by Gayle Leeson
Max was sitting on the desk in the reception area when I returned to Designs on You. She was swinging her legs. Jazzy was watching her contentedly.
“Aren’t you the berries?” She winked.
“You are the berries, and am I glad to see you!”
She threw back her head and laughed. “I didn’t know what to do when I saw Brett in Mrs. Meacham’s office copying down your address. But then I remembered that the tablet you gave me has a little photograph of an envelope on it. I opened the envelope, and it had a bunch of names in it. I didn’t see yours, so I sent a message to Dave. I prayed he’d get the message and that he’d know what to do.”
“Thanks to you, he knew exactly what to do.” I grinned. “Are you ever the elephant’s eyebrows!”
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Author’s Notes
Thank you kindly!
FIRST OFF, I WANT TO thank you for taking the time to read this book. I also want to thank my wonderful beta readers Lianna Trent, Rachel Vance, Kris Sheets, Carrie Schmidt, Marcy Barth, Amy Connolley, Sally Schmidt, Barbara Hackel, Linda Bergstrom, and Meg Gustafson for taking their time to read and provide valuable feedback. A very special shout out to Karen “Lovey” Borelli, a comedic genius. If you enjoyed the frenetic ferrets, you have her to thank for providing the inspiration. Thanks to Andrea, Garry, and Will of Twin Roses Design for showing me around their studio and sharing their stories with me. Thanks to Garic Stephens of Lavelle for showing me around his atelier and answering my many questions. (It did my heart good to see a note from his mom reminding him to “Eat something” above his worktable. We moms don’t care how grown up our children are, they’re still our children.) Thank you to Marie Bridgeforth, for designing such a beautiful cover. Thanks to Robert Weisfeld for permitting me artistic license with regard to The Abingdon Virginian’s archives. And, last but certainly not least, thank you to the residents of the Greenway-Trigg building (Olive Oil Company employees and R. Dean Barr) for welcoming me into your shops.
Shops on Main
The fictional Shops on Main is loosely based on the Greenway-Trigg building in Abingdon, Virginia. The building was constructed in 1864 and has been a private home, a retail establishment, and—as an Olive Oil Company employee told me—a “beehive.” I didn’t know what that meant but learned that it was a bordello. I used to love visiting the bookstore housed inside the building when I worked up the street from Greenway-Trigg. I’d take my lunch hour to walk to the store, browse, and then sit on the swing outside with my find.
Prohibition/Poison Alcohol?
I got my information for this part of Designs on Murder primarily from a Slate article dated February 19, 2010 titled The Chemist’s War. The article tells the “little-told story of how the United States government poisoned alcohol during Prohibition with deadly consequences.”
When people continued to consume a lot of alcohol despite it being banned, government officials ordered industrial alcohols manufactured in the United States to have the addition of lethal chemicals. This was because crime syndicates were stealing massive quantities of industrial alcohol used in paints, solvents, fuels, and medical supplies and redistilling it to drink. The U. S. Treasury Department estimated that by the mid-1920s, some 60 million gallons of industrial alcohol were stolen annually.
The most common additive was methyl alcohol, and by mid-1927, the new denaturing formulas included kerosene, brucine, gasoline, benzene, cadmium, iodine, zinc, mercury salts, nicotine, ether, formaldehyde, chloroform, camphor, carbolic acid, quinine, and acetone.
Rachel, one of my brilliant beta readers, pointed out that Johnson City, Tennessee (about an hour’s drive from Abingdon) was called Little Chicago during the time of Prohibition because the city was reputed to be an occasional hideout for gangsters, including Al Capone. If you’re interested, you can read more about it at https://bit.ly/2UV3GUq.
1920s Jewelry
While the 1920s is considered one of the most important eras in fashion history, it is also said to be one of the most important periods in the history of jewelry design during the Art Deco movement.
Cartier is one of the most famous Art Deco jewelry designers. Louis François Cartier founded the company in 1847. Two generations later, his grandsons Pierre, Louis, and Jacques turned the Parisian watchmaking company into a global jewelry design business. Incidentally, the Cartier building on Fifth Avenue in New York is reputed to have been bought for $100 and a string of pearls!
Tiffany & Co. was founded in 1837 and is one of the most famous Art Deco jewelry designers in the world. The first Tiffany & Co. store was opened on Broadway by Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young to sell stationery and “fancy goods” (like lamp shades, I imagine). They later incorporated jewelry design, and the rest is history. If you’re a football fan, you probably already know that Tiffany & Co. creates the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
J. E. Caldwell died in 1881 and the company officially closed in 2003. However, their rare vintage Art Deco jewelry has been known to bring as much as $120,000 on the open market.
Bailey, Banks, and Biddle—founded in 1832—is considered to be America’s oldest jewelry company. By the late 1860s, this company was considered the finest jewelry maker in America. Bailey, Banks, and Biddle produced military medals and swords, and the firm designed the Great Seal of the United States.
Mario Buccellati opened his first store in Milan in 1819 and quickly rose to prominence among jewelry designers. After establishing shops in Milan, Rome, and Florence, the company set up shop on Fifth Avenue in New York and later in Palm Beach, Florida. Buccellati’s artwork is on display at the Chianciano Art Museum in Tuscany.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
GAYLE LEESON IS A PSEUDONYM for Gayle Trent. I also write as Amanda Lee. As Gayle Trent, I write the Daphne Martin Cake Mystery series and the Myrtle Crumb Mystery series. As Amanda Lee, I write the Embroidery Mystery series. To eliminate confusion going forward, I’m writing under the name Gayle Leeson only. My family and I live in Virginia near Abingdon, Virginia, and I’m having a blast with this new series.
