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BEATRICE CAREFULLY kept her gaze level. “I see.” Salome still looked ashamed and Beatrice continued, “It sounds as if you weren’t the only person to make a mistake.”
Salome gave a shaky laugh. “Well, that’s certainly true. And I love my daughter so much—I’d do anything to protect her and to make sure that she has a good life. She could never be a mistake, but my actions are. But Gerald’s reaction was to immediately shun us both when I told him.”
Beatrice asked, “You told him during that meeting when he fired you?”
She nodded. “That’s right. I hadn’t told him the whole time that I was pregnant or for the next three years after Jenna was born.”
Beatrice asked slowly, “What made you decide to keep the information to yourself? And not ask for help right away?”
Salome said sadly, “It was my pride. I could see the other employees looking at me at the office when I started to show. I knew what they thought of me. They had no idea that Gerald was my child’s father, but they still had a low opinion of me because they knew that I wasn’t married. It stung. And when my pride has been stung, I tend to raise my chin and not say a word. I thought I could handle everything by myself.” She paused. “And maybe, part of me realized that asking Gerald Carpenter for help was going to end poorly.”
“What made you think that?” asked Beatrice.
Salome sighed. “He was a very stingy man in a lot of ways. I think Gerald was good for the grand gesture—every once in a while, he’d go to a swanky charity event and make a sizable donation that would put his name on a building or something. But then he’d go right back to his penny-pinching ways directly afterward.”
“That was very brave of you to finally ask him for some help,” said Beatrice, smiling at her. “And it sounded as if your raise was long-overdue anyway. By all accounts, you were a great assistant and keep his office exactly the way he wanted it.”
“It was hard. But I realized finally that I couldn’t really do it all on my own and it wasn’t fair for me to have to struggle every day. But I was so nervous, especially when I told him about Jenna. I pointed out that surely he’d want the same thing for this child that he wanted for his others: a decent home, a good life. But he was furious and got rid of me right then and there.” Maisie, the shop cat, sensing that Salome was distressed, trotted over and jumped in her lap, bumping her head against Salome’s shoulder.
“Again, I think it’s amazing that you didn’t tell him about your daughter long before. When you first knew about her,” said Beatrice.
Salome said, “I just couldn’t figure out what to do. I knew Gerald and I was worried that he was going to erupt when he found out. I wondered if maybe he’d think that I was trying to trap him into marriage or something.”
Beatrice frowned, trying to remember Gerald’s family, one out of all the families in the church. She did still have a hard time trying to remember them all. “He is married, isn’t he?” There was the distinct possibility that he wasn’t, though . . . that he could be divorced, like his son was.
Salome nodded. “That’s right. He’s married to Laura and I don’t think he had any intention of leaving her. She’s his second wife, as you might remember.”
Beatrice shook her head. “I didn’t realize that. I haven’t lived in town for very long and I’m still learning everyone’s backstories.”
Salome said, “He was married before—Mark and Joan are his children from his previous marriage. I never had any illusions that Gerald would leave Laura for me and I wasn’t completely sure what his reaction would be when I told him. No one at the office ever asked me who my baby’s father was. They just gave me a little time off when she was born, hired a temp, and generally forgot about her. So I didn’t say anything for a long time. But it’s a struggle making ends meet with another mouth to feed and I needed to get child care. I felt pressed to ask for a raise.”
“Of course you did,” said Beatrice. “And it was the responsible thing to do, for the sake of Jenna.”
Salome gave her a grateful look. “Thank you. I wouldn’t have done it, except for her.” She paused. “And there’s another thing. I was there this morning.”
“This morning? You mean at the factory?” asked Beatrice. She felt her breath catch a little.
Salome took in another deep breath and Maisie lovingly brushed against her again with a quiet mew. “I’m afraid so. I’ll need to tell Ramsay that, when he comes to talk to me. That is, if he doesn’t already know. My sister had convinced me that I needed to talk to Gerald again. That he did have a financial responsibility to my daughter, regardless of whether I was employed by him or not. She asked me to just keep calm and steady and try and reason with him. That maybe he wouldn’t have the same reaction the second time around. She thought maybe he’d been so shocked at the news that Jenna was his child that it made him angry.”
“I think the courts would agree that he had a financial responsibility, too,” said Beatrice.
Salome gave her that grateful look again. “I didn’t want to be pushy, you know. I just wanted to help him to see sense. That Gerald couldn’t simply abandon us and pretend that our daughter didn’t exist and not assist at all with her welfare.”
Beatrice said, “Did you end up seeing him?”
