After exchanging greetings with the church secretary, Daisy climbed the three steps inside the door and walked down a hall, following Vanna. Vanna turned right. Her work area was located directly outside the minister’s office. That door was closed now.
Vanna pointed to the ladder-back wooden chair in front of her desk while she sat on a rolling chair behind it. “I was curious why you wanted to talk to me.”
Daisy hesitated a moment, then she said honestly, “The tea garden’s business is suffering because of Derek’s murder. I guess customers think we’re going to poison them. Not only that, but my staff could be suspect because Derek’s review was a bad one.”
“I haven’t seen it published on his blog.”
So Vanna followed the blog too.
“No, it hasn’t been, but Detective Rappaport told me some of what it said. A few of my staff have computer skills. He thinks they could have hacked into the blog and found the lineup of tea rooms. My review would have been in that lineup.”
Vanna held on to the desk and brought her chair closer to it. “I can understand why you want the detective to hurry up and find out who killed Derek, but why have you come to me?”
“I need to know more about Harriet.”
Vanna smiled. “There’s really not much to tell. She was active before her stroke, a member of the Garden Club and the Art Guild. When her husband died, his insurance money and what they’d saved together had been enough to keep her comfortable.”
Daisy already knew all of that.
“I’d like to go back further than the present day. Do you know who Derek’s father was? No one has mentioned him.”
“Mmm,” Vanna intoned. “That was so long ago. Past history. Certainly, it can’t have any bearing on Derek’s murder.”
“I’m not sure about that,” Daisy countered. “I think there might be something in Harriet’s past or Derek’s past that could have led to his murder. Won’t you tell me something about it?”
Looking troubled, Vanna stared past Daisy into the hall, but she wasn’t really looking at that space. It was as if she was looking back in time. Finally, she told Daisy, “Derek’s father isn’t common knowledge, and that’s the way Harriet wanted it. I need to keep her confidence.”
Daisy picked up her purse that she’d set on the floor. She opened it and took out one of her business cards. “I respect that, Vanna, really I do. Harriet’s sister won’t talk about her past, either, and if this is a confidence and more people are keeping it for Harriet, then I have to wonder what the secret is. Secrets can get a person murdered.”
She took hold of the pen that was lying on the desk. On the back of the business card she wrote her home landline and cell number. Then she slid the card over to Vanna. “If you change your mind, please call me, anytime, day or night. And just try to remember—where there are secrets, there can be motives and lies. Those are the basis for murder.”
* * *
“Mom, I think the date we set up with Reverend Kemp will work. And . . . I still shouldn’t have much of a baby bump.”
Daisy sat in a folding chair in the second floor of the garage with an old table in front of her where she’d positioned her laptop. Vi’s face stared back at her mother from her laptop screen.
Foster was standing beside Daisy on her left and Jazzi on her right.
Daisy turned to look at Foster. “Are you okay with the August date?”
Foster nodded as Vi spoke to her again from the screen. “Foster and I had a long talk about it last night. We know why you want us to wait at least until then.”
“It will be easier to plan a wedding if we have some time,” Daisy said, not for the first time.
“But you also want to know if the pregnancy is viable. You want me to get through my first trimester.”
Daisy couldn’t deny it. She hadn’t asked a question that should be asked. “Tell me something. Would you and Foster still get married if you miscarry?”
“We would still get married,” Foster insisted. “Either way. We do love each other, Mrs. Swanson.”
He always reverted to Mrs. Swanson when he thought they were discussing something controversial.
Jazzi spoke to Violet now. “Four months would give you more time to plan a special wedding. Hopefully you’ll only have one in your lifetime. You certainly don’t want it to happen at the justice of the peace. We know Gram and Gramps, Aunt Iris, and Camellia will want to be there. As well as Jonas and other friends.”
“I don’t want a big wedding,” Vi returned.
