“No family?” Daisy asked.
“None to speak of... none I’d want to be close to. If I could get enough hours with you to pay for an apartment, I could handle the rest for a while.”
Daisy thought about the holidays and how people liked to enjoy Christmas tea services. If she had another full-time server, she could plan holiday teas more often than she thought she could. But she’d have to talk to Iris about it. If they pulled in more profit, she could afford to pay Tamlyn for full-time work at least through the Christmas season.
“I need to talk to Iris Albright, who’s my partner. Let me do that, then I’ll give you a call, or you call me at the end of the week and I’ll set up an appointment.”
“That sounds good, Mrs. Swanson. Thank you so much.”
“If we can help each other, we’ll have a win-win situation. Thanks for the information about Rowan. I’ll talk to you soon.”
After Daisy hung up, she knew exactly what she was going to do. As soon as she could get away, she’d drive to the Little Theater and speak with Rowan. His answers could be the key to solving his wife’s murder.
* * *
By five o’clock Daisy had ducked out of the tea garden early, and she was driving down Market Street. She turned off Market onto Hollowback Road and followed it to the Little Theater. She’d told her aunt where she was going. Her cell phone was charged. It wouldn’t be too long before some of the cast would be arriving at the Little Theater to get ready for tonight’s performance. She should be able to have private time with Rowan first.
Daisy coasted her car into a parking spot. She decided to park at the back door rather than the front entrance. The cast and crew used it, and she imagined Rowan would too. The thing was—Rowan’s car wasn’t in the front lot or this back one. Could Tamlyn have been wrong? On the other hand, Rowan sometimes used a driver. A driver could have easily dropped him off. Besides, taking a closer look at the windows of the theater, she thought she saw dim lights inside.
Daisy wouldn’t find any answers sitting in her car. Climbing out of her PT Cruiser, she shut the door and pressed the remote to lock it. It felt a little odd being out here alone . . . and a little spooky too. Lights that went on at dusk glowed in the parking lot, and branches from trees that had gone leafless swayed in the wind. Dried leaves on the ground picked up by the breeze rolled across her shoes. No, it wasn’t spooky. She was just scaring herself silly. She was not afraid of a parking lot.
Nonetheless, she hurried across the asphalt and pulled on the back door. It was open, as she’d expected it to be. A few lights guided her way as she went deeper inside.
She called Rowan’s name. Then she called again. “Rowan, are you here?”
Unzipping her jacket, she climbed slowly up the steps at the back of the stage. Once there, she realized the stage was already set up for the first scene of the play. That scene was separated into two sets, one for the North Woods at the right side of the stage, and another for interior scenes on the left. A staircase led to a landing that was supposed to be a fake second floor. A chandelier hung over the living room just beyond the stairs. Daisy had been up there when Jonas had been working on the sets and she had seen how the chandelier was attached to the beam across the stage.
Crossing to the middle of the sets, she called again, “Rowan, are you here?”
Rowan didn’t answer her. Another male voice did.
“I’m here,” Ward Cooper said.
Panic tightened Daisy’s chest. Ward Cooper was Conrad Eldridge’s nephew. He was the second heir to an inheritance from the Eldridge estate. He was the one Daisy highly suspected was the murderer.
Still she only had her suspicions. She wasn’t sure, not yet.
She noticed that Ward was wearing a running suit. Maybe he’d jogged to the theater?
Keep your cool, she told herself. Act normal.
Normal. How could she act normal if she was facing a murderer? Ward had seemed so kind....
He must have noticed Daisy’s glance sweeping over him because he gave a small shrug and smiled. “I came in early while I was on a run to make sure everything was ready for tonight.”
Okay so far. The panic lessened just a mite. “Is Rowan around?” Daisy wanted to know. “Tamlyn said he’d be here.”
“I haven’t seen him,” Ward said. “If it’s important, you might want to try his cell. Do you need his number?”
“I have his number,” she responded, but the end of her voice shook a little. Trying to make up for that, she explained, “I had some ideas about the sponsorship for future plays. I wanted to talk to him about those.” For good measure she added, “I’m meeting Jonas here. That’s why I’m here so early.”
She stuffed her hands into her jacket pockets, feeling her keys and her wallet. But she was shaking now. She could feel her fingers trembling against the inside material of the pockets.
Something in Ward’s eyes changed. There was a shift. He didn’t look so kind anymore. He must have heard her fear and seen her nervousness. “Sponsorships, huh? You’re really getting involved.”
“Running the tea garden, I have to be good at organization as well as making scones.” She hoped her response would lighten the atmosphere . . . but it didn’t.
Where was Rowan? She wished she had called Jonas. But Iris did know Daisy was here.
Ward casually took a few steps closer to her. “I heard you took a trip to New York. Was it successful?”
“Of course it was successful,” she bluffed. “All a woman needs is Fifth Avenue to
