Dying for High Tea Read online

“I worry about Sean and this girl because I remember how fragile he was when he first got out of rehab. We moved to be close to him and keep him away from the people here who he was involved with when he was using drugs. I think those years away gave him the strength to come back here after he became a drug counselor. I’m worried that this girl is substituting Sean for her drug addiction.”

  “What do you mean?” Chelsea asked. Her sisters looked as confused as she felt.

  “She’s gone beyond having a crush. He says she calls him all the time. She goes to all the meetings he runs. It looks like she’s just being compliant with her rehab, but Sean said she calls him at all hours of the day and night. I get that she’s trying not to go back to drugs, but she’s not dealing with whatever issues she’s got. Focusing on Sean won’t help her if he moves somewhere else.”

  “Is she dangerous?” Dani asked. “Should Sean be worried about her, or is he concerned about her relapsing?”

  “I’m afraid it’s both, but Sean says I’m crazy to think she’d hurt him.” Colleen looked at her watch. “I’ve got to go. I told Mom I needed to take some pictures to my house and wouldn’t be gone long. She panics if I’m not there. I’m worried she won’t adjust to the move to assisted living.” She stood up, and the Powell sisters did as well.

  “Thank you for letting me vent. I don’t have anyone else I can talk to about this,” Colleen said. She hugged the girls.

  “Any time. You know where to find us,” Alex said. She walked Colleen to the back door and locked it behind her.

  “What do you think,” she asked. “Is she being over-protective, or should she be worried?” Alex cleared the dishes from the table and put them in the dishwasher.

  “Time will tell,” Chelsea said.

  Chapter 3

  Dani and Alex drove to work together Thursday morning, and Chelsea took her own car. The Beach Tea Shop was as busy as it had been the day before and the four women were exhausted when they closed. All three vehicles left the parking lot at the same time, with BevAnne taking the turn to her own home while the other two cars headed to Nana Jean’s – now their – house.

  Traffic was detoured around their area. Dani asked the policeman directing traffic how they could get to their house. He asked for their address, and signaled for her to pull over after she gave it.

  “I’ll let my captain know you’re here. There’s been a fire on your block, and they’re asking people who live there to go to the parking lot at Citrus Beach Elementary to get more information.”

  “Where’s the fire?” Alex asked.

  The police officer shook his head. “I don’t know. I only know what I told you. If you go to the school, someone will let you know when you can go home.”

  ~*~

  The parking lot had twenty or so cars, some official, most of them personal vehicles. Alex saw a few of their neighbors and went over to talk to them.

  “Do you know what’s going on?” she asked.

  Rose Bradford shook her head. “I was out and got routed here. No one’s at home for me to call. I’ve got groceries in the car, and I hope we can get home soon.”

  Alex said, “I’ll ask if they know when we can leave. If it’s not soon, we can take your groceries to Beach Tea and put them in the walk-in cooler.”

  Rose’s face lit up. “Thank you. That makes me feel less stressed.” She took a phone call and Alex walked over to a table where someone seemed to be in charge.

  “Do you know how much longer before we can go home?” Alex asked. The man wore a name tag with Fire Department on one side and Dempsey on the other.

  “What’s your address?” he asked. He had a list on a clipboard in front of him with some names checked off.

  Alex told him her address. He scanned down his list and lifted his pen to tick it off.

  “Wait one,” he said. Dempsey stood up and hurried over to a woman standing near a van. They talked for a moment and Alex saw him gesture towards her.

  Dani came over and stood with Alex. “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing good, I don’t think,” Alex said. “He heard our address and got up to talk to that woman.”

  The woman came over. The suit she wore looked like she’d worn it for quite some time. As the woman came near Alex caught a whiff of smoke from her clothes.

  “I’m Elizabeth Weaver. Are you either one of you Jean Powell?” she asked.

  Dani spoke first, putting an arm around Alex. “Jean was our grandmother. She died in April.” She introduced herself and her sisters. “What’s going on?” Alex hugged Dani, and Chelsea joined them.