Salome shook her head. “I drove up into the parking lot, but I didn’t see his car. Usually, it was Gerald’s habit to get to the office before dawn so it was unusual for him not to be there. I wanted to catch him before anyone else was there, but it appeared that he hadn’t gotten there yet. I waited for a few minutes, but then ended up driving away.”
“And you didn’t see anyone else there?” asked Beatrice.
Salome glanced away as she shook her head. Then she reached down to rub Maisie under her chin. Beatrice wondered if she’d imagined the split-second of hesitation she’d sensed from Salome.
Beatrice said, “The news must have been a shock to you this morning.”
Salome gave a dry laugh. “I felt a chill go up my spine when I heard the customer talking about it. I tried to pretend that everything was normal. That’s why I’m so relieved to be telling you about this, Beatrice, seeing as how you’re a preacher’s wife and everything. And I’ll tell Wyatt the same. I’ve just felt so bad, so guilty about all this.”
Beatrice said slowly, “I’ve heard that Gerald could be a difficult man to be around. That he liked things done his way. Might there have been other suspects for the police to consider? With that type of personality, I can’t imagine that you’d be the only person the police would be looking at.”
Salome considered this. Then she said, “I hate mentioning this, because it makes it sound like sour grapes. But I’m not the only person that Gerald had an affair with. I didn’t realize this at the time because he’d been very good at keeping his private life private. But he’d already moved on to someone else after his brief relationship with me.” She made a face. “You must be wondering how I could want to be with a person like Gerald. But he wasn’t always like this. He could be kind, as well as harsh.”
“Did you get a sense that he’d changed?” asked Beatrice.
Salome nodded in agreement. “Absolutely. I don’t know if it was a midlife crisis, or what. But suddenly, he did seem to be different.”
Beatrice reflected that Gerald was a bit old to be having a midlife crisis, but she kept her expression neutral.
Salome took a deep breath and said, “There’s this woman that he met at a fundraiser in Lenoir. Her name is Colleen Roberts. Apparently, she’s really wealthy, and they were both at this event where people were trying to get them to donate to a political cause. She seems to have a really swanky lifestyle and lives in this huge house and has several fancy cars and stuff like that. I think Gerald might have been fascinated by the thought that someone wasn’t interested in his money at all. That someone could be interested in just him.” Salome absently stroked Maisie.
Beatrice said, “And they started seeing each other?” Noo-noo walked sleepily over and Beatrice reached down to pull her up onto her lap. Noo-noo took up all of Beatrice’s lap and then some. But the little dog fell right to sleep.
“That’s right. Until . . . they didn’t. Gerald’s daughter, Joan, is a friend of mine and she’s been upset at the way Gerald had been treating me. She knew that he’d fired me because I’d asked him for a raise. I think she also guessed who my daughter’s father might be, although I never said a word to her. Anyway, she was not happy that her dad was seeing Colleen. Joan had apparently seen them out together when she was in Lenoir and confronted her father about it later.”
“And he admitted to his daughter that he was seeing Colleen?” asked Beatrice.
“That’s what she told me. He told her that he was trying to keep the affair quiet and Joan told him that he wasn’t doing a good job if his own daughter was able to find out about it. I mean, Joan is no fan of Gerald’s wife, Laura, but I think she felt as if Gerald was really taking things too far.”
Beatrice asked, “Because he was having several affairs?”
“She complained to me that he was really behaving badly. And then, the next thing we knew, he broke up with Colleen. He does get tired of people and sort of tosses them to the side.” Amazingly, Salome said this without rancor. “And I guess that’s what happened with Colleen.”
Beatrice asked, “Was it a mutual breakup? Or might Colleen be harboring some bad feelings for Gerald?”
Salome snorted. “Oh, I think she’s definitely harboring bad feelings. Joan said that Gerald had the insane idea to break up with her in a public place. A restaurant in Lenoir, Joan told me. I suppose he thought that would be a good way to prevent any hysteria or arguments. But apparently, Colleen didn’t care a whit whether they were in a public place or not. Joan said that Colleen really flipped out. She started yelling at Gerald. Practically foaming at the mouth. I think Gerald was shocked.” This made Salome smile a little at the thought.
Beatrice said, “Well, if she’s a wealthy woman, sometimes with wealth comes a feeling of entitlement. Maybe she wasn’t used to being broken up with. Perhaps she usually got her way with everything.”
Salome said, “Maybe so. It must be nice, if that’s the case. Or maybe she’s just the kind of person who doesn’t like to be humiliated and she felt like Gerald had set her up to look bad in a public place. I mean, apparently it was at this nice restaurant. Joan’s friend saw the whole thing and told her about it and then she filled me in.”
