Carpet Diem

Book 4: Tallie Graver Mystery

by Misty Simon

Genres: Amateur Sleuth; Cozy Mystery; Female Sleuths

Synopsis

Live and let dust . . . Now that Tallie Graver’s cleaning business is starting to shine, she’s ready to go squeegee to squeegee against Audra McNeal for a major contract at the Astercromb mansion. Tallie’s not afraid of a little friendly competition from the new cleaner in town. In fact, Tallie likes Audra, though she wonders how her glamorous rival manages to clean house and maintain her fancy manicure. Tallie has her rubber-gloves full staying one step ahead of her nemesis. Until she finds a well-polished hand poking out of a rolled-up carpet, rendering her competition . . . dead. Though it lands Tallie the big job, there’s nothing tidy about Audra’s death. So between polishing and scrubbing, Tallie’s determined to find the killer. Hopefully the police chief doesn’t mind her cluttering up his investigation with the filthy dealings she discovers. Turns out Audra was not as squeaky clean as she appeared. And confronting her killer could bring Tallie to a very foul end indeed . . . Praise for Cremains of the Day “Simon kicks off a new series that combines a bit of humor and romance with a heroine who knows no boundaries while searching for the truth that will keep her out of jail.” —Kirkus Reviews “An amusing new series with an engaging, spirited sleuth.” — Library Journal “You’ll be cheering as the clues pile up in this creative cozy mystery.” —New York Times bestselling author Lynn Cahoon

Release date: September 24, 2019

Publisher: Kensington Books

Print pages: 223

Sample

Few things in life bothered me more than a person who could not seem to get the hint that I had no desire to interact with them.

Preston Prescott, part of my old crowd, was very high on the list of people I had avoided when I was married to the now deceased Walden Phillips III—or, as I called my ex-husband, Waldo—because it had irritated him to no end.

And like Waldo, Preston was obnoxious and irritating and a plethora of other words I didn’t have time to look up in a thesaurus. I had divorced Waldo months before he died, and I was thankful I had gotten out of his circle. Or at least I had tried to stay out of his circle, until people like Preston decided to harass me.

This man irritated me, as in I wouldn’t just go to the other side of the street but would gladly take a detour through a swamp in order not to be in the same county with him. But he had unlocked a next level—which I hadn’t even known existed—when he accosted me at the Hershey Theater during my first date in over a month with my boyfriend, Max Bennett.

A date I had been looking forward to all week. I’d won tickets on the radio to this play I’d been dying to see. There was no way I could have afforded to buy the tickets. I had winced at the fact that it was possible I would run into some of my old crowd there and I might have to interact with the people I now was not fond of, but I hadn’t expected it to come from this corner. I had held out hope that being across the river and twenty minutes away from our small central Pennsylvania town, I might not have to deal with anyone I didn’t want to, but that hope was dashed.

I was a theatergoer, or at least I had been back in the day when I was married to Waldo. What else was I supposed to do to get out of the house and not have to talk with him very much? The theater had been a place where he could show me off but not bother me, because he couldn’t talk during the performance. Now I had very little money to splurge even on my favorite kind of shampoo, much less go to a play, which meant I didn’t get out much.

So when I won the tickets, I was elated. That feeling lasted, and it grew as Max and I held hands and watched the actors work their magic onstage. And then it was time for the intermission. Max asked if I wanted a drink and a snack before the second half of the show, so we entered the lobby to get both.

Our schedules had not been meshing lately, and it had been weeks since I’d even seen him. I wanted only to enjoy myself with him and concentrate on the two of us, not work. When Max and I ran into many of my old acquaintances in the lobby they were actually nice to me and told me it was nice to see me and to meet Max. I was enjoying myself immensely. And then Preston made an appearance.

“Tallie Graver, who knew you had a taste for anything finer?” Preston said after sweeping into the carpeted lobby in a dove-colored tux with a maroon paisley vest and with a fluffy hunter-green cravat wound tight at his neck.

“Preston,” I said in a strained voice, though I wanted to yell. Max stood at my side with his hand on my elbow. Probably because of my dead-flat tone. To say I did not like the man in front of me would be a gross understatement. Choking him with his cravat would have been a blessing.

There were many people whom I didn’t particularly like dealing with or whom I wasn’t overly fond of, but from the first day I met him, Preston had been right up there with the people whom I always actively avoided. Everything about him was like poison, from his attitude to his high-handedness to his cruel streak, which even Waldo couldn’t beat.

