By the time I got downstairs again, three women carrying beribboned gift bags were waiting in the hall by the front door. They were the first of the bridal shower guests, slightly early for their reservation. I escorted them back to the dining parlor, then stepped across the hall to the butler’s pantry where I found Dee and Rosa starting to set up the next trays.
“Bridal shower’s here. Go ahead and make them some tea.”
Dee nodded and took down two large teapots, handing one to Rosa. I took down a pitcher and began filling it with ice from the pantry’s refrigerator.
“How’s your grandmother, Rosa?”
She smiled. “Fine. She loved the rose sandwiches.”
“Good.”
I filled the pitcher with filtered water and a couple of lemon slices. Returning to the dining parlor, I found that two more of the bridal shower guests had found their way in and were chatting up a storm with their friends. I began filling the water goblets on the table, but before I had gone halfway around it the chandelier flicked off and on.
Conversation stopped. I glanced up at the chandelier, thinking, Not now, please!
It turned off again, then on after two seconds, then flashed three times in fast succession.
“What is that?” said one of the shower guests, staring at the lights.
“Old wiring,” I said, smiling. “So sorry.”
I put the water pitcher on the sideboard and hurried out into the hall. Captain Dusenberry was usually discreet, and didn't disrupt my business. This, though, was more than he had ever done before. If he had done it.
I felt a cold dread, standing in the hallway, looking around for whatever had awakened the Captain’s attention. I tried to tell myself it really was just old wiring, but my gut disagreed.
“What is it?” I said softly.
The sound of hasty footsteps made me turn. Rosa had come out of the front parlor. She saw me and ran down the hall toward me, her face streaked with tears.
4
“Rosa! What’s the matter?”
I caught her in my arms and she gave a sob. “M-my grandmother!”
“Come here.”
I pulled her into the little hallway outside the restrooms, where there was a chaise longue. Taking out my handkerchief, I dabbed at her face with it, then pressed it into her hands.
“Stay here. I’ll go and see.”
Rosa sobbed into the handkerchief. I left her sitting there and hurried to Lily.
Mrs. Garcia was slumped in her chair, tea spilled across her lap and the cup fallen onto the floor. I gazed at her, breathing hard, trying to decide what to do. At best she was unconscious. At worst...
I stepped forward and took hold of her wrist. It felt frail, with no pulse that I could find, though I’m certainly not an expert. I tried her throat with no more success. Gently, I shook her by the shoulder.
“Mrs. Garcia?”
No response. My heart sank. I took her teaspoon and held it before her nose. No misting of breath on the silver. Carefully, I set the spoon down on the table.
Another death in my tearoom. Even if it proved to be natural causes, it would not look good.
I swallowed, knowing I had to call for help, dreading the chaos that was about to return to my beautiful, peaceful tearoom. I went out to the gift shop and called 911.
The dispatcher assured me a team of paramedics would arrive soon. There was little more I could do, but I returned to Lily.
Remembering the way the police had invaded the dining parlor a month ago after one of my guests was found strangled there, I pulled the pocket doors closed and loosed the drapes at the window. It would at least keep curious eyes from staring into Lily.
I looked back at poor Mrs. Garcia. I wanted to pick up the teacup, set things to rights, but instinct warned me not to touch anything. I shouldn’t have picked up the spoon, though it hardly mattered. My fingerprints on a teaspoon in the Wisteria Tearoom were anything but unusual.
Returning to the hall, I found a young couple waiting there, along with four elderly ladies in red hats. One of them, a tiny woman sporting a purple feather boa along with her wide-brimmed picture hat of bright scarlet, was all too familiar.
I managed to summon a smile. “Mrs. Olavssen. I didn’t know you were coming in today.”
She blinked and tilted her head in the way that reminded me so of a bird. In fact, I still thought of her as the Bird Woman.
“Yeah,” she said. “We’ve formed a chapter of the Red Hat Society.”