  “There’s been an accident and your grandmother’s house caught on fire. No one was around to notice it when it happened, and by the time a neighbor smelled smoke, the house was burning. I’m sorry,” Elizabeth Weaver said, “but I have to know where you were today. It’s just routine.”

  “We own Beach Tea Shop. Alex and I have been there since 7 o’clock this morning,” Dani said.

  “I left the house at 8 o’clock and everything was fine,” Chelsea said. She clasped arms with her sisters, three women presenting one unit to the world.

  “Anyone see you there?” Elizabeth Weaver asked.

  Alex smiled. “We were slammed all day. If you need names, I can give you a list of who I know and get names from credit card receipts for those I don’t know.”

  “I’ll let you know,” Elizabeth Weaver said. “In the meantime, it will be several hours before we can let anyone go back. Do you have somewhere else you can stay?”

  “I’m going to take Rose Bradford’s groceries to Beach Tea and put them in the walk-in so they don’t spoil. Then we’ll go to BevAnne’s?” Alex looked at her sisters for confirmation then gave BevAnne’s address and their cell phone numbers to Elizabeth Weaver.

  Alex walked over to Rose Bradford and told her what she knew. Rose handed her the perishable groceries and thanked her for taking care of them.

  Dani and Alex drove back to Beach Tea Shop, not talking about the fire. Both feared the house was gone. Memories of Nana Jean, photos of their parents, keepsakes they treasured – best not to borrow trouble before they knew for sure what was lost.

  Chelsea called BevAnne to let her know they were coming over and what was going on. All three girls had keys to BevAnne’s house, but called when they were on their way over instead of just walking in. They didn’t want to startle her if she was busy or napping.

  Dani and Alex arrived at BevAnne’s a few minutes after Chelsea.

  “I’m heartsick,” BevAnne said. “I can’t imagine how that house could catch fire.” She settled the girls in the family room and bustled into the kitchen to get cookies and beverages.

  “This calls for Scotch,” she said. The girls agreed, and BevAnne brought out a bottle of Scotch on a tray with four glasses and a plate of cookies. “You’re staying with me until we know the extent of the damage.”

  BevAnne had four bedrooms in her house. The girls stayed with her often, and all had a few clothes and toiletries there for convenience.

  “I hope we get a call from Elizabeth Weaver soon,” Chelsea said. “I’d like to know how bad it is.” Everyone nodded agreement.

  They settled in and BevAnne suggested a movie. They snuggled into BevAnne’s huge sectional, each taking their favorite spot and a cashmere throw from a storage ottoman. The movie had barely started before all four women were asleep.

  ~*~

  Alex’s ringing phone woke her up. “Hello,” she said, wondering why she was at BevAnne’s in the afternoon. Memory came with the voice on the other end.

  “Elizabeth Weaver. I need to talk to you and your sisters now. Where are you?” she asked.

  Alex blinked at the tone in her voice. Elizabeth Weaver seemed nice enough when they first met her, and didn’t seem at all nice now.

  “We’re at BevAnne Wexler’s house. I gave you the address before, do you need it again?” Alex asked.

  “I’m there now. No one is answering the d
oor.” Elizabeth Weaver’s voice relaxed a fraction. “Can you come to the door, please?”

  Alex walked to the door while she talked on the phone. Opening the door, she lowered the phone and saw Elizabeth Weaver and several men behind her.

  “What’s going on?” Alex asked. She ended the call on her phone. By now her sisters and BevAnne gathered behind her, woken up by the conversation and Alex getting up.

  “I’d like to come in,” Elizabeth Weaver said.

  Alex opened the door for her to enter. “Tell us what the problem is,” she said.

  “The fire was brought under control about three hours ago. Fire investigators began their inspection and found a woman’s burned body.”

  “Oh my gosh. Do you know who it is?” Alex asked. She turned to her sisters and BevAnne, looking for comfort and stability after the shocking news.

  “That’s what I want to know,” Elizabeth Weaver said. “Was someone staying in your grandmother’s house?”

