Gossip in the Garden

by Kathi Daley

  I looked around the house. There was a pile of mail on the table. The envelopes I could see seemed to be late notices mixed in with a few final notices. There was even an envelope from the bank with a foreclosure stamp across the front of it.

  “The gems in the items Patrick stole were fakes,” I said, watching her face for a reaction.

  “Really?” She tried to act surprised, but she wasn’t much of an actress.

  “He told me that the gems used to be real, but that someone switched them out. I’ve actually been thinking about that quite a lot, and it occurred to me that perhaps it was someone at the museum who made the switch.”

  “You think Patrick took the items he stole to cover up the fact he’d already taken the gems?” she asked.

  “No. That’s not what I think. What I think is that Patrick being the experienced archeologist that he was noticed the gems had been switched out and believing the switch to be an inside job, he brought the situation to someone in law enforcement. Maybe even someone in the FBI. Chances are this FBI contact told him that he’d need some proof, so he decided to steal the items with the fake gems to use as evidence.”

  She paled. “Who on earth would do such a thing?”

  “Someone who really needed the money.” I glanced toward the table where the overdue bills had been stacked. “I imagine the switch took place over time. Since the items on display are rarely examined, it could have been quite some time before anyone noticed what had been going on.”

  “Your theory is crazy. No one would do such a thing. Now I really do have to go.”

  I crossed the room and picked up the stack of late notices. “I get why you switched the gems, but why did you shoot Patrick? I’m sure if you would have sat down with him and explained the situation, you could have come to some sort of agreement.”

  “It was too late for an agreement. We’d already done that.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Patrick noticed that some of the gems had been switched out last fall. He came to me with his concerns, and I broke down and told him the truth. My sister is sick. Or at least she was. I took out a second mortgage on my house that I couldn’t really afford to help pay her medical expenses, and I got myself into a financial mess. I explained this to Patrick, who felt sorry for me and agreed not to bring the missing gems to anyone’s attention as long as I stopped what I was doing. He even gave me some of his own savings to help out, so I agreed.”

  “But you didn’t stop?”

  She shook her head. “I guess it was just so easy to get away with the switch, and I really did need the money, so I switched the gems in two more pieces. I didn’t think Patrick would notice, but he did. I begged him for one more chance, which he gave me.”

  “But you still didn’t stop.”

  She shook her head. “I didn’t. I guess he must have known that talking to me about it would do no good. I suppose he might have gone to law enforcement with the situation. He called me on the day he took the things from the museum and told me what he’d done. He told me that he’d spoken to a man he knew who could help me if I turned myself in. I refused, saying that he couldn’t prove any of this, but he told me he’d taken the items with the fake gems as proof, and he’d been keeping notes and building a case for months. I was just so mad. I went to his house to confront him, but I could see he wasn’t going to give in this time. I didn’t mean to shoot him. I took a gun with me to appear intimidating. I wanted him to listen to me, but I didn’t mean for it to go off.”

  “You shot him twice,” I pointed out.

  “I know. The first shot only injured him. He went to the desk to get the phone to call 911, and I panicked. I shot him again. This time, it was a fatal shot. I took off and didn’t tell anyone. When you and Colt came by, I acted like I didn’t know a thing about the missing items.”

  “Why add the bowl and the diary which Patrick didn’t take?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “I figured they had value, and if you found them amongst Patrick’s things, you’d return them, and I could sell them. I knew I was going to need to get out of town eventually, and I needed money to do that.”

  Nadine headed into her office. I foolishly followed. She went around behind the desk and opened one of the drawers. The next thing I knew, she had a gun and was pointing it at me.

  “I called Colt when I went to the car to get Molly. He’s on his way.”

  I didn’t actually know if he was on his way since I hadn’t actually spoken to him, but I hoped he was.

  “I don’t want to shoot you. I just want to leave.”

