"Yes, but I'd have to have a look-see at what you've got there to be certain. I imported a number of items from them."
"I could bring the photo to you, or... we could meet here at the store."
"I have no plans to leave the house today," she said curtly. "I suppose you could bring the picture by. Join me for tea."
Her enthusiasm was underwhelming, but who was I to complain? "Great. Where do you live?"
She gave me directions and told me tea would be ready at three on the dot. After I hung up, I said, "She didn't sound all that excited about helping me. Maybe I could bring her something from your shop to go along with tea?"
"Marjorie does like her sweets," he said with a nod. "Let me give you a few choices."
After I walked back home, I did a little more computer sleuthing on the Posh Prams angle, focusing on British importers, but still found nothing. I printed out an extra set of blanket pictures and added them to Will's file. Then I wrapped up the paperwork on a few cases I'd finished in the last few months—easy adoption reunions with happy outcomes. Nothing complicated like this case. By the time I faxed the completed files to Angel's office, it was time to leave for tea with Marjorie McGrady.
She lived in the Heights, an old and well-known residential area west of downtown. I turned off Heights Boulevard onto her street about five minutes before three and quickly found her restored home. Many of the houses in this area had been renovated in the last decade, making the Heights prime real estate. Her place looked like pictures I'd seen of British cottages, the stone and brick home surrounded by a low wrought-iron fence and a vibrant garden of violet heather and fuchsia wildflowers.
"No trouble finding me, I see," said the cherrycheeked Marjorie McGrady after she answered the bell—a bell that played "God Save the Queen," if I'd heard right. She had on an old-fashioned halter-type apron complete with ruffles over her gray skirt and white blouse. I noticed a little jeweled Union Jack pinned to her silk collar.
I offered her the tin of toffee Mr. Trent had told me she liked, and this prompted a small smile that lasted about a millisecond. She placed the tin in her apron pocket and gestured for me to follow her. By the time we reached the dining room where tea had been set up, I knew I was right about the doorbell music. The entire house I'd passed through—foyer, parlor, as well as what I'd glimpsed in the kitchen— looked like Gerald Trent's shop gone mad. I'd never seen so much British crap in my life. Not quaint, organized, make you go "aaahh" crap, either. I spied an ugly, uncomfortable-looking green velvet sofa and gaudy gold-brocade wing chairs in the parlor. Portraits of the royal family and their many castles lined the hall. Plenty of photographs of places and people looking definitely regal hung there, too, but I didn't recognize anything or anyone. She just had stuff everywhere, even little British flags in the flowerpots and fake crowns hanging from the ceiling.
Mrs. McGrady gestured to the mahogany table where a silver tray held a floral china teapot and matching sugar and creamer. I noted a basket of what looked like buttermilk biscuits as well as a bowl full of jam and another bowl of... what? Whipped cream?
"Have a seat, Ms. Rose. I don't often have guests for tea. Don't care much for company, to be honest." She made an attempt at another smile, her gunmetal gray curls framing a round, puffy face. Matched her puffy body. Yes. Puffy. That was the word that best described Marjorie McGrady.
I took the chair she pointed to and sat in front of a china cup and saucer with a different pattern than the teapot. "Please call me Abby."
"If you wish. And I'm Marjorie. I've chosen a Darjeeling, if that's acceptable. But if you'd rather—"
Just then a clock bonged three times—bonged so loud I nearly jumped out of my skin. My punishment for being early, I decided. I turned and saw the offender, a standing replica of Big Ben. How could I have missed that? Maybe because my attention had been drawn to the life-size stuffed Shakespeare in one corner and the massive sideboard next to him that held stacks of mismatched china and a glass display case showing off a copy of the velvet and jeweled crown used for British coronations. And I thought Verna Mae's house was overdecorated.
"I do so love the sound, don't you?" said Marjorie, her eyes moist with joy. "Very much like the original, you know."
"Never heard the original," I said, resisting the urge to massage my temples. That damn clock was loud enough to jar the pecans off the tree I could see through the dining room window.
"I'll pour, if that's acceptable," she said. "I must have my tea directly at three every day."
"Go for it," I replied. "Those are scones, I take it?" I nodded at the basket.
"Yes. Strawberry jam and clotted cream for accompaniment." She took a plate from the sideboard for me and used silver tongs to place one on the plate. She did the same for herself. I followed her lead, splitting the scone and spreading each half with jam and cream.
The sugar was cubed, making the tea far too sweet for my taste, but all negative thoughts were obliterated by the scone. My mouth rejoiced with each delicious bite. When I'd finished the first half and politely taken a few miniscule sips of tea, I said, "What part of Britain are you from?"
"Oh, I'm not from Britain," she said, smoothing more jam on another scone. "I'm from Waco."
I blinked. "Oh. But you lived in England, I take it. I mean, your accent... your home..."
Her gaze met mine. "I have visited London and the English countryside often, and find being British far more comfortable a demeanor for me than Texan. When I ran the shop, the accent helped quite a bit with sales. It's natural for me now." Her eyes glistened with what I decided was either humor or insanity. I wasn't sure which.
"Very... authentic," I said. "Tell me about the store. Why did you sell?"
"I wasn't very handy at shopkeeping," she said. "Had a difficult time parting with my items, as I'm sure you've noticed by a glance around here. My dear husband bought me the British Emporium so that I'd move some of my collection out of our home. Then the bloody bastard died on me. Still haven't quite forgiven him. After a period of mourning, I sold the Emporium and returned to what offers me the most comfort." She spread her arms. "This and Mr. Tibbetts."
"Mr. Tibbetts? You remarried?"
"Mr. Tibbetts is my cat," she said, her tone implying I was an idiot for not knowing this. "You'll meet him soon, now that the clock's sounded. He does like his clotted cream."
"Can't wait," I said, feeling as if I needed to put a "cheerio" in my voice. I turned and retrieved my purse—a leather backpack type that I'd hung on the back of the chair. I took out the pictures of the blanket and spread them in front of Marjorie. "Does this look familiar?"
Her hand went to her mouth to stifle her gasp. "Oh my word."
"You recognize it?"
"Hang on," she said, her fake accent momentarily lost. She bolted from the room, her puffy body bouncing with the speed.
I thought about following her, but when I turned, I saw Mr. Tibbetts lumbering into the room. I laughed out loud at the sight of him—all twenty pounds of black and white fluff. He was as puffy as his owner and knew where the cream was.
By the time Marjorie returned, he'd helped himself to the bowl.
"Mr. Tibbetts," she cried.
He raised his head for a second, revealing dripping whiskers, then resumed lapping.
Marjorie said, "If you'd like more cream, I can—"
"No, thanks," I answered, my eyes on what she held. "I'm far more interested in what you've got there."
She had a duplicate of the blanket from Verna Mae's house, same color, same two-inch satin binding. She offered it out to me and I took it, ran my hand over wool as soft as a cloud.
"I bought two of these," she said. "Sold one and kept the other. Mr. McGrady and I never gave up hope for a family, and if I had been blessed, my babe would have rested in this blanket. I was forty-five at the time. That's what a fool I was."