  “We were. I lived with her,” Alex said. “Chelsea lives in Los Angeles and Dani lives in New York City. They’ve been here helping with Beach Tea Shop since our grandmother died and we’ve been staying together. It’s just the three of us now and BevAnne.”

  Elizabeth Weaver looked BevAnne up and down. “And your relationship to Jean Powell?”

  BevAnne smiled, not taking offense at the question. “Best friends. After their parents were killed in a car accident, I helped Jean raise the girls. They’ll be staying with me for the next little while, unless you have some objection I can’t imagine.”

  BevAnne looked like a pushover, with her age and white hair, coordinated ensembles, and ready smile. But she was as much of a tiger when it came to the girls as Nana Jean had been. Dani, Chelsea, and Alex relied on her as much as they had Nana Jean, and trusted her as much. She’d been part of their lives since they were born, and was their remaining parental figure.

  “They can stay with you, but if you leave town you need to notify me,” Elizabeth Weaver said. “Standard procedure, until we finalize the investigation and release the house back to you.”

  Chelsea spoke up a fraction of a second faster than Dani. “I’m scheduled to go back to Los Angeles next month to make arrangements to move back to Citrus Beach.” Squeals from Alex and Dani made Chelsea smile. “I made the airline reservations this morning.”

  “I’m heading back to New York next week. I have a few things to take care of before I move back for good.” Hugs from Chelsea and Alex, with a wrapping hug for all three from BevAnne, brought a brief moment of joy before reality crashed back in.

  “Email me your flight information and where you’ll be staying.” Elizabeth Weaver handed business cards to everyone. “We don’t know who the woman is. You cannot enter the house until the investigation is over.”

  “Not even to get a few things?” Alex asked. “We keep some clothes here for emergencies, but if we’re going to live here indefinitely I’d prefer to have my own clothes.”

  “I’ll arrange for you to go there tomorrow or Friday with someone. It’s not safe for anyone to be there right now. Be prepared for a lot of damage.” Elizabeth Weaver looked at the Powell sisters. “I assume there is insurance?”

  “There is,” Alex said. “We’ve been transferring everything over to new accounts since our grandmother died. I’ll get you the insurance info once I get my laptop.”

  Elizabeth Weaver shook her head. “There are no electronics in the house. We’ve determined that so far. No computers. No flat screens. No tablets.”

  “We were robbed and they set the house on fire?” Chelsea said. “Everything was fine when I left this morning, and now we’ve lost everything?”

  “I’m sorry. A detective will contact you about the theft.” Elizabeth Weaver turned and walked through the group of men clustered behind her. They followed her to several vehicles parked at the curb, got in, and drove away.

  Dani said, “I don’t understand this at all. What’s going on?”

  No one answered. They didn’t know either.

  Chapter 4

  Friday began much the same way as the previous two days. Beach Tea Shop was busy from opening until close.

  Rose Bradford stopped by and picked up yesterday’s groceries. While there, she passed along some news she’d heard and caught Alex up on the latest rumors.

  Alex flipped the Open sign to Closed and sat down in the nearest chair.

  “I heard from Elizabeth Weaver. We can go through the house for 15 minutes this afternoon, or wait until they’re finished…whenever that might be.”

  “Let’s go over now,” Dani said. “Is someone there, or do we need to call her?”

  Alex said, “We can go now. I told her we close at 3 o’clock and could be there about 3:15 or 3:30. She said just come over when we were ready.” She stood and stretched, arms reaching to the ceiling. “Rose Bradford told me Colleen Browne is back. I told her we saw her the other evening in passing and she came over Wednesday night for a few minutes.”

  “Was anyone with her?” Chelsea asked.

  Alex smiled. “I asked Rose. She didn’t see Siobhan or Sean. She only had a minute to chat with Colleen. She’s still getting her mother settled into assisted living.”

  Catching her sisters up with what little she knew, Alex got ready to go to the house and see what could be salvaged and identify what was missing.

  Dani and Chelsea gathered their things and they drove in Alex’s car back to the house.

  The stink of smoke and ash hovered in the air and seemed to coat their lungs when they breathed.

