by Blythe Baker
“I’ll go get a map of the garden from the gift shop,” Kelly offered and hurried off.
As I stood there with Michael, I folded my arms over my chest and rocked back and forth on my heels.
“I think Kelly has a little crush on you,” I offered.
“Really?” Michael took a step closer to me. “Well, did you tell her that you and I are a thing?”
“A thing? Are we a thing?” I teased. “Michael, I hope you didn’t plant that hand in my garden just so you’d have an excuse to spend a lot of time here.”
“I’m not that creative. How about dinner and a movie?”
“I can’t make plans at a time like this. We’re talking about my livelihood. If this hand story gets out, it might ruin my business. It will certainly put a damper on it. No one wants to go to a nature preserve where random body parts can be found. Yuck.” I frowned.
“I hope you’re not thinking of getting involved in this.”
“Whatever do you mean?” I looked up at the trees and down at the grass.
“Maddie, this is a job for the police. Just let us handle it.”
I understood his worried tone. In the past, I’d had a tendency to poke my nose into investigations he would have preferred me not to. But it wasn’t like I’d had a choice. Things just kept happening to my family or to my business and I’d had to settle them. Anyway, I was surprisingly good at amateur sleuthing, as it had turned out.
“I could help,” I said now. “This is my property, after all. There’s nothing stopping me from searching my own property, is there?”
“Actually, when ‘your own property’ becomes a crime scene, like it usually does when a human limb is found, that sort of changes the rules.”
“Michael, don’t plaster my place with crime scene tape,” I begged.
The detective looked around as if someone might be watching. “Say you’ll have dinner with me and I promise to get the guys off your land as soon as possible. I’ll even arrange it so we can tape off the affected area of the garden and keep the rest of it open.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like blackmail.”
“It’s no such thing. It’s a suggestion that presents a desirable outcome for everybody.”
I couldn’t help a small smile. “Fine. But I’m busy this weekend. I made plans to talk with the landscapers who’ll be helping with the run down bit of property in the back.” I jerked my thumb over my shoulder in the general direction of the area I was talking about. “And then I have to talk with a plumber back at the house and find out when he plans on finishing up his job. I also offered to take Mamma Jackie to the vet.”
He laughed. “Why? What’s wrong with her?”
I rolled my eyes at the bad joke. “Obviously, we’re not going there for her, we’re going for Moonshine’s check-up. Although having my ex-mother-in-law checked for rabies isn’t a bad idea.”
Michael sighed. “Fine.”
Then, before I could protest, he kissed me quickly on the lips.
“You’re ghastly, Michael Sullivan,” I said just over a whisper.
But I knew the red in my cheeks gave me away and I couldn’t help the smile that fought its way across my lips.
3
“What kind of place are you running out at that tea garden?” Mamma Jackie yelled from her room the next morning.
“What’s the matter?” I asked, as I shuffled from the kitchen to her bedroom door and peeked in. “What are you yelling about?”
“You’re on the news. And it isn’t for the weird blooming teas you sell.” She pointed to the small television propped up on a TV tray in the corner of her room.
I felt my mouth run dry.
“Body parts being dug up all over the place…” Mamma Jackie muttered.
I tuned her out and listened to what was being said on the TV.
“…Police say they are still searching the area. So far, the only lead they have is the badly decomposed hand found by Officer Ray Seals. The identity of the owner of the arm is still unknown. This will no doubt cause a delay in the expansion plans the owner of the tea garden had cleared with City Hall. There will be…”
“The identity of the owner of the arm is still unknown,” I realized aloud and put my hand to my cheek. “Meanwhile, this is going to be terrible for business. Thanks for standing right in front of my business sign, lady,” I complained at the reporter on the television.
“So, who was your dead grandmother hiding out there?” Mamma Jackie asked.
“She didn’t do this!” I answered the old woman. “My grandmother had nothing to do with some old crime. But keep it up and you might find yourself in a similar situation as the owner of that hand.”
