Sour Puss in Spice, West Virginia
Dear Sour Puss,
To make pumpkin pie spice, mix cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Go heavy on the cinnamon, then add lesser amounts of the other spices. Maybe you can identify the one you don’t care for and omit it.
Sophie
“That’s the odd thing. I’ve been over and over it in my mind, but I can’t think of anything that would have upset her. It was a lively day because the girls were off from school. A teacher’s workday, I think. They were in and out sneaking tastes of the pumpkin cupcakes I was baking. I remember joking about them having a salon day, because they were pulling their hair up into those messy buns that are so popular. If you ask me, it’s easy to look messy, but they were watching videos and trying all kinds of crazy things. Schuyler’s mom, Mia, came over for a while.”
Tilly stopped speaking for a moment. “You know, she still hasn’t come home. I’m so sad for Schuyler. I think Mia was disappointed that the girls weren’t hanging out at her house on Friday. But she’s one of those hovering helicopter moms. I think that’s why they spend so much time over here. I try to give them room to do their own thing. My days were so structured when I was a teen that I missed out on a lot of silly fun. Moms like Mia don’t understand that.”
“And what was Abby doing?” I asked.
“Wesley brought some of his staff over. Mars was here, too. I made them my roasted Parmesan chicken, maple syrup Brussels sprouts, and garlic mashed potatoes for lunch. Abby was very busy watching me and writing down the recipes as I cooked. And she kept flipping through the recipes and making notes. I think she was arranging them in order. Maybe it was too much of a madhouse for her that day with people coming and going? Most days it was just the two of us. Wesley was working, and Briley was at school. I really didn’t give it much thought at the time. It all seemed so normal to me. It was just another day at our house.”
“That was the last time you saw her?” I asked.
“Right. As she walked out the door, she said she wouldn’t be able to finish the cookbook but she wished me all the best. I was stunned. She walked away as fast as she could. I never heard from her again. I called her number because I was totally perplexed, but her phone rolled over to voice mail.”
“What made you think she was upset that day?” I stroked Daisy for being such a patient dog while we talked.
“She seemed quiet. More withdrawn than usual. Like she was doing her job, but she was thinking about something else. Now that I consider it, she seemed anxious. Honestly, it wasn’t a big deal, or I would have asked her if something was wrong.”
Tilly sniffled. “I’m old enough to know that I can’t blame myself, but now I wonder why I didn’t ask Abby what was troubling her. Maybe I could have helped. If someone was giving her a hard time, she could have stayed in our guest room and we could have protected her.” Tilly placed her hands over her eyes. When she removed them, she shook her head. “There are so many solutions to problems. I’m devastated that we didn’t prevent her death.”
Was that an unusual reaction, I wondered. Maybe not. We all wanted to save people if we could. “Did you have any reason to think she was in danger?”
“Heavens, no! If I had, you wouldn’t be sitting here right now. Abby would be sitting in that chair drinking latte with me and I probably wouldn’t have met you.” Tilly sipped her latte and licked a smidge of cream off the rim before eyeing us. “Mars says that you two solve murders.”
Before I could say anything, Nina piped up, “We’re definitely looking into Abby’s death.”
“I hope you’ll be careful. Her killer must have been a madman. Who stuffs a person into a freezer?” Tilly shivered at the thought.
She had a point. It was certainly unusual, but perhaps clever from the perspective of the killer. It could have taken six months or longer before anyone opened the freezer and looked inside. I shuddered to imagine that a relative could have found her body while cleaning out her house. That would give me nightmares.
“It must have been planned, don’t you think?” asked Tilly. Suddenly she gasped and sat up straight. “The phone call! Abby received a phone call that day. Now what was it that she asked? It was somewhat odd. ‘The squirrel has landed?’ I remember teasing her about that because it sounded like a line from a movie. Who asks if the squirrel has landed? That has to be code for something.”
“Did she tell you who the squirrel was?” I asked.
“She laughed it off, like it was unimportant.”
“Be sure to tell the police about that,” I said. “Tilly, was Abby dating anyone?”
The expression on Tilly’s face was priceless. I guessed she knew about Mars dating Abby but wasn’t sure whether she should say so. “Besides Mars,” I added.
Tilly fanned herself with her hand. “I’m so relieved that I wasn’t the one who had to tell you about Mars and Abby. That would have been awkward! She didn’t mention anyone else to me. Just her ex-husband and Mars. She was married for a long time.”
“Did she say why they divorced?” asked Nina.
“She never came right out and told me the reason, but one day she said to me that we are all products of our pasts and nothing can change that.”
“You thought she was talking about her husband?” I asked.
Tilly shrugged. “It could have been about him or her. I didn’t pursue it. She appeared happiest when Wesley and the girls were around, but something was off on that Friday. Sometimes we sense these things but can’t put a finger on the problem.”
The door knocker sounded at that moment. Tilly excused herself to answer the door.
Nina leaned over to me. “I love the latte. But do you get the feeling that someone in this household might know more than she’s saying? After all, she’s an actress.”
“I think it’s odd that Mia didn’t come home. Tilly doesn’t seem too worried about that. I wonder if Mia has done this before.”
The French door opened, and Tilly walked out followed by Wolf. Daisy jumped to her feet and ran to him.
“Good morning, ladies. I see you beat me here,” he said as he greeted Daisy.
“For your information, I baked a cake as part of my job for Tilly and brought some by for her to try.”
“Maybe you would like a slice?” Tilly moved as fast as Daisy had.
But one of them had wanted to see him and the other appeared to want to get away from him.
“Back in a jiffy,” Tilly said brightly.
Wolf sat down with us. “Has she told you anything I should know?”
Through the French door, I could see Tilly pick up her phone and make a call. I averted my eyes when she looked out at us.
“Only a throwaway line about a squirrel. Totally unimportant,” grumbled Nina. “But don’t forget that she’s an actress and can lie convincingly.”
Wolf tried to hide a smile. “Thank you for that reminder, Nina.” He glanced at our latte mugs on the table. “I hope you won’t mind if I speak with Tilly alone?”
“We can take a hint. Come on, Nina.” I rose and called Daisy.