Maid in Teaberry

by R A Wallace

“I do, yes. It’s been a long time since I’ve thought of him though. Why do you ask?” Carol smiled at Betty as she set glasses of iced tea in front of them before leaving.

  “Anything in particular?” Megan asked.

  Carol gave a slight shake of her head. “No, not really. I mean, I remember that he was good with the kids in school. He had more patience than most single men do for kids.”

  Megan quickly thanked Carol when Betty returned to take their order and turned back to Dan.

  “What do you have planned this afternoon?” Megan asked.

  “I’m meeting someone at my house. They might be interested in renting it,” Dan said as he tossed some money on the table to cover the bill and a tip.

  ***

  Dan pulled into the driveway of his former home. He’d been back often to cut the grass and check on it since he’d been living with Megan, but the house was still beginning to give off that un-lived in look. He hoped that was going to change soon. He heard a vehicle stop on the street as he was unlocking the front door and turned to check out the man now walking toward him.

  Dan hadn’t met Rhys Cunningham yet, but assumed the tall man with strawberry blond hair, muscular build, and military bearing was the newest member of the Teaberry police force. He was about an inch shorter than Dan’s six one which still made him pretty tall. Overall, he looked very capable.

  Rhys removed his reflective sunglasses as he reached the other man. “Dan Parker?”

  Dan looked into the intelligent blue eyes. “You must be Rhys,” Dan said as he reached for Rhys’s extended hand.

  “Yes, sir.” Rhys looked at the outside of the house. He’d driven past the house on his patrol and had thought the neighborhood looked nice, but he hadn’t known he might end up living there and hadn’t examined the house closely.

  Dan smiled at the yes, sir. He wasn't much older than Rhys but understood that his response was automatic, and no doubt was drilled into him in the service. Dan unlocked the front door. “It’s a little warm inside. I have the air set pretty high since I haven’t been here.”

  “Understandable,” Rhys said as he followed Dan into the house. It was fully furnished. “Are you planning to leave everything?”

  “If that works for you. I took my clothes, my tools, that sort of thing when I moved out.” Dan tried looking at the house with fresh eyes. He thought it was pretty decent. He’d discovered quickly that he preferred Megan’s farmhouse. There was something about the way she put rooms together that just made them look better and everything about the farm house reminded him of her.

  Rhys looked around the house mostly in silence. It looked way too nice for him to afford. Too bad, too. He’d really like to get out of the room above the garage where he was staying now.

  After checking out all of the rooms, Dan led Rhys to the deck on the back of the house. His grill was still there with the cover on it for protection. It was smaller than the grill he had at Megan’s now. Since she often used it for her guests and other gatherings, she needed something large. Dan had noticed that Rhys wasn’t being overly enthusiastic, and his face was impossible to read. Maybe the house wasn’t what he’d been hoping for.

  Rhys’s heart sank when he saw the deck and the size of the back yard. It was awesome. There was no way this house was in his budget. He felt guilty for taking the other man’s time. He figured he should ask what Dan had in mind for rent, just so he’d know for future reference. He’d have to ratchet his expectations way down for anything he looked at in the future.

  “So, what do you think?” Dan asked. He thought he’d seen a momentary flicker of dismay cross the other man’s face when they’d stepped outside, but he may have imagined it.

  Rhys forced himself to ask. “What did you have in mind for rent?”

  Dan watched the other man closely, trying to gauge his thoughts. It occurred to him that Rhys was a man he never wanted to play poker with. And he swore the man hadn’t smiled once in the whole time they’d been talking. Ah well, Dan thought. Maybe someone else will be interested in the house. Can’t expect the first person who looked at it to snap it up. Shrugging, he told Rhys the monthly figure he had in mind. He was astounded at the beaming smile Rhys gave him in response.

