be told which anniversary it was. “He never showed up, and I was there pretty much all day.”

  “I wonder where he got to, then.” Willow let Mavis down onto the sofa next to her, whereupon the kitten promptly decided it would be more fun to chase the dust motes around the room. “He really didn’t seem in the mood to do anything much at all.”

  “Well, whatever he was doing during the day, it’s certain that at night he was sitting down by the river.”

  Willow’s eyes narrowed. “Who did you hear that from? If Reg says he was at home, why would he lie?”

  “I don’t know,” Harmony said, frustration obvious in her voice. “Because he knew the police would find it suspicious he was down by the place a dead body was found?” Harmony started to tremble, tears welling up in her eyes again. “I feel awful just considering it, but I can’t understand why else he would tell the sheriff a fib.”

  “Well, we only have Mary-Jo’s word for it that he did.” Willow stood up and began to pace the room. “How do we know for certain he was anywhere near the river?”

  “Eye-witnesses,” Harmony said, her voice soft.

  Willow scoffed. “You hear about eye-witnesses getting stuff wrong all the time! They see things that aren’t there and completely miss things that are. It’s a proven fact.”

  Harmony grabbed hold of Willow’s hand, pulling her back down to sit beside her. “I saw him.” She swallowed hard, sniffing back tears. “I wish I didn’t go out that night at all, now, but I definitely saw him sitting on the pier down by the river. That’s only a bend away from where the body was found. And when asked by the sheriff, he denied being there at all.”

  Willow stared at her friend, wanting to deny such a thing was possible, but all her reasons for why it couldn’t be correct died on her lips, unsaid.

  Was it possible? Could Reg have had something to do with the murder?

  * * *

  After going around in circles for another hour, Harmony left the house, no doubt headed for the sanctuary of the town library. Willow didn’t blame her. Ever s
ince the treacherous thought had entered her head, she’d gone after Harmony’s statement like a dog with a bone.

  Alone in the silence of her house again, Willow stroked Mavis and stared blankly out the window. It didn’t make sense to her why Reg had lied, though she knew full well why he’d be sitting down on that pier.

  For the few weeks after her husband Molly had died, Willow had gone through the perfunctory motions of living while her thoughts spiraled further and further out of control. When the doctor paid a surprise home visit to check on her welfare, she’d been cajoled into joining a support group for people who’d lost spouses. Against her better judgment, she’d walked to the community center building next to the church to attend.

  It had taken all of Willow’s courage just to walk through the door. If a sign hadn’t been out, plainly welcoming new members, she mightn’t have gone inside at all. As it was, she said nothing at all the first session. The energy of being out in public, having to act like a fully functional adult human, had sapped all of Willow’s strength.

  At the second meeting, Willow had made up her mind the weekly visits were too hard. She decided she would leave after the group disbanded for the night, and never return again.

  The people there weren’t anything like her. They’d lost people they loved, people they treasured. They weren’t sitting there hiding the fact their chief emotion was relief.

  Reg had walked up to her as she stood from the chair and offered her a cup of tea and a biscuit. The refreshments were laid out on a table—anyone could help themselves—but he made an effort to come over and insist she have something before heading out for the night.

  That one act of kindness made Willow feel so much better, she decided to give the group one more week. After all, it wasn’t like she was locked into a long-term plan. Willow could leave any time she wanted to.

  That next session, Reg had waited for her out front and insisted she take the seat next to his. While the group talked, brave people taking center stage to share stories, others just chatting about nothing much, Reg won her over with his sly sense of humor.