Chapter 26
26
But Friday arrived and Jamie didn’t turn up. He didn’t call, he didn’t text, he didn’t show up at the front door of Bettina’s apartment claiming amnesia. He also didn’t wander into the Indigo Tea Shop. Jamie was gone. Kidnapped. With a half dozen witnesses to attest to it.
That was the heartbreaking news as of Friday morning. And Haley was eating it up.
“Kidnapped?” she said. “I didn’t know that kind of thing still happened. I thought it was only in old movies from the sixties.”
“Oh, it happens,” Drayton said. “And, for your information, movies from the sixties aren’t that old.”
“They are if you were born at the tail end of the nineties,” Haley said.
“The thing we need to focus on,” Theodosia said, “is who would mastermind this kind of plot? And why?”
“Aren’t the police working on it?” Haley asked.
“Yes,” Drayton said. “As are we.”
“Oh. Okay,” Haley said.
“What about that fellow Martin Hunt, who owns Hunt and Peck?” Drayton said. “He hated Jamie for making bad stock picks.”
“And what about that angry guy, Adam Lynch, who tried to hit on me?” Haley said. “You told me he was Bettina’s former boyfriend. You think he’s still carrying a torch for her?”
“It’s possible,” Theodosia said. “Though he trash-talks Bettina every chance he gets.”
“Maybe his trash talk is all an act and Lynch still loves Bettina. Maybe he kidnapped Jamie so they couldn’t get married,” Haley said.
“Maybe,” Theodosia said as her brain pulsed with worry. She’d had wild dreams about this all last night, but they hadn’t spun out an answer to this madness.
“I don’t think Sabrina could have managed a kidnapping, since she’s in Chicago for Celeste’s funeral and burial,” Drayton said.
“Unless Sabrina jobbed it out to someone. Went and hired herself a hit man,” Theodosia said.
“That seems unlikely,” Drayton said.
“You never know,” Theodosia said. “She’s got the money for it. Or, as an alternate thought, Sabrina could have come back and done this herself. Remember, there’s ten million dollars in play.”
“But why would she want to kidnap Jamie?” Drayton asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe because she blames him for her sister’s death?” Theodosia said.
“Wait, back up a minute,” Haley said. She touched a hand to her forehead, then waved it in the air. “You’re saying Sabrina might actually have tasered Jamie?”
“You can buy a Taser online just like you can buy a voice-changing apparatus,” Theodosia said. She thought for a minute. “We also can’t rule out Karl Rueff, Celeste’s old boyfriend. We barely know anything about him, so he’s kind of a wild card in all this.”
“Lots of possibilities,” Haley said.
“Lots of suspects,” Drayton said. “Seems like any one of them could have had a psychotic break.”
“If that were true, wouldn’t last night’s scene have been all helter-skelter?” Haley asked.
“It was all helter-skelter,” Theodosia said. Then she stopped to consider her words. “No, I’m wrong, because last night’s kidnapping was planned. It was orchestrated right down to the last detail. Someone knew exactly where Jamie and Bettina would be eating dinner and figured out the best way to catch them in a trap.”
“A kind of pincer move,” Drayton said. “Using their car, an unsuspecting valet, and a Taser shot.”
“Who could hate them that much?” Haley asked.
“Remember that weirdo who called yesterday?” Drayton said to Theodosia. “When you were on Charlie’s podcast?”
“Oh, you told me about that,” Haley said.
Theodosia gave a little shiver. “I still have a sick feeling that caller might have been Celeste’s killer.”
“They could also be the person responsible for Jamie’s disappearance,” Drayton said.
“But investigating that phone call is a dead end,” Theodosia said. “Because the phone…”
“Was a burner,” Drayton said. “So forget the phone and concentrate on what that person said to you about a clue. They hinted that you’d eventually figure out what it meant.”
Theodosia blinked. “They did?”
“Yes. In fact, you were fairly emphatic about it,” Drayton said. “You told me the caller said buzz .”
Theodosia reached up and scratched her head. “You’re right, the caller said the word buzz was a clue. But I can’t for the life of me figure out what buzz means or how it connects to Jamie.”
“We need to think about this some more,” Drayton said. “See what we can come up with.”
“ Buzz? ” Haley said. She looked confused as well.
At seeing their frustrated faces, Theodosia said, “Okay, the person who called in might have been talking gibberish, but I guess it wouldn’t hurt to focus on it some more. But first…”
“I know,” Haley said. “We have work to do.”