“Rawk! Breakfast! Breakfast!” Moonshine, Mamma Jackie’s parrot, interrupted from his cage in the next room.
“Your bird is hungry,” I said as I shut off the television.
“Breakfast, Lazy!” The bird continued his morning ritual of abuse.
Mamma Jackie ignored the noise. “What are you going to do about the dead bodies popping up all over this place?” she asked, as she walked to the front room, pushing past me like I was the hired help.
“There aren’t dead bodies popping up all over. A dog found an old, dried out hand. False reporting to say it was an arm.” I hissed at the black screen of the television. “What can I do? The police are checking the grounds. They likely won’t find anything, because Detective Sullivan said the hand was probably dragged into the garden by an animal.”
“Isn’t he that fellow who’s been coming to see you a hundred times a week?” she asked.
I folded my arms and shifted from my right foot to my left.
Mamma Jackie took my body language as the warning it was and went to Moonshine’s cage.
“How’s my good boy? Who’s a handsome fellow?” She cooed to the bird as he delicately climbed onto her finger and inched his was up her arm to perch on her shoulder.
Now both of them were looking at me. I felt greatly outnumbered.
She said, “I just think Moonshine and I should know the men you’re going to have traipsing in and out of this place.”
“Men?” I scoffed. “There’s only the one.”
“So you say.” Mamma Jackie adjusted her zebra printed muumuu, before heading to the kitchen to tend to Moonshine.
She gave the bird one of my Saltine crackers, which he ate as delicately as if he were snacking with the Queen of England. She filled his water dish with fresh water and went back to his cage. She also took out his mirror and cleaned off all the bird–boogers that had collected since the previous day.
Then she returned to the attack. “You say ‘only the one man’ but you’ve got carpenters and plumbers and police coming through here. It never ends.”
“Don’t forget your son,” I pointed out. “I guess you’re counting him too?”
She scowled.
I enjoyed silencing her for only a second. At the mention of my ex-husband, I realized Drake would probably be on the phone, if not on his way over, if he saw the news about the discovery on the tea garden property.
Something told me a migraine was going to be on the agenda today.
“I don’t have time to argue with you.” Mamma Jackie clicked her tongue and made kisses at Moonshine, who mimicked her perfectly.
“Right. You have important plans,” I said, watching her pick up a paperback from the end table. “You’ve got to get back to reading The Potentate and his Concubine. What chapter are you on again?”
With only a harrumph, Mamma Jackie and her book disappeared through the back door and out onto the veranda.
I waited a few minutes and let her stew.
“Do you want some coffee?” I yelled.
“Yes. Black.”
I smiled. No matter how ornery Mamma Jackie could be, I had gotten used to her. One thing I could say about her. She was a tough woman and she had raised her boy, my ex-husband, to be a success. There was a certain amount of arrogance
that came with his career as a lawyer and perhaps an elevated level of selfishness. But he was good at what he did. Even I couldn’t deny that.
However, he did owe me for taking care of his mother. I certainly didn’t have to do it. But she kept me company. In her own magical way, she let me know she appreciated it. Not that she’d ever come right out and say “thank you”.
I walked onto the veranda where she was sitting in her lawn chair, her paperback romance in her hands, and delivered her a hot cup of coffee.
“Took you long enough,” she mumbled, as she gently took the cup from me.
Had she really been mad, she would have said nothing and had me set the coffee on the table. No. She’d never come right out and say “thank you”.
After I showered and dressed, I headed out to the tea garden and the souvenir shop. It was still a little early for Kelly to be there. I was even more surprised to find a fellow loitering around alone, pacing back and forth across the gravel parking lot.
“Good morning!” I shouted and waved as I approached. “I’m sorry but the garden is closed today.”
“That’s what I heard,” the man said smugly.
