Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
The crowd thinned until it was just my friends and me, with a few stragglers who were getting visibly bored now that there wasn’t anything exciting going on.
Doc Thompson and the paramedics had left, and now it was just Rob at the scene.
He was searching around the bench. I wanted to join him, to fall back into our old routine of working together. A team. But something held me back.
“Well, shoot. I guess that’s that,” Jo said, slapping her hands together. “What now? We need a list of suspects. Emma, did you ever get that whiteboard I was asking you about?”
“No, I didn’t, Miss Marple,” Emma said with a sigh. “But it’s probably not a bad idea, given how many people drop like flies in this town. Let’s head back to the shop. I think more tea is in order.”
Somewhere along the way, Natalie had disappeared. I hadn’t seen her go past us, but a quick scan of the park showed she wasn’t there. I wanted to follow her, but I didn’t know where to begin. I hated feeling stymied.
“Olivia? Are you coming?”
This is where I’d usually say I was going back to my shop. But I couldn’t say that. Not until it was declared safe to re-enter. A strange feeling of being unmoored wafted over me. I shook my head.
“I think I’m going to go see Meg,” I said. “But I’ll stop by later, okay?”
“Oh, good idea. She’s going to want the scoop,” Sandy said, giving me a quick hug. “My offer for a place to stay still stands, Olivia.”
She patted my arm as she pulled away, and I had a feeling that my argument with Rob was a little more obvious than I would have liked. We said our goodbyes, and I found Millie sitting a few feet away, her eyes still trained on the bench.
I crouched next to her, stroking her back.
“Ready to go? I think we should head over to Meg’s.”
She didn’t respond, her eyes still lasered into the spot where Moorehead died. A strange thought occurred to me as I watched her.
“Can you see ghosts? Wouldn’t that be handy if Moorehead was still hanging around and could tell us who killed him, unless Jo is right and it was an accident.”
“No. I wish I could. My cousin can, but that’s not a gift we share. But I can sense things. It was not an easy passing, Olivia. There is so much hate and anger swirling around that bench I can practically taste it.”
I frowned, hand hovering over her back.
“Hate and anger?”
She finally tore her gaze away from the bench and looked at me. The amount of sadness I saw in her eyes would have brought me to my knees if I’d been standing.
“Yes. So much of it. We should go. I don’t... I don’t want to be in this park anymore. I don’t know if I’ll ever want to come here again.”
I scooped her up and turned my back to the scene, shielding her with my body. She was so tense, as if she were ready to leap and run away. I tightened my grip on her.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. Let’s go.”
We walked across the street, and I got into my car. Millie sat in the passenger seat, eyes downcast as I started the engine.
“Is there anything I can do, Millie?”
“No, Olivia. But thank you. Leaving helped. Strong emotions like that can be overwhelming.”
“Does everyone leave those behind?” I asked as I backed out onto the street. “Do I?”
“You leave joy and love in your wake,” she said, turning to blink at me slowly. “Although you’re sad and tied up in knots today. Don’t worry, Olivia. It will be all right.”
That was my little cat, always worried about me when she shouldered the weight of human emotions. I didn’t know what to say, so I settled for putting a hand on her back, hoping she would feel the love I had for her.
I drove past my shop, wincing at the yellow caution tape that now stretched across the front. That was not a good sign. I parked in front of Meg’s and turned to my cat.
“Do you want to come inside, or do you need some alone time?”
“I’ll come with you.”
That settled, we headed into the cafe. The warm smells of coffee roasting and the sweet smells of the breakfast menu greeted us. Meg lit up as soon as she saw me. Only two people were inside, sitting together in the corner.
“Olivia! Is it true? I’ve heard so many versions of what happened in the park, I don’t even know what happened at this point. Someone even said aliens abducted someone, but you know Barney. He always says things like that.”
I chuckled and shook my head.
“No aliens. Although that might be easier to explain. Jackson Moorehead is dead, though. Rob is investigating.”
She needed to know about the cup, but I didn’t know how to bring it up. Didn’t want to make it real by voicing my concerns.
“I can’t believe it. He was here, you know, just a few hours ago.
A few minutes after I left your shop, he was banging on the door.
I had to open the place just for him. He said he’d leave me a bad review if I didn’t.
And then he proceeded to order the most intricate latte known to man.
I didn’t have half the ingredients he wanted.
It was a mess. And now... you’re sure he’s dead? ”
“Positive. I felt his neck before Rob got there. No pulse. It was... I don’t even know, Meg. Rob and I got into a fight after you left, and everything is upside down.”
“Sit, honey,” she said, steering me toward my favorite booth. “You need some tea and something sweet for the shock. I’ll be right back.”
“You were there?”
I pivoted in my seat as Millie sat, looking out the window onto Main Street. I tried to remember the man’s name, but came up blank. He was sitting with Julie Turro, who ran the local insurance agency. I remembered her from when I had to insure my building, but I couldn’t recall the man.
“Yes.”
“I told you, Kieran. And you didn’t believe me,” Julie said. “You owe me breakfast.”