“I understand that,” Daisy assured her. “It usually takes a year or more to find a reception place. And as far as that is concerned, Daisy’s Tea Garden will be happy to host your reception.”
“You’re doing so much for us, Mom,” Vi said as if she regretted it.
“You’re my daughter, and soon I’ll look on Foster as a son. I will always do anything I can to help you.”
The side door to the garage opened and closed, and Daisy could hear someone coming up the steps. The stairs leading up to the second floor were definitely rustic. Soon Gavin would secure the treads and make them sturdy and more presentable. When she looked over her shoulder, she saw Jonas. She was inordinately happy that he’d stopped by, but she wondered why he had.
“I think we discussed everything I need for now,” Daisy said. “Why don’t you and Jazzi and Foster talk about color schemes for the wedding and where you want to look for your gown. You’re going to be home again this weekend?”
“Yes. And I might make one trip home before finals to bring some of my stuff. I’m not sure I can pack it all in the car for one trip.”
“Sounds good. I love you, Vi.” Daisy threw her daughter a kiss. “I’ll talk to you this weekend.”
Daisy stood and let Foster take the seat in front of her laptop. She crossed over to Jonas who was standing at the top of the stairway.
“How are things going?”
“At the beginning of our video conference session, Vi and Foster went over with me what they think would be a good arrangement for this apartment.”
Jonas scanned the space. “Where will the kitchen be?”
Daisy pulled a rough drawing from her sweater pocket. She pointed to the corner of the room where the kitchen would be located. “It’s going to be small,” she said. “Just like everything else. In some ways, it would be similar to a studio apartment. Vi and Foster are trying to decide if they want to wall off a separate space for the baby.”
“I know Gavin will be overseeing construction,” Jonas said. “But I’d be glad to make the cabinets for cost if you’d like that. If I start now, I should have them done by the time the other work is complete.”
“I can’t ask you to do that.”
He placed both hands gently on her shoulders and drew her a little closer. “I told you, I will support you anyway I can, with anything you need. All we can do is look forward and try to make the right decisions.”
When she gazed up into his green eyes, tears came to hers. Maybe, just maybe, she and Jonas could keep their bonds and deepen them. “All right,” she said. “You can make the cabinets. I know they’ll be solid and beautiful.”
“Did you say Vi was coming home this weekend?”
“She is.”
“I can find out then if she and Foster want a Shaker-style, or something a little more elaborate. Or should I be asking you that?”
“No, I’ll discuss it with them. Whatever they choose is fine with me.”
“You’re a good mom.”
“Am I? Or am I making this too easy for them?” He shook his head. “If you weren’t supportive, they’d run off and get married, and then who knows what they’d do next. This way you can make sure Violet’s going to doctors’ appointments and taking care of herself.”
“What you’re saying is that I’m a mom who wants control.”
“Don’t all moms?”
She laughed. “Maybe so. I guess you understand that making the cabinet
s for them will give you a lifetime membership for Daisy’s Tea Garden for unlimited tea and scones.”
This time he laughed. “I’m hoping for more than tea and scones. This will be a good first step.”
Daisy hoped Jonas’s words would come true.
* * *
On Wednesday, Daisy was at the sales counter ringing up a customer when she heard her aunt Iris say, “Hi there, Vanna. It’s good to see you. You haven’t been in for a while.”
Daisy looked up to see Vanna just inside the door with Iris ushering her toward a table. But Vanna was shaking her head.
Finished with her customer, Daisy came out from behind the sales counter and greeted Vanna too.
Taking a few steps closer to Daisy, Vanna said, “Can we talk somewhere?”
Vanna’s skin wasn’t as ruddy as it usually was. The lines under her eyes and on her forehead looked deep, signaling she was troubled.
Daisy asked her aunt, “Can you watch the sales counter while I help Vanna?”
Although Iris cast her a puzzled look, she nodded.
