The Majolica Murders by Deborah Morgan

Author:Deborah Morgan [Morgan, Deborah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: cozy mystery
Publisher: Crossroad Press
Published: 2017-07-09T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

“What do you know about majolica?”

Blanche sat forward. “You have some majolica?”

Jeff cocked his head. “Why, Blanche, you’re tipping your hand.”

She stiffened, cleared her throat, fussed with her collar, and, after a moment, exhaled and relaxed a little. “I’m too comfortable with you, Jeffrey. Sometimes I forget that we do business together.”

Blanche and Jeff sat at a table in the Cabbage Rose Tearoom on the fourth floor of her antiques mall. A vendor, who had commandeered the neighboring table, prepared various pots of tea for Blanche to sample.

Jeff said, “Any particular reason you seemed so interested that I might have some?”

“Not really. I get requests for it all the time, and I thought, perhaps, you’d heard from Frenchie. I’m hoping he sells you that sort of thing, too, in addition to furniture.”

How is it everyone knows about my visit to Frenchie Hoffman’s? “I haven’t heard back from him yet.”

“I do hope you’ll give me first pick,” Blanche said. “I’ve had a number of inquiries for majolica recently, and my stock’s rather low.”

“Is that typical? The inquiries, I mean?”

“Sure, nothing unusual about that. Well, except for one gentleman who stood out.”

“Why’s that?”

“Whoever sells to him will make a nice profit, I expect. No quibbling over price.”

“Did he say anything else?”

“Not a lot. Just indicated that he was willing to pay whatever it takes to get just the right piece. Again, not uncommon. Of course, you should know that.”

“Right. What did the guy look like?”

“Oh, he didn’t come in. He called. And, I expect he’ll call back if he doesn’t locate what he’s looking for. They usually do.”

Jeff sat back and looked around the large café. Employees tended the few remaining customers after the lunch rush, replenished muffin baskets, served up sandwiches and desserts. “Do you ever feel out of place with all your teas in latte land?”

“Jeffrey, you know I serve coffee, too. Still, you question my personal choice of leaves over beans. There are at least a dozen Asian tearooms and British tea parlors in Seattle—there’s even one near your home that offers more than one hundred teas. If I’m going to maintain my reputation for the most variety, I must expand my repertoire. Lord knows I have the space.”

True, Jeff thought Blanche owned two of the largest warehouses in the region, and had converted one of them into this antiques—and tea—emporium.

“There are some teas in this town that cost over two hundred dollars a pound,” she said.

“And here I thought you only had to be concerned with insuring the antiques in this place.”

She made a noise but didn’t take her gaze from a cup of liquid that looked to Jeff like hot water tinged with a drop of weak pekoe. He wasn’t sure if her reaction was to his comment or to the notion that she had to taste this pale concoction. “White tea,” she said, then looked up. “The new green.”

Jeff thought about the majolica, decided to get back on track. “Do they usually ask for something in particular?”

“Tea drinkers? Oh, yes, they’re quite specific.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.