  I stepped aside. “I won’t try to stop you. You better go now. Colt will be here any minute.” I figured even if he wasn’t on his way, he could catch up with her later. I, for one, wasn’t going to be the hero by trying to stop her.”

  “Sit in that chair.” She pointed toward a chair near the back wall. I did as she said and sat down. “If you get up or try to follow me, I will shoot you. If you want to live, you will sit still until I’m gone.”

  “I will. I promise.”

  She turned and headed out the door. I waited until I heard the car drive away, and then I tried Colt once again. This time, he picked up. I quickly explained what had happened. He told me to go home and wait for him there, which is what I did after I picked up the flowers.

  Chapter 17

  Despite the on-again/off-again moisture we’d had the past few days, Saturday dawned bright and sunny. Georgia, Jeremy, Tanner, Nikki, Mylie, Amy, and I had been up since dawn, putting the finishing touches on the booths, the food, and the garden. Hannah and her parents, Adam and Faith, had come by shortly after breakfast, as had Christy, Noah, and Haley. David and Barbara Danson, Hannah’s grandparents, were still with us and had offered to help out with the parking situation once the guests began to arrive. It really did seem as if most of the family was here to help. Velma, of course, had her own restaurant to run but promised to come by later, and Colt had called to let me know he had to patrol the carnival area but would see me later as well.

  “Are the Parkers going to be here?” Amy asked about Lonnie, Lacy, and their six children.

  “Lonnie and Lacy are going to be by later. They decided to get a sitter for the kids. Sometimes these beer and wine events can get kind of wild.”

  “I can see that. I guess it’s a good thing they plan to pour small samples.” She looked around the yard. “I really appreciate the fact that everyone has gone out of their way to make me feel like part of the family. I’m going to miss everyone when I leave, but I’m excited to come back in August and then again in October.”

  “Will you be here for Halloween?”

  “Actually, the inn was already booked for Halloween, but Georgia found me a two-week spot in early October. I would have liked to be here on Halloween, but the mystery dinner and Octoberfest celebration sound really fun as well.”

  “October is by far our most popular month. I’m actually surprised Georgia was able to find any availability, let alone two weeks.”

  “She had to move some stuff around, but she made it work,” Amy informed me. “I’d love to come in December as well, and, of course, I’ll be back for Noah and Christy’s wedding next spring. I’m so excited for both of them.”

  “Yeah. Me too,” I agreed. Noah and Christy had announced their engagement to everyone when they arrived this morning. In addition to getting Christy a gorgeous ring, Noah had gotten a small diamond necklace for Haley as well. She’d been so proud when she announced that Noah had asked her if it was okay with her if he married her mother before he’d even asked her. In a way, I was surprised the engagement had happened so quickly. Christy’s husband had only been gone a little over a year, but it had been apparent to everyone, including Noah and Christy apparently, that the two were meant to be together.

  “I guess I’ll check in with Georgia,” Amy said. “Hopefully, everything will go off without a hitch.

  After Amy wandered away, I called Colt
to check in. He’d managed to catch up with Nadine late yesterday afternoon and was using this morning to follow up on a few things. As it turned out, I’d been correct in my hunch that Patrick had been meeting with the man with the English accent about the stolen gems. The man, who worked as a consultant for the FBI, had told Patrick that if he wanted to open a case, he’d need some sort of proof. Looking back over the series of events, it did seem that Patrick had intentionally chosen the secret room at the Chadwick house as a hiding place for the relics. If nothing had happened, he likely would have retrieved the duffle bag before Thursday, but he also knew that if something did happen to him, Lonnie, Lacy, and I would find it when we opened up the wall.

  “Hey, Abby,” Colt said. “Are you ready for the event?”

  “I am. The family is all here, so I have plenty of help, but I’m missing you. Will you be in town all day?”

  “Unfortunately. Why don’t you meet me here later? We can eat at the food court and then check out the rides and games at the carnival. I have someone coming in to relieve me at seven if you want to arrange to meet then.”