And now he had been threatening me on a daily basis, to make sure his aunt, Mrs. Petrovski, did not give me a chance to win the contract to refurbish and clean her mansion from top to bottom. It was a big job for my bigger crew. I’d moved beyond just Letty and me, and now I had a total of five people in my company, which still didn’t have a proper name. If my crew was given the chance to clean the Astercromb mansion at the edge of town, it would be a huge boost to the budget and to my ladies. They were thrilled. I was happy, or at least I was until this man had started throwing his barbs at me two weeks ago.

To say things had been unpleasant since I was asked to compete for the job was a gross understatement, as in a massively disgusting understatement of epic proportions. The nasty emails from this man, whom I had always considered a huge nuisance, had started shortly after the announcement was made that I and another cleaning crew, one run by Audra McNeal, would be competing for the job, and these emails hadn’t stopped in the two weeks since. He apparently didn’t like me any more than I liked him, and he was determined that anyone but me would get this job. Intimidation wasn’t going to work, but he hadn’t yet been deterred.

Jerk.

In the lobby, I took a moment to look over Preston’s shoulder, and I focused on the soaring arched ceiling to regain my equilibrium.

When I looked back at him, he had a hint of a sneer on his mean mouth.

“Nothing more than my name?” he said. “Have you forgotten your manners now that you no longer have Walden to keep you in line?”

Max’s hand tightened on my elbow. And for good reason. I needed to be held back from going at this venomous snake right here in the swanky theater. Maybe I could try out some of my recent self-defense course moves and kick him in the eye. If I was lucky, he’d fall onto the old gold and maroon carpet, where maybe an usher would sweep him up with a broom and a dustpan after the show was over.

I calmed myself as best I could and cleared my throat, imagining him fuming over not keeping me from getting the contract at the mansion. And when I sealed the deal, I’d clean with wild abandon, while he sulked at being bested by yours truly.

“What do you want, Preston? I told you in our last exchange that I have nothing more to say to you. It’s going to come down to who’s better with a vacuum, and I’m willing to see what your aunt, the actual owner of the mansion, has to say about that.”

He laughed. “You may think this is going to be yours, but I know better. I know exactly who’s getting it. I’m just waiting for the old lady to call and let you know. I don’t even know why they’re letting you clean anything. You’re not good at what you do, and you’re just going to make more of a mess of things.” His soft voice and huge smile were for anyone who passed by, but the underlying tone was one of total menace. After shoving his hands on his hips and flaring his designer jacket at the sides, he tapped his manicured fingers on his waist.

The man was a nuisance who liked to control everything, even those things he should keep his nose out of. Why had I ever wanted to be with people like this?

Usually, I wasn’t a fighter when it came to jobs. I had no problem bowing out of a disagreeable situation and just doing my own thing elsewhere. But this man had got under my skin, had bothered me all the years I’d been with Waldo. I hadn’t had to interact with Preston since I’d left Waldo, and now that I was going for this job, the man wouldn’t leave me alone. No matter what he did, I wasn’t going to lie down while he walked all over me.

No way, no how.

“Talk is cheap, Preston. If you think you’ve got this wrapped up, then show me. Stop telling me. Now I have nothing more to say to you, and I’m on a date with my boyfriend, who I am not going to introduce you to. Skedaddle.” I cocked an eyebrow at him and waited to see what he’d do. I was goading him, but he was ruining my first evening with Max in a long time, and he had been needling me for days.

He had nothing to say back to that. He just lifted his nose at me before walking away, throwing his tux tails behind him. He stumbled while moving from the carpet to the white marble edging the doorway. After catching himself at the last second, he straightened his jacket, smoothed his lapels, and lifted his nose again. When he looked around to see if anyone had noticed, I just smiled at him. Then he flounced off.

I wasn’t proud of that moment, but I was human, and he was being a pain in my rear end.

“Do you want to go?” Max asked, putting his arm around my shoulders.

“No. He will not ruin my night out with you.” I hugged his arm and smiled up at him. Spending time with Max was at a premium lately. With his job ramping up, and with his new promotion to head Taxinator, we hadn’t seen each other as much as we would have liked in recent months. I was not going to let some bitter trust-fund baby get the best of me on one of my special nights.

