Rose snorted, and Robbie made a similar sound. “You keep telling yourself that, dear. With that attitude, I’m not surprised Tommy wasn’t going to lend you money. He wasn’t foolish enough to throw good money after bad.”

  I squeezed my grandmother’s hand. “Claudia doesn’t need a lecture right now.”

  Claudia swallowed heavily. Tears filled her eyes. “Maybe I do. Tommy told me he was finished with the show, and he intended to tell the network the next day. I . . . I should have told you, Detective. But I honestly didn’t realize that was why he’d been killed.”

  “You didn’t want to know,” Rose said.

  “I didn’t want to have to tell anyone why I’d been talking with Tommy in the rose garden at that time of night. That I’d had to ask him . . . beg him . . . for money.”

  “You let Robyn Sullivan tell the police Cheryl had been in the garden, when it had been you,” I said.

  “I didn’t know about that,” Claudia said. “No one had any reason to tell me she’d identified someone else. If I’d known . . . I hope I would have come forward.”

  “We can talk about all this again tomorrow.” Detective Williams put down his coffee mug and stood up. “I have a long night ahead of me.” He hesitated, and then he crossed the room to stand in front of me. He held out his hand. I stared at it in surprise.

  “Good work, Ms. Roberts,” he said.

  I stood up. I took his hand in mine, and we shook. His grip was surprisingly limp. No sign of a dominance display.

  Chapter 24

  Wednesday was a normal working day for us. Cheryl was cheerful, and so she should be, as the murder charge hanging over her head like a noxious cloud had been lifted. Marybeth was quiet and thoughtful. At one point in the busy afternoon, as she was arranging sandwiches on a platter for a light tea for four, she said, more to herself than me, “Makes you realize, doesn’t it, what’s important in life? I don’t know how I’d be able to go on if my mom . . . had to go away.”

  I laid my hand lightly on her arm, but I said nothing. Words seemed inadequate.

  She wiped at her eyes. “You and your grandma are really close. What about your mom?”

  “My mom,” I said. “Maybe I’ll give her a call later.”

  And we went back to work.

  Bernie texted me at three o’clock: Drop everything at six and follow Cheryl.

  Me: Why?

  Bernie: Never mind.

  I wasn’t prepared to drop everything at six, but I did go with Marybeth and Cheryl into the main dining room. The last of the day’s guests had departed a while ago, the linens had been scooped up prior to being washed, chairs were upside down on the tables to allow the floor to be vacuumed, and new places settings had not yet been laid.

  Except for the big table in the center of the main room. The white tablecloth was freshly ironed, as were the green napkins. Seven places were set with our second-best china. A huge cut-glass bowl overflowing with peach roses sat in the center of the table, and a fluted champagne glass graced each place.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “Sit,” Cheryl said.

  “Why?”

  “Because Bernie told me to make you sit.”

  I did as ordered as I heard the tapping of Rose’s cane. Simon’s arm was linked through hers, and they were followed by none other than Amy Redmond.

  “What’s going on?” I asked again.

  “I assumed you’d want to know what’s been happening today,” Redmond said, “so I called your grandmother to arrange a time to tell you. She, in conjunction with Bernie, decided to make a grand affair of it.”

  “Fine.” I started to rise. “But the airpots have been turned off, the coffee dumped, the baking put away, and the dishes are all done.”

  “Sit,” Simon ordered.

  I sat.

  “It’s all taken care of.” He helped Rose into a chair. “Marybeth and Cheryl, you sit also. I’ll give them a hand.”

  “Give who a hand?” I asked.

  The expression on Rose’s face was the same as the one on Robbie’s when he’d licked up the entire contents of the cream jug before I noticed what he’d been up to. Marybeth and Cheryl looked as confused as I felt.

  Bernie and Matt came in, laden with bakery boxes. Simon carried a tote bag clanging cheerfully as bottles clinked together. Bernie was in a vintage dress she’d worn to tea before: layers of ivory and gray silk reaching to a couple of inches above her ankles, gray lace trimming the neckline and bodice, and elbow-length sleeves. She’d matched the dress with short white gloves, a waist-length string of pearls, and a white fascinator decorated with gray beads.

