Trouble at TeaFest

by R A Wallace

  She picked up her phone to tuck it into her purse and saw that she had another text. Thinking it might be Dan, she checked the message. Instead of Dan, it said it was from Jason Malone. He claimed that he had the proof he needed about the loan Josh had taken from Jason. He demanded that Megan meet with him in his studio immediately.

  Megan shook her head. She still didn’t believe he had anything that would hold up in a court of law. But she didn’t want to take any chances either. She’d better go see what he has to say. She texted Dan that she would be a few minutes late, grabbed her keys, and headed for the truck.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Jason Malone sat at the desk in the small office in his studio. He was doing the same thing he did every day. The same thing he’d done every day for years. It was what had cost him the fame he’d nearly had. He was certain he’d have also made a fortune if only he could have somehow prevented himself from doing what he was doing now.

  He knew it was an obsession, but he’d never been able to stop himself. He clicked the mouse and advanced to the next picture. He had a large TV screen on the wall where the pictures on the computer displayed. He had initially set it up so that customers could view their proofs this way, but he had quickly discovered that it had additional uses.

  Jason sat back and examined the pictures, one by one. He would often sit here for hours, doing just this. Over the years, he had amassed a large number of pictures. All of beautiful women. All of them unaware that they had been immortalized in that exact moment in time. That he had immortalized them.

  While they were trapped in their beautiful pose on his computer, they all belonged to him. He had captured them and put them there. They couldn’t escape, they couldn’t walk away. They couldn’t age or change their features.

  He could sit there, hour after hour after hour, and look at each and every one of them for as long as he liked. They were his. No one could ever take them away.

  Jason knew that his life had drastically changed when the compulsion to own these beautiful women had taken over. He hadn’t felt this driving need when he was young and just starting out. He’d been relatively well-known in his field at a young age. He’d had a lot of skill and a lot of promise and it was known in the industry.

  He had travelled the world on photo shoots organized by internationally known companies. He had photographed the most beautiful women in the world in the most beautiful locations in the world. His life was exciting and that helped draw women to him. He’d enjoyed them all.

  But over time he realized it wasn’t enough to just have them temporarily. He wanted them permanently. And that’s how it had begun. His downfall. His compulsion had taken over his life. No longer satisfied with photographing willing models, he craved the unwilling. The unknowing. The ones who weren’t posed exactly the way they were instructed to do so.

  He began following the women that he was hired to photograph after their scheduled sessions. Taking pictures of them without their knowledge. Those unscripted moments captured their true essence. He had to have more. But the more he had, the more he wanted.

  Soon, he was missing the work he was paid to perform because he had no interest in taking pictures of posed, plastic dolls. He wanted to capture them at just the right moment when the rest of the world wasn’t watching. When their faces weren’t wearing masks designed to shield what was truly inside of them.

  Jason clicked the mouse to advance to the next image. Madison Palmer. He’d begun following her recently after a botched wedding that had ended in murder. He studied the image, memorizing every detail. She’d been working for hours that day and had just been arriving home from work late in the day. He advanced to the next image. Here she was at the lake. He had gotten quite a few good pictures from her at the lake. Advancing to the next image, Jason smiled and stood up to walk over to the large screen TV. This one was from today. He hadn’t seen it yet.

  It was taken before she’d become aware of him. He had followed her around the TeaFest for some time before she’d noticed. But she had noticed. Jason frowned. She seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to being followed. She almost always became suspicious and began looking around her.

  Jason went back to his desk and advanced to the next image then returned to the large image projected on the TV. This one was excellent. He was going to print this one out. He did that for the best of the best, the trophies. He would take the photo home with him and hang it in his apartment so that he could look at it whenever he wanted to.

  He knew he shouldn’t do it. That had been his downfall. The hardcopy evidence had been what ruined his career. He’d been on a magazine shoot for over a week, just before he’d lost his position in the photography world. Before it had become known that he couldn’t be trusted.

  He’d had several of his trophy photos of unsuspecting women hanging in his apartment. The maid had seen them and had begun talking with others, spreading rumors about what he was doing with the photos. She’d taken some of them as proof.

  The stories got out of hand and made it back to the company that had hired him and the women he had photographed without their knowledge as he’d followed them around the town after their sessions. He was off the shoot before he knew it. He was off the A-list. He was no longer called for jobs. After kicking around for a while, unemployed, he’d ended up here. He’d scraped together everything he had to open a studio.

  Now, he was relegated to taking pictures of screaming kids most of the time. But every now and then he’d get a gift. Jason looked back up at the image on the screen. He was about to click print when he remembered that he needed to swap the cartridges out of the printer. He kept them in the storage area in the back room.

  Jason turned off the monitor and closed the lid of his laptop before walking out of his office. He had never made the same mistake. He never left it to chance that someone could find his trophies again. And, Jason thought with a snarl, he was waiting for someone to arrive later. Someone who could cause him to lose everything he had. He’d deal with her too.

  Jason walked out of his office and turned to go to the rear of his studio for the printer ink. He never saw what hit him.

