Chapter 6
6
Earl Grey greeted Theodosia with tail wags and excited barks when she walked in the back door.
“Hey, boy,” she said, getting down on her hands and knees to give him a hug and a kiss on his muzzle. “You miss me?”
Rowrf.
“I know, and I’m sorry. There was something I had to take care of. But we’ll go for a run tonight, okay? I promise.”
Earl Grey was a smoky gray Dalbrador (half dalmatian, half Labrador) that Theodosia had adopted a number of years ago. Since then they’d coexisted as roommates, best friends, and running partners. Under Theodosia’s gentle tutelage, Earl Grey had also become a registered therapy dog, welcome to give kisses and spread doggy cheer in any number of children’s hospital wards and senior living homes.
Theodosia gave Earl Grey a fresh dish of water, then grabbed a bottle of Fiji water out of her refrigerator for herself and headed for the living room. Passing through the dining room, she glanced at the smoked mirror that hung over her Sheraton buffet, put a hand to her hair, and said, “Eek.”
Then she promptly forgot about how abundantly curly her hair looked and plopped down in a chintz-covered armchair. She took a hit of water, looked around her small but cozy living room, and smiled. Even when everything went paws up, she could always come home to this.
Theodosia had bought her home, a small cottage with the adorable name of Hazelhurst, several years ago. From outside it looked like a place Hansel and Gretel might have lived in, especially with its brick and stucco walls, wooden cross gables, cedar shingles that replicated a thatched roof, and curls of ivy. On the inside, she’d refinished the pegged wood floors, put the brick fireplace in working order, and filled it with plush furniture and overstuffed cushions. Oh, and a supersoft rug for Earl Grey.
Earl Grey was sprawled on that rug right then, looking content and ready to ease into a good snooze, when Theodosia’s phone rang. He lifted his head just as Theodosia reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. Checking the screen, she said, “Riley,” then pressed Answer and said, “Hey there.”
“Hey there, yourself,” Riley said. “You feeling any better today?”
“Actually, I’m a little puzzled…worried maybe.”
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Something very weird happened when Drayton and I went to the hospital to check on Jamie.”
“What’s that?”
Theodosia quickly told Riley about the skull that had been delivered to Jamie’s room.
“A skull!” Riley seemed a little freaked. “Are you kidding me?”
“Nope.”
“Put there on purpose?”
“I think so.”
“Please tell me it wasn’t real.”
“It was cheap plastic, the kind you’d buy in a novelty store. Or one of those specialty Halloween stores that seem to spring up out of nowhere in late September.”
“Where’s this skull now?”
“I have it. I brought it home with me.”
“If this fake skull was meant as a threat to Jamie, maybe I should run it for prints.”
“I was hoping you’d say that. Speaking of which, is there any news on the trail cam yet?”
“No, but we’ll probably have something by tomorrow.”
“Then maybe we’ll know who tried to kill Jamie.”
“Now you think Jamie was the intended victim?”
“Yesterday, I wasn’t sure if it was Bettina or Jamie. But with that skull showing up today…Well, it sure feels as if Jamie is being targeted. And with him in the hospital and Celeste in the morgue, it makes me want to find the culprit and beat his sorry ass to a pulp.”
“Easy, tiger. You really should let law enforcement handle this,” Riley said.
“You’re on this, right?”
“Me and a few others, sure. And I don’t mind running prints on the skull, but I can’t be sharing inside information with you.”
“Sure you can,” Theodosia said.
“Hah, no. Maybe you can pry something out of Sheriff Ambourn.”
“Oh please. How many murder cases would you say Sheriff Ambourn handles in a year?”
“I don’t know. Three or four?”
“How many do you get involved in?”
“Well, homicide and ag assault have seriously bumped up this year so…hmm…homicides? Maybe twenty-five or thirty.”
“I rest my case. You’re my best bet.”
“No, sweetheart. Not this time,” Riley said.
“But you’ll let me know as soon as you get the stills from the trail cam, right?”
“That I can do. And be sure to drop off that skull on your way into the Indigo Tea Shop tomorrow, will you?” Riley said.
“Count on it.”
* * *
Theodosia was a little worried that Riley was going to play this investigation close to the vest—and that wasn’t good. She had to find a way to gather more information. Maybe if she interviewed some of the witnesses herself. And, of course, spoke with Bettina. As Jamie’s fiancée, Bettina had to have the inside track, right?
With thoughts of a faceless killer swirling in her head, Theodosia ran upstairs to her combination bedroom / sitting room and changed into a hoodie, jogging pants, and running shoes. Then she headed out the back door with Earl Grey for a late afternoon run. She figured she’d either clear her head completely—or come up with some fantastic insight.
But by the time she hit White Point Garden at the tip of the peninsula, no brilliant ideas had popped like kernels of corn in her brain.
Come on, brain, do your thing.
But, no, nothing seemed to light up in her prefrontal cortex.
Oh well.
Earl Grey, on the other hand, was suddenly invigorated by the waves crashing along the shore, by the salty sea breeze rushing in, and several other dogs up ahead of them, and he fairly pulled Theodosia along.
Theodosia decided to go with the flow and let him take the lead. After all, White Point Garden was one of her favorite places. Charleston Harbor encircled most of the point, giving the almost six-acre park a slightly untamed atmosphere. Marauding pirates had been hanged here. Now cannons and stacks of cannonballs were on display, as well as statues, a gazebo, and a World War I howitzer. Waves crashed onto the shore, depositing sea glass and broken shells. Once, years ago, Theodosia had even found a shark’s tooth. She’d had a marine biologist at the South Carolina Aquarium look at it, and he’d determined it was from the Pliocene epoch, some four million years ago. Haley had urged her to wear the tooth around her neck on a gold chain like a surfer; Drayton had been horrified by the idea. Drayton had won out.
Theodosia and Earl Grey changed course and ran down South Battery Street, then turned on Legare Street. Here were fantastical old homes built in the Federal, Georgian, Italianate, and Classic Revival style. Most were three stories; many featured columns and capitals, hipped roofs, pointed arches, and porte cocheres built as side entrances for a horse and carriage.
In late fall, when the traditional Lamplighter Tour was held, many of these homes were opened to the public. Over the years, Theodosia had been tapped to serve tea at several of these homes, so she’d been privy to exploring their interiors and had seen dramatic free-flying staircases, French marble fireplaces, gorgeous woodwork, private libraries, and backyards that featured elaborate gardens, fountains, and statuary.
As the sun began to set and the horizon was smudged with purple and blue, a few of these homes turned on the lights of their elaborate Halloween displays.
One of the homes was decorated to the nines. It had a rickety fence in the front yard that surrounded a dozen fake tombstones, a machine that puffed out streams of purple fog, and at least a dozen skeletons dressed as pirates. These bony creatures were clustered on the main portico as well as on the second- and third-floor balconies. And up on the roof—was that Jack Sparrow leering down?
Theodosia was pretty sure it was as she hurried home.