“Is there something I can do for you?” I quickly changed my attitude from friendly to firm. I didn’t like the way this guy was looking over everything like he was tallying up some total in his head.
“Yeah,” he grumbled. “You got workers tearing up some land?”
“I’ve got landscapers digging on my property, yes,” I replied in kind.
“Well, lady, you might need to have a talk with them,” the man said as he hooked his thumbs through his belt loops.
“Why? Who are you and what is this all about?”
“Name’s Zane Jones. I work for Mr. Walker at the quarry down the road.”
“I should have known,” I said. “I guess Daniel Walker got tired of being told in person to get off my land, so he sent you?”
“Mr. Walker is on vacation and left me in charge,” Zane said with a stony expression on his face. He didn’t look at me directly. Instead, he glanced all over the place, like I was just something in his way. “I’d take this seriously if I were you, Miss Morgan. Your workers have been trespassing on quarry property.”
“How do you know it’s my landscapers who are doing it?”
“There are tracks leading across our property to your garden,” he said smugly. “Guess your landscapers thought they could take a shortcut and bring their equipment past the quarry.”
“Okay, I’ll look into it. You can leave now,” I said, frowning. With all I had to deal with these days, my workers trespassing on my neighbor’s land were the least of my concerns.
“This is serious,” Zane Jones barked, as if reading my mind. “The tracks are from vehicles too small to be quarry equipment. But they’re the perfect size for thieves looking to snag free supplies.”
“Thieves? Snag supplies? Are you off your rocker?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “My men don’t trespass or steal. They come through the front gate and have everything they need already with them.”
“You know this because you watch them come and go all day long? You supervise their every movement and are one hundred percent sure they aren’t even an inch on quarry land? You can swear that to the police? Huh? Can you?”
I clenched my teeth, reigned in my temper, and defended my workers again. “Like I said, my people don’t trespass. But I’ll tell you what. Ben Lewis is the boss in charge of the landscaping. When he shows up, I’ll tell him about your accusations. I’m sure he’ll be able to clear things up for you.”
Zane stood there for a moment. Then he smiled.
“I saw your place was featured on the news this morning.” His teeth were stained yellow from cigarettes and, as he scratched his stubbly cheek, I could see his fingernails were chewed to the quick. “That kind of discovery has been known to shut a business down for good.”
“You say that like you’ve done it before,” I snapped.
“I didn’t have anything to do with it.” He looked way too cocky for me to believe him. “But if you’ve got bodies buried on these grounds, the police will find them. Then this place will go belly-up before you can say rest-in-peace.”
I felt my cheeks growing hot. “You think so?” I asked. “Well, it’ll be over my dead body that you or Daniel Walker ever hold so much as a handful of my property. Especially when I tell the police you seem to know an awful lot about that hand that was found.”
“I heard it on the news.” Zane glared at me.
“How do I know that? Sounds to me like you might know more. A good deal more. In fact, it’s rather suspicious that you show up over here right after the discovery of the hand. I think Detective Sullivan might find this all very interesting.”
I pulled my cell phone from my back pocket.
“You think you’re so smart.” Zane pointed at me, as he backed up to his truck. It wasn’t nearly as big and obnoxious as Daniel Walker’s red behemoth. But it was a pick-up truck with the name of Walker’s stone quarry emblazoned on the side and that was enough to make me hate it.
“This isn’t over,” said Zane. “Tell your hired hands to stay off quarry land or else.”
He climbed inside, revved the engine, and of course he had to peel out, kicking up stones and dirt in the process. You didn’t get much more obnoxious than that.
I waved him off as if I were shooing a fly, and went up the hill to unlock the souvenir shop front door, weaving my way around the areas Michael and his men had taped off the other day to keep the public away from their crime scene. I paused at the shop door. It was easy to pretend I was looking for the right key when, in fact, I stood there for a few minutes trembling with rage.