It was the middle of the afternoon, business was slow, and Daisy didn’t think anyone was sitting at the tables outside. She said to Vanna, “If you want to sit outside, we’ll have privacy and fresh air. I’ll bring the teapot and strawberry tarts.”
“I’m not really hungry,” Vanna said with a shake of her head.
“That’s okay. Maybe you’ll be hungry once we talk.” She suspected that was the reason why Vanna was here, perhaps to unload a secret. Daisy felt chills crawl up her back just thinking about it. Could this be the conversation that could help solve the case?
There wasn’t anyone at the sales counter at the moment. Iris said, “I’ll get Vanna set up outside while you brew the tea.”
“What kind of tea would you like?”
“Green tea. No caffeine. Maybe it will help steady me since it has all those antioxidants and all.”
Ten minutes later, Daisy was sitting with Vanna at one of the round tables, a yellow and white umbrella shading them. Vanna took off her sweater, letting it hang over her chair. It was white with pearl buttons. Her two-piece blouse and pant set was of the palest aqua.
Vanna turned her tea mug around and around. Then she added two teaspoons of sugar. Daisy gave her time to find her voice.
Finally, Vanna said, “I want to help you solve the murder. I don’t think anything I can say had anything to do with it, but I realize one never knows. The thing is—you have to promise to keep this to yourself unless absolutely necessary.”
“If there’s any connection to Derek’s murder,” Daisy reminded her, “I’ll have to share the information with Detective Rappaport.”
“I understand,” Vanna said with a sigh. After taking a swallow of tea, she set her mug down. “Working in the minister’s office, I see and hear things that I probably shouldn’t. If nothing else, what I have to tell you might explain Derek’s behavior.”
Daisy wondered what behavior Vanna was talking about, but she didn’t want to sidetrack her.
Vanna looked around the back walkway to the tea garden, at the herbs that were planted in a row, and the pots with yellow and purple pansies. Finally, she said to Daisy, “Simply put, Harriet was a bookworm and she didn’t date when she was young. At twenty-five no one had asked her out.”
Daisy was surprised at that. Although Harriet wouldn’t be considered pretty, her face had interesting bone structure and her hair was still thick and wavy. Daisy could imagine her much younger with an expressive smile.
Vanna continued. “Willow Creek was smaller thirty-six years ago than it is now. I have to admit, Harriet had a reputation for being bossy even back then. She also didn’t pretty up much.”
“You mean not much makeup?”
“Exactly. She always looked pale and didn’t stand out.”
Daisy couldn’t imagine where this was going.
“I heard talk that her attitude and unfashionable wardrobe put men off. I got married and she seemed jealous of me. As a service project as a teenager, I had helped the minister at Willow Creek Community Church with paperwork. After I graduated from high school, he hired me and I’ve worked there ever since.”
Daisy was practically at the edge of her seat, wondering what Vanna had seen or overheard, because she imagined that’s where this conversation was going.
Vanna licked her lips as if her mouth was suddenly dry. She took a couple of swallows of her tea. “I was young then,” she mused. “I didn’t know much about confidentiality, not in a small town. I was working the evening that Harriet rushed in, her face tear-streaked, her clothes and her hair in disarray. She said she needed to talk to the minister. She’d gone to the house first, but no one answered the door and she seemed frantic. I told her the minister was in the church at the podium, practicing his sermon. Harriet disappeared into the church, and she hadn’t come out when I left.”
Daisy suspected what was coming, but she didn’t want to derail Vanna’s story. So she kept silent.
The sound of a horse and buggy clomping down the street took their attention for a moment. Vanna watched it, then looked around. She must have decided they were really alone because she went on, “The next morning the reverend’s wife was in the office with him. I heard them talking. Harriet had gone out on a date with someone she’d met at the library. Apparently, he wasn’t from Willow Creek. They went to dinner and afterward . . .” Vanna’s cheeks pinkened. “The man raped her in his car. The minister’s wife insisted Harriet should go to the police, but the minister said she wouldn’t go because she believed they’d just blame her. After that day, Harriet met with the minister once a week, and I assumed it was for counseling.”
