“She may not tell us anything,” I said, looking both ways before I turned left.
“Do you think she knew about all Arthur’s shady dealings?” Charlotte said.
“Maybe,” I said. “But maybe not. You said she’s only been here a few weeks. And if she was working before that, it’s possible she didn’t know a thing.”
“See the white bungalow with the yellow door?” Charlotte leaned forward and pointed.
“That’s it?” I said.
She nodded.
I pulled to the curb in front of the house and shut off the engine. I turned to Charlotte. “We don’t have to give Daisy the third degree,” I said. “I can see it makes you uncomfortable. We’ll give her the muffins and express our sympathy. If we learn anything, fine. If not, that’s all right, too.”
Charlotte smiled. “Thank you,” she said. “Maybe I’m too soft, but I feel sorry for Daisy. Her brother’s dead. Whether she knew anything about what he’d been doing or not, he was still her brother—the last of her family. She doesn’t have anybody now.”
I reached over and laid my hand on hers for a moment.
“You’re one of the kindest people I know,” I said. “And I wouldn’t want you to be any other way.”
We walked up the stone pathway to the front door and rang the bell. Beside me I heard Charlotte take a deep breath. I understood how she felt. It didn’t seem right to ambush Daisy Fenety. But on the other hand, it didn’t seem right for Maddie to go to jail for something she didn’t do.
Daisy opened the door and seemed surprised to see us standing there.
“Charlotte. Hello.” She said. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m sorry about Arthur,” Charlotte said. She held out the tin of muffins. “These are for you. I just wanted to make sure you were all right.”
“Thank you,” Daisy said, taking the small round can from Charlotte’s hands. “That’s so thoughtful of you.” She hesitated for a moment. “Would you like to come in?”
“For a minute,” Charlotte said. She turned to me. “Daisy, this is Sarah Grayson, my friend Isabel’s granddaughter. She drove me here.”
I held out my hand and the older woman took it. “I think we met at my shop, Second Chance,” I said.
Daisy nodded. “Yes, we did.”
“I’m sorry about your brother.”
“Thank you,” she said. I couldn’t help noticing how guarded her expression was. Then again, if my brother had been murdered I’d be guarded around people, too.
We followed Daisy inside. We stepped into a small entryway, which led to the living room. The house was beautifully decorated. Someone had excellent taste. Daisy, I suspected.
Charlotte and I sat on the sofa. It was leather, the color of a bar of dark chocolate and very comfortable. Daisy took a wing chair opposite us. She set the muffins on the round table by the front window and folded her hands in her lap. Then she looked at Charlotte and cleared her throat.
“I know you and Madeline are friends,” she began. She pressed her lips together for a moment. “I’m not condoning what she did, but I want you to know I’m not condoning what my brother did, either.”
“You didn’t know,” Charlotte said, gently. “I’m sorry. It must have been an awful shock.”
“I opened the paper and I couldn’t believe it. That wasn’t the brother I grew up with.” She looked away for a moment. “I wish I could apologize to all the women he took advantage of. I wish I could do something for them.” She sat very straight, her shoulders rigid, and in her lap her hands were tightly clenched together. “As far as I can tell, just looking through Arthur’s papers, the money is gone.” She paused for a moment. “There were some pieces of jewelry I found in a box in his closet. I can give those to the police. But there don’t seem to be any secret bank accounts.”
“It’s very thoughtful of you to try to help,” I said. I wondered if that jewelry would turn out to belong to Jim Grant’s mother.
She looked at me. “I believed Arthur when he told me that he had a pension and had saved a lot of money. I didn’t really know my brother.”
I thought about Liam and wondered how I’d feel if I were in Daisy’s place.
She looked at Charlotte. “I really believed he cared about Madeline,” she said. “He called me right after he met her and he seemed genuinely happy.” She pointed to the vase of lilies on the coffee table. “He bought those flowers for me the day he died. He was in such a good mood that morning.”
“Did your brother do any gardening?” I asked.
Daisy shook her head. “He didn’t know a thing about plants. We grew up in Meridian, Florida, with a tiny backyard. He met Madeline at some event for the Botanic Garden but he was only there because he won the ticket.” The bottom hand on her lap kept pulling the fabric of her trousers into little folds. “Madeline talked about gardening and plants all the time. Arthur listened because . . . because he liked her.”
I gestured to the vase holding the flowers. It was china with a raised flower design; white daisies with yellow centers and deep green leaves. “That’s very pretty,” I said. “It’s the Daisy May pattern, isn’t it?”
Daisy looked surprised. “Yes, it is. Arthur bought it for my last birthday. She looked down at the gleaming hardwood floor, then met our eyes again. “It’s my fault he’s dead,” she said.
Charlotte shook her head. “No, Daisy, it’s not your fault. There wasn’t anything you could have done.”
“She invited me, too.”
“You mean Maddie?” I said. Charlotte and I exchanged glances. Why hadn’t Maddie told us that?
Daisy nodded. “I declined because I had an emergency dentist appointment. I can’t help thinking if I’d gone to lunch, as well, Arthur would still be alive.”
“There was no way you could have known what was going to happen,” I said.
She gave me a faint smile. “Thank you for saying that,” she said. “It’s hard not to keep second-guessing myself. I took the car because I was going to the dentist. I dropped Arthur at the park. It was such a nice day he’d decided to walk. The last time I saw him he was standing by the park gates, talking to the mailman.” She lifted a hand to her throat. “What he did was wrong. I understand that. But Madeline shouldn’t have killed him for it.”
“We don’t think she did,” Charlotte said. “Maddie couldn’t kill anyone.”
“Arthur was at her house. She made the coffee,” Daisy said, two bright spots of color appearing on her cheeks. “I don’t see who else could have done it. I understand your loyalty, but I’m sorry. I think you’re wrong.”
There really wasn’t anything else to say. We told Daisy again how sorry we were for what she was going through and then we were back out in the SUV.
“I don’t know why I thought Daisy would be any help,” Charlotte said. “Of course she blames Maddie. I would, too, in her place.”
“We know where they grew up,” I said, sticking the key in the ignition. “Maybe Mr. P. will be able to dig up something.”
“So, what do we do now?” Charlotte said, fastening her seat belt.
What I should have said was “Nothing.” I should have said “The next thing to do is leave it to Josh’s investigator and the police.” But even against my better judgment I was getting caught up in Maddie’s case. “We need to know if anyone knew that you had that bottle of napthathion in your garage. Or if anyone else had kept a bottle.”
Charlotte nodded thoughtfully. “Could we stop at Liz’s house for a moment?” she asked.
“Sure,” I said.
We found Liz and Avery in the kitchen. Avery was making what I guessed was a quiche, based on the piecrust and eggs she had out on the counter. She also had a huge amount of kale.