“So I see. You all look stunning. Why don’t you step into the gift shop while I look up where you’ll be sitting today?”
I smiled at the young couple to let them know they were included in the invitation, and they all followed me into the gift shop. At the podium where we keep the reservation list I picked up the phone, dialing Kris’s desk.
“Kris, can you come downstairs and help for a few minutes? We’re a little swamped. Thanks.”
I hung up and checked the reservation list. The couple were to sit in Hyacinth, one of two small seating areas just off the gift shop. I showed them to it, then gritted my teeth and led the Red Hat ladies to their reserved area across the hall—in Jonquil, right next to Lily. I was doubly glad that I'd closed the pocket doors.
“Oh, the garden looks so pretty!” exclaimed one of them as she sat facing the window.
“Thank you. I’ll go check on your tea,” I said, anxious to escape.
“Can we get some champagne, yet?” said the Bird Woman, plopping herself down on the sofa.
I shook my head. “I’m sorry, our wine license still hasn’t been issued.”
“Too bad. We’ll just have to come back.”
I smiled again and slipped out, glancing toward Lily on my way back to the hall. My instinct was to try to keep things going, try to preserve normality despite having a dead woman in the front parlor. It would all fall apart shortly, but for now I felt I had to keep up the facade.
Down the hall I saw Dee cross from the dining parlor to the butler’s pantry, casting me a harried glance as she went. A moment later Kris came down the stairs.
“What’s the matter?” she asked.
“Can you help Dee? Rosa needs some quiet.”
“Sure,” she said, glancing toward the pantry.
“Come up front. We’ve got people coming in for the bridal shower.”
I led her to the gift shop, which I was grateful to find empty of guests. In a low voice, I briefly apprised Kris of the situation.
“I’m going to take Rosa upstairs,” I said. “She’s very upset.”
“I’m not surprised. Don’t worry, I’ll hold the fort.”
“Thank you. Call me when the paramedics—”
A burst of sirens sounded from the street outside. We both glanced toward the front windows, and saw a full-length ladder truck pull up at the curb. Exasperated, I watched two paramedics climb down from it while an ambulance parked behind it.
I looked at Kris. “Are you all right with taking them to Lily?”
Kris nodded. I had a fleeting thought that she might even get a kick out of it, then banished the unworthy suspicion.
“I’ll be right back,” I said, and hurried out to collect Rosa.
She was trying bravely to stop crying, without much success. I took her upstairs to my office, where there is another chaise longue and more privacy, and settled her there with a cup of tea.
“I should call my father,” she said, sniffling.
“Wait until we hear what the paramedics say. I’ll go down and find out. Will you be all right here?”
Rosa nodded. I gave her shoulder a squeeze, then hurried back downstairs.
Kris was gone, though I could hear her voice along with a man’s voice from the front parlor. Two bridal shower guests stood just inside the front door, looking hesitant and a little worried.
“Good morning,” I said, smiling. “Let me show you to your party.”
“Is something wrong?” one of them aske
d, glancing toward the parlor.
“One of our guests has taken ill, I’m afraid,” I said as I led them down the hall. “An elderly lady. She’s being taken care of. Here you are.”
I opened the door to the dining parlor and saw them in. With luck, their friends would distract them from the paramedics. Closing the door gently, I glanced in the pantry and saw Dee putting hot scones on two tea trays decorated with ribbons of peach and turquoise, the bride-to-be’s colors.
“Let me help you.” I pulled on a plastic glove and started moving scones to the second tray.
“What’s going on up front?” Dee asked.
“Rosa’s grandmother fell ill.”
“Oh. Poor Rosa!”
“We’ll have to carry on without her, I’m afraid. Kris came down to help.”
We carried the tea trays across to the dining parlor, where they were greeted with applause from the shower guests. I left Dee explaining the menu and stepped back into the pantry to check what needed doing next.
Tea was brewing for the couple in Hyacinth and for the Bird Woman’s party. I put the couple’s pot on a tray and took it up to them.
