Pumpkin Spice Lies: A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 16

by Kathleen Suzette

  I looked over my menu and then closed it and laid it down on the corner of the table. “What are you going to have?”

  He looked up from his menu. “I’m thinking about a nice juicy T-Bone steak. I love the steaks here.”

  “So do I,” I said. “There’s something about a charbroiled steak that I cannot pass up.”

  He nodded and laid his menu on top of mine. “I think I’m going to get the baked sweet potato and green salad with ranch to go with it.”

  “That sounds good,” I said. “I may get the same thing.” I picked up my glass of tea and took a sip. “So, what’s going on with the case?”

  He sighed, sitting back in his seat. “Poor Hailey may have been buried alive.”

  I gasped. “Are you serious?”

  He nodded. “That needs to stay between the two of us.”

  “That’s horrible. Who would do something that awful?” It made me sick to think about it.

  His mouth made a straight line. “Horrible is right. I was stunned when I read the report. There was dirt in her nostrils, but it hadn’t made it to her lungs. So the medical examiner isn’t positive.”

  “But how? You said there wasn’t any obvious trauma to her body. How did the killer get her to just lay there in that shallow grave?”

  He sighed. “The medical examiner found traces of a sleeping medication in her bloodstream. Hopefully, she was completely unconscious when she was buried.”

  I groaned softly. “How awful. How could anybody be so horrible?”

  He picked up his glass of iced tea and took a long drink, and then set the glass back down. “That’s something I have never been able to understand, and I don’t want to. I don’t want to delve any deeper into the twisted mind of a killer than I have to. Just deep enough to figure out who did it and get them arrested.”

  I nodded. “I can understand that.” Sometimes I felt sorry for Ethan. He was fairly sensitive, and I knew that some of these cases he worked on took a lot out of him. I hated it. But I knew that in other ways he enjoyed his job, and he was good at it.

  “You know what I want to do tomorrow?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know. What do you want to do?”

  “Come over to the candy store and buy some pumpkin spice fudge, and maybe some caramel marshmallows, saltwater taffy, and just enjoy myself. For a few minutes, I’m going to pretend that I don’t have anything better to do than to eat way too much sugar.”

  I grinned. “That sounds like a great plan. There’s a craft fair at the park, maybe we can take a few minutes to take a walk through the park and look at the booths? You didn’t get a chance to go to the vendors’ fair.”

  He nodded. “That’s a great idea. I do have to go to the station to do some work, but maybe we can go to the craft fair in the morning.”

  “That sounds like fun. Let’s do it.”

  The waitress came, and we gave her our orders. When she left, he turned back to me. “So how are Pumpkin Hollow Days going? What are the other business owners saying about it?”

  I nodded. “We’ve had a record turnout this year. I’m excited. This only the second year we’ve had Pumpkin Hollow Days of course, but we’ve had a bigger turnout than last year, and that makes me hopeful that this will be something that will continue for years to come.”

  “I’m sure it will be. People love coming here to take a look around and enjoy themselves. Even if it isn’t fall or Halloween yet, it’s still a lot of fun.”

  “Pumpkin Hollow is the best place to be. I’m glad we live here.”

  He nodded. “Me too.”

  “So have you gone for your tuxedo fitting yet?” I asked him.

  His eyes widened. “I still have to do that. I have to make an appointment. I’ve been so busy that I haven’t gotten around to it yet.”

  “I’ll make the appointment for you, just give me an idea of a time that might be good for you.”

  He nodded. “I appreciate that. October is going to be here before we know it.”

  “It will be here so fast,” I agreed. “I can hardly wait though. I’ve been looking at different floral arrangements, and we’ve talked to the florist. And, are you ready for this?”

  “I don’t know, am I?”

  I nodded. “I have an appointment next week for a dress fitting.”

  He narrowed his eyes at me. “Wait a minute. Aren’t wedding dresses supposed to be ordered like six months in advance?”

