Agony of the Leaves: Tea Shop Mystery #13 by Laura Childs Read Free Book Online

if he didn’t open a place of his own.
    “You okay?” Theodosia asked, giving René a quick hug.
    René’s face crumpled. “Not so good. Just…still in shock, I guess.”
    “Of course you are,” said Theodosia. “It’s impossible to prepare for a tragedy like this.” She glanced into the kitchen, where baskets of green goods sat on the counter. “You’re not prepping, are you? The restaurant’s not going to be open tonight?”
    René made a
What can you do?
gesture. “His brother, Charles, he says we should stay open.”
    Theodosia was shocked. “That’s just plain weird! You’d think Charles would want to close for a few days, um, out of respect.”
    “Maybe he thinks because we’re all on the payroll…”
    “Maybe,” said Theodosia. She drew breath and said, “So, have the police been by?”
    René nodded. “They just left, maybe twenty minutes ago.” His voice carried a pleasing, languid Caribbean lilt.
    That was a positive sign, Theodosia decided. It meant Tidwell had given some credence to her fears. So, hopefully, he was proceeding full speed ahead, treating Parker’s death as a possible homicide. “Do you know…did they find anything interesting in Parker’s office, or take anything with them?”
    “Not that I could tell,” said René. “Mostly they just nosed around the place and took a few photos.”
    “Did the police go through Parker’s computer?”
    “One of them sat down and took a look. Then he e-mailed whatever he thought was significant to their tech people. He also stuck a flash drive in and copied everything.”
    “They’ll send it all to the forensic computer lab,” Theodosia murmured.
    “Parker’s computer wasn’t password protected or anything,” René added. “In fact, I don’t think he’d updated his software for a while. There was just an old Word program he used for keeping track of menus and recipes.”
    “Did Parker have a calendar?”
    “Probably. But I don’t know where it is.”
    “Mind if I take a look? Go in his office?”
Yet again.
    René cast an appraising eye at her. “I don’t think Parker would have minded. You know, back in the day, he was pretty crazy about you.”
    “Thank you,” Theodosia said, her voice sounding dry and papery, just this side of choked. “That means a lot to me.”
    Theodosia was sitting in Parker’s desk chair, spinning listlessly from side to side, when Chef Toby walked in.
    “Find anything else?” he asked.
    She shook her head. “But the police were just here, so maybe they uncovered something.”
    “You think?” said Chef Toby. He seemed doubtful, especially since their search last night hadn’t produced much of anything.
    “I know I asked you this before,” said Theodosia, “but do you know if Parker was having problems or issues with anyone?”
    René poked his head in. He’d obviously been listening. “That guy in Savannah,” he said to Chef Toby, who nodded immediately.
    “The scary guy?” said Theodosia. The restaurant guy Shelby had mentioned?
    “Manship,” said René. “His name is Lyle Manship.”
    “And he currently owns a couple of restaurants?” said Theodosia.
    “Chimera, a fairly fancy restaurant, and another one named Violet’s,” said René.
    “Successful?” asked Theodosia.
    “According to the grapevine, yes,” said René.
    “And maybe someone local that Parker was having trouble with?”
    Chef Toby and René stared at each other.
    “News to me,” said René, while Chef Toby just shrugged.
    “What about Joe Beaudry?” said Theodosia. Shelby’s story about the freeloading Beaudry was still fresh in her mind.
    “That’s right,” said Chef Toby, “the lawyer.”
    “I think Beaudry might have promised some financing, then pulled it,” said René.
    “But it sounds as if Parker had more cause to be angry than Beaudry,” Theodosia mused. After all, what would Beaudry have been upset about? There didn’t seem to be any motive.
    “Still,” said René,