As I was coming out of Hyacinth I heard the front door open and close. I felt a momentary desire to run and hide rather than face another bewildered guest, but I straightened my shoulders and put on a smile as I stepped into the hall.
It was not a tea guest who had come in, but a man in jeans, leather jacket, and motorcycle gloves. I stopped short, blinking in surprise as my gaze met that of Detective Antonio Aragón.
5
“What are you doing here?” I exclaimed.
My heart had jumped on seeing Tony Aragón, for two nearly opposite reasons. The first was a natural dismay on having a police detective in the tearoom, particularly since he had been in charge of investigating the murder that had happened here on opening day. The second reason was that he was very attractive, which I knew was dangerous for me.
He shoved his hands in his jacket pockets. “Unofficial visit. I heard the dispatch call and thought I’d drop by to see if you needed any help.”
“Oh. Well, that’s very kind of you. The paramedics are there.” I glanced uncertainly toward the parlor.
“Mind if I go in?”
I gave a helpless shrug, and started to lead him into the parlor. Kris came out of Lily and closed the pocket doors behind her, then stopped short on seeing Tony.
“Oh!”
“You remember Kris, my office manager?” I said.
Tony nodded. “Yeah. Hi.”
A slight flush came into Kris’s cheeks, and she glanced down. “Hello. Please excuse me.”
She stepped past us, going out into the hall. Tony looked at me and I gestured toward Lily. He pulled open the doors and went in, and I followed.
Lily was a mess, cases of medical equipment lying open on the floor and torn plastic packaging everywhere. The paramedics had moved Mrs. Garcia to the floor and apparently tried to revive her, but they were no longer working on her. One of them was putting away a piece of medical gear, and the other was talking on his portable radio.
Tony stepped over one of the cases and looked down at Mrs. Garcia. He glanced at the nearer paramedic, who shook his head.
I bit my lip. Tony squatted down to look at the body, then stood up and glanced around the room. His gaze came to rest on the tea tray.
“Be a good idea to bag up that stuff, just in case.”
I stepped toward him. “Surely it was natural causes,” I said in a lowered voice. “She was very frail.”
“Just in case,” Tony repeated, pulling a pair of latex gloves and some plastic evidence bags out of another pocket.
So much for an unofficial visit.
I was annoyed, but I knew I was also generally upset, and that I shouldn’t be quick to take offense. Tony meant well, and he was right. If any questions arose about the tea or the food, having them preserved would make everything easier.
I watched him pick up the teacup and ease it into an evidence bag. He did the same with the small plate of half-eaten food and the silverware, and slid the saucer into a third bag, then stood frowning at the tea tray.
“Do you need to take the whole tray?” I asked.
“No, but I should take the food.”
“Shall I get you a take-home box?”
He must have noticed the edge in my voice, because he gave me a sharp glance. “Yeah. Thanks.”
I stepped through the pocket doors and nearly collided with the Bird Woman, who had emerged from Jonquil. She jerked her head toward Lily, causing the red feathers on her hat to bob.
“What’s going on in there?” she asked loudly.
I slid the doors shut behind me. “I’m afraid one of our guests took ill,” I answered, keeping my voice almost to a whisper.
“Did she croak?”
Knowing it could only get worse, I ignored the question. “Please excuse me,” I said, and hurried out.
I went to the butler’s pantry and found Kris frowning at a large teapot. “That’s for Jonquil,” I said. “I hope it hasn’t brewed too long!”
I pulled out the infuser and poured a little into a tasting cup to check. Not too strong, and it hadn’t gone bitter or stewy. I set the pot on a silver tray and covered it with a cozy.
“Could you take it to them, Kris?”
“Sure.” She picked up the tray and started out, encountering Dee in the doorway.
“I can take that,” Dee said.
“No, you finish the trays for Jonquil and Hyacinth,” I told her. “I’ll be right back.”