Thank goodness Harriet had had someone she could talk to, Daisy thought.
Vanna shifted on her chair. “About seven or eight weeks later, a woman came to the minister’s office who was a social worker. I saw the printout she gave the minister that listed homes for unwed mothers. Soon after, Harriet went to live with her sister June in Erie. At that time, June was married and trying to have a baby but having no luck. I took a phone call from Harriet and patched her through to the minister. But, God forgive me, I listened in.”
Daisy could see that Vanna regretted it and considered it the worst wrongdoing. The church secretary closed her eyes as she said, “June wanted to adopt Harriet’s baby, but there had always been a rivalry between June and Harriet. Harriet decided to keep Derek.” She came back to Willow Creek with her baby, and no one dared ask her who the father was.
Vanna took her napkin and played with the edges. “Through the years, I could easily see the problem with her and Derek. Even though she never said it, and she never told me her story, I saw the way she looked at Derek. I imagine she could never forget the way he was conceived. I was seeing a lot of parishioners coming in and out of the minister’s office with all types of emotions, and I swear that sometimes when Harriet looked at Derek, she hated him.”
Vanna picked up her fork and poked at the strawberry tart. “She married two years after she returned. As Derek grew older, he didn’t get along with his stepdad. One day when Derek was waiting to talk with the minister, he told me he had questions about his father but Harriet wouldn’t give him answers. He was hoping the minister would. Although Derek was the older brother, he obviously became the black sheep. One of his problems was easy to see. He had poor self-esteem, and I think he tried to make up for that with his intelligence and acquired arrogance. When his stepdad died, he visited Harriet more and I think he was always trying to earn her approval. After he got his own TV show, I think he thought his mother would finally be proud of him. But then it was canceled. He became closer to his brother Bradley then. It was obvious when Lauren and Bradley stepped in to help after Harriet had her stroke. Derek was taking responsibility for her, but I’m not sure he was putting any emotion into it. After her stroke, Harriet confided in me that she believed he felt taking care of her was his duty, nothing more.”<
br />
“It’s such a sad story.”
Vanna looked relieved now that the telling was done. “Yes, it is.”
“Do you think Derek and his brother knew his mother’s story?”
“There was never any sign of that,” Vanna said.
“I think I need to talk to Bradley. When I do, do I have your permission to tell him what you’ve told me?”
“Harriet will find out!” Vanna exclaimed.
“Maybe. Maybe not. But I think Bradley’s my next best lead.”
Vanna looked dejected for a moment. “I think I knew this couldn’t stay between me and you.” She looked Daisy in the eye. “Do what you have to do. I just hope Harriet will forgive me some day for telling you.”
“If I figure out who hurt her son, I think she will.”
Daisy checked her watch. Maybe if she went to the high school, she could catch Bradley as he was leaving for the day. It was the best way she knew to find the next clue.
Chapter Nineteen
Only a few scattered cars remained in the high school’s parking lot. Students who stayed after school participated in clubs. Almost everyone else would be gone. Daisy suspected Bradley, as high school principal, spent a lot of extra hours there. She was hoping she could catch him before he closed his office for the day.
Before Vanna had left the tea garden, Daisy again had asked her permission to tell Bradley the truth about his mother if he didn’t know it.
Vanna had asked her if she considered him a suspect, and Daisy had admitted he could be on the list. So Vanna had agreed, hoping her relationship with Harriet wouldn’t be damaged. Yet she knew if the police looked into Harriet’s background, they could possibly find all of this information on their own.
Daisy felt a little nervous about confronting Bradley. Just how would he react?
As she approached his office, she noted that the secretary in the outer office was gone. Bradley sat at his desk sorting through papers.
Murder with Cucumber Sandwiches Page 22