  She put the boxes on a nearby table and said, “Afternoon tea. Delivered straight to your door. As we don’t want anyone jumping up and down making tea, we decided to do without it, and we brought champagne instead. The good stuff, courtesy of Matt and Simon.” Simon bowed, Matt began taking bottles out of the bag, and Bernie opened the bakery boxes. She laid out a chocolate cake covered in a thick layer of shiny ganache, piles of brightly decorated donuts, and large oatmeal cookies.

  “Those look like the sort of things made at North Augusta Bakery,” I said.

  “They were. I can’t have you catering your own tea party. I paid a call on Allegra earlier. I thought I’d do the old ‘let bygones be bygones’ thing. She didn’t throw me out of her place. I guess that’s an improvement, but she’s not ready to make nice.”

  “I never did anything to her.”

  “Irrelevant, as she sees it.” Bernie laid the treats in the center of the table, and Matt and Simon passed around glasses of sparkling wine.

  When everyone had been served, Simon lifted his glass. “Cheers.”

  “Cheers,” we chorused. I took a sip, and bubbles danced in my mouth. It was the good stuff.

  When everyone had helped themselves to the best of Allegra’s baking, Amy Redmond tapped the side of her glass with her fork. “This might be the most pleasant debriefing I’ve ever given, but the charm of the surroundings can’t hide the seriousness of this business. Before I tell you what’s been happening, Lily, I shouldn’t have to remind you, but I will, that you should have told me or Detective Williams your concerns.”

  “You were busy.”

  “Yes, I was. I would have made one phone call to ensure you were protected and then gone back to what I was doing. I’m sorry to have missed the climax. Chuck phoned me in Boston to tell me what had happened. I was able to organize a neighbor to look in on my grandmother, and I came straight back here. I got to the station as Reilly Miller was finishing his breakfast and his lawyer was arriving. We’ve had an interesting and informative chat.”

  “Has Reilly confessed?” I asked.

  “No. He and his lawyer are claiming that you grossly misrepresented the situation last night.”

  I almost choked on my champagne.

  “Stuff and nonsense,” Rose declared.

  “Exactly,” Redmond said. “He claims he tried to talk to you about the show, but you thought he was coming on to you and you ran away. Concerned about your welfare, he followed you down to the beach and fell into that hole.”

  I sputtered.

  “We’ll have no trouble dismissing that claim. Scarlet McIntosh’s prepared to testify that when she looked out her window, she saw you struggling to free yourself from Reilly.”

  “What about the murder of Tommy Greene?” Cheryl asked.

  “And the attack on me?” Simon said. “I’m assuming that was Reilly, too.”

  “He’s denying both of those incidents but also trying to explain how he would have done it, if he had. He’s nowhere near as clever as he thinks he is, and his lawyer’s not having much success in getting him to shut up. Reilly admits he wanted his father to step aside and hand control of the show over to him. He spent some considerable time lurking around here in the dark, keeping an eye on things, he said, before his lawyer finally told him to stop talking. Why he needed to keep an eye on things in the middle of the night, he did not explain.”

  “Spying on them,” Rose said. “Josh, Scarlet, Claudia. And Tommy.”

  “Yes. A couple of the people who work with him tell us they thought he seemed exceptionally tired this week. Pressure of the shoot, they thought at the time. I believe he was up most of the night watching Victoria-on-Sea.”

  “What a dreadful thought,” Rose said.

  “He was looking to cause trouble,” Simon said.

  “And he did,” Redmond said. “I told him Claudia had been outside after dark on Tuesday, talking to Tommy. I implied she’d seen him, Reilly, there. He admitted he’d seen Claudia and Tommy talking, arguing, and he watched as Claudia went back inside, clearly angry. Tommy then walked through the garden, heading here. For the tearoom. Reilly says he approached Tommy and asked if something was bothering him. Tommy said he’d decided to leave the show. He, Reilly, told him to give it some more thought, and Tommy said he would.”

