Restless Natives (A Coffee & Crime Mystery Book 1) Read online

  Arabella murmured some sort of agreement and walked the woman to the door, leaving Ellie to watch after them. So that was the mysterious Todd Hertz’s mother. They couldn’t have been more different. Todd had seemed friendly, open, even lively. His mother, on the other hand, was uptight, sour and completely closed.

  Hopefully she wouldn’t have to deal with her – or her church ladies – very often. She sure felt sorry for Louisa Cullen if the girl and Todd Hertz decided to get serious.

  After closing the front door behind Jeanne Hertz, Arabella motioned for Ellie to follow her into the tea room, where she resumed a seat at one of the tables and made a few notes in a notebook. Scattered across the floral table cloth were three cookbooks, all open to various pages. The older woman gestured at Ellie then pushed a chair out for her with her sneakered foot. “Have a seat. There’s scones and tea on the sideboard. Do you want some eggs? Marg makes a killer Eggs Benedict.”

  Ellie was unable to resist the fresh scones, but opted to pour herself a cup of coffee from the elaborate silver coffee urn. “That cup of tea last night packed one heck of a wallop. What did you put in it?”

  She expected the innkeeper to deny having dosed her tea, but Arabella just smiled. “A little chamomile, a little skullcap. Nothing that would hurt you. You needed a decent night’s rest and I was afraid you’d be too upset.” She had the decency to look abashed. “Are you very upset with me?”

  Arabella’s heart had been in the right place, but it still irritated Ellie that someone else was making decisions about what was good for her. “A little put out but I’ll get over it. Probably right after I finish this scone. You are an amazing chef.”

  “Those aren’t mine. They’re Marg’s. I told her to handle the breakfast crowd, since it would be small this morning. Keeps her out of my hair while I plan the menu for next week’s Lion’s dinner.”

  Ellie took a bite of the scone and nearly groaned. “Oh man. This is so good.” Maybe Per had a good idea, telling her she should hire Marg. “Is Marg part of your staff here?”

  Arabella rolled her eyes. “Good heavens, no. I’d kill her if she spent any more time here than she does now. Talk, talk, talk, all the live long day. And the mess! I’m one of those neat cooks. I can’t stand the mess she makes. Drives me crazy.”

  “She doesn’t clean up?”

  “Oh, she cleans up – when she’s done. In the meantime, however, it drives me crazy to see flour everywhere and raisins on the counter, eggs dripping down the sides of things.” Arabella shuddered.

  Ellie laughed. “Sounds like my Grams. You could always tell she’d been baking, because it looked like a flour bag exploded.” She could handle that, she thought. She didn’t plan on spending much time in the kitchen anyway. “So she doesn’t have a full time gig anywhere?”

  “I wish. That at least would keep her out from under foot.” She looked up suddenly. “You’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking. Are you?”

  Ellie shrugged. “If she can bake like every day… Problem is, I don’t think I can pay her much.”

  “Oh, if I knew you better I’d kiss you. Money isn’t a problem. I mean, she’s not loaded or anything, but her father left her some money and she’s been pretty smart with it. Even had enough sense not to let her idiot husbands get hold of it. Just the thought of having her out from underfoot… you have no idea how happy that would make me.”

  Was Marg really that bad? Or was Arabella just that anal?

  As if reading her thoughts, the woman quickly backpedaled. “Don’t get me wrong. Marg would give you the shirt off her back. She’s good people, but the constant chattering, and the mess… Seth tells me I’m OCD, and maybe that’s true. All I know is that I like my kitchen a certain way. Quiet and with everything in its place.”

  Ellie felt herself backpedaling a bit too. “I should probably talk to her. Tell her how small the pittance I can pay her is, tell her the crazy kind of hours she’d need to work.”

  Arabella was nodding. “A good idea. Do you want me to call her out here?”

  Ellie was either making a big mistake, or her prayers had been answered. Either way, her stomach was fluttering. “In a minute. First I wanted to ask you a couple of questions.”

  “About Marg?”

  “No, actually. How well do you know Todd?”

  “Todd as in Jeanne’s son, Todd? I don’t know. About as well as I know other young men his age. As I mentioned earlier, he’s a teacher up at the High School. Why?”

