Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN WITH THE CAMERA
The first clue arrived Thursday.
A woman named Melissa Grant rang Margaret’s doorbell carrying two garment bags and a photography case.
“I’m looking for Vanessa Reed.”
“Parker,” Margaret corrected automatically.
Vanessa had kept Reed professionally.
“Oh, right.”
Melissa smiled.
“Rose & Reed Events.”
Margaret frowned.
“What?”
“The Easter showcase?”
Margaret stared.
Melissa checked her phone.
“Vanessa booked me to photograph the tables, food presentation, floral installations and guest areas.”
“For Easter?”
“For her launch portfolio.”
Margaret looked toward the staircase.
Vanessa had gone shopping.
Daniel was at work.
“What launch?”
Melissa’s smile faded.
“You don’t know?”
Ten minutes later Margaret was sitting at the kitchen table looking at a website on Melissa’s phone.
ROSE & REED PRIVATE GATHERINGS
Elegant residential events.
Intimate weddings.
Luxury showers.
Private dinners.
The gallery contained photographs of Margaret’s house.
Her kitchen.
Her dining room.
Her patio.
Her staircase decorated with white flowers.
Some photos were from Vanessa’s previous parties.
Under one image:
OUR SIGNATURE PRIVATE ESTATE SETTING — COLUMBUS, OHIO
Margaret read it twice.
“My home is not an event venue.”
Melissa slowly lowered the phone.
“I thought Vanessa owned it.”
“No.”
“Her husband?”
“No.”
Melissa looked embarrassed.
“I’m sorry.”
Margaret asked:
“Has anyone paid her?”
Melissa became cautious.
“I wouldn’t know her client finances.”
Reasonable.
But Margaret now knew what to ask.
She searched the company name after Melissa left.
Rose & Reed Events LLC had been formed four months earlier.
Organizer:
Vanessa Reed Parker.
Business address:
Margaret’s house.
Margaret called Laura.
This time Laura became much less relaxed.
“Do not confront her until we understand what she’s represented.”
By Friday afternoon they knew more.
A woman named Jennifer Cole had contacted Margaret’s homeowners insurer asking whether an upcoming backyard engagement party required a separate event rider.
The insurer called Margaret because she was the policyholder.
Margaret had never heard of Jennifer Cole.
Laura contacted Jennifer’s attorney after Jennifer produced a contract listing Margaret’s address as the event location.
Event date:
June 6.
Deposit:
$4,500.
A second contract surfaced.
Small wedding reception.
September.
Deposit:
$9,000.
Vanessa had started accepting money for future events inside Margaret’s home.
Daniel’s name appeared on both contracts.
Not as owner.
As:
PROPERTY COORDINATOR.
Margaret felt physically sick.
Laura asked:
“Did Daniel ever ask to use the house commercially?”
“No.”
“Did Vanessa?”
“No.”
“Then we document.”
Margaret wanted to confront them Friday night.
Laura advised against it.
“What is happening Sunday?”
“The Easter party.”
“Anything unusual?”
“Photographer.”
“Clients?”
Margaret remembered Vanessa’s “important people.”
“I think so.”
Laura went quiet.
“This may not only be Easter.”
Margaret understood.
The forty-person gathering could be a business showcase.
A demonstration of what Rose & Reed could sell.
Inside Margaret’s house.
Using Margaret’s kitchen.
With Margaret cooking.
That was why Vanessa wanted her upstairs.
May you like
Not simply because she was ashamed of an older woman in an apron.
Margaret was evidence that the “private estate venue” belonged to someone else.
Related Stories
