Death of a Mad Hatter (A Hat Shop Mystery) (12 page)

I was surprised he didn’t go up in smoke, so hot were the glowers we directed at him. Viv opened her mouth to say something, but I spoke before she could.

“Just business issues,” I said. “You know, boring tax stuff.”

His jowls wobbled as he jerked his head to study each of us in turn. I didn’t care what Viv said. There was something in the way Tina looked the day she stopped by, something desperate, that made me not want to say anything to the police. At least, not yet anyway.

To Viv’s credit, she gave him just as bland a stare as I did. The inspector and his team left shortly thereafter.

Fee had made a pot of tea to calm all of our nerves and we convened in the workroom over tea and biscuits and a nice block of cheese I’d picked up at the local Waitrose market over on Bayswater Road.

No one spoke while the tea steeped. I wasn’t sure why, but it seemed we were all gathering our thoughts. I’m sure Viv was reeling at having the police going through our things, but Fee, Harrison and I had been through it before, so it was a bit less unsettling this time.

Viv took the cozy off of the teapot and began to pour. This must have signaled that it was time to discuss the situation. Not surprisingly, Harrison spoke first.

“So, who wants to tell me what that was all about?” Harrison asked.

“Whatever do you mean?” I asked as I blew on my cup of tea. “It seemed perfectly understandable to me. Someone poisoned Geoffrey Grisby. Traces of the poison were found on his hat, so the police had to do a thorough search of our shop to make sure we aren’t the point of origin.”

Viv was staring at me. It went without saying that she felt I should mention the whole Tina-Geoffrey situation, but I refused. I didn’t want Harrison’s opinion on the matter; in fact, I didn’t really want him here at all. He confused things.

Harrison frowned. “Fee, help me out. What are these two hiding about Tina Grisby?”

Fee looked from me to Viv and back. Whatever she saw there must have convinced her to keep her trap shut.

“No idea,” she said.

Harrison lifted an eyebrow at her and then sipped his tea.

“I really don’t see any cause for concern,” I said. “Finchley isn’t going to find any poison in our shop, so there’s nothing to worry about. We’ll be in the clear as soon as they run the tests.”

“I still say you should have told him what you overheard between Geoffrey and Tina when they were here looking at hats,” Viv said. “It might have gotten us out of the hot seat a lot faster.”

“Maybe, but he still would have searched the shop for poison,” I said. “So what’s the difference?”

“The difference is that Tina is the most likely person to have murdered Geoffrey,” Viv said. “She’s his wife and he was cheating on her with his secretary while putting incredible pressure upon her to get pregnant.”

Harrison and Fee both looked at me for confirmation. I sighed.

“Well, I guess you don’t have to badger us for the information anymore,” I said to them. “Consider yourselves in the loop.”

“Thanks,” Harrison said. He looked puzzled.

“What?” I asked.

“Why don’t you want to tell the police about this?” he asked.

“Because I like Tina and I don’t think she did it,” I said. “I mean, it’s not like I’m keeping a big secret. He was nasty to her, just awful, actually, and I’m sure others will divulge that, and they were trying to have a baby, which seemed very stressful for them.”

“Denial,” Viv said. “You’re obviously in a state of denial. The fact that she asked you not to tell anyone about the altercation makes it suspicious.”

“No, I’m not. It just doesn’t make sense given the circumstance of the Grisby estate,” I argued. “Without Geoffrey, Tina gets nothing. I would think a more likely candidate would be Daphne or her sons, as they stand to inherit it all with Geoffrey dead.”

“You can’t mean that,” Viv said. “Liam would never harm his uncle.”

“How could you possibly know that?” I asked. “You barely know him. He could be a cold-blooded killer beneath all of his charm and good looks.”

“He’s not,” Viv said. She picked up a crisp and nibbled on it.

“Talk about denial,” I said. “So, you do like him?”

Yes, I was fishing for information. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

“Not relevant,” Viv said.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Harrison said. He looked at me when he said, “Isn’t he younger by several years than you, Viv?”