  “I, uh, ran into him the other day at the Kwik Trip. Is he good friends with the Cullens?”

  The expression on Arabella’s face didn’t alter, but Ellie sensed a change in her anyway. A subtle shift in energy, a slight tension in the air. “Not particular friends. I’m sure they know each other – Jeanne and Helen Cullen went to the same church.”

  “Oh.”

  Arabella was staring at her. “Why do you ask?”

  “It’s nothing really.” She waved the question off. “I just thought I saw him and Louisa together and they looked really chummy. I just wondered if they were an item.”

  Arabella relaxed. “He is an attractive young man, isn’t he? Intelligent too. As a matter of fact, I don’t believe he’s seeing anyone at the moment.” Something else lit behind her eyes, an expression that Ellie not only recognized, but dreaded. It was the ‘matchmaking’ look. “Maybe I should have a little dinner party, invite some of the young people your age. Help you get better acquainted in the community.”

  Ellie panicked, waved off the suggestion. “You don’t need to have a sock hop on my account. I’m not interested in meeting anyone. Of either gender. My whole goal in coming here was to simplify my life.” She met the other woman’s eyes. “Okay?”

  But Arabella had that look. That ‘I’m a married person and I need to help make everyone a married person’ look. “Whatever you say, dear. But you could do worse than Todd Hertz.”

  “I could do worse than Bill Gruetzmacher too, but I’m still not interested.”

  Her eyes lit up again. “So you like them older, do you?”

  Ellie would not go there. Not now. Not ever. “I don’t like them anyway, frankly. I’m not interested in a relationship, Arabella. Not even with a dog. I just want to be left alone.”

  Arabella raised her hands. “Okay, okay. But if you change your mind, I’m happy to introduce you around. Set up a little casual dinner party.”

  Ellie shook her head. “Thanks. But no thanks.”

  Arabella flipped the pages of her cook book for a minute. “Did you say you saw Louisa and Todd together? Where?”

  Nowhere she wanted to mention, that’s for sure. “In town. I just thought it was odd because they looked… I don’t know, ‘couple-like’ and I’d heard from Patti that Louisa was gay.”

  With a scoff, the woman shook her head. “I don’t think Louisa knows what she is. Other than confused...and angry.” She sighed. “Still, I don’t see the two of them together for any number of reasons, not the least of which is that Todd’s mother is a rather fervent Christian. I’m a little surprised they’d have anything to do with one another.”

  Ellie raised an eyebrow. “Maybe I was mistaken. I suppose it could have been another guy – or another Goth chick.” She let it go. “Did you say Marg was in the kitchen?”

  “Yup. Be prepared. She was going to make cheese tartlets for lunch – I can only imagine what the place will look like.”

  “I’ll be careful. Thanks, Arabella. For everything. Even the doped up tea.”

  “You’re welcome, dear.”

  Ellie got up, headed for the swinging door to the hallway that led to the kitchen.

  “Oh, and Ellie?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Be careful. And not just in the kitchen. Whoever killed that llama was sending a message.”

  “I know. And I will be.” She escaped through the swinging doors before Arabella could say anything else.

  Chapter 21

  “Y
ou really are serious? You want me to work for you? Oh, Ellie that’s wonderful!” She flung her arms round Ellie and hugged her tightly. “I was trying to work up the courage the other day to ask you if you needed help – but I just couldn’t find the right words. I’m so happy!”

  “You heard me when I said I couldn’t pay you much. And that we’d both be expected to be at the shop around 4 am.”

  Marg Kemp was beaming. “I heard. I’m a morning person anyway. And I don’t need much. My little town house is paid for and I’ve got a good car. It’s just me and Simon Bar Sinister now – that’s my cat – and he doesn’t eat much. Oh, I can’t tell you what this means to me. I love to bake. And I really am good at it. We’ll have half the county begging for my cinnamon raisin scones in no time.”