  “I’d love to eat junk food and go to the carnival with you. The beer garden closes up at six, and I have plenty of help for the cleanup, so I’ll plan to meet you at seven. I’ll call you when it gets closer.”

  “Sounds like a plan. Did you hear about Noah and Christy?” He asked.

  “I did. How did you?”

  “Christy told Lacy, who told Lonnie, who called me.”

  “Small town gossip. Gotta love it. The actual reason I called is to see if you had any updates on Nadine.”

  “She’s in the county jail, awaiting arraignment next week. She’s pretty much admitted to everything, so I guess we’ll just have to wait to see whether the judge offers any sort of bail ahead of sentencing. Given the fact she was on the run when I caught up with her, I think not, but I’ve seen weirder things happen. It’s not like I think she’s a danger to anyone else, but I do think she may still be a flight risk.”

  “Yeah. I had the same impression. I guess I should go. I’ll see you tonight.”

  After I hung up, I headed over to where Tanner and Jeremy were setting up the bandstand for the band. Jeremy had built the platform yesterday, but they were still trying to get the speaker system to stop crackling, so they were splicing and rehanging wires.

  “Any luck?” I asked.

  “I think we have it,” Tanner said. “Once the band gets here, we’ll have them do a test song, so we can work out any kinks that may still exist.”

  “Thanks for helping,” I said.

  “I’m always willing to work for beer.” He smiled.

  I had no doubt that was true, but I knew he would have helped even if the beer weren’t free.

  “Mylie was looking for you earlier,” Jeremy said to me. “Did she find you?”

  “Was she looking for me in the past thirty minutes?”

  “Yeah. About fifteen minutes ago.”

  “Then she didn’t find me. I’ll go and look for her.”

  “I think she just wanted to confirm that she’s moved all her stuff over to Christy’s, so if you need the room, you can kick her out early if need be,” Jeremy informed me.

  “She can have the room until Wednesday if she wants, but if she wants to get settled in at her new place with Christy, I understand that as well. I’ll find her and talk to her about it. If there are any additional problems once the band gets here, let me know.”

  “I will.”

  “And Jeremy. The garden looks fantastic. You and Mylie really outdid yourselves.”

  He grinned. “Thanks, boss. I appreciate that.”

  It looked as if the first of the breweries had arrived, and with the breweries came the visitors who purchased tickets that gave them the right to unlimited food and beverages during the designated time frame provided by the committee. I was glad Jeremy had thought to rope off the most vulnerable garden areas since it already looked as if those invited were oblivious as to where the lawn ended, and the garden began. I thought I’d seen Mylie heading toward the area of the garden where Jeremy had set out benches, so I headed in that direction. There was a group of men who looked to be the sort to be up to no good standing near the birdbath. I was tempted to check to make sure they had tickets and to send them on their way if they didn’t, but they didn’t look like the sort of people I wanted to get in a power struggle with.

  “Are you sure Nadine said the diary is hidden here on this property?” one of the men, who was wearing jeans and a Yankees cap, asked.

  I paused to listen, inching closer so as not to be obvious. There were a lot of people standing around, so I hoped I didn’t stand out in any way.

  “That’s what she said,” A man in a red shirt said. “She said that she asked about the diary when she was at Patrick’s looking for the relics with the phony stones. He wouldn’t give it to her, so she shot him. He still resisted, but after she shot him a second time, he told her that he knew she was looking for the diary, and that he’d given it to a woman who’d stopped by the museum that day. According to Nadine, the broad that owns this place is the one he gave it to.”

  “This might not be the best time to look for something like that,” a man dressed in shorts and a white polo shirt said.

  “It’s the perfect time,” the man who’d spoken first said. “This place is an inn. There are always people around, so waiting for no one to be here isn’t going to work. But with so many people here today, if we take a look around, no one will think anything about it.”

  “Even if we go inside and take a look?” the man with the red shirt asked.

