“But he doesn’t actually live here, does he?” So how exclusive can that be?
“He does for the time being,” Delaine said. “And that’s good enough for me.” She giggled. “A girl doesn’t always have to settle for Mr. Right. Sometimes Mr. Right Now is better.”
? ? ?
By the time Theodosia brought a salad, grilled chicken breast, and pot of jasmine tea to Delaine’s table, she wasn’t sitting alone. Turns out Grace Dawson had wandered into the tea shop and Delaine had invited Grace to join her for lunch.
“You finally made it,” Theodosia said to Grace. She was delighted to see her. With or without the Dobermans.
“I surely did,” Grace said with open enthusiasm. “I’ve heard so many people rave about the Indigo Tea Shop that I finally decided to drop by.” She glanced at Delaine’s lunch. “I hope I’m not too late.”
“Of course not,” Theodosia said. “What would you say to a bowl of shrimp gumbo, a tea sandwich, and an orange scone?”
Grace’s eyes lit up. “I’d say, bring it on. It all sounds wonderful.”
When Theodosia returned with a pot of tea and Grace’s luncheon plate, the conversation had turned to the ill-fated opera last night.
“I was there!” Grace exclaimed to Theodosia and Delaine.
“You were there with Mr. Rinicker?” Theodosia asked. Here was her chance to nail down his whereabouts.
“No,” Grace said. “I went with a friend. Lionel was busy with some sort of business. A meeting, I guess.”
“Well, I was there, too,” Delaine told Grace. “In fact, I ran into Theodosia and Drayton at intermission.”
“So we were all there,” Grace said. “Wow.”
But where was Rinicker? Theodosia wondered. Where was he really?
“To tell the truth,” Grace said, “that incident left me feeling a little heartsick. I mean . . . opening night with La Bohème, everyone dressed to the nines, and all that delicious anticipation.” Her face shone with excitement for a few moments, and then her shoulders sagged. “Such a magnificent first act to be followed by that awful robbery. I think it rattled everyone to their core.”
“That’s for sure,” Delaine said, all wide-eyed, as if she was practically reliving the event. “That robbery struck me as a bad omen, a harbinger of things to come.”
Grace gave a little shiver. “Please don’t say that, Delaine. It’s hard enough living all by myself when the wind comes ripping off the Atlantic and the olive tree branches are tick-ticking against my bedroom window.”
“Ooh,” Delaine squealed. “You sound just like one of those scary stories by Edgar Allan Poe.”
? ? ?
Just when Theodosia figured their luncheon service was over, just when she was gearing up to focus on tonight’s Romanov Tea, the FBI came marching in.
Well, not the entire bureau, of course. Just Agents Zimmer and Hurley.
“I hope we’re not interrupting,” Zimmer said. He had the same clean-cut, sharp-eyed look that Theodosia remembered. An interesting-looking man, but a little intense. Maybe too intense.
“Of course you’re interrupting,” Theodosia said with a smile. “But come on in anyway. You can fill me in on what you’ve been up to.”
Zimmer and Hurley followed her to a table and sat down.
“I’m afraid we can’t really share any information with you,” Zimmer said. “Agency policy is to remain fairly tight-lipped concerning ongoing cases.”
“Well, you can at least tell me if there’s anything new on the ransom offer,” Theodosia said.
“You’re not supposed to know about that,” Hurley said.
Theodosia smiled. She’d detected a pinprick of surprise on his part. “Oh please. The copy desk at the Charleston Post and Courier probably knows all about it.”
Hurley looked less than pleased.
“Okay, then maybe you can tell me where you are concerning Luke Andros,” Theodosia said.
Zimmer and Hurley exchanged looks.
“How on earth do you know about him?” Zimmer asked.
“I’m the one who passed on some speculative information to Detective Tidwell,” Theodosia said. “Who obviously passed it on to you.”
Hurley glanced at Zimmer. “How is she getting this stuff?”
“Look around,” Theodosia said. “It’s a tea shop. People drink tea, let down their guard, and talk.”
Zimmer managed a feeble smile. “Maybe we should be spending more time here.”
“Maybe you should,” Theodosia said. “And by the way, is there anything more on Mr. Clement and his rock-climbing hammer?”
Zimmer placed both hands on the table and pressed down. “Excuse me?”
“And what about Professor Shepley?” Theodosia continued. “I know for a fact that he crashed Brooke’s jewelry show. Is he under investigation or am I the only one who thinks there might be more to him than meets the eye?”
“Miss Browning,” Agent Zimmer said, a warning tone creeping into his voice. “I’m going to ask you to please not speak about these things to anyone.”