  I sighed. “I’m surprised you know that. But, yes, you’re supposed to buy a wedding dress at least six months in advance, especially if they have to alter it. But Amanda’s mom is an excellent seamstress, and if I have any issues, she will take care of it. Besides, I don’t want a really expensive, fancy dress. I just want something pretty and that I feel good in.”

  He studied me for a minute. “You’re having second thoughts, aren’t you?”

  My eyes went wide. “Second thoughts? What are you talking about?”

  He shrugged. “It seems like you’re dragging your feet a little.”

  “Me? You’re dragging your feet about the tux fitting. Are you having second thoughts?” I narrowed my eyes at him and leaned forward.

  He chuckled and shook his head. “Never. Maybe we should have had a simpler, smaller wedding.”

  “I’m kind of thinking that that might have been a better idea. I mean, we’re having the reception in my mom and dad’s backyard. How fancy does my dress have to be?”

  “Only as fancy as you want,” he said.

  We turned as a couple approached our table. It was Hailey Strong’s parents. They looked tired and worn out.

  “Hi Ethan,” Jenny Strong said, and then she turned and nodded at me. “Hello, Mia.”

  “Hi, Jenny, Arnold. I’m so sorry about Hailey. It’s just so awful.”

  There were dark circles beneath her mother’s eyes. “It’s unbelievable. I still can’t get over it.” She clutched her purse against her body. “Ethan, are you any closer to making an arrest?”

  Ethan shook his head. “Not yet. But I promise you that we will find her killer as soon as possible.”

  She nodded. “There was something that we forgot to mention to you.” She glanced at her husband and then turned back to Ethan. “A few weeks before Hailey died, she and her best friend, Shayna Gates, got into a fight. Hailey said she never wanted to see Shayna again. I couldn’t understand it because the two had been friends since kindergarten. But she insisted she would never speak to her again.”

  “Did she say what the issue was?” Ethan asked.

  “She wouldn’t say what it was,” her father said. “I don’t understand it either. The girls had been friends forever. Sure, in junior high and high school they would occasionally have spats, but they usually patched it up within a few days. But this time, Hailey said she was done with her, and she hoped that she would die.”

  My eyes went wide. “Hailey said she hoped that Shayna would die?”

  He nodded somberly. “I thought she was just being melodramatic. She couldn’t mean anything by it. But it was something that was out of character for her. You know? She wasn’t the sort of girl to say something like that.”

  I glanced at Ethan, his brow was furrowed.

  Ethan nodded. “I’ll certainly talk with Shayna and see if she can offer any insight into what happened to Hailey. Hailey didn’t give you any hint at all as to what happened?”

  They both shook their heads. “No, none at all. I asked her about it several times, and she would just get quiet and say she didn’t want to talk about it,” her mother said. She looked at her husband again. “Well, we don’t want to disrupt your evening. We just wanted to let you know about this in case it’s helpful to the investigation. Not that we really believe Shayna could have done something like murder Hailey. She’s a nice girl.”

  Arnold Strong nodded. “It’s just something that we remembered and thought maybe you should know about it.”

  “I appreciate you telling me,” Ethan
said. “You never know where something might lead.”

  They both nodded, and moved across the room to an empty table.

  I looked at Ethan. “That’s weird. I mean, I know Hailey was still young, and people her age can be dramatic, but saying she wished her best friend would die? And yet it was Hailey that ended up dead.”

  He nodded. “It was Hailey that ended up dead. I haven’t had a chance to talk to Shayna yet, so I’ll definitely be stopping by to talk to her.”

  “Makes me wonder what they argued about.”

  He nodded. “Makes me wonder, too. I’ll find out and get to the bottom of it.”

  I didn’t doubt that Ethan would find out who killed Hailey. What Betty Mays said about Hailey setting Shayna up and telling her she had helped her get her job back made me wonder. I could see where Shayna would be angry. But would she be angry enough to kill Hailey over it?