  “I don’t buy that,” I said. “My impression of Tommy was that he was a decisive man. He’d made up his mind.”

  “Regardless of what was said between them, Tommy let himself into the tearoom through the unlocked kitchen door.”

  “And there,” Cheryl said, “all my troubles began. Why would he come in here?”

  “He told me he missed cooking,” I said. “He missed being on the ground in his own restaurant. He was in a pensive mood that night, debating his life choices, on the verge of making a major decision. He went to the nearest thing to a restaurant he could find—Tea by the Sea—to soak up the atmosphere and remind himself what he loved about them. He probably tried the door and was surprised when it opened.”

  “Reilly says when he left, Tommy was alive and alone. We’ll break that defense down easily enough. As I said, he’s eager to justify himself. He slipped up and stated that Tommy was admiring your marble rolling pin, Lily. Which, if he didn’t come in with Tommy, he wouldn’t have seen, now would he?”

  “Why me?” Cheryl asked. “Why try to frame me?”

  “I don’t believe that was his initial intention,” Redmond said. “This chocolate cake’s good. You should put something like it on the menu, Lily.”

  “I’ll get right on that.” The cake was good. Exceptionally good. I’d never admit it.

  “Reilly killed Tommy on impulse, without stopping to consider how he could get away with it. He must have been torn. If he packed up the filming and left North Augusta, he would have been out of our reach. But continuing with the program was the entire reason he’d killed Tommy in the first place. He had to keep America Bakes! going in order to be able to show the bosses he was in control and could make a success of it even without Tommy. Once you were in the frame, Cheryl, he hit on the idea of strengthening the case against you.”

  “No,” I said, “he had more initiative than that. Now I remember it was Reilly who first pointed out that Cheryl had been angry at Tommy. When you were interviewing everyone in the B and B Wednesday morning, Reilly told you what happened between Tommy and Marybeth, and that Cheryl had been furious at Tommy. Reilly deliberately tried to implicate Cheryl.”

  Amy Redmond’s eyes narrowed as I spoke, and I could see a question forming behind them. I almost bit my tongue off. I’d overheard that snippet of conversation from my hiding place in the secret room. If Amy realized I hadn’t been in the drawing room at the time . . . Reilly Miller wasn’t the only one who didn’t know when to stop talking.

  “He must have seen you lose your earring, Cheryl,” I said quickly, “and he scooped it up when no one was watching, probably with the intention of planting it somewhere. That night, as he was creeping around, he saw Simon, and . . . we know what happened.”

  Simon rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, mate, I do.”

  “What happens now?” Bernie asked.

  “Reilly’s been charged with one count of murder, one count of attempted murder, and one count of assault,” Redmond said. “For starters.” She was no longer looking at me, and I hoped the moment had passed. “He’s not going anywhere. We’ll get him on all three charges. I have no doubt about that.”

  “Fine,” Bernie said, “but I meant about the show. Is Josh going to continue with it?”

  “No. Everyone’s packing up and leaving. I can’t see it ever resuming, not with a murder charge hanging over it. Josh Henshaw’s been at the station all day. He’s the one who arranged for the lawyer for Reilly.”

  “They checked out this morning,” Rose said. “Claudia and Scarlet couldn’t get out the door fast enough. Scarlet called a cab to take her to the airport, and Claudia begged to be allowed to share it. Scarlet looked like she was going to say no, but then she relented, and they left together. Josh asked me to recommend a cheaper place for him to go to as, he told me, the America Bakes! budget won’t be covering it.”

  “If one good thing comes of this”—Marybeth smiled at her mother—“maybe Josh and Reilly can build a solid father-son relationship.”

  “Allegra Griffin,” Redmond said, “is fit to be tied. This morning a couple of our officers stopped at the bakery for a coffee before coming on shift, and they said the screaming from the back was pretty intense. That was probably around the time Allegra realized the film crew wasn’t coming back.”

  I fixed my stare on my grandmother. “If you ever, ever, get a call about another TV program, you will slam down the phone immediately. Do you get it?”

