I glanced at her and then at Brooke. “Look at me.”
Brooke turned, chin lifting as if bracing for impact.
“Did you purposely sabotage my grandmother to help Gloria?” I asked.
Brooke’s brows slashed down. “How would this help Gloria?”
“Gloria thinks she and Nana compete for the same customers.”
Brooke shook her head, her shoulders visibly tightening. “Everyone competes for customers, but we sell different things. That’s why I felt fine connecting Fiona to the distributor. Gloria doesn’t even deal in tea.”
I crossed my arms. “You’re serious? You had no clue?”
“None.” Brooke dug into her blazer pocket and pulled out two long cylinders. “This is the tea. We could drink it right now and nothing would happen. I’ve been drinking it all week.”
Maybe she’d been high all week. I bit that thought back.
Nana leaned closer. “Yes, yes, that’s the tea.”
I tried to remember. “Wait a second.” My mind tracked back to opening day. “I sold a lot of that tea, but the packaging looked different. No blue stripe around the bottom.” I took one of the cylinders, turning it in my hand. The Blue Moon Tea logo wrapped around the label with a thin blue band at the base. “That wasn’t on the ones we sold.”
Nana reached for her glasses and squinted. “Honestly, I don’t remember. We were in such a rush. I’m positive the labels looked right.”
Brooke lifted her chin. “That’s the brand you should’ve had.”
“So what happened to the batch you delivered to her?” I asked.
Brooke blinked. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, did it come from your guy directly or from a third-party shipment? Because if anything got swapped, we need to trace it.”
Brooke glanced at the cylinders. “I brought them over myself after they were shipped to me. They all looked exactly like this one.”
“Wait, wait, wait.” I held both hands up. “Nana, you can’t be certain your tea carried that stripe. It’s barely visible.”
Nana’s eyes turned a darker green. “Oh, yes it did. I examined every container and tasted the blend. When Brooke brought it over, we both drank some.”
Brooke nodded quickly. “Of course we did. I’ll give you the information for Blue Moon Tea Company. They’re more than legitimate, and if you sold laced tea, it wasn’t theirs. Somebody had to switch out the teas. Somehow.”
“Brooke,” I said, forcing my voice calm, “Nana had nearly fifty units. Do you understand the scale?”
Nana looked between us. “The sheriff’s collecting them, even over the pass. We think a few people got high last night without realizing it.”
My pulse kicked against my ribs. I dragged a hand through my hair and steadied my tone. “All right. I need the correspondence between you and the tea company.”
Brooke’s throat worked. “I’ll get the invoices.”
The rain outside picked up, wind tapping at the window like it wanted in. Inside, the three of us stood surrounded by receipts, glass jars, and the scent of guilt.
“Brooke, I need that information.” I crossed my arms. “While we’re at it, why are you distributing tea?”
Brooke flushed, the color rising soft and peach across her cheeks. “I dated the head sales guy for Blue Moon Tea for a few months. They’re based out of Missoula. I love to support local companies. Did you know about their location?”
“I did not know that,” I said, fighting to keep my tone level.
She sighed. “Clark’s probably not going to like this, huh?”
“Clark is definitely not going to like this.” I rubbed my temple. “But if you didn’t do anything wrong, we’ll prove it.” My mouth moved, but my gut stayed suspicious.