But I sighed as he led me through the lobby and to the refreshments. My black heels clicked over the cream marble, and my dress whispered over the floor behind me. I should be incredibly happy to be out and dressed to the nines, especially with Max. Instead, I was mighty tempted to order a stiff drink to make it through the rest of the performance after that confrontation with Preston. I talked a big talk, but being the center of someone’s anger like that was a trigger for me. I’d spent years dealing with Waldo’s tantrums and having everything be my fault. I did not like going back there.

I got a soda instead of something with a triple shot of vodka, then followed Max to a velvet settee in the old theater lobby. The posh space featured ceilings that were arched and carved. Heavy drapes hung in similarly arched windows that were at least fourteen feet above the floor. The beautiful sconces threw off enough light to make the space intimate, and yet I could still see where I was going. All in all, there was something magical about being here, and especially being here with Max. Preston was not allowed to ruin that for me.

I smiled when Max looked at me, but I tried to avoid eye contact. I didn’t want him to see how upset I was.

Tallie Graver, faker. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d faked something to make someone happy. But Max was worth it, and leaving early would not make me feel better. It would just make me angry. Angrier.

Max leaned over, and I expected to have some sort of sweet nothing whispered into my ear or to be asked how much I was enjoying the play. Instead, I fell more in love.

“You know there’s nothing wrong with leaving. I’m sure everyone else sees your brave face and believes it. Even I believed it for a second. But I know you, Tallie, and if you want to go, we’ll just come again another time.”

He knew me because he took the time to look and care. He knew me, and he stayed.

I hugged his arm again. No faking necessary, thank God. “No, let’s stay. I want to see how this ends. I really am okay.”

Or at least I was after Max’s words. I had finally found myself an actual keeper.

In the middle of that lovely moment, my phone vibrated in my purse. I’d been waiting for a message from my new hire, Bethany, so I made my quick excuses to Max, who waved me off as I took my phone out of my little clutch purse. It was a text from Bethany, with pictures of the inside of the mansion. At last! I’d bid for the contract without being able to walk around, because Mrs. Petrovski, the owner of the mansion, was an old family friend, and I had figured I could trust her to be fair with me. I still wanted to know what we would be walking into, though, before we got started tomorrow. Mrs. Petrovski had agreed to let us in tonight to look around. I wasn’t sure if she was letting the other company in, too, but that wasn’t my concern.

Bethany was taking off the first two days of the job to go out of town with her boyfriend, so when I’d won the tickets, she’d offered to check the place out tonight.

As much as I had not wanted to have an actual company, I couldn’t deny that it was nice to have people to help with this kind of stuff now that I had a boyfriend and was building a life for myself. When I’d walked away from my old life, I’d really thought I’d just live upstairs from my dad’s funeral home, clean houses, and probably die up there some day. This new direction I was going in was totally not what I had envisioned, and I had to say I was mighty pleased about that.

What I was not pleased with, though, was the fact that the pictures had not come through with the text. It was just a series of blank bubbles, with downloading symbols attached at the bottom. I texted Bethany to see if she could email me the pictures instead.

“Tallie Graver! I haven’t seen you in days!” I raised my gaze from my phone, knowing that voice. Audra McNeal walked with purpose across the marble floor, her arms swinging and her dress a confection of tulle and silk. She was lovely, and one of the new people in town whom I really liked. She was also the one I was going up against for the contract. If I could have figured out a way for both of us to clean, I would have. From the few interactions we’d had, I thought she’d been a peach ever since she’d moved here. She worked for a company that did commercial cleaning, so I had been surprised to learn that she was going for a job at a privately owned mansion. But it did make a certain kind of sense because it was a big job.

As she came toward us, she had a smile on her face. That at least was better than Preston’s sneer.

“Audra!” I yelled across the lobby, as if she hadn’t already said my name. I even waved. Whereas a moment ago I had been wishing that the lights would flicker to signal that the curtain was going up soon, thinking that surely the intermission had to be over by now, at this point I’d love a few moments to introduce Max to Audra.

I stood in a swish of velvet and silk to welcome her open-armed hug. “How are you? I didn’t realize you were going to be here tonight!” I hooked my arm in hers and turned us toward Max. “My boyfriend’s in town, finally, and I want to introduce you. Max, this is Audra. Audra, Max.”

Max smiled and held out his hand. Audra took it and shook it with the steely grip I’d first experienced when we met at a chamber of commerce mixer six months ago. With her style and her youthful personality, I’d expected her to be closer to my age, so I’d been surprised when she told me she was only a few years away from fifty.