The bell rang, indicating that a customer was coming in. Salome called out a quick greeting and carefully divested herself of the cat. She said in a hushed voice to me, “Thanks for listening to me, Beatrice.”
“I’ll pass your message along to Wyatt. And tell Posy I said goodbye. Noo-noo and I are going to head back home.”
Soon, Beatrice and Noo-noo were back at home. Beatrice greeted Wyatt who was eating an apple in the living room.
“I have some news,” he said with a smile.
“Do we have a new contractor?” asked Beatrice as she lay her keys on the dining room table.
Wyatt said with a smile, “I think we may have. Len met all the main requirements.”
“Which are?”
Wyatt said wryly, “He can start right away and he’s renovated kitchens before.”
“Excellent!” said Beatrice.
“I spoke to him on the phone and he said he’d come by the house soon. How did it go with Noo-noo at Posy’s?” Wyatt reached down to pat the little dog, who grinned a doggy grin before lying completely still beside him and falling right to sleep.
“She was a tremendous hit, apparently. Everyone came over to see her, which has made her completely exhausted. She made a new friend with Maisie the cat, too.”
“Good,” said Wyatt. “Maybe she can go back and visit there a few times while it’s noisy here.”
There was a jaunty knock at the door and Beatrice gave Wyatt a weary sigh. “I bet I know who’s at the door.”
“I won’t take that bet because I know who’s at the door, too.” Wyatt stood up and looked apologetically at her. “I hope it won’t seem rude, but I’m going to the back to lie down for a few minutes.”
“I totally understand. You’ve had a long and stressful day and it’s only early afternoon. Maybe you can get a little sleep.” Beatrice walked to the front door and peeped out to see Meadow there, as expected. Noo-noo lifted her head to acknowledge the visitor, before laying it back down again and falling right back to sleep.
Meadow practically exploded into the house, full of pent-up energy. “How did the appointment go?” she first asked. “I know Piper said everything was fine, but was it really fine?”
“Perfect. The baby is healthy, Piper is healthy. All is well,” said Beatrice quickly, knowing that a drawn-out response would only make Meadow more anxious.
Meadow beamed. “Perfect, indeed. The very answer I was looking for. And now—the murder. I couldn’t believe it when Ramsay told me. And, like usual, he didn’t give me a single detail! I had to come and pester you on your busy day to find out more.”
Beatrice said, “Now Meadow, you know that Ramsay does give details to us. He’s been very helpful in the past.”
“Only when he has the time. And today he’s simply not making it. He’s only making excuses and spending time with the forensics guys and the state police. It’s very vexing,” said Meadow, heaving a gusty sigh. “Now tell me what you know.” She glanced around the cottage. “Where is poor Wyatt?”
“Wyatt decided to lie down for a little while. I think discovering Gerald this morning took it out of him today,” said Beatrice.
Meadow abruptly shifted to a stage whisper, which was practically as loud as her conversational voice before. “The poor man! It must have been an awful shock. But what on earth was he doing there at the factory so early in the morning?” Her tone suggested that Wyatt’s predilection for early visits to businesses might have created the problem to begin with.
“Oh, it was a meeting . . . the church HVAC construction. Gerald was supposed to be giving Wyatt the lowest bids for the work. Then Wyatt discovered him.”
Meadow said, “And Ramsay said that it was definitely murder. No question about it. I thought it more likely that perhaps he was felled by a heart attack, considering the number of hours the man worked. He was quite the workaholic. But Ramsay was quite sure about the fact that it was homicide.”
This came as no surprise to Beatrice, since Wyatt had found Gerald tied up to his chair. But she had the feeling that Ramsay didn’t want that bit of information divulged to Meadow.
“Horrible!” said Meadow with a snarl. “For such a thing to take place in Dappled Hills! Surely it must be someone from one of the cities, passing through.”
Meadow was always fond of the itinerate murderer theory. As if someone from Charlotte or another city had decided to specifically travel to Dappled Hills for the express purpose of killing a resident.
“Don’t the police find that the perpetrator is usually someone close to the victim?” asked Beatrice. “Not a random stranger.”
“What . . . like Mark Carpenter? Gerald’s son? Fiddlesticks! He always seems like a really good person,” said Meadow.
Beatrice said thoughtfully, “I don’t really know him very well; I’ve only seen him now and again in church. Would you describe him as friendly? Easy to know?”
Meadow opened her mouth to enthusiastically agree, but then wavered. “Well, I don’t know about very friendly. I’m sure he’d want to be, but maybe he doesn’t really know how. He’s the sort of person who’s a little socially awkward. But he’s supposed to be very, very good at business.”
“Yes, he seemed very invested in the family business.” Beatrice said, “Oh, never mind me. I’m probably reading too much into it. He just had a huge shock and people act oddly when they’re surprised.”