  “Even then. If someone says something to us, we’ll just say we were looking for the bathroom. Now spread out. There’s a library inside. My bet is that the diary will be in there, but there are other common rooms as well.”

  The men split up, so I took a step away. Patrick had given me the diary? It must have been inside the box with the letters I had never gotten around to looking at. The box was in my bedroom at the cottage. I called Colt and filled him in, and then headed to find Jeremy and Tanner to help me.

  Luckily, the men I’d overheard had busied themselves by looking around inside the inn and didn’t appear to be making a scene or bothering anyone. They searched the library, the first-floor parlor, the third-floor reading room, and even the pantry in the kitchen. Normally, I would have stopped them, but given the fact that I didn’t want them doing anything to upset the event or to take off before Colt arrived, I simply filled Jeremy and Tanner in and then asked that they keep an eye on them.

  “Where are they?” Colt asked when he arrived.

  “Inside. There are three men. One is in jeans with a Yankees cap, one is wearing khakis and a red sports shirt, and one is dressed in shorts and a white polo shirt.”

  “Are they armed?”

  “I don’t think so. I didn’t see any guns.”

  “Okay. Wait here. I have backup on the way. They were about a minute behind me. Send them in when they get here.”

  Thankfully, as I suspected, the men weren’t armed, and Colt was able to detain them without incident. Of course, they stuck to their story about looking for the bathroom, and when I confronted them about what I’d heard in the garden, they suggested I’d heard wrong, and they really had been looking for a bathroom. I figured I’d let Colt sort that out. He took them down to the station to do just that, and I headed to the cottage to confirm my theory that the diary really was hidden in the box with the letters.

  “Well, what do you know,” I said after opening the box and taking the letters from the top. “I’ve had the dang thing the whole time, and I didn’t even know what I had.”

  “What’s that?” Annabelle asked, walking up behind me.

  “A mystery for another day.” I put the diary back in the box along with the letters and then put the whole thing in my closet. “For now, let’s go and have some fun with our guests. Mylie said something about face paint
ing for the kids.”

  Something new from Kathi Daley Books

  Summerhouse Reunion – https://amzn.to/3btaroM

  Topsail Sundays – https://amzn.to/2zlVozO

  Campfire Secrets - https://amzn.to/3dJQkUv

  Preview of Summerhouse Reunion

  Sometimes life is about letting go. Letting go of the way things were supposed to have been. Letting go of unmet dreams and incomplete plans. Letting go of the anger that consumes you as you struggle to make sense of an unfinished life. I’d spent the last year denying the inevitable, negotiating for a different ending, screaming to the heavens that it wasn’t supposed to happen this way, and finally struggling to accept an ending that should never have been.

  Letting go, I realized somewhere along the way, was the hardest thing I’d ever had to do.

  “It’s a beautiful day.” A woman with white hair walked up beside me as the spray from the rough sea misted my face.

  “Yes.” I turned and smiled. The woman looked to be a few years older than my sixty-eight-year-old mother; unlike my mother, however, who simply could not or would not understand the grief that haunted my every waking moment, this woman looked at me with compassion and understanding. “It’s a little rougher than I like my ferry rides, but beautiful all the same. My name is Kelly. Kelly Green. I’m afraid I can’t immediately place you, but I feel like we’ve met.”

  “We have met, although it has been a long time since we’ve seen each other. About twenty years, to be more specific.”

  My brows shot upward. “Dottie Pemberton?”

  The woman smiled and offered her hand.

  “Wow.” I reached out and hugged the woman. “I’m so sorry I didn’t recognize you. It’s just that…”

  “It’s just that the fifty-two-year-old woman you remember looked a bit differently from the seventy-two-year-old woman standing before you today.”

  “Yes.” I stepped back. “I mean, no. I mean, sure, your hair is different, and I guess we all have a few more laugh lines, but still…” I realized I was rambling, so I stopped and hugged the woman again. “How are you?”