  Chapter Eleven

  I grabbed Ethan’s hand when we got out of his truck. The craft fair was going to be a lot of fun. There had been a hum of excitement throughout the town when local crafters, as well as crafters from out of town, were invited to sell their wares. I hoped there would be a lot of fun Halloween themed items for sale so I could add to my growing collection.

  I squeezed his hand. “I’m so glad you were able to take some time off so we could do this.”

  He grinned at me. “Me too. I told the chief I was going to take an hour or two and enjoy myself. I’ve already put in four hours at work this morning, so he didn’t have a problem with it.”

  “I noticed you were gone early this morning. It’s a shame you’ll have to go back to the station, though.”

  He nodded. “I don’t have a choice about it,” he said as we walked up to a booth that sold wood crafted items. There was an adorable painted pumpkin sitting right in the middle of the booth table.

  “How cute,” I said, picking the pumpkin up and looking at it. The artist had put a lot of detail into the face.

  “That is cute,” Ethan said. “Look at that.”

  I looked up. He was pointing at a hand-painted wooden sign that said Pumpkin Hollow, land of Halloween. It was cute with pumpkin vine tendrils along the side and small jack-o’-lanterns painted on the corners.

  “Oh, I really like that,” I said, stepping closer.

  “How are you folks today?” the woman working the booth asked us.

  I smiled at her. “We’re doing great. You have some really cute things here.”

  She nodded. “Thanks. I appreciate hearing that. I’ve been working on Halloween items since Easter.” She chuckled. “My husband thought I was out of my mind, but I told him I was coming to the Pumpkin Hollow Days craft fair if it was the last thing I did.”

  “Well I for one, am glad that you did,” I said. “Everything you have is so cute.” The booth table was filled with a variety of painted wooden signs and pumpkins.

  “Thank you kindly,” she said. “If you want to know anything about any of my items, just ask.”

  “I will.” I glanced back at Ethan. “I think I’ve got to have that sign. It would look cute hanging on my door.”

  He nodded. “Then you had better get it now. Somebody else will come along and snatch it right out from under you.”

  I looked at the woman. “I think I’m going to take that sign.” I pointed at the one hanging up.

  Ethan paid for the sign and we moved down the sidewalk with Ethan carrying the sign beneath his arm. I turned to him. “Thank you for buying the sign for me.”

  “Well, I look at it as I’m actually buying it for myself, too. Since we’ll be married pretty soon.”

  “Then you came up with a good plan.”

  “I’m smart like that.” He winked at me.

  “Oh look,” I said when I spotted some handmade candles in another booth. “I’ve got to check out the candles.”

  He followed me over to the candle table. “I don’t doubt it.”

  “Hi folks,” the man behind the booth said. “All our candles are handmade, with natural soy wax, and all-natural essential oils for scent.”

  I picked up a deep purple one in a pint-sized mason jar and inhaled. “Oh my gosh, plums.” I held it up to Ethan, and he smelled it.

  “That smells good.”

  “It does,” I said, inhaling again.

  The man looked at Ethan. “Glad you brought the wife by. She seems to love candles.”

  “That she does,” Ethan said without correcting him. He winked at me when I glanced at him.

  I looked over all the different colored candles and started picking them up and smelling them. They were heavenly.

  I looked at Ethan. “I sure hate to go behind Polly’s back and buy candles from somebody else.”

  Ethan chuckled. “We don’t have to tell her, you know.”

  I nodded. “That’s not a bad idea. I think I’ve got to have this plum candle.” I picked up the purple one I had started with and the man wrapped it up and put it in a bag for me. I paid for the candle and we moved on down the sidewalk to look at more booths.

  The sun was shining, but the day was going to be cooler than the past couple of weeks, and I was happy about that. I had the day off from the candy store, and I’d spent the morning cleaning my house and doing laundry. It felt good to not wear a costume today. I had braided my hair into two braids and wore an orange T-shirt and white shorts.