Something about betting on a man’s death sat heavily on me as I turned away from the couple. A chair made a scraping sound, and I tensed as Kieran walked over to stand next to my booth.
“What a shame. That will really put this town on the map, though. A famous author dying here? We’ll have a bunch of tourists who want to see the place. I should look into getting a statue or something made. A nice memorial.”
Now I knew who he was. Kieran worked for the parks and rec office. I gave him a noncommittal look, but he didn’t get the point and sat across from me.
“What do you think, Olivia? Would your bookstore like to chip in to make the memorial happen? With your backing, I think it would really take off.”
I felt like telling him exactly what I thought of his plan, but luckily, Julie saved me before I could snap.
“Oh, let her be,” Julie said, tugging on his arm. “I swear you never quit working. She’s obviously been traumatized. Look how terrible she looks. Sorry, Olivia. No offense. You’re very pale, though. Do you need anything? I’ve already got your claim filed for your insurance.”
Peace. Quiet. For them to leave the shop. And apparently a mirror, since she was the third person to tell me I looked pale.
I shook my head.
“No, thank you.”
“Well, go settle up the bill, Kieran,” Julie said, nodding toward the counter. “We’ll leave you be, Olivia.”
She followed Kieran, saying something about how she hoped Moorehead had a life insurance policy, and I tuned the rest of their conversation out. The tinkle of the bell over the door as they left felt like a blessing.
“Here you go,” Meg said, sliding a steaming mug of tea and a plate in front of me. “Pie is always the answer.”
I snorted as I picked up the fork.
“I didn’t know I asked a question.”
“Meh, you didn’t need to. I can read you, Olivia. How bad was it with Rob?”
I forked up a piece of the fruit pie into my mouth and closed my eyes in bliss as the comforting flavors of cherry and vanilla hit me. She was right. Darn it. Pie always was the answer.
I took a sip of the tea, a soft, citrus-forward blend.
“Oh, this is good. What is this?”
“Lady Grey. I wanted something a little softer than Earl Grey. You like it?”
I nodded and took another sip.
“Delicious.”
“You haven’t answered me about Rob.”
That was the problem with friends. The ones who cared enough to know the real you tended to know when something was bothering you. And they didn’t let it go until they got it out of you.
“I know. I’m probably overreacting, but he was mad, Meg. And I got defensive. And then he found me next to Moorehead’s body, and it was...so adversarial,” I said with a sigh before taking another bite of pie.
“He’ll get over it,” Meg said, waving a hand. “We probably shouldn’t have looked in the bag, but it’s not like you killed him.”
The pie crust went down wrong, and I coughed, eyes watering.
“Oh goodness, you okay?”
“Fine,” I said, wiping my eyes with my napkin. “Meg, he had one of your cups next to him on the bench. And, well, there weren’t any visible wounds. I wanted to tell you before...Well, you know how this goes. You’ve been through it before.”
Meg blinked a few times and reached for my plate, producing a fork out of her apron pocket.
“You don’t mind, do you?”
I pushed it toward her.
“Not at all.”
“Hmm. It needs something. Maybe more vanilla?”
She put the fork down, reached for a napkin, and carefully wiped her mouth before folding the napkin precisely. I waited, trying to find the right thing to say.
“It will be okay, Meg. Everyone knows you. You’ve lived here your whole life.”
“I know. That didn’t stop them from thinking I killed Nathan,” she said, heaving a sigh. “I can’t believe it. But he ordered that drink hours ago. He would have finished it. Why did he still have the cup?”
“I don’t know, Meg. But I wanted to warn you.”
“Today has just been a blur. It was unusually busy until about an hour and a half ago when the word got out. A few new faces in the crowd. Normally, I’d just think they were tourists, but now...”
“Wait. New faces. Did you see a woman? Pretty, short, thin...”
“Green eyes?”
“Yes! You saw her?”
“She came in about a half hour after Moorehead left. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I wasn’t really open yet, and it was my fault for leaving the door open.
So I took her order. She got a cappuccino.
She wanted a croissant, but I’m all out of Susie’s stock.
I told her to head over to the bake shop. Nice girl. She looked like a model.”
“That’s Natalie Adams, Moorehead’s publicist. I just ran into her at the park. Poor thing, she took the news really hard.”
“I wonder...” Meg said, before trailing off.
Millie bumped my arm, her green eyes wide. I turned to look at her, and she looked outside again. Natalie was walking past, head down. I dug for my purse and pulled out some cash.
“I’ve gotta go, Meg. I hope this is enough.”
I grabbed Millie and headed for the door as Meg called after me.
“Olivia! This is way too much! Where are you going?”
I dashed around the corner and came to a stop. No sign of Natalie. Where had she gone? The sound of an engine further down the block made me perk up, and I was just in time to see a silver car with rental plates turn onto a side street.
“I think we need to talk to her, Millie. Ready to play a little hide and seek?”
“Good call. She knows something. I can feel it in my paws.”
I hurried back around the corner, racing for my car. Something was odd about Natalie’s appearance in town, and I needed to get to the bottom of it.