Agony of the Leaves: Tea Shop Mystery #13

Berkley Prime Crime titles by Laura Childs

Tea Shop Mysteries

DEATH BY DARJEELING

GUNPOWDER GREEN

SHADES OF EARL GREY

THE ENGLISH BREAKFAST MURDER

THE JASMINE MOON MURDER

CHAMOMILE MOURNING

BLOOD ORANGE BREWING

DRAGONWELL DEAD

THE SILVER NEEDLE MURDER

OOLONG DEAD

THE TEABERRY STRANGLER

SCONES & BONES

AGONY OF THE LEAVES

Scrapbooking Mysteries

KEEPSAKE CRIMES

PHOTO FINISHED

BOUND FOR MURDER

MOTIF FOR MURDER

FRILL KILL

DEATH SWATCH

TRAGIC MAGIC

FIBER & BRIMSTONE

SKELETON LETTERS

Cackleberry Club Mysteries

EGGS IN PURGATORY

EGGS BENEDICT ARNOLD

BEDEVILED EGGS

Anthology

DEATH BY DESIGN

Tea Shop Mystery
^#
13

L
AURA
C
HILDS

ALWAYS LEARNING

PEARSON

For Pat and Gary, dedicated
purveyors of mystery

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Heartfelt thanks to Sam, Tom, Bob, Jennie, Dan, and all the fine folks at Berkley Prime Crime who handle design, publicity, copywriting, bookstore sales, and gift sales. A specialthank-you to all tea lovers, tea shop owners, bookstore owners, librarians, reviewers, magazine writers, websites, and radio stations who have enjoyed the ongoing adventures of the Indigo Tea Shop gang.

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Elegant green tendrils
of kelp swayed in graceful, undulating motions as grouper and sea bass peeked out from their leafy sanctuary. Bullet-shaped tuna, the Indy car drivers of the sea, zoomed through the vast tank like silver streaks.

“Fabulous,” Theodosia murmured, as she watched, fascinated, separated from thefive-hundred-thousand-gallon tank by more than fourteen inches of tempered glass.

It was the grand opening of the Neptune Aquarium in Charleston, South Carolina, and Theodosia Browning, proprietor of the Indigo Tea Shop, had been tapped to cater tea, scones, and tea sandwiches for theopening-night private party to honor dignitaries andbig-buck donors. Except, right now, she’d briefly escaped the black-tie party and retreated to the Ocean Wall exhibit, where she was off in her own sweet reverie, marveling at the kelp garden and coral reef. She was aware of distant voices and slight chatter somewhere overhead, but right now, in this particular space, Theodosia was able to pretty much block them out.

“I thought perhaps I might find you here,” a genteel male voice called to her.

Theodosia pulled her attention from the enormous tank and spun on herhot-pink suede stilettos. “I felt the need to escape,” she said, smiling and shaking her head. “But if you need me…” She smoothed the front of her short black cocktail dress as Drayton Conneley, her catering manager and master tea blender, tapped his foot and smiled a benevolent smile. Probably, Theodosia decided, Drayton had come to fetch her and drag her back to the festivities, which pretty much involved all the donors heartily congratulating each other for the enormous checks they’d written to finance this state-of-the-art aquarium. Although Theodosia was a huge believer in supporting museums, arts organizations, and various charities, she was not so enthusiastic when it came to boasting about it.

“Actually,” said Drayton, “Haley’s managing the tea table rather nicely.” Drayton was six feet tall, graying, andsixty-something, impeccably dressed in a narrowEuropean-cut tuxedo with a red-and-midnight-blue tartan cummerbund. “Besides, there are three other restaurants serving tonight as well. All plying the aquarium’s donors and dignitaries with excellent canapés, pâtés, and fresh seafood.” Drayton posed and cocked his head in a quirky magpie gesture. “Although seafood appetizers
do
seem like a strange contradiction, considering our surroundings.” He moved a few steps closer to the tank and peered into the dark, briny depths. “Amazing, isn’t it? To actually recreate the ocean floor and reefs?”

“It’s mesmerizing,” Theodosia agreed, as she caught a glint of her own reflection mirrored in the tank’s outer wall. Blessed with masses of auburn hair, a fair English complexion, high cheekbones, and full mouth, Theodosia cut an eager, elegant figure. Her inner workings, however, were a bit of a dichotomy. While Theodosia possessed a Southern lady’s gentility and grace, she was also fiercely independent and courageous. She wasn’t afraid to stand up for her rights, take
her place in the business community, accept any challenge that was thrown at her, and champion the occasional underdog. It was this unflagging courage and disdain for inertia that made hercornflower-blue eyes fairly dance with excitement. “I could gaze into this tank forever,” she murmured, partly to Drayton, partly to herself.

Theodosia had been born with a love of the sea as well as all living sea creatures, from enormous humpback whales to minuscule anemones. And each year, when tiny leatherback hatchlings crawled out of their nests on Halliehurst Beach, Theodosia helped shepherd these newborn turtles across the treacherous sand, where hungry shorebirds hovered, and into the safety of the sea.

And, of course, living in Charleston, a city built on a grand peninsula that enjoyed the crashing, lashing waves of the Atlantic, put Theodosia in almost constant touch with water. If she wasn’t speeding across the dizzying Cooper River Bridge, she was enjoying the local bounty of briny shrimp and fresh oysters, or jogging with her dog, Earl Grey, at White Point Gardens on the very tip of the peninsula. At the very least, Theodosia was able to inhale the intoxicating scent of sea salt on the warm breezes as she bustled about her little tea shop on nearby Church Street.

“Haley’s been giving me some rather stern lectures concerning sustainable seafood,” Drayton smiled. “Apparently, it’s acceptable for bluefish and yellowfin tuna to be served in her luncheon crêpes and chowders, but Chilean sea bass is strictly verboten.”

“Contrary to what people have believed for centuries,” said Theodosia, “there just isn’t an unlimited supply of fish in our oceans.”

“Pity,” said Drayton, “how we humans tend to muck things up.” He touched an index finger to the thick glass, then turned even more serious. “You know, don’t you, that the folks from Solstice are here tonight?” Solstice was the restaurant that
Theodosia’s former boyfriend Parker Scully owned and ran. A popular bistro that offered tapas and a wine bar.