The rest of the performance was filled with holiday relationship drama, more Christmas carols, sleigh bells ringing, and a family reunion that bonded the members of the pretend family together. The cast had taken their curtain calls and members of the audience were leaving when Daisy spied Zeke Willet. He was striding down the side of the theater in what seemed to be a hurry. He aimed toward the stage.
Had the police discovered who’d murdered Margaret?
Her eyes on the detective, Daisy watched him approach Glenda Nurmi, who was standing by the side of the curtain with her clipboard. A patrol officer had followed him down the aisle and stood stationed at the bottom of the steps. If Zeke brought a patrol officer with him . . .
Jazzi pulled on Daisy’s wrist. “What’s he doing?”
“I’m not sure,” Daisy murmured.
She looked for Jonas up on the stage. Suddenly he appeared beside Glenda.
Zeke and Jonas exchanged words, both of their expressions serious.
Daisy kept her eyes on Glenda and saw her take a slip of paper from Jonas. Daisy could guess what that was—a lawyer’s phone number.
The expression on Detective Willet’s face was so hard that Daisy wondered if he was going to cuff Glenda. However, he didn’t. He stood at the top of the steps while she walked down them to the patrol officer.
Suddenly Vanna ran after Glenda, carrying her shawl. She handed it to Glenda and then stepped back as if ordered to do so.
Daisy hadn’t seen the patrol officer’s lips move, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t given a command. Glenda slipped the black shawl trimmed with gold thread around her shoulders and followed the patrol officer up the aisle with Detective Willet behind her. A few of the residents of Willow Creek who had enjoyed the performance gawked as the little parade continued up the aisle. Daisy knew Vanna, along with Keisha, had been helping the actors and actresses change their costumes from scene to scene. She’d told Daisy by doing that, she felt she was helping Margaret too.
Now she crossed the front of the theater and came running up the middle aisle to Daisy. “They’re taking her to the police station,” Vanna said. “They might actually arrest her.”
“Maybe they just want to question her,” Daisy said, hoping. Daisy’s instincts told her that Glenda had had a real affection for Margaret. The problem was, she also might have affection for Rowan, maybe a serious attraction too.
Cade came up the aisle to Daisy now and joined the little group around her. “Are you involved in a murder again?”
She didn’t even try to give him an explanation. She just said, “I found the body.”
His eyes went wide and his eyebrows almost met his hairline.
Trevor, who’d appeared out of nowhere, bumped his shoulder against Daisy’s. “Have the police taken in the right suspect?”
“I honestly don’t know.”
Looking thoughtful, Cade took hold of Daisy’s elbow and pulled her aside.
Trevor gave her a questioning look, but she just shook her head for him to give her a moment.
“You’re gathering information, aren’t you? Just like you did before.”
“Cade, if you’re going to give me a speech about not interfering—”
“Jonas is the one who should be giving you that. No, that’s not what I want. If you are gathering information maybe there’s something you should know.”
“What’s that?”
Frowning, Cade hesitated, then went on. “I can’t talk about clients. However, since Margaret Vaughn is dead, I see no reason to hold back. She spoke with me about having the house appraised without Rowan knowing.”
Ideas and suspicions began tumbling around in Daisy’s mind. “Did Margaret buy that house when everybody thought Rowan did?”
“I don’t know about that. I didn’t have her as a client back then. Maybe she wanted to sell it and cash out. Maybe her marriage to Rowan wasn’t what everybody thought it was.”
Was the marriage really what everybody thought it was? Romantic and genuine? Outside looking in was different from actually living in the marriage.
Out of the corner of her eye, Daisy could see the curtain was open again on the stage. Jonas had apparently finished with moving the sets back to their stored position because he came out to the center of the stage and peered over the audience. Seeing her, he jogged down the steps and started toward her.
In the meantime, Ward Cooper joined her and Cade. He’d come from the lighting booth. “The performance went off without a hitch.”
Vanna crossed to him. “I doubt if that’s going to happen again. The police took Glenda to the station.”
Ward looked genuinely surprised.
Daisy suggested, “They might have merely taken her to the station for questioning.”
“But she’s the director now,” Vanna said. “The cast is going to be at a loss.”
“No, they won’t,” Ward said. “The cast learned the changes she suggested. They did well tonight. They don’t need her if she’s going to be unavailable.”
In other words, the cast didn’t need Glenda if she went to jail.
Chapter Seventeen
Simply put, Jazzi was moping around on Sunday. She hadn’t heard anything from Portia since her visit to Allentown. It was hard for anyone to be patient but especially a sixteen-year-old. She wanted to be approved of and liked by the people who mattered to her. So it was advantageous when Vi asked Daisy and Jazzi to come over to the apartment to have supper with her. Foster had gone to his dad’s to visit with Gavin, Ben, and Emily. As Vi had anticipated, Daisy offered to make macaroni and cheese and bring cherry tarts for dessert. Vi was going to provide a salad.
When they arrived, Vi had settled Sammy in the swing his great-grandmother had provided as a baby present. It was a wonderful device because Sammy often fell asleep in it when rocking or singing to him didn’t work.
Daisy couldn’t help but go to Sammy as soon as she arrived. “Can I hold him for a while?”
Vi eyed her mom.