“Oh, I’ve been hearing such wonderful things about you, Max. It’s so nice to get to meet you.”

And now I smiled bigger, because I loved my best friend, Gina, but I was also enjoying opening my friend field up a little bit, and I would love for Audra and her boyfriend to go to dinner with Max and me some night. Her boyfriend had just proposed to her, and it could be a celebration of sorts, the beginning of a great friendship that hadn’t yet bloomed but was totally planted.

“So, are you ready to show Mrs. Petrovski what we can do tomorrow?” I asked. “I don’t know if she told you, but she’s looking to actually sell the mansion, not keep it, like she had originally said. That negates a long-running contract for cleaning services, but one big job is better than none, right? She wants us to come in and clean it out and strip it down so it can be refurbished. The last time anyone touched the place was when they had those decorators come in for that television special.”

She choked and then laughed. “I heard about that. It’ll be interesting to see what the thing looks like inside. I can’t believe she won’t let us in until tomorrow. What is this? Some kind of surprise?” It was on the tip of my tongue to offer to share Bethany’s pictures when they came in, but Audra was still talking. “No one is going to buy that monstrosity, no matter how much you clean it.”

I shrugged, because, really, what else could I do? “I don’t make these things up, but I’m glad I have a whole crew now instead of just trying to do it myself.”

“Yeah, me too. I guess we’ll just have to see which one of us gets picked. I don’t quite understand why she’s doing it this way. We both gave her references, and we both have good reputations. She could have just picked one and gotten on with it.”

She smoothed the waist of her dress with her long fingers and expertly manicured fingernails. I had no idea how she actually cleaned with those things, not that it was any of my business. I knew from my cousin that the lengthy and pointed gel nails were in style, so you could just call me styleless, then. My nails were blunt and short, and they got the job done.

“What time are you getting there tomorrow?” Audra asked.

“She told me eight. You? We’re cleaning at the same time, right?”

“Yes, of course. Of course.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder, then smiled at me again. “Well, good luck. From what I hear, we might have to ask for at least half the money up front and make sure we actually cash her check instead of just putting it in the bank.” She laughed again just as the lights flickered, signaling the end of intermission.

“It was great seeing you,” I said, hoping she felt the same way.

“And you. I’ll see you tomorrow, and we should really get together while Max is here, if you have time.” Her smile widened as she looked at Max and squeezed my hand. Then she sauntered away. I would never be that classy—I never was even when I had all the money—but I appreciated her time and her enthusiasm. You could never go wrong with more friends.

The black dress I had dug far back into my closet for swished against the gold and maroon carpet. I’d pulled out all the stops for this night out, and I still meant to enjoy myself immensely.

I could be doing worse things, like working for my dad at the funeral for Mr. Peterson, which was currently happening at Graver’s Funeral Home.

Although, to be fair, work at the funeral home hadn’t been as bad lately. I just wasn’t going to tell my dad that. He was still pulling for me to join the family business full-time, and I was still pushing back. Working part-time, surrounded by my father, my mother, and one of my two brothers, was enough for me at this point. And I’d heard that the shop next to Gina’s café could be coming up for sale, which gave me the hope that I might be able to finally open my tea store. I wasn’t ready financially yet, but I had Max, my tax guy, whom I trusted to help me figure out where to get the money and how much it was going to cost me.

I held Max’s hand and kept an eye out for a Second Coming of Preston, but he appeared to be holding court in the far corner with a bunch of other sour-faced men. Perhaps this was their night out. I couldn’t imagine it was a ton of fun for the crotchety old men, but then, who was I to judge anyone?

Except that Preston caught me looking his way and raised his nose into the air. If the indoor sprinklers would come on right now, he’d probably drown.

Man, was it going to feel good to grab that contract.

Max and I stepped away from the small settee and headed back into the theater for the second half. We didn’t have box seats, but there were no bad seats in the Hershey Theater, twenty miles from home. We settled into the plush chairs, and he took my hand in his, then kissed my knuckles.

I smiled at him and caught Audra waving to me from her box seat, with her boyfriend next to her. I didn’t know where he was during intermission, and would have loved to meet him, but another time was fine. I waved back, then glanced at my phone one more time.

Nothing new had come in from Bethany. The photos she’d promised me were still hanging in the electronic cloud, which I knew nothing about. I’d just have to wait for another ninety minutes to see what we’d be dealing with. As the curtain rose, I glanced back at the box and. . .