  Chapter Eighteen

  After lunch, Megan left her truck where it was and walked the few blocks to the Teaberry Library. She knew that the librarian, Linda Spelling, was in her mid-fifties and may have been a student at the time of Jonah’s death. She’d last spoken to Linda not that long ago when she was trying to help Irlene figure out why her customers were leaving her for a new hairdresser in town. That hairdresser was then murdered. Linda had been one of the people being blackmailed into patronizing the new hairdresser because of something from her past.

  Megan found Linda behind the front counter when she entered the library. She was happy to see Linda give her a warm smile when she saw her. Megan had been concerned that Linda might feel uncomfortable because Megan had learned the other woman’s secret when trying to solve the puzzle of the hairdresser’s murder.

  Megan returned the smile. “Do you have a minute to talk?”

  Linda looked around the library. As usual, the computer room was packed. There were also a few regular patrons sitting over by the magazine and newspaper area. They were carrying on a quiet conversation and often came just to pass the time.

  “Sure. You aren’t trying to solve another puzzle, are you?” Linda guessed.

  “Guilty. This one is a little older, though. Do you remember Jonah Simms?” Megan asked.

  Linda looked surprised. “Yes, of course. It’s been a long time since I’ve thought about his death though. Why do you ask?”

  “I’m trying to piece together the day that he died. I’ve spoken to some of the people in the building that day. Were you one of them?”

  “Yes, I was. I remember that day too. I was very lucky,” Linda said with a grimace.

  “Lucky?” Megan hadn’t expected that response.

  Linda nodded. “I was in art class. There was a bad spill. One of the students knocked over some paints. I was sent to find the janitor.”

  “You found the body?” Megan asked in surprise.

  Linda shook her head. “No, that’s what I mean about lucky. Although it was just before he was found, I didn’t find him.”

  Megan thought for a moment, trying to tie things together in her mind. “So, you went back to the art room without getting anyone to clean up the spill?”

  “Right. Now that you mention it, I did see Ronnie. He was the part-time janitor.” Linda glanced at Megan to make sure she was following her.

  Megan nodded to show that she knew who Ronald Logan was. “So, he cleaned up the mess?”

  “No. He was at the other end of the hall from where I was when I saw him. I called to him, but he must not have heard me. He rushed off in the other direction.”

  Megan asked Linda a few more questions but didn’t learn much more. She left the library and backtracked to her truck, then drove to the next person on her list. She found Vince DeKalb at home. He invited her in and offered her a cold drink. She declined and climbed onto a stool at the island in his kitchen where he was working on a dessert for Bev.

  “We have plans to go out to dinner, but I figure she’s going to need a sugar fix when she gets out of school today,” Vince said as he worked. “Just to tide her over. Or, maybe something we have after dinner. Whatever she wants.”

  Megan smiled at the thought. Vince was making something sweet on the off-chance it would please Bev. She’d always liked Vince. He’d worked at the post office with her father for years. She knew that he liked to travel but stayed local now to be with Bev and that gardening and cooking were two of his many passions.

  “I was wondering what you remember about Jonah Simms?” Megan asked as she watched him work. It looked like Bev had a pineapple cake in her immediate future.

  “Do you remember this recipe?” Vince asked. “You gave it to me a long time a
go.”

  “I thought it looked familiar,” Megan said with a smile. “I always liked that it was quick and easy.”

  “So, it’s my turn to get grilled about Jonah, eh?” Vince looked up and grinned at Megan. “I figured you’d come eventually. I’ve been thinking about it. You know about the treasure map, right?”

  Megan nodded.

  “I was one of the boys who went wild looking for the treasure. There was a whole group of us. We were young then, you know. We’d sneak around whenever possible in between classes, games, or lunch and try to find the red X. At that age, we really believed the treasure existed.” Vince paused in his work and looked thoughtful. “To be honest, there are probably still some who believe it now. We were that convinced it existed.”

  Megan felt her eyebrows go up. She hadn’t expected that. “I thought everyone understood it was make believe?”