Meadow said, “Did you speak to anybody else? Or, did Mark have any idea who might be behind his father’s death? I simply can’t imagine it.”
Beatrice said, “He did mention Salome Hewitt.”
Meadow’s mouth became a wide O. “No. It simply isn’t possible. She seems like the sweetest thing, and she’s a quilter.”
Beatrice knew better than to try to convince Meadow that quilters could be anything but upright, God-fearing citizens. “It doesn’t mean anything . . . she might not have been involved at all. But she definitely has reason to dislike Gerald, it seems.” She pressed her lips shut. There was no way that she was going to give away Salome’s secret: that her daughter was Gerald’s.
Meadow was laser-focused as usual, though. “Why on earth would Salome dislike Gerald? Oh, I suppose you mean because he fired her so abruptly after so many years of loyal service? Yes, that made me very angry with Gerald, myself. Poor Salome was out there trying to fend for herself—and her with a young daughter. The very idea! But, like Salome, I can be angry with Gerald and not kill him. It’s just that he did an extremely tacky thing.”
“That’s one word for it,” agreed Beatrice.
“It’s just fortunate that Salome has folks looking out for her. A sister to take her in. And Posy, who was happy to offer her a job, even though Salome isn’t making the money she was before.” Meadow made a face. “No, it can’t be Salome. Think of someone else.”
Beatrice said, “I also spoke to Salome today when I was picking Noo-noo up from the store. Salome did mention that Gerald was having an affair. At least, that’s what she believed,” she appended quickly as Meadow’s eyes and mouth grew large again.
Meadow said, “An affair? Who on earth has an affair when he’s married to someone like Laura? She’s at least ten years younger than he is and looks like a movie star. He was lucky to be married to her, at his age and with his disposition. He had an affair?” Meadow’s demeanor suggested that Gerald had some nerve.
Beatrice said quickly, “It was someone I didn’t know. You likely wouldn’t know her.”
This seemed to make Meadow feel rather insulted. Meadow considered herself a sort of acting goodwill ambassador for Dappled Hills. A one-woman welcoming committee who’d lived her entire life in the town and wanted nothing more than to make everyone love it as much as she did.
“How could I not know her? How could she know someone like Gerald Carpenter and not me?” demanded Meadow.
Beatrice said in a soothing voice, “Because she doesn’t live here. Or, at least, she’s not in Dappled Hills most of the time. She has a house in Lenoir.”
“But how did Gerald know her? He’s not the kind of guy who got out a whole lot. In fact, I think he spent most of his time at the office.”
“He did, according to Joan. But apparently not all of his time at the office,” said Beatrice.
“How on earth did he have the time for an affair?” demanded Meadow.
“From what I understand, he might have been having more than one,” said Beatrice with a sigh.
Meadow said, “Wow. I really misjudged him. Here I was thinking he was Mr. Responsibility for putting in so many hours at work and at the church and all the time he was messing around behind everyone’s back.”
Beatrice said sternly, “This information is obviously between you and me, Meadow. We can’t let it go any further. Nobody else knows.”
“My lips are sealed,” said Meadow
Beatrice said cautiously, “Salome seemed pretty certain. Although, I don’t think that information is for public consumption. Besides, Salome said that Gerald called it all off.”
“Well, I should think so! He came to his senses, I suppose,” said Meadow.
“The woman he was seeing wasn’t very happy about it. Apparently, Gerald dumped her in a public place, thinking that she wouldn’t make a scene. But she wasn’t the kind of woman who appreciated being made a fool of in public, so that approach backfired,” said Beatrice.
“Who was this mysterious woman?” asked Meadow with a frown.
“Her name is Colleen Roberts,” said Beatrice. “As I said, I didn’t know her.”
Meadow snorted. “You should. In fact, I think you will. Very soon. She’s a socialite in Lenoir. And I do know her. She and I have a couple of mutual friends.”
“Well, no wonder I don’t know her. I don’t exactly hang out with socialites. And I’m not often in Lenoir.”
“No, but her daughter is getting married and it’s supposed to be this tremendous event. My understanding is that Wyatt is to marry them,” said Meadow with a smile.
“Somehow I’m always the last to know these things,” said Beatrice, shaking her head. “I don’t know if I’m just not paying attention, or if I’m not speaking to the right people.”
“It’s probably just another wedding to Wyatt,” said Meadow with a chuckle. “After all, he performs a zillion of them. But it’s actually supposed to be a big deal. Apparently, Colleen chose our church specifically for its ‘rustic charm.’” She glanced at her watch. “Okay, I should scoot along. I’ll catch up with you later.”