“What does age have to do with it?” she asked. “If I like a man, I don’t care if he’s younger or older. I only care that we are compatible.”

“Uh-huh.” Harrison grunted. I noted he was looking at me and not Viv. Whatever.

“Moving right along,” I said. I didn’t like the triumphant gleam in Harrison’s eyes. We were so not circling back to his theory that I was jealous. “Tina looked frightened the day she came in and she asked me specifically not to mention what had happened between her and Geoffrey.”

“But don’t you see?” Viv asked. “That’s because she whacked him.”

“No, I don’t see that,” I said. “It makes no sense. Why would you kill off your meal ticket?”

Viv pursed her lips. She always hated losing an argument.

“Didn’t you say that Geoffrey Grisby was germ-phobic?” Harrison asked. “How could he not have noticed the smell of formaldehyde? It’s not like smelling roses, after all, now, is it?”

“He has a point,” Fee said. “You can’t ignore a stench like that.”

I thought back to the day of the party when Geoffrey had walked passed me in the garden. Did I smell anything then? Not that I remembered.

There was just no way to know what could have happened. I wondered how the Grisby family was handling the tragedy. I wished there was a reason to pop in on them and find out.

“You know,” I said. “Given that Dotty thinks you’re her old friend Ginny, maybe we should pop in and see how she’s doing.”

“Scarlett, did you not see their mansion?” Viv asked. “These are not the sort of people you pop in on. They’d set the dogs after you.”

“Agreed, no popping,” Harrison said. “You need to steer clear of the whole situation.”

Viv and I exchanged a look. I was absolutely not down with Harrison telling me what to do. Viv, however, gave him a small smile and a hair toss.

“You’re right,” she said.

I would have opened my mouth to argue, but I felt her step on my toes in what had to be a signal for me to keep my yap shut.

Harrison looked at me and I mimicked Viv’s hair toss and smile and said, “Quite right.”

Harrison narrowed his green eyes at us, but we maintained full eye contact.

“Excellent,” he said. “I’m glad you’re both showing such good sense.”

He drained his cup of tea in one big swallow and rinsed the cup out in the sink.

“Nothing but,” Viv said. “We are merely diligent milliners with our heads twisted on all proper—ouch!”

Yes, I pinched her just above the elbow. The way she was babbling, Harrison was no doubt going to know we were flat-out lying.

“All right, Viv?” he asked.

She rubbed her arm where I’d pinched her and gave me a dark look. “Yes, fine. It must have been a pest of sorts.”

“I’ll ring you later,” Harrison said as he made his way to the door.

“Sounds good,” Viv said with a wave.

Fee and I waved, too, as Harrison disappeared through the door.

“So, when did you want to pop over to the Grisbys’?” Viv asked me.

I grinned. That was the cousin I knew and adored.

“Aha! I knew it!” Harrison jumped back into the doorway, causing me to start and spill tea all down my front. I wasn’t the only one.

“Oy, you about gave me a bloody heart attack!” Fee snapped as she brushed at the front of her blouse.

“Sorry, but I knew these two were up to their usual shenanigans,” he said.

“For your information,” Viv said. “I knew you were listening at the door, and I was just tricking you.”

“You did not!” he argued.

“Yes, I did,” she said. “Here, stand here and look in that window,” she said, indicating where she was standing and pointing to the window to her left.

She then hurried through the door and stood just past it. She held her thumbs to her ears and waved her hands while she stuck out her tongue. Though we couldn’t see her in the doorway, her reflection in the window was perfectly clear.

I busted up laughing while Harrison looked chagrinned.

“Hey, how many fingers am I holding up?” she cried.

Mercifully, she shot us a peace sign and not the other equally well-known hand gesture.

“Two, you daft milliner,” Harrison said.

Viv danced back into the room laughing. She hugged Harrison hard and ruffled his hair.

“You’re just so easy to tease,” she said.

He huffed out a breath before he hugged her back.

“Now I’m leaving for real,” he said.

“Like we’re going to believe that,” Viv said.

“You will, because Scarlett will walk me out,” Harrison said. “Won’t you?”

