Chapter 23

Mrs. Schwartz took out the tea things. “I’m generally a coffee drinker, but some things are better discussed over tea.”

She plugged in the electric kettle, then pulled a blue teapot from the cupboard and warmed the pot. “This is a Hall teapot. It used to belong to Rosa. It was her great-grandmother’s. Jason’s lucky it’s still here. They sold everything else that belonged to Rosa—her sterling, her Lenox, her Irish linens, even her jewelry all of which should have gone to Jason.”

“Rosa was Jason’s mother?”

“Yes.” Mrs. Schwartz put out cups, sugar, and milk. “I’m biased. I have something against Ann and Evan Monroe. They were a frivolous pair without the sense God gave a worm. I thought it was criminal that Jason always had to pay his own way and contribute to the family till, too. Rosa had put some money away for his schooling, but they spent it all within six months of her death. I was with Rosa and Jason at the hospital when she died. Evan was at a no-tell motel with Ann