  ***

  Megan entered the shop but didn’t find anyone in the front area. Assuming that Jason was in the rear where his studio and office were, she started walking in that direction, calling for him as she did.

  “Jason? Are you here? I’m on my way to meet someone so I don’t have a lot of time.”

  Megan entered the hallway and saw the form on the floor. Although he was on his stomach, she knew immediately that it was Jason. His head was turned to the side and she could see that his eyes were open. And unseeing. Backing up quickly, she pulled out her phone and dialed as she left the shop. She had no idea if anyone else was in there.

  “Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Megan stood at the kitchen window and stared toward the barn. She could see Henry scratching in the dirt near the barn. He was out of the coop again. Megan wrapped her hands around the cup of coffee she was holding. Although it was a very warm day, she’d discovered that she was cold after finding Jason.

  It had been a very long afternoon after discovering Jason’s body. She’d never made it to the TeaFest. Her phone rang and she could tell by the ring tone that it was Caitlyn. She snatched it up quickly and answered.

  “Are you okay?” Caitlyn asked.

  “I don’t know. I just keep seeing his face,” Megan said with another shiver.

  “What did the police say?”

  Caitlyn had stood outside of the shop waiting with Megan while the police had begun their investigation. She had almost been done with her shift at the TeaFest when Megan called her. Finally, unable to stay and watch while the technicians had removed the body from the shop, Megan had returned home. She was told that someone would be by to question her further. Caitlyn had tried to come with her, but she needed to be alone to get her thoughts in order.r />
  “What else happened there after I left?” Megan asked.

  Caitlyn shrugged and peered out of the windows of her shop. Her shop wasn’t open. Today was Sunday after all. But Caitlyn had locked herself inside to watch all of the comings and goings out front. She could hear voices in the other side of the wall separating the shops, but she had no idea what they were saying.

  “Pretty much the same so far. A lot of people coming and going. But I called you to tell you that I haven’t seen Erica for a while. I don’t know if she’s still inside or if she’s headed your way.”

  Megan heard a vehicle in the front of the house. “Someone just pulled in. It may be her. I’ll call you back later.”

  Peering out the window near the front door, Megan did, in fact, see Erica. She was in serious cop mode. Megan didn’t try any senseless chatter when she opened the door for Erica. She just turned and walked back to the kitchen.

  Erica dug into the cupboard for a mug and poured her own coffee. “You know this doesn’t look good for you, right?”

  Megan had been thinking the same thing. It was why she’d come home. She needed time to think it all through. “Do they have any idea yet how he died? Or when?”

  “Blunt force trauma is all they know for now. As for when.” Erica shrugged. “We’re not on TV. It will take some time and even then, it may be a large window of time.”

  “Large enough for me to walk through, you mean?” Megan asked. “I didn’t do it. You know that, right?”

  Erica didn’t answer at first. When she did, Megan knew she should have expected the response.

  “I have to do my job. You know that, right?” Erica looked unwavering at Megan.

  Megan stood there, eyes locked with someone she’d thought of as a sister for even longer than a decade, even before she’d exchanged vows with Josh. Thinking about the bond of friendship between them, it occurred to Megan that gaining Erica as a sister had played a large part in her decision to marry Erica’s brother. But because she knew Erica that well, she knew the answer to the question.

  “Yes, and I don’t resent you for it. I didn’t do it. Ask away.” Megan walked over to the kitchen table and sat. Erica remained where she was and pulled out a notepad.

  “Why were you at the photographer’s studio?” Erica asked.

  “My guests had checked out. I was on my way to see Dan. We were going to the TeaFest this afternoon together. Just before I left, I got a text from Jason demanding to see me.” Megan stated the facts as concisely as she could and then watched Erica’s eyes slide over to her phone, sitting on the counter next to Erica.

  “Yes, you have my permission to read the text,” Megan said without prompting.

  “I should advise you that you have the right to an attorney,” Erica said.

  In lieu of a response, Megan nodded toward the phone and then sipped her coffee. She watched Erica pick up the phone, lean back against the counter, and read the text.

  Erica saw the most recent text from Dan, asking if Megan was okay. The text was sent shortly after the 911 call from Megan had been received. Scrolling to the previous text, she found the one from Jason Malone.

  “What proof did Jason claim to have?” Erica asked.

  Megan shrugged. “I don’t believe that he had any proof. But since I never got to speak with him about it, I don’t know.”

  “Can you think of any reason why Josh may have taken out a loan from him?” Erica asked.

  “You remember him as well as I do, and you probably knew him better to begin with. He was your brother. Why would Josh need a loan?” Megan asked.

  Erica didn’t respond. Remembering back to when her brother was alive, she could think of a dozen reasons why a spoiled, selfish handsome young man would want money. Number one reason? Josh just loved spending it. He’d been her brother and she’d loved him. But she didn’t ignore that he was full of faults.

  She’d hoped that having Megan as a wife would have settled him down, but it’d had the opposite effect. Knowing that Megan was sensible and working hard to earn the young couple a living and make a go of the bed and breakfast, Josh had kicked up his heels and treated life like one big party leaving all of the work and worries to Megan.