“Uh, sure,” I said. I glanced at Fee to see if she looked disappointed that he hadn’t asked her. She was smiling at us, so I took that as a no.

Harrison led the way through the shop and paused before the front door.

He stood with his hand on the door handle, yet he didn’t push it open. Instead he studied me. Uh-oh.

“Were you waiting for an invitation to leave?” I asked. “Because I can assist with that.”

“Charming,” he said. “Actually, I am trying to choose my words carefully so that there is no mistaking what I’m about to say.”

“Well, don’t hurt yourself,” I said. What? Too antagonistic? I can’t help it; Harrison just brings it out in me.

“You and Viv are not to set one toe on the Grisby estate,” he said. “And by one toe, I mean anything that might be attached to said toe, as in no other part of your body should find itself on the Grisby estate either. How am I doing for clarity?”

“Pretty clear,” I said. “You are aware that you’re not the boss of us, aren’t you?”

He blew out a breath. “Perhaps but consider this: if I quit doing your books for you, who are you going to get to replace me?”

“A passive little pencil pusher who minds his own business?” I suggested.

“Right,” he said. “Because you two won’t take the Mickey out of the poor bloke in the first week.”

“Are you calling us scary?” I asked. I was pretty sure I should be offended.

“With the amount of dead bodies springing up round you two, yeah, I reckon I’d say you’re scary,” he said.

He had a point, not that I was about to acknowledge it.

“I’ll have your word, Scarlett,” he said. “No going anywhere near the Grisbys, especially if you believe Liam might have had something to do with his uncle’s death. Surely, you don’t want Viv to get involved with a man like that.”

“I really don’t think Liam had anything to do with his uncle’s death,” I said.

“Someone did,” Harrison said. “And if they’ve murdered once, they’re really not going to be too concerned about doing it again.”

That gave me a shiver. Harrison noticed and reached out a hand to rub my arm. His fingers were warm on my cool skin, his touch firm but gentle.

“I’m not trying to frighten you, but . . . wait, yes, I am,” he said as he removed his hand.

This made me smile and I said, “Mission accomplished.”

“Good,” he said. “This is serious stuff. Whoever offed Grisby planned it out.”

“How do you know?” I asked.

“Because shooting, stabbing, or clubbing someone might be a crime of passion, but poison requires some thought and preparation.”

“I suppose you’re right,” I said. “Couldn’t it be someone he was in business with? Does it have to be a family member?”

“Anything is possible, but with the upheaval in the family, it seems as if they’d have the most motive.”

“I suppose,” I said. I really hated to think of Tina or Liam as suspects.

“Which means they’re really not going to appreciate anyone getting in their way. You have to stay out of this, Ginger. I don’t want to see you or Viv get hurt.”

“We won’t,” I said.

He gave me a beady-eyed stare. I stared back.

“So just out of curiosity, am I right that you are trying to ascertain whether Viv likes Liam or not?”

“What the what?” I blinked. “Careful there, you could give a girl whiplash with that abrupt subject change.”

“Sorry, but I’m wondering why you’re poking around in Viv’s personal life?” he said. “She’s very private, you know.”

“Oh, I’ve noticed,” I said. “I’m worried about her. I’d like to see her date a nice guy.”

“Well, one with a possible murder charge on his head should probably be scratched off of your list,” he said.

“I suppose,” I agreed.

“I’m sure Viv is quite capable of finding a decent chap on her own,” he said.

“Really?” I asked. “This is Viv we’re talking about. She’s not known for making the best choices.”

“Just because you dated a particularly rank git, you shouldn’t assume all women do.”

“What can I say? I’m a bitter woman, Harry,” I said. I was only partly kidding. I patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry about me. I’m sure it’s nothing a few years of therapy can’t fix.”

“You don’t need therapy,” he said. “You need to date a higher caliber of man.”

“Hmm,” I grunted. “Since I’m not dating anyone for a very long time, I’ll take your recommendation under advisement.”

He looked like he wanted to say something. He even opened his mouth to speak but then closed it and shook his head.

“Fine, but I’ll have your promise to stay away from the Grisbys.”