It never failed. When it rained it poured. That quarry was like a weight around my neck. Daniel Walker and his minions were so desperate for my little piece of land that I was starting to wonder if maybe they didn’t have something to do with this gruesome discovery. I’d mention it to Michael. If nothing else, it would get some cops over there asking questions. Innocent or not, no one likes to be questioned by the police.
“I’m sure Walker has some skeletons in his closet that he doesn’t want snooped into. What I wouldn’t give to find out about just one of those,” I muttered.
But that wasn’t how things worked. People like him never seemed to get their comeuppance.
Much as I didn’t like Daniel Walker, this Zane Jones character was even worse. There was something about him that wasn’t just greed, like I felt from Walker. There was a sadistic side to this guy. I had first accused him of having something to do with the severed hand in the garden just to scare him away. But his attitude made me wonder if there might be something to the idea.
My fingers were all thumbs, as I tried to unlock the shop door and dropped my keys to the ground in the process.
“Argh! What a morning!” I cried out in frustration.
“That man didn’t seem very polite. I hope you aren’t going to let him ruin your day,” said a familiar male voice from behind me.
4
“Hello, Mr. Seeton,” I said, as I stooped over quickly and scooped up my keys. “Yeah. You just can’t please some people. You’re out and about early today.”
I didn’t add that since he had arrived before Kelly showed up to man the entrance, he hadn’t paid the proper fee to get in. It was probably unplanned on his part and I judged it best not to offend one of our regulars.
Mr. Seeton was in his mid-fifties. I didn’t think I ever saw his head, so I couldn’t be sure if he had hair or not. He was always wearing a floppy sand camouflage hat. There were two sets of binoculars around his neck. He wore the same brown button-down short-sleeved shirt every day he visited the garden and khaki cut-off pants that came just above his ankles. High boots finished off the ensemble. The oversized pockets on his pants were bursting with notebook, pencils, a magnifying glass, a well worn map of the grounds and a couple of granola bars.
> “I’m hoping to see a male Gambel’s quail,” he said happily. “I saw a female about three weeks ago. Where there’s a female, the males can’t be far behind.”
“That sounds about right.” I smiled. “Have you seen anything exciting this morning?” Bad choice of words, I thought, after they tumbled out of my big mouth.
“There are some ducklings enjoying the koi pond. Four in all. They’re still following their mother. It won’t be long now before they’re fending for themselves. They grow very quickly. Except there was one that seemed to be having some trouble.”
“Oh? What makes you say that?”
“I watched as they all filed into the water. One duckling has either injured its foot or it’s deformed in some way. I’m afraid while he’s still young, if he’s the slow-poke, he may fall prey to a predator.”
“Oh, dear.” I pretended to be interested. It wasn’t that I didn’t like ducks. I loved the wildlife that enjoyed the tea garden. But I also knew that as cute and cuddly as those little ducks were, there were other animals that ate them. It was the circle of life. Plus, Moonshine had put a severe damper on my patience when it came to birds.
“I’ll keep an eye on it. If I think there could be any trouble, I may intervene,” he said, looking at his watch. “Who was that man you were talking to earlier?”
“Nobody.” I sighed. “Just one of the guys from the quarry down the road. They aren’t very hospitable neighbors, but I’ve got it under control.”
“He seemed very agitated.”
“That’s one way of putting it.” I laughed but it sounded high and forced.
“Was he bullying you?” Mr. Seeton’s face was pulled down at the corners. If this was his tough face, it came across more like his I smell something foul look.
“Bullying might not be the right word.”
Actually, it was the perfect word but I didn’t want to freak Mr. Seeton out. He reminded me of a Chihuahua being walked on a crowded sidewalk.
“I know that type.” He kept frowning.
“I can’t imagine anyone ever trying to muscle you, Mr. Seeton.” I finally found the right key to the shop front door. Mr. Seeton wasn’t a particularly imposing man. In fact, he seemed rather boring and as much as I hated to say it, milquetoast-y. But no guy wanted to be told that.