* * *
At ten o’clock, with four tables of guests served and sipping tea, Miss Dimple arrived to help with today’s Harvest Tea.
“How are you feeling?” Theodosia asked. She was still worried about possible aftereffects from the tainted candy.
“Right as rain,” Miss Dimple said with a big grin as she hung her pink cardigan sweater on the coatrack. “After I went home this past Wednesday, I crawled into bed with my cats and slept for something like ten hours. It feels like I stockpiled enough sleepy time to last me a week.” She looked around the tea shop. “Not too busy today.”
“Wait until noon, we will be.”
Miss Dimple reached for an apron and said, “Fine by me.”
They waited on customers, bagged scones for takeout, and took a few late reservations. When eleven thirty finally rolled around, and their morning tea customers had pretty much cleared out, Theodosia went to the cupboard and pulled out her Fall Harvest by Dansk plates, soup bowls, and matching cups and saucers. She loved the grape, pear, and vine motif and figured it was in perfect keeping with today’s Harvest Tea theme.
Miss Dimple picked up one of the plates, studied it, and said, “Such a lovely pattern, almost as if it were painted in watercolors. What do you want to use for tablecloths?”
“Let’s use the sunny yellow ones,” Theodosia said.
“Works for me.”
“And if you ransack my office, you’ll find a crate full of apples, pumpkins, gourds, and Indian corn to put on the tables.”
“Already checked it out,” Miss Dimple said. “And should I grab that bucket of black-eyed Susans and put them in vases? Wait, no, maybe the stoneware crocks would look more earthy?”
“Looks like you’re one step ahead of me,” Theodosia said. She wandered over to the front counter where Drayton was hard at work and said, “Judging by all those enticing aromas, it seems you’ve selected your teas and are ready to start brewing them.”
“Indeed, yes,” Drayton said. “Two black teas and one green tea, with flavors all in keeping with our harvest theme.”
“Great.”
Drayton looked up from where he was measuring rich black tea into a yellow floral teapot. “You don’t sound all that enthusiastic.”
“Probably because I’m not. I have to confess…my heart’s just not in this tea luncheon.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that because neither is mine,” Drayton said.
“Until this Celeste business is cleared up—and we get Jamie safely back home—everything feels fuzzy and muddled.”
“Like slogging through molasses,” Drayton said.
“Walking on eggshells.”
“Treading through treacle.”
“Treacle? That sounds awful ,” Theodosia said. Still, such an amusing word made her crack a smile. “What on earth is treacle?”
“A British word for something heavy and syrupy. A lot like molasses,” Drayton said.
Theodosia made a face. “Treacle. Odd word. Promise me you’ll never use it in front of our guests.”
* * *
And Drayton did not. Rather, he helped greet all the guests who arrived at noon, reciprocated a few hugs, exchanged air-kisses, and handed the guests off to Miss Dimple, who promptly seated them at the various tables. When the arrival of guests slowed to a trickle, Drayton left Theodosia at the front door and ducked behind the front counter to tend to his tea.
Theodosia greeted a few guests that Neela Carter from the Tangled Rose B and B had sent over, then was stunned when Babs Campbell wandered in accompanied by two friends.
Theodosia pulled Babs in close for a hug and said in her ear, “I didn’t expect to see you here today.”
“I didn’t expect to be here,” Babs whispered back. “After that mess last night.”
A few minutes after Miss Dimple had seated Babs and her two friends, Babs got up from her table and hurried over to talk to Theodosia.
“Can you believe that Jamie was kidnapped?” Babs said, keeping her voice purposefully low. “Once I heard the news, I was so upset I didn’t even want to leave my apartment…” Babs glanced back at her table. “But my friends basically ordered me to come to tea with them. You know, because I told them how much encouragement you and Drayton have given me about opening a coffee shop.”
“Because we care about you and want you to do well,” Theodosia said.
“So…have you heard anything at all about Jamie?”
“Unfortunately, not a thing,” Theodosia said.
“Jamie’s kidnapping has completely thrown me for a loop—do you know it’s been spread all over the news? This morning’s paper even did a story connecting it to the death at the wedding. Or, I guess I should say, the would-be wedding.”
“Do you have any idea what could have happened to Jamie? Because I’m fresh out,” Theodosia said.
“Believe me, if I had an inkling of who might have engineered Jamie’s kidnapping, I’d be sitting down with the police right now,” Babs said. “That guy’s friendship means a lot to me.”
“Drayton and I think the kidnapper was the same person who sabotaged the greenhouse,” Theodosia said.