  “Oh, no. Some of us were absolute zealots about it all. And not just the kids. There were adults who believed it too.”

  “Do you think Jonah believed in the treasure?” Megan asked.

  Vince shrugged. “Of course. That’s why he died where he did, right? He must have been looking for it and then there must have been some sort of accident. Although, I’m not really sure he did find the red X.”

  “Where was the red X on the map?” Megan asked.

  “Well, that’s the thing,” Vince said as he flipped a linen towel over one shoulder. He wiped his hands on the end hanging in front. “It was kind of open to interpretation. I mean, I understand that he had a copy of the map with him when he died, and there was actually an X drawn on the map that we all had.”

  “But?” Megan asked.

  “Well, there were just a few hints on the map to get you started figuring out where the treasure was. The big red X drawn on it was just to emphasize the whole pirate map thing. It did happen to be where the janitor’s area was. But everyone knew that wasn’t necessarily where the treasure was. That would have been too easy, to just go where the red X was on the map. You had to figure out the clues and go from room to room, where they had more clues hidden. Then you would find another clue and follow that to the next one. There was a lot of talk after, you know? Since he didn’t find the treasure, it must still be there somewhere. There started to be a lot of speculation that maybe it was somewhere else in the building.” Vince finished mixing the cake and poured it into a greased pan then turned and put it into the oven.

  “Who else was interested in finding the treasure?”

  “Besides us kids?” Vince looked up at Megan and thought for a second. “I remember seeing Ronnie just before he left town. He seemed out of sorts. You didn’t know him of course, but he was a kidder. The last time I saw him though, he didn’t joke like he usually did. And he seemed serious when he told me and the other boys that we’d better not look for the treasure because it belonged to Ronnie. We all thought he was just joking at first. Afterward, I wondered about it.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Laura Davidson dressed carefully for dinner. She was meeting several of her friends for dinner at the restaurant in front of the retirement community. After locking her villa, she slid onto the electric golf cart and drove slowly through the community. She waved at others as she passed them and sometimes stopped to chat. That was the nice thing about living where she did. There were always people around to talk to.

  She parked the golf cart at the restaurant near a row of others just like hers. She could tell who was already at the restaurant just by looking at the carts. Everyone tended to decorate their cart to add their own personality to it. By the looks of things, she was one of the last to arrive. That was another nice thing about being retired. She didn’t have to rush everywhere now.

  It was a good thing, too. She hadn’t been sleeping well lately. She’d been having dreams about when Jonah had died. She knew it was just because there had been so much talk of it lately. But she suspected her subconscious was also trying to tell her something.

  When she joined her friends inside, she found them also talking about Jonah. Apparently, they had all been remembering things they hadn’t thought of in years. Just like Laura. Maybe they could help her remember whatever her dreams were trying to convey.

  Her friends pulled over a chair for her and made room when she neared their table. She ended up between Silas and Annie. The others already had drinks and Laura didn’t have to wait long before a cold glass of white wine appeared before her.

  “We were talking about young Megan visiting us,” Silas said to include Laura in the conversation.

  “It sure brought back memories,” Annie said. “Do you think our students remember us?”

  “I’d like to think that,” Victor said. “They were the main focus of our days. Most of our lives, really.”

  “Megan seemed to turn out well,” Silas said. “Do you think she’ll have any luck figuring out what happened the day Jonah died?”

  Laura looked around the group. “I’ve been thinking a lot about that too.” Laura explained what she had told Megan.

  “Why you sly thing,” Annie laughed when Laura was done.

  “I know, it was pretty risqué stuff, us sneaking away to smooch in the supply closet,” Laura agreed.

  “Pretty tame compared to what goes on in school nowadays,” Silas said.

  “That’s the truth,” Josie agreed. “I’m sure glad I retired when I did.”

  Victor laughed the longest. “It’s a good thing I never knew at the time. That was before I was the superintendent, but I was the principal there. I would have had to fire you both.”