  It felt right. And she was pretty good at letting her gut call the shots on decisions like this. “Good. Then you can start just as soon as we are allowed back in there. I’ll let you go through the store room, take a look at the supplies I’ve ordered and tell me what else you think you might need. I have a rough idea of what kinds of things I’d like to serve the first week, but I’ll make you a copy of that and you can make suggestions. I want this to be an open partnership – I know what I like to eat, but have absolutely no skills in the kitchen at all.”

  “That sounds great. I can’t wait.” She had just finished putting her cheese tarts in the oven and now moved away slowly, leading Ellie over to the large kitchen table that looked to be a twin to the big plank trestle table at the Mough’s. “Do we know when the Chief plans on letting us back in?”

  Ellie shook her head. “Your guess is as good as mine. But it better be soon, or we’re going to be delayed. And I’d hate for that to happen.”

  “Me too. This town is desperate for your kind of business. And the early summer tours start in just a couple of weeks. So we need to have all the kinks worked out by then.”

  “Agreed.” This was sounding more and more like she’d made the right decision. Now it was time to trust her gut again. “So, I’ve got a different sort of question to ask you now. Arabella tells me you’re pretty hooked into the locals.”

  “You mean she told you I was a nosey parker.”

  “Well, I don’t think she used those words exactly.”

  Marg laughed, a big boisterous sound. “Oh, please. I guess maybe I am. I just really like people. So I talk to them. And they talk back. Can I help it if people just like to confide in me?”

  “Look, I need to get the low down on this town. I want to understand people when they come into my shop and I was hoping you could help me there.”

  “You’ve come to the right place. I’m a native here. I know everyone. Where do you want to start?”

  “Well, how about… the Cullens. I obviously met Artie, although I hear that what I saw wasn’t necessarily the real Artie. And I just met one of his daughters the other day. Louisa. She’s…”

  “Odd? Yeah. That one’s trouble. Has been since she was a kid. In high school, she was into all kinds of freaky things. The whole Goth scene for one, but other stuff too. Drugs, sex and rock n’ roll. Flipped a lot of the more conservative folks out.”

  “She’s what, mid-twenties now?”

  “Yeah, that’s about right. She was what we used to call a menopause baby. A bit of a shock. A good fifteen years younger than Ingrid. Talk about night and day. I don’t think Ingrid even thought about sex until she’d been married five years. But Lu? In high school, that girl would do it with anybody that walked upright. She was a terror.”

  “Why? What was her deal?”

  “I s’pose you’ve heard about Artie and his little fidelity problem. Well, Lu just couldn’t handle it. Hated what his affairs did to Helen. When she found Artie with one of her best friends… she just sort of flipped. Started acting out like crazy. Helen actually sent her to live with Artie’s sister, Melanie, for a summer because she was just stirring up way too much trouble.”

  Something occurred to Ellie. Actually, a couple of somethings. “You know, girls who act out in that fashion are sometimes the victims of sexual abuse. I know Artie was attracted to young girls. You don’t think there’s any chance that he…”

  It took Marg a moment, and then she clapped a hand to her mouth. “Oh, no. No, even Artie wouldn’t have stooped that low. Bad enough he was fooling around with her friend.” She made a face. “I’d never believe that about him though.”

  Ellie sighed. So much for that motive. “It was just a thought. Do you think that the summer she was sent away it could have been because she was pregnant?”

  “There was some speculation about that. But if that was so, no one ever heard a word about it. Not like when Jeanne Corrigan got pregnant. I was really little then, but I can still remember the hubbub that caused.”

  “Jeanne Corrigan?”

  “Well, Jeanne Hertz, now. Her maiden name was Corrigan. She got pregnant…” She clapped her hand over her mouth again. “Oops. Sorry. I’m not supposed to talk about that. I mean, a lot of people know, but it’s one of those things that we just don’t talk about. Especially not since Todd has… oh. Arabella’s right. I have a big mouth.”

  Ellie smiled at her. “Well, you can’t stop now. The cat is half out of the bag. I promise I won’t tell anyone else – what’s the scoop?” And then she started to put two and two together. “Don’t tell me that English Teacher Todd was born on the wrong side of the blanket?”

  Marg tried to stifle a grin. “Don’t you just love that saying? But yes, it’s true. And rumor has it… Oh, I don’t know. I’m really not supposed to talk about this. Arabella and Patti swore me to silence.”