Babs frowned, bit her lower lip, and thought for a moment. “You’re probably on the right track, though I can’t say I’ve thought about it in those terms.” Tears glistened in her eyes. “Gosh, I feel awful about this.”
“The police are doing all they can. Drayton and I are trying to figure things out as well.”
“Well, I’ve been praying,” Babs said. “ That couldn’t hurt.”
Theodosia touched a hand to Babs’s shoulder and squeezed gently. “Good for you. Sometimes praying is the best thing anyone can do. Now, please, try to enjoy your luncheon.”
Babs nodded. “I will.”
Just when Theodosia was ready to abandon her post at the front door and go welcome her seated guests, Angie Congdon arrived with a good-looking, silver-haired gentleman in tow. Angie was a forty-something bubbly blonde who was the owner of the nearby Featherbed House B and B. Today she wore a red cashmere crew neck sweater with a denim pencil skirt.
“Angie!” Theodosia exclaimed. “How delightful to see you!” Angie had been engaged for a number of years to a man named Harold but had recently broken it off. Maybe she’d gotten tired of waiting? For whatever reason, Angie had wasted no time in finding herself a brand-new boyfriend.
“Theodosia,” Angie said, pink color rising in her cheeks, “I’d like you to meet Gordon Twombley.”
“Your name sounds about as British as a tin of Duncan’s of Deeside shortbread,” Theodosia said as she shook hands with him.
“Probably because I am British,” Twombley said. “But after living in London’s Mayfair for almost twenty years, I had the wild idea to fly across the pond and take up residence here.”
“Then welcome to Charleston,” Theodosia said as she studied Twombley. He had an open broad face, pale blue eyes, and a nose that looked like it might have been broken once or twice. On the other hand, he could have been a rugby player in his younger days. A well-cut powder blue blazer, a pink shirt, and pressed khaki slacks concealed his somewhat stocky physique.
“Gordon is an antique dealer,” Angie said.
“Oh my, then you really have come to the right place,” Theodosia said to him. “Charleston is basically awash in antiques and antique lovers.” She smiled at Twombley. “So you’ll be opening a shop?”
“Already have,” Twombley said. “I found a dandy sublease over on King Street. A charming little brick building with a small flat directly above it.”
“He named the shop Mayfair Antiques,” Angie said. “To remind him of his London roots.”
“So you’ll be selling British antiques,” Theodosia said as she led them to a table and got them seated.
“British and French,” Twombley said. “Thanks to a recent trip to the Paris flea markets.”
“Those are fun,” Theodosia said, remembering a day once spent at Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine.
After seating Angie and her guest, Theodosia glanced around the tea room and decided it was time to introduce the menu. As she strode to the center of the room, one of her guests, Harriet Jones from the French Quarter Tea Club, saw her coming and clinked her knife against her water glass. That settled the chattering crowd down so Theodosia could speak.
“Welcome, dear guests, to the Indigo Tea Shop’s Harvest Tea,” Theodosia said. “You’ll be happy to know that our chef has been busy traversing the low country, shopping local markets and country stands so we could bring you the freshest and finest produce in season.”
That announcement brought a smattering of applause.
“For our luncheon today, we’ll begin with artisanal cheddar cheese scones, the cheese having been sourced from Ashe County Cheese in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The scones will be served with honey butter as well as our homemade Devonshire cream. Second course will be butternut squash bisque topped with crème fraiche. And for your main course, we’re hoping to delight you with three savories: turkey, apple, and goat cheese tea sandwiches, chicken and bacon tea sandwiches, and prosciutto and artichoke crostini. Our dessert, because our tea shop is famous for desserts, will be blackberry cobbler drenched in fresh cream, as well as cake mix cookies. As for our teas today…I’ll have Drayton Conneley, our tea sommelier, tell you all about them.”
Drayton stepped to the center of the room, a pink and floral teapot tucked in the crook of his arm, and said, “Today we have three fresh-brewed teas for your sipping pleasure. Fujian silver, orange pekoe tea, and, for our green tea lovers, a lovely Chinese Lung Ching.”
After a quick question from a guest about tea bags versus tea leaves, Miss Dimple and Haley brought out platters heaped with scones, and the luncheon was off and running.
Twenty minutes later, with only crumbs left to hint at the demise of four dozen scones, Theodosia helped serve the soup course. Then she chatted with guests, cleared a few dishes, and promised one woman that she’d for sure give her the recipe for the butternut squash bisque.
Halfway through the savories course, Babs grabbed Theodosia’s arm and said, “I need to talk to you. I have some…key information you might be interested in.”