  Erica turned the conversation away from Josh for now. “We confiscated his equipment. Jerry Stevens has been looking at it. It didn’t take him long to realize that there were a lot of pictures on the laptop.”

  Megan shrugged. “He was a photographer. Why would that surprise you?”

  “Did you pose for him?” Erica asked quietly.

  “Me? No, why would you ask that?” Megan said in confusion.

  Erica watched Megan closely. “There were pictures of you. They looked like they were taken when you didn’t know he was doing it.”

  A look of revulsion crossed Megan’s face. “I always thought that man was creepy.”

  “There were also pictures of Caitlyn, Lauren, and many other women in town including Madison Palmer. He must have been particularly fixated on her.”

  Erica didn’t mention that Jerry had also found pictures of Erica on the laptop. They were all taken with her out of uniform. Apparently, they were taken on her days off. He would have had to follow all of the women for some time to be able to get as many pictures of them that he had. Erica was extremely annoyed with herself for not being aware that she’d obviously been followed at some point.

  Megan wrapped her arms around herself again. “What happens now?”

  “The police investigate the murder of Jason Malone. I’ll need you to come to the station to fill out a report. We may need to ask more questions as the investigation proceeds. We’ll know more when we have the results of the autopsy. We’ll look into Jason Malone’s past. But Megan.” Erica stopped and made sure that she had Megan’s full attention. “If we learn anything about Jason Malone and Josh, it will have to come out into the open. I won’t be able to hide it.”

  “You mean, you’ll have to air our dirty laundry in public?” Megan attempted a weak smile. “The whole town knows about my marriage. I suspect they all knew Josh better than I did. Or, at least, they saw him through a much clearer lens than the rose colored one I used. I’m sorry for your family if anything more is revealed about your brother. But I’m not worried about me if it does.”

  Erica nodded and continued, “We’ll investigate anyone who may have motive to kill Jason Malone.”

  Megan looked directly at her friend. “That includes me?”

  Erica pushed away from the counter and straightened her spine. “I think you should contact your lawyer.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Dan stopped by the feed store to check on things before hooking up with Megan to go to the TeaFest. It didn’t take long for news of Jason Malone’s death to get out. He texted her as soon as he heard of the death but didn’t wait to get a response.

  He passed Erica Bennet’s police car going in the other direction just as he reached the Teaberry Farm. Megan met him on the front porch and he pulled her into a hug. Cradling her face with his hands, he looked into her eyes and tried to gauge how she was doing.

  “Are you okay?” Dan asked gently.

  “Better now. Mind if we walk around outside for a bit? I’m feeling cooped up,” Megan said.

  “Have your guests all gone?” Dan asked.

  Megan nodded. “Yes, one of them was gone before I even got up and the rest of them left after breakfast.”

  Dan took one of her hands in his and led her down the porch steps. “What did Erica have to say?”

  “I’m a suspect in the investigation,” Megan said simply.

  Dan nodded. He’d assumed as much. “Have you contacted your lawyer?”

  Megan thought of Jennifer Parker and was glad to know that someone with Jennifer’s smarts was available when Megan needed her. “Yes. She’s going to meet me at the police station in an hour to give my statement.”

  “It can’t wait until tomorrow?” Dan asked.

  Megan s
hook her head. “Erica implied that she’d like it done sooner, rather than later. And I’d like to get it over with. If I wait until tomorrow, I’d probably just stay up all night worrying about it.”

  “I’ll come with you,” Dan said.

  Megan glanced over at him as they walked side by side, holding hands toward the paddock fence near the barn. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  They reached the paddock fence and leaned against it, watching the sheep graze on the grass. “What are you planning to do?” Dan asked, turning toward Megan.

  Megan thought for a moment, hoping she found the correct words.

  “Josh was my husband. It doesn’t matter if we were happy or not. I feel like part of this might be a mess that I’m responsible for cleaning up.”

  Megan watched Dan nod, his eyes full of understanding. “I can see why you would want to know what he may have been up to.”

  Megan tilted her head. “Maybe. But mostly I’d like to help lessen any additional pain that his family should have to suffer with his loss. Josh had his faults, but his family shouldn’t be left with only bad memories of him.”

  “Okay. I can see that would be hard on his parents.” Dan knew they’d taken his death hard enough. Josh had been the apple of their eye. He hadn’t grown to be a spoiled, selfish man by accident. Intentionally or not, they’d nurtured the personality traits into him all through his youth.

  “I also want to prove that I’m not a murderer,” Megan said.

  Dan let out a loud sigh. “That’s the only part I’m really worried about.” He pulled Megan’s back against him and they looked out over the fields with his arms wrapped around her. “Can I ask a question?”

  Megan leaned her head back against Dan’s chest. “Sure.”

  “Why didn’t the two of you have children?” Dan asked. He wasn’t sure she’d answer.

  “I already had one spoiled child to worry about. I didn’t want to make it two. Josh was difficult enough. And he definitely wasn’t father material. He had no interest in children. None whatsoever. They would have just held him back from his fun.”