  “I’m thinking it would be nice if someone made a movie version of my book,” Bernie said. “They could use Victoria-on-Sea for the mansion in which Rose, my Rose, grew up.”

  “No!” I shouted.

  Redmond chuckled. She wiped her fingers on her napkin and said, “Thanks for this. I’d better get back. We have another round of questions for Reilly. One thing I’ve been wondering, Lily. Was there anything in particular that made you realize it was Reilly who killed Tommy?”

  I nodded. “He was in the breakfast room yesterday morning, pushing his weight around, giving orders not only to Scarlet and Claudia but to Josh, as well. Scarlet said, ‘Who died and made him god?’ A common enough saying, but at that moment, I realized that someone had died, and Reilly was acting like he was indeed the god of America Bakes!”

  Amy Redmond dipped her head toward me and left Tea by the Sea.

  * * *

  The party ended shortly after that. Marybeth had to pick up her kids, and she’d driven to work with Cheryl. Matt asked Bernie if she’d like to see the progress he was making on his kitchen. She accepted, and he politely asked Rose to join them. The edges of my grandmother’s mouth turned up as she demurely declined, saying she was tired. Matt tried not to look too pleased at that.

  Eventually, only Simon and I were left at Tea by the Sea. He got up and checked the remaining bottle of champagne. “Another?”

  I handed him my glass. “I think I will.”

  He poured for us both and sat down. We smiled at each other across the table.

  “All’s well that ends well,” I said.

  “For everyone except Reilly. And Josh, I suppose. How’s your reservations book looking for tomorrow?”

  “Jammed full. I hope it doesn’t rain, as we need to be able to squeeze them into the garden.”

  “I’ve nothing on tonight, if you need some help in the kitchen.”

  I leaned back in my chair and saluted him with my champagne glass. “I’ve got enough to get a start tomorrow. Right now, I’m perfectly happy sitting here.”

  He grinned at me. “As am I. I’m going to have another piece of that cake. Would you like one?”

  “Only if you promise never to tell anyone I liked it.”

  “My lips,” he said as his eyes danced with amusement, “are sealed.”

  Recipes

  Herbed Cucumber Sandwiches

  A modern take on a traditional teatime classic, Lily serves these with her sandwich course.

  Makes 24 teatime-sized sandwiches

  Ingredients:

  52 thin slices of cucumber

  ½ cup mayonnaise

  2 Tbsp minced fresh chives

  2 Tbsp minced fresh dill

  2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley

  1 tsp fresh lemon juice

  ½ tsp finely grated lemon zest

  ½ tsp salt

  ½ tsp ground black pepper

  12 slices white sandwich bread, crusts trimmed off

  Directions:

  Place the cucumber slices on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the excess moisture and set aside.

  In a small bowl stir together the mayonnaise, chives, dill, parsley, lemon juice and zest, salt, and pepper until well combined.

  Spread a layer of the herbed mayonnaise on each slice of bread. Arrange 9 cucumber slices on each of 6 bread slices, making sure that the cucumber slices do not overlap. Top each of the cucumber-laden bread slices with the reserved bread slices, mayonnaise side down, to form 6 sandwiches.

  Next, cut each sandwich into four triangles and arrange the triangles on a platter or individual plates. Serve at once.

  Coconut Lime Cake

  Lily serves this cake often in her tearoom. It’s quick and easy when made with a lime drizzle rather than a layer of icing for a lighter touch.

  Ingredients:

  1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut

  ½ cup unsalted butter, softened

  1¼ cups granulated sugar

  1 Tbsp finely grated lime zest

  2 large eggs

  1¾ cups all-purpose flour

  2¾ tsp baking powder

  ½ tsp salt

  ¾ cup whole milk

  2 Tbsp fresh lime juice, plus 2 Tbsp for lime drizzle

  1 cup icing sugar

  Directions:

  Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9- by 2-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with a round of parchment paper.

  Toast the coconut in a small baking pan in the oven, stirring once or twice, until golden, 8 to 12 minutes. Set aside to cool. Leave the oven on.