Death By Darjeeling

He extended his hand, and Drayton shook it even as his eyes roved over the drawings.

“I like these,” Drayton declared. “I’ve not seen anything like this before. Most tea labels are flowery or carry coats of arms or clipper ships or drawings of tea leaves. These are like...” Drayton searched for the right words. “Like the wood-block prints I saw in Kyoto when I was there on a buying trip.”

Tanner Joseph smiled. “I’ll admit Japanese prints were in the back of my mind. Indian manuscript paintings, as well.”

Drayton’s eyes shone. “Well, that really makes it perfect then, doesn’t it?”

“I’d say so,” agreed Theodosia.

“And when will these be ready to go to the printer?” asked Drayton.

Theodosia and Tanner gazed at each other.

“Tanner thinks he can add the color in a matter of hours,” said Theodosia.

Drayton half closed his eyes as he calculated the time frame. “The printer needs at least a week to do the adhesive-backed labels. Theodosia, did you order the tins yet?”

“Yes,” she replied.

“Gold or silver?”

“Gold.”

“Two more days to sticker the tins and fill them,” said Drayton. “So perhaps seven or eight working days at the outset.”

“That’s right,” said Theodosia.

Drayton smiled at Tanner Joseph. “I think you’ve done a masterful job, young man. You certainly have my blessing.”

Tanner bobbed his head, looking pleased. “Great.” He smiled at Theodosia. “It’s been a labor of love.”

The bell over the door rang again, and a half dozen people entered the tea shop. Four immediately seated themselves at a table, and two began oohing and ahing over a display of Russell Hobbs tea kettles. At that same moment, both phone lines began to ring.

“Looks like your tea shop just got busy,” declared Tanner. He began to collect his art boards. “I’d better get out of here and let you folks tend to business.”

“Theodosia,” called Haley from the counter, “telephone. A Mrs. Finster. Said she talked to you this morning. Something about Hughes Barron?”

Tanner Joseph’s lip curled at the mention of Hughes Barron’s name, and his eyes fastened on Theodosia. “The infamous developer,” he spat out. “I wasn’t aware Hughes Barron had been a friend of yours.”

“He wasn’t,” replied Theodosia evenly, “but you certainly seem to have a strong aversion to the man. Or at least to his memory, since he’s now deceased.”

“Hughes Barron was a charlatan and an environmental pirate,” Tanner declared vehemently. “I’m delighted he came to a well-deserved end.”

“I see,” said Theodosia, and a cold chill touched her heart. Their polite, enthusiastic meeting of a moment ago seemed to have rapidly deteriorated into a nasty go-round concerning Hughes Barron. “Excuse me,” said Theodosia. She rose from her chair and stalked off to take Mrs. Finster’s call.

What an extraordinary woman, Tanner Joseph thought to himself as he quietly departed the Indigo Tea Shop. Confident, worldly, so full of energy. Since the moment she’d first walked into his office at the Shorebird Environmentalist Group, he had longed to learn everything there was to know about Theodosia Browning. Where had she grown up? What had she studied in college? What kind of man did she find attractive?

He had always found the simplest way to obtain a reliable dossier on someone was through their friends and acquaintances. So he had invited Bethany, her employee, to the gallery opening the other night. Of the two young women he had met in the tea shop, she had seemed the most needful, the most eager to talk. So he had flattered the girl, plied her with a few questions, appeared interested in her problems and her work. It had been simple enough.

Tanner Joseph glanced back at the brick-and-shingle facade of the Indigo Tea Shop and smiled to himself. What a fine joke that Hughes Barron had succumbed at the Lamplighter Tour’s garden tea with a cup of Darjeeling clutched in his money-grubbing hand. Now he, Tanner Joseph, was designing a set of tea labels. It was those little touches of irony that made life so delightful.

Yes, he would keep an eye on this extraordinary creature, Theodosia. She was like some wonderful, rare tropical bird. But you couldn’t just walk up and grab something like that. You had to charm it, woo it, make it feel safe. Only then could you hope to possess it.

Chapter 34

“Hello, Mrs. Finster.” Inwardly, Theodosia was shaking with anger from her conversation with Tanner Joseph.

“Miss Browning,” said Mrs. Finster in her flat voice, “you asked me to call if I remembered anything that might pertain to the woman who lived with Mr. Barron.”

“Yes,” replied Theodosia, her voice almost a whisper, so upset was she.

“Well, I haven’t,” said Mrs. Finster.

“Then why—” began Theodosia.

“Because another detective came by after you.”

“Tidwell,” said Theodosia.

“That’s right,” said Mrs. Finster rather crossly, “and he showed me a badge. He had credentials.”

Theodosia didn’t say a word, but apparently Mrs. Finster wasn’t that upset by her ruse because she continued after a moment.

“This Tidwell character acted like a bull in a china shop,” she said. “At least you were polite. You showed concern for Mr. Barron.”

“Did he ask many questions?” asked Theodosia.

“A few. Wanted to know if the woman living with Hughes Barron was a much younger woman.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Finster,” said Theodosia. “I really appreciate your calling.”

Theodosia replaced the receiver in the cradle and glanced at the door. Drayton was shepherding his tea- tasting ladies outside, bidding them farewell. Theodosia tried to stifle the rising tide of anxiety inside her. She knew Drayton’s good-byes were always prolonged.

When he finally approached the counter a good five minutes later, she beckoned him to follow her into her office.

“Drayton.” She closed the door softly. “I fear I’ve made a terrible mistake.”

“What is it?” he said, instantly concerned.

“With Tanner Joseph.”

His face had started to mirror her anxiety, but now it relaxed. “Oh, no, the labels are going to be perfect,” he reassured her. “True, they are a trifle beyond the realm of traditional, but that’s what makes them so charming. They’re—” Drayton stopped midsentence and peered at Theodosia. Amazingly, he had detected a quiver to her lower lip, and her eyes seemed to sparkle a little too brightly. Could those be tears threatening to spill down her cheeks? He couldn’t remember ever having seen Theodosia quite this upset. She was always so strong, so spunky.

“You weren’t referring to the labels, were you?” Drayton asked.

Theodosia pursed her lips and shook her head. “No,” she said hoarsely, finally getting her emotions under control.

He pulled out her desk chair. “Sit, please.”

She did, and Drayton sat on the edge of her desk, facing her. “Now tell me,” he said quietly. She looked up at him, worry clouding her blue eyes.