  “Well, in my defense, my Frank was a good smoocher,” Laura said with a grin.

  “The supply closet, huh?” Victor said.

  “Yes, you remember the one? The light switch was on the outside in the hallway. You had to turn the switch on before you went into the closet,” Laura said, waving her hand as though she were flipping a switch.

  “I can’t say that I spent as much time in the supply closet as some people did,” Victor shot a grin at Laura. “Where was the supply closet?”

  “Oh, I remember it,” Josie said. “I’d have to go in there to get things sometimes for the kitchen. It was down there by the janitor’s area near the basement. You know, it had a green door.”

  “You mean, down by where Jonah died?” Victor asked.

  “Yes,” Josie said slowly and turned to Laura. “You were locked in the room next to where Jonah died.”

  Chapter Twenty

  The restaurant was doing a good business late in the afternoon on Thursday. “We made it through another day,” Bryan said as he lifted his glass and toasted the other teachers from the Kids Camp at the table. They’d decided to meet for dinner at the Station Pub & Grill.

  “I can’t wait to see what my classroom looks like tomorrow,” Andrea said with a sigh. She pulled her reading glasses up from the chain around her neck and put them on to look at the menu.

  “Have you still been having problems in your room?” Bev asked.

  All of the teachers around the table nodded their heads.

  Bev’s shoulders slumped. “Me too.”

  Vince leaned back in his chair and rested his hand on the chair behind Bev. “With luck, Megan will figure out what’s going on soon.”

  “I’m just glad we all got together and shared what has been happening. I thought I was going crazy,” Andrea said.

  “Aside from the anomalies in the rooms, the kids have been great,” Carlos said. “I have some real bright ones in my engineering classes.”

  “I’m having a lot of fun in my math classes,” Bryan said. “I hope the kids are enjoying themselves as much as I have been.”

  “We can only hope that’s the case,” Heather said, leaning back in her chair. “When I was first starting out, I always hoped I’d be half as good as my teachers were.”

  “Do you think our old teachers ever think of us now?” Allison asked.

  “I don’t k
now about that. I do wonder if my students will even remember my name in the future,” Carlos said. “Hopefully, they’ll at least remember some of the things we’ve been doing in our classes.”

  ***

  Jessilyn set the dinnerware on the table as she listened to Evan talk about his day. He was bursting with excitement and there were times he spoke so quickly she could barely follow him. She’d been taking Evan and their neighbor, Logan, to the Kids Camp in the mornings and picking them up at the end of the day. Both boys couldn’t wait to talk about the things they’d learned in their classes each day.

  Jessilyn thought back to when she had been in school. She’d been lucky enough to have some pretty good teachers. She had liked going to school and could easily name each of her teachers from every grade. She was happy that the boys were having such a positive experience with learning. She had worried about them going to the Kids Camp at a building that had such negative stories about it. But everything had been just fine. She hoped other parents wouldn’t hesitate to send their children to the camp next summer, in spite of the ghost stories.

  “And tomorrow we get to see if the robots work,” Evan finished his story.

  Jessilyn turned to respond to Evan just as the doorbell rang.

  “Seth!” Evan yelled as he ran from the room.

  Jessilyn continued setting the table and then placed the slow cooker in the center of it. She’d been relying on that slow cooker a great deal since her resolve to have family meals. She set it to cook on low while she was at work all day. By the time she got home, the food was ready. She’d been careful to buy a slow cooker that had both a warm feature and an automatic shut off. If she were late from work for whatever reason, the slow cooker would switch first to warm before shutting off entirely.

  She heard the heavy pounding of Evan’s feet as he preceded Seth down the hall toward the kitchen. Jessilyn heard Seth’s deep voice ask about Evan’s hands. The voices then receded as they went into the bathroom to wash their hands. They arrived in the kitchen a few minutes later with Evan still talking a mile a minute about his day. Seth planted a kiss on Jessilyn before taking his seat at the table.