  “Marg, I don’t know a soul in town. Who am I gonna blab to?”

  “Well…” She leaned in conspiratorially. “Supposedly, Artie was the father.”

  Ellie’s stomach clenched. She saw in her mind’s eye the image of Louisa Cullen and Todd Hertz kissing passionately in front of the big bay window. “Does Todd know that?”

  “I don’t think so. That’s why the girls swore me to silence. Jeanne would be mortified if Todd found out. And I can’t imagine it would do much for Todd, either. He loved his dad. Or who he thought his dad was.”

  “Did Todd’s dad know?”

  “I don’t think so. But maybe he did. He married Jeanne before the baby was born. Maybe Jeanne was fooling around with both of them, so Todd’s dad thought the baby was his.” She shrugged. “I was only about six at the time. But I remember the shouting at church one Sunday – that was before my mother passed and I moved in with Seth and Bella. Ma was a big church goer. She and Jeanne’s mother were tight. Apparently old Reverend Mueller found out about Jeanne’s condition and forbade her from coming to church. I’ve never seen a man turn quite that red.”

  “Wow.” She looked down at her nails. She felt just a little bit guilty, pumping Marg like this. “So Jeanne Hertz is very religious. What church does she go to?”

  “Horizon Church of the Redeemer. It’s a little bit outside of town on the north side. If you’re thinking about looking into a church here, I might recommend others first. First Methodist is nice.” She cocked her head just like Per. “But I thought you were… you know… witchy.”

  “Next thing, you’ll tell me Terri Kohler told you my shoe size too.”

  Marg grinner. “Seven narrow.”

  “What?”

  “Just joking.”

  Ellie let that go. “No, I’m not looking for a church. Just wondering. Did Arabella mention anything about the Bible I found?”

  “She might have… oh… you don’t think that Bible might have belonged to someone from the church…”

  “Well, it belonged to some Christian. Is Louisa religious, by any chance?”

  “Lu? Religious? Not hardly. I think she dabbled in your sort of stuff for a while. But the dark stuff. Mostly that was just posturing though. She was trying to piss off her father.” Again, the hand flew across her mouth. “Oh, you don’t think Lu had any
thing to do with this…”

  “Well, she apparently hated her father. Would you want a man you despised – who you thought ruined your life and that of your mother – to come live with you?”

  Marg’s gaze travelled to the stove, as she thought about that. “I suppose you’re right, when you put it that way. I just… I mean, it’s just Lu. You learn to take her with a grain of salt. She’s all about the shock value. I guess I just never thought she could be capable of something like that.”

  Ellie shrugged. “I’m not saying she is. It’s just a possibility.” She stared into the oven, enjoying for a moment the rich, buttery aroma of the cheese tarts. “Can you think of anyone else who might have hated Artie?”

  “Lots of people hated Artie. Heck, I wasn’t even very fond of him. He tried to…well, whatever. But I can’t think of anyone who hated him enough to kill him. It’s just awful. How could you do that to anyone?”

  There was a time when Ellie couldn’t have imagined a hate so strong that would cause her to take a life – violate the thing she held most sacred. But after her parents’ murder, things changed. Suddenly she understood that rage, that darkness that made people want to destroy things. In the absence of any justice, she’d worked long and hard to get past it. It was still there, lurking in the dark places, but it no longer ruled her.

  “Sometimes you just get pushed to the edge, Marg. Sometimes, the world keeps piling it on and you just snap.”

  The look in Marg’s eyes made her wonder what was on her own face. “I guess.”

  “So you can’t think of anyone? What about Ingrid?”

  “Ingrid? She wouldn’t hurt a fly. And as far as I can tell, she got along fine with Artie. It was her idea that he move down to New Mexico to live with her and George.”

  She was back where she started, Ellie thought. Her favorite suspect just looked guiltier and guiltier. Worse, the girl was probably having some kind of affair with what was very likely her biological brother. That story couldn’t end well no matter how you looked at it.

  She stood up, tried to arrange her face in a facsimile of a pleasant smile. “I’m so glad you’re able to work for me. I just know this is going to work out great.”