  We wandered down the sidewalk that went through the middle of Pumpkin Hollow Park. There were just as many craft booths as there had been vendor’s booths the weekend before. Getting to see everyone’s wares was a lot of fun.

  We stopped in front of a booth that sold small vintage and antique items, and I picked up a clear glass bottle with measurements on it. There was a mother cat and two kittens embossed on it.

  “This is interesting.”

  “Do you know what that is?” the man behind the booth asked me.

  I looked at him and shook my head. “No, what is it?”

  “That is an antique baby bottle.”

  I looked at him in surprise. “Seriously? It’s a baby bottle for a real baby?” It may have been a silly question, but the bottle was flat with measurements along the sides for every ounce up to eight ounces. I’d never seen anything like it.

  He chuckled. “For real live human babies. It was used probably around the 1920s or 1930s.”

  “Wow,” I said, looking it over. I held it up to Ethan so he could look at it.

  He took it from me. “That is interesting,” he said. He turned to me. “I bet you’d like to have it?”

  I chuckled. “It’s almost like you can read my mind. It would look cute on my fireplace mantle. I don’t know what I’ll do with it other than just sit it there, but I really like it.”

  He nodded and handed it to the man. “Go ahead and wrap it up and I’ll pay for it.”

  I looked over the rest of the items in the booth and found a small tin toy that had Halloween decorations on it. “I think I have to have this too,” I said to the man.

  He nodded and wrapped it up in a piece of newspaper and slipped it into the bag that he had put the bottle into. “You bet. I tried to dig up all the Halloween themed items I had, but I didn’t have nearly as much as I’d hoped for. I own a little antique shop over in Truckee. I was real happy to hear about this craft fair. It’s fun to get out of the shop now and then.”

  I nodded. “I bet. I would think it would be a lot of fun to own an antique store.”

  “I’ve owned it for nearly forty years, and I can tell you it is a lot of fun. It’s interesting seeing all the different things that come my way.”

  I looked at Ethan. “We need to open an antique shop here in Pumpkin Hollow.”

  Ethan shook his head and laughed. “We’ll have to think about that.”

  We looked at the man’s booth for a few more minutes and then we headed on. When we got to the end of the line of craft booths, we stopped and turned around. There were some vendors selling hotdog
s, tri-tip sandwiches, nachos, and an assortment of fair food.

  “I’m hungry,” I said to Ethan.

  He nodded. “I could use a bite, too. What are you thinking about getting?”

  “The hotdogs smell amazing,” I said turning to the hotdog booth. “I know we could have tri-tip sandwiches, but those hotdogs smell so good.”

  “Hotdogs it is,” he said, and we went and got in line. We ordered onion rings and sodas to go with the hotdogs, and then took our plates and found a shady spot beneath a tree. We sat down on the grass, and I took a bite of my hot dog.

  I nodded. “I’m so glad we got hotdogs. This is perfectly cooked and tastes so good.”

  He nodded. “You can say that again. There’s just the right amount of charring on them.”

  “Nothing beats a slightly charred hotdog,” I said and chuckled. My eyes went over to the playground where Hailey’s body had been buried. They had placed a rubber surface all around and underneath the playground equipment that would absorb some of the shock from a fall. I sighed.

  “I heard that sigh. I’ll find her killer. It’s the only thing I can do for her at this point.”

  I nodded and took another bite of my hot dog. And then something in the grass caught my eye. I swallowed and put my hot dog down on my plate, and leaned forward, picking up a white object. I held it up. “Look at that.” It was a kid’s white plastic barrette.

  “Look at that,” Ethan said in surprise. “I think I have the match to that.”

  I held it out to him. “Oh, I got fingerprints on it now.”

  He picked up a napkin and wrapped the barrette in it. “That’s okay, we’ll just discount your fingerprints when we send it to the lab to get prints off of it.”

  “What about the other barrette? Were there any fingerprints on it?”