Scene of the Brine (13 page)

Marguerite continued to study Piper closely. “What were—?” she began, but Emma stepped in again.

“I saw Judy out in the garden,” she said to Piper. “She was wondering if you were here.”

“I'll go find her,” Piper said and excused herself quickly to step away, letting out her breath once she'd exited the room. If her aunt was truly in the garden and Emma hadn't simply thrown that out as a means of rescue, Piper was very glad. She felt in need of fresh air and a welcoming face.

Piper found the door leading to the backyard and stepped out into mild air and brilliant sunshine. After a moment's blinking, she scanned several strolling women, their tea dresses adding as much color to the garden area as the flowers, and in the midst of them was Aunt Judy. Piper headed on over.

“Oh, there you are,” Aunt Judy said, catching sight of her from her spot next to Corinne Fortney. “You look very nice. I hope you're enjoying yourself?”

“I am now,” Piper said, giving her aunt a quick peck on the cheek and a cheery greeting to Corinne. “I just broke away from Leona Pennington.”

Aunt Judy gave Piper a knowing smile. “I've warned Corinne about Leona, since she plans to join the club. And maybe,” she added with a twinkle, “I can talk her into running for club president when Leona's term expires.”

Corinne laughed. “One step at a time, Judy, dear. Let me at least learn the way to the club's meeting room before I try to take over its leadership.” She finished off the sugar-dusted cookie she'd been holding and licked her fingers.

“I met an interesting woman in the library,” Piper said. “Frances Billings. She said she had owned this house.”

“Frances is here?” Aunt Judy said, her eyes widening.

“You know her?”

“I
knew
her. She was somewhat older, though, and it's been years. Frankly, I thought she might have died.”

“She said her grandfather built the house.”

Aunt Judy nodded. “He'd made his money in railroads, then chose Cloverdale to settle down in. I had the impression the fortune dwindled quite a bit during the next generation. It must have been sad for Frances to give up the house.”

“She seemed to be soaking up old memories when I came across her but I don't think she minded getting the place off her hands.”

“I should find her and say hello,” Aunt Judy said, looking toward the house. “Do you remember her, Corinne? She was Frances Kingsley before she married.”

“Only vaguely,” Corinne admitted. “But I'll be glad to come along with you. Did you want to go back inside, Piper?”

“I'll catch up with you both later,” Piper said. She had spotted someone she wanted to speak with.

She waved the two off, then stepped toward a rose garden, pretending interest in two blooming bushes that looked to have been planted decades ago. Lovely as they were, her concern was with the person seated on the stone bench nearby. After taking in the bushes from various distances and mumbling words that might have been taken for knowledgeable comments on the plants, she turned and smiled at her target.

“Taking a break from all the hand shaking?” Piper asked.

Mallory Porter fairly jumped, as though being addressed without her mother beside her was a startling event. “You're that pickle woman, aren't you?” she asked, then looked away, as though that settled things.

Well
,
Piper thought as she drew a deep breath.
This should be fun.

17

Y
es, I have a pickling shop,” Piper said, smiling as if Mallory hadn't just pronounced
pickle
as she might have said
mealworm
. “Not everyone's into pickles, though, I get that. I'm not much into teas, to tell the truth. But I have enjoyed seeing this house. You must love living in it.”

Mallory shrugged but was at least looking directly at Piper. “It's big. Probably the biggest house in town.”

“It definitely is,” Piper agreed. “And historic,” she said, but catching no sign of interest from Mallory on that point, quickly went back to big. “You could probably fit half the town in the house if you opened up the second floor.”

“My bedroom and sitting room are huge. I'm decorating them both in lavender.” She coughed twice. “But my allergies are bad here.”

“I'm sorry. Should you be out in the garden?”

Mallory shook her head. “Not the flowers. It's the house, because it's so old. Dust and stuff. Mother says it will get better once she has the basement and attic thoroughly cleaned. She wanted the downstairs done first. For the tea, you know.”

“Well, then, at least you can enjoy the garden. While it lasts, that is. I understand there are plans for replacing things eventually?”

Mallory shrugged. “I guess so. That Lloyd woman, I suppose. Dirk didn't like her but he won't have anything to say about it anymore, will he?”

“Mind if I sit?” Piper asked, and Mallory obligingly pulled her skirt out of the way. “Why didn't Dirk like Marguerite Lloyd?”

“Oh, it went way back.” Mallory dug into a pocket for a tissue and blew her nose. “Somewhere in Ohio. I heard him telling Jeremy about it. Jeremy thought it was pretty funny.”

“Funny? Why?”

“Because it made Dirk look dumb, which doesn't—didn't—happen much.” Mallory gave Piper a sly look. “Jeremy acted like Dirk was a good friend but I don't think he really liked him that much.”

Hmmm.
“So what made Dirk look dumb?”

“Well,” Mallory said, thinking, “Dirk was working for a big landscaping company out there, in the office. He and Marguerite butted heads too many times, so Dirk started watching for a way to get rid of her. He thought he spotted her ripping off the company. Something about ordering more plants and stuff than she needed for landscaping jobs. He figured she was selling the extras on the side.”

“Was she?”

“I don't know. But Dirk went to the owner thinking he'd get her fired. But it turned out Marguerite and the owner were pretty tight.” Mallory leaned closer to Piper and whispered, “I think they were sleeping together.”

“Uh-oh. So I guess his boss didn't want to hear anything against Marguerite.”

“That's what Jeremy was laughing about. That Dirk put his foot in it. Dirk ended up being let go, eventually. That's why he told Jeremy the story in the first place—to explain why a super-duper accountant like him lost that job.”

“That must have been hard for him to admit,” Piper said.

“But Dirk said he still came out on top.”