I grabbed a take-home box, and also a plastic container and lid in case Tony wanted to take the tea that was in Mrs. Garcia’s teapot. I had no time to be upset at the moment, but I knew that later I’d need fifteen minutes of privacy in which to freak out and then consume mass quantities of chocolate.
I followed Kris back to the front parlor. A woman and two pre-teen girls, all in dresses and summer hats, were waiting in the hall.
“We’ll be right with you,” I told them, then hurried into the parlor.
The Bird Woman was still standing outside Lily, eavesdropping on Tony and the paramedics. Regular customers are bread and butter to an establishment like mine, and they must be treated like royalty, regardless of whether they might be a trifle odd. I smiled and gestured toward the tray Kris was carrying.
“Here’s your tea!”
The Bird Woman looked Kris up and down. “Wow, that’s a hot dress! You should have all your girls wear that,” she said to me. “You’d get more men in the place.”
Kris and I traded a glance, then she stepped into Jonquil. The Bird Woman followed her, for which I gave silent thanks. I went into Lily and gave Tony the box and container.
“Thanks,” he said, taking out his cell phone. “I better call someone to collect this stuff. I can’t take it on my bike.”
“I could have someone drive it to the lab, or wherever it needs to go,” I offered.
Tony shook his head. “No. Have to maintain a chain of custody once it’s taken into evidence. Thanks, though.”
The paramedics had packed up their cases and now started out with them. Remembering the party waiting to be seated, I hurried after them. The mother looked rather alarmed at the sight of the paramedics trooping out.
“Thank you for waiting,” I said, shutting the door behind the men. “Please come into the gift shop while I look up your reservation.”
They were scheduled for one of the front parlor seating areas, but I decided to switch them to Marigold, in the back parlor behind the gift shop. It had a window overlooking the rosebushes on the south side of the house, and no view of the street. I made a note on the reservation list and saw them comfortably seated, then hurried back to the pantry.
“Iris is here, but I put them in Marigold,” I said to Dee.
“Oh. OK.” She peered at the schedule taped to the pantry’s refrigerator.
“I’ll take Hyacinth’s tray. Ho
w’s the shower going?”
“Fine. How’s Rosa’s grandmother?”
I couldn’t speak, could only shake my head. The hysteria hovering in the back of my mind threatened to come forward, but I fought it down, then picked up Hyacinth’s tea tray and carried it out.
The paramedics had returned with a stretcher. I waited for them to pass, then delivered the tea tray to Hyacinth and returned to the front parlor.
One of the paramedics looked at me and gestured to an urn of flowers on a pedestal. “We’ll have to move this.”
I picked up the urn and stood aside while they set down the stretcher, moved the pedestal, then picked up the stretcher again and carried it into Lily, pushing the screen aside. I put the urn back on the pedestal and followed them, wondering if I should call Rosa down to say goodbye to her grandmother.
No. That’s what funerals were for. But I would have to go up and give her the bad news.
“Dang!” said Bird Woman’s loud voice behind me. “Hope it wasn’t the cucumber sandwiches!”
6
I turned and saw the Bird Woman peering into Lily. I couldn’t get to her at the moment, which was probably fortunate. My way was blocked by the stretcher which now bore Mrs. Garcia’s body, tactfully covered with a blanket. The paramedics eased it out of the parlor and I hurried past them to open the front door. I had half-expected more disruption than they’d actually caused, and was beginning to hope that my patrons would be able to enjoy their tea after all.
But what if it was the sandwiches?
No, it couldn’t be. Our food was completely fresh and of the highest possible quality. I’d watched Julio making the sandwiches myself.
I'd also eaten some of the scraps.
Brushing aside doubt, I saw Kris returning with the tea tray for Jonquil and followed her. The Bird Woman and her friends were standing at the window, watching the paramedics take Mrs. Garcia away.
“Wouldja look at that!” said the Bird Woman to her friends. “Last time somebody croaked here I didn’t get to see it!”
A Sprig of Blossomed Thorn Page 3
