One Cuppa Brew: Book 1 in The Thyme for Tea Series by J. Louise Powell Page A

told you it wasn’t worth trying to lie to her Jason. Just be glad you aren’t William when he returns to town. I bet she’ll give him a piece of her mind.” He looked at the others. “So here’s what we’re going to do.”
     

CHAPTER ELEVEN
    Pastor wasn’t sure if she was more concerned for William, going after the head of the snake, or Andy, trying to see what else would bite down here. It was obvious the players were active in both places. William was setting off for Atlantic City, to request a meeting with Sam Waters, the casino owner. Andy was talking to someone about a Craigslist ad. It turned out Andy and William did know at least one person in common, something that made her wonder again about the Silver Spring police department. But Andy assured her that this guy was famous everywhere for his Craigslist code-breaking skills. She thought any eighth grade teacher worth their salt could break some of the codes they mentioned, but who was she to complain if he was helping them?
    Meanwhile, Julie turned over the baseball cards she had been carrying around in that huge bag of hers. They were surprisingly bulky. She said she had left the pictures at home, but so far no one had connected her to Lois. The beautiful thing about the baseball cards was how well they fit into tea boxes. Pastor was happy to provide some empty tins to store them, right in plain sight. Their plan was to lure the killer to the store to see the cards, or to find out if someone else had the stolen cards. They believed Sean had changed the meeting place from Ono Island to the bookstore, but they had no way to know if the buyer or the killer would get the message. Needing to have something card sized to be seen holding, they went to one of the beach shops and filled up on various popular cards; some princess, some comic hero, and something called Shopkins. Pastor shook her head; even with grandchildren she was out of touch. Funny that they couldn’t even find regular sports cards.
    Jason had returned to work, knowing Andy would let him know when he was needed again. Pastor had gone back to serving customers; telling Julie and Andy to go find lunch and maybe bring her some. She needed them out for awhile so she could concentrate on the citizens of Osprey Creek, her loyal customers. They were still upset, for good reason, about a murderer among them. She was so busy concentrating on brewing tea and serving scones that she didn’t realize the post-tennis clique had returned. It wasn’t until she heard Joe raise his voice that she began to pay attention.
    “I’m telling you, he is my best friend, and he wouldn’t hurt a fly, unless there was something wrong with the fly!”
    “Really, Joe?” Alice replied. “What’s going to be wrong with a fly?”
    “It’s an expression. Maybe not the right use of one, but maybe the fly was involved in illegal activities. Maybe the fly was stealing. Maybe the fly was really a spider.” Joe replied. Pastor couldn’t believe how close he was to the truth. Well, not close, but he did know William. Obviously Joe had his feelings about William’s past the way she did.
    “She was dead outside his door. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, he must have killed her.” Alice said.
    Pam finally interjected, “Well, I hope it wasn’t him, because it is more fun playing tennis when he is here, too.” Pam usually sided with Alice on everything, so this was a big step for her, the shopkeeper thought with a bit of chagrin.
    “You want to play tennis with a murderer?” Alice asked, in shock.
    “That’s not what I said, Alice,” Pam replied, not brave enough to contradict her further.
    Pastor turned to the group and saw Alice watching her intently. Iris Marsha Potts was not a woman to break eye contact, but at that moment, something in Alice’s eyes was off. Pastor looked away, knowing where she had seen those kind of eyes before, and not liking what she was thinking. When she was just starting in