“How?”

Mallory sniffed noisily, then swiped at her nose. “Dirk fiddled with Marguerite's orders. He canceled important plants, which caused holdups on Marguerite's landscaping projects. And he substituted real expensive plants for the ones she ordered and made it look like it was her mistake, like, maybe the Latin names were close to each other and she'd mixed them up. But his parting shot—that's what he called it when he was telling Jeremy—was cluing in the boss's wife about what Marguerite and the boss were up to.”

“Wow. Dirk Unger wasn't someone to cross lightly, was he?”

“Uh-uh. Could be why Jeremy never fired him, even though Mother was always pressing him to.” Mallory seemed to suddenly realize how that sounded. “But Dirk couldn't hurt Jeremy like he did the boss in Ohio. Jeremy's too smart for that.”

Piper wanted to pursue that but Lydia's voice suddenly sang out. “There you are!” She was closing in on them rapidly across the lawn. “I should have known you two would find each other. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to steal Mallory away.”

Mallory obediently stood, her expression suddenly bland.

“I hope you're enjoying my little party,” Lydia said to Piper, to which Piper was about to reply when Mallory burst out with a series of loud coughs. That drew Lydia's disapproving attention. “Really, dear, couldn't you have taken something for that earlier? And sitting out here in the garden certainly couldn't have helped.”

“Mallory felt the garden was less of a problem than the house,” Piper said, coming to her companion's defense. Even though Mallory didn't seem upset, Piper found Lydia's lack of sympathy for her daughter bothersome.

“I feel better out here,” Mallory agreed, once she could speak. “I like the roses. I hope Marguerite Lloyd doesn't dig them all up.”

“I don't know what Marguerite will want to do,” Lydia said impatiently. “We haven't discussed it at any length. Now come along, Mallory, I need you inside. Please excuse us,” she said somewhat stiffly to Piper, who nodded.

As they walked away, Piper heard Mallory say, “Maybe you shouldn't have Marguerite do the garden, Mother. Dirk had a lot of things against her, you know. We were just talking about that.” Mallory's head inclined toward Piper and Lydia glanced back, looking less than pleased.

Piper couldn't hear Lydia's response to Mallory but from the stiffness of Lydia's back and the tightness of her grip on Mallory's arm she guessed it wasn't particularly approving. Why, though, would Lydia care that Piper knew what had gone on between Dirk and Marguerite? Perhaps there was more to the story than Mallory let on? If so, how could Piper find out?

Puzzling over that, Piper walked back toward the house, thinking she'd catch up with Aunt Judy and Corrine Fortney. When she stepped inside, she heard a surprisingly deep voice standing out in that very feminine gathering, and she followed it to its source. Jeremy Porter had made an appearance at his mother's tea and appeared to be holding court in the living room, the center of many smiling women, Lydia firmly and proudly on one side and Mallory, red nosed and gazing vaguely about, on the other.

Piper drew closer to hear Jeremy regaling the group with a tale that unsurprisingly had to do with one of his successes in real estate. She paused near the doorway to listen. The story, she decided, was not all that interesting, but Jeremy's dramatic rendering had captured the rapt attention of those around him. His good looks and well-cut blazer over an open shirt and slacks didn't hurt, either.

“Quite the personality, isn't he?” a voice behind her commented softly, and Piper turned to see Emma Leahy lifting a crust-trimmed watercress sandwich to her mouth. “Mmm, this is good!” she soon pronounced, looking at the remainder of her sandwich speculatively. “I wonder if I could grow watercress?”

Having no idea, Piper instead said, “Thanks for rescuing me from Marguerite and Leona.”

“You're quite welcome. Looks like you'll have to come up with something for the newsletter, though. Marguerite will be watching for it.”

Piper drew Emma a few steps away from the crowd. “I just learned the history between Marguerite and Dirk Unger.” She gave Emma a condensed version of Mallory's story as Emma polished off a raspberry-filled pastry she'd had on her plate.

“Add that to what Corinne Fortney told me and it sounds like Dirk had every intention of destroying Marguerite's business.”

“Which gives Marguerite a pretty good motive for murder.”

“Lydia didn't seem pleased that Mallory had told me what she did. Any idea why?”

Emma shook her head slowly. “Not a clue.” She glanced back at the three Porters still surrounded by their admirers. “I get the impression Lydia doesn't like Mallory doing much of anything that hasn't been run by her first. She gives Jeremy more free rein, maybe because he's bringing home the big slabs of bacon. But I'd say she still has a pretty strong influence on him.”

“I'd say so, too. I was sorry that Sugar got hurt but she probably was lucky to get away from that family.”

“Apparently not everyone shares our opinion.” Emma tipped her head toward the fawning group.

“And that might continue to hurt Sugar, or at least her business. Lydia's dropping Sugar as her caterer did some damage, which could increase if Lydia's influence around here grows.”

“Well, we'll just have to see that it doesn't.” Aunt Judy had joined Piper and Emma, her jaw set firmly. “I'm usually much more welcoming to newcomers but that woman seems to want to take over Cloverdale, and not for its betterment. If she badmouths Sugar in any way, I'll start a campaign that counteracts it. We'll see what happens then!”

“Ladies!” Jeremy Porter had left his group to—as Piper thought of it—spread his awesomeness around. “Great to see you. Enjoying my mother's tea?”

“Delicious food!” Emma managed, while Piper smiled as agreeably as she could. Aunt Judy, unfortunately, must have swallowed badly and struggled with a coughing fit.

Piper patted her back solicitously, helped by Emma. Jeremy, followed by several women from the living room, decided to quickly move on, as did Lydia and Mallory, who swept by without a sideways glance.

Which was perfectly fine with Piper, Emma, and Aunt Judy.