  Men and women walked in and out, looking at this and that, not in a pattern Alex could see. She hoped they found evidence that would lead to whoever set the fire and killed the woman. Alex hoped the woman was dead before the fire started.

  Walking to the person who was holding the clipboard, Alex, Dani, and Chelsea identified themselves and asked about going inside.

  “I’ll have to escort you one at a time,” the man said. “It’s still dangerous. The structure is weak but the fire itself is extinguished.”

  The women each had a turn being taken to their bedrooms to see what could be salvaged and see whether anything was missing.

  Alex took a walk around the house while Dani and Chelsea were inside. She saw smoke and water damage on most of the walls. By the back door was a smudge that didn’t look like it was caused by the fire, but she didn’t know what it could be. She didn’t remember seeing it the last time she was in the backyard.

  She looked closer – the smudge almost looked like blood, but how could it be? Maybe one of the firefighters brushed up against the wall and it rubbed off something.

  Alex lived there and when it was her turn to go inside she noticed many things were gone. She didn’t know if they were stolen before the fire was set or destroyed in the fire and aftermath. Her clothes reeked of smoke.

  The fire gutted the living room, dining room, kitchen, and family room. The bedrooms on the south side of the house were intact but stinky. Water was everywhere. Her laptop was gone. She packed up what she could and took it out to the car.

  Chelsea and Dani each came away with a suitcase and some clothes. They put the suitcases and salvaged items in the trunk of Alex’s car, got in, and sat in the cool air for a moment before realizing they also smelled of smoke and put the windows down to breathe fresh air.

  Papers dealing with Nana Jean’s estate were waterlogged and unreadable.

  Alex had backup copies of everything on her laptop, and backups in the cloud, but the paper will Nana Jean signed was too damaged to keep. Alex sighed and leaned her head against the headrest.

  She knew the will wasn’t Nana Jean, they had their memories, but her loss was still too fresh. Tears made tracks down Alex’s face, and sniffles from Chelsea and Dani oddly made her feel better. They were in this together with BevAnne, and they would get through.

  Alex started the car and they drove away from Nana Jean’s house, fo
rlorn and bedraggled in the warm afternoon sun. Leaving it behind felt like they were abandoning Nana Jean.

  ~*~

  Gathering at BevAnne’s house, they went online to look up how to get rid of smoke in clothes. They each took a large bucket outside and filled it with water, adding vinegar and baking soda, and mixing it together. Putting their clothes in, Alex said, “It either works and we can wear these again, or it doesn’t and we have to go shopping. It’s worth trying.”

  Her sisters agreed.

  The smoky clothes could sit outside in the vinegar and baking soda solution overnight. They’d wash them in the morning and see if the clothes were wearable.

  Going inside for dinner, they set the table while BevAnne finished cooking.

  “Girls, we’ll have a High Tea. We’ll sit at the kitchen table and have something grander than plain old supper.” BevAnne smiled, making an adventure out of the circumstance. When the girls were small they liked having tea time. High Tea was the regular evening meal made special with the fancy name given for a working-class supper.

  High Tea is a heavy meal, where Afternoon Tea is a heavy snack and Cream Tea is a light snack. The girls would have Cream Tea when they came home from school, a scone with strawberry jam and clotted cream and a cup of tea. After they started working at Beach Tea Shop, they’d have an Afternoon Tea with the leftover scones, tea sandwiches, and sweets.

  BevAnne made Ham and Swiss Pastry and served it with Summer Tomato and Cucumber Salad. She made Strawberry Rhubarb Crostata for dessert. The food was a hit with everyone, and there weren’t any leftovers.

  Chapter 5

  Saturday after work, Alex came home and checked the clothes in the bucket. The smoke smell seemed to be gone, and she started washing clothes.

  BevAnne came into the laundry room.

  “I heard the body is Siobhan Browne. Sean gave her a Claddagh ring years ago and that’s how they identified her. They still have to confirm through dental records, but that’s what Colleen told me. She’s devastated.” BevAnne hugged Alex. “I’m so sorry, honey.”