Mystery at the Fair

by Connie Cockrell

  "That's why I live in Arizona," Karen quipped. "Over fifty is too much."

  They went back into the building. Everyone was moving in slow motion. Men and women were using their fair maps to fan themselves. Children's hair was plastered to their heads with sweat. "This has been fun," Jean said as they walked back to the center of the building, "but I'll be glad when it's over. It's exhausting."

  "True, but in a month we'll be starting to talk about next year's fair."

  They sat down in Karen's area and they each picked up a fair book and began to fan themselves. Jean's phone rang. "Yes?"

  "There's a fight at the beer tent."

  Jean gasped. "Did you call 911?"

  "Yeah. I just hung up."

  "Okay. I'll be right over." She clicked off and leapt out of her chair. "Tom," she called over to her police escort. He was pulling a bottle of water out of the cooler. "There's a fight at the beer tent."

  She took off out of the center door with him beside her. They raced around the arena where the horse dressage competition was going on and to the west end of the midway where the beer tent was located. "911 has been called, a car is on its way," she told him as they ran. As they approached, they could see parents hustling kids away from the action. A large crowd circled whatever was going on in the area outside the beer tent entrance.

  Tom pulled his badge from his belt and began to yell. "Police! Step back, clear the way." He pushed through the crowd, Jean on his heels.

  Once in the middle they could see two men fighting. Jean wiped the sweat that ran down the side of her face. Both men were dressed in western shirts, one dark green, one medium blue, and both in blue jeans with cowboy boots. Their hats lay in the dirt, one on each side of the circle the crowd formed around the fighters.

  The men were covered in dirt, blood streaming from a split lip on Blue Shirt and a cut over the eye on Green Shirt. Jean saw Tom head straight into the fight.

  "Break it up!" he yelled. "Police, break it up, you two!" He stepped in to push them apart just as Blue Shirt took a swing at Green Shirt. It caught Tom on his jaw, spinning him around and sending him to one knee.

  Jean found herself charging into the middle of the circle. She screamed, "As you were!" and ran to Tom's side. Tom was struggling to his feet. The two fighters paused to stare at her. After checking on the police officer she rounded on the two young men. "You should be ashamed of yourselves!" She shook her finger at them. "This is Sunday! This is a family event! Shame on you!"

  The crowd began to laugh. The men wiped the blood from their faces as they looked around the circle of people.

  "You're scaring the kids. Is this how you'd want your mother or grandmother to see you?"

  They two fighters had the grace to look sheepish.

  "Well?"

  "No ma'am," Blue Shirt mumbled.

  "No ma'am." Green Shirt shook his head.

  Jean could hear sirens coming their way. Tom began to break up the crowd. The two men picked up their hats. "Don't go anywhere," she told them. "Walk right on over there." She pointed to the front of the beer tent. "Stand in the shade and wait. Officer Williams is going to ask you a few questions." The two young men walked over to the tent, heads hung and slapping the dirt off of their jeans with their hats.

  "Are you all right, Tom?" Jean checked his face. "Ouch. That is going to leave a bruise."

  "I'll be fine, Jean. Let me go take care of these yahoos."

  She nodded. "Go ahead. I'll stay right here. In the shade, though."

  He grinned and walked over to the cowboys.

  A patrol car pulled up to the fence and Jean went over and unlocked the gate there. She stood near it but left it open so the police could get in and out. A few minutes later, an SUV pulled up. She watched Chief White get out. He stopped at the gate. "Everything under control?"

  "Yep. Tom has them over there." She pointed at the three officers standing in front of the two fighters. "He got clocked on the chin. You may want to make him get it looked at."

  "Will do."

  He walked over to the officers. Jean stayed in the shade as much as she could. More and more clouds filled the sky. The pre-storm breeze was a welcome relief. Fifteen minutes later Nick came back to the gate. He gave her a stern look. "Officer Williams said you stopped the fight."

  She shook her head. "No. He did. They stopped fighting when they realized they'd hit a cop."

  "That's not the story I got from him or the cowboys." He continued to eye her.

  He's going to think I'm a nut. Always barging into things I shouldn't be. She shrugged. "I gave them a scolding, that's all." She folded her arms over her chest. "Just reminded them of their behavior."

  He cocked an eyebrow at her. "If that's how you want to see it." He went back through the gate. Halfway to his car, he stopped and turned back to her. "We have a suspect on your car tire slashing."

  Jean turned around to look. "You do?"

  "Yep. We haven't made an arrest yet though. I'll keep you posted."

  "Thank you. I appreciate it."

  He tipped his hat and got into the car. She watched him drive off and grinned to herself. This is great news. I can get my car back.

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  When she got back to the Exhibits building, Jean told Karen the latest from Chief White.

  "Oh!" Karen gave her a hug. "That is great news. What happened at the beer tent?" Karen looked around. "And where is he?"

  "Two cowboys were in a fight in front of the beer tent. It looked like half the people here were standing in a circle cheering them on."

  "There's at least one fight there every year, usually on Saturday night, though, not Sunday afternoon." Karen sat down next to her and drank some water.

  "Maybe because it's so hot. Everyone's a little cranky when it gets like this."

  "Could be." Karen began fanning herself with her copy of the fair book.

  "I'm going to go splash my face," Jean said as she got up. "I'll be right back."

  After she went to the ladies' room she went outside the east-end door to look at the weather. The sky was black and she could hear thunder. Lightning was flashing to the north. John Gonzales stepped up beside her. "Looks like it's going to really monsoon. This time of day we usually have a lot of people in here. They come to see the fair and hang around to pick up their exhibits, but today the building is just about empty."

  "The wind is really picking up. What should we do? Anything we should prepare?"

  "Let's turn off the fans and close the louvers. That'll be a good start. We won't have to worry about the rain pounding in from there while we close the doors."

  "Good plan, John. Can you get the fan on this end? I'll go take care of the other end."

  "Sure, Jean."

  She hurried to the other end of the building to turn off the fan and found the control to close the big metal louvers on the outside. She found the nearest Superintendent and warned him about the weather. Even with the fans off, lightweight displays were already starting to blow around in the breeze blowing through the building.

  Jean had seen her first monsoon in July. She was used to rain, having grown up and lived on the East Coast. It could pour over there, it could rain for days, but a monsoon was different. In this area rain generally came from the north and east or north and west. Starting in July, the weather tended to come up from the Gulf of Mexico. And when it hit, the thunder rattled the windowpanes and water came out of the sky as if from a fire hose. Streets flooded; normally dry water channels throughout the town became raging rivers. All traffic stopped until the rain cleared. Half an hour after that the roads cleared of water and life could go on.

  She went to Karen. "A monsoon is blowing in. I'm going to half close this side door. Hopefully I can keep most of the water out." Jean walked over and pulled the door half closed. People were leaving the building and no one was coming in. She stood and looked at the sky, enjoying how much it had cooled down.

  Jean turned and w
ent into the building, ready to sit down with Karen and enjoy the quiet and the cool air.

  "You bitch!" Jean heard from behind her. She started to turn when a hand grabbed the back of her blouse and whipped her around. Jean found herself face to face with a furious Analise, a knife inches from her face. She could feel the adrenaline flood through her system.

  The woman grabbed the front of Jean's blouse and pulled her in close. "This is your fault. Sticking your nose in where it doesn't belong." Analise waved the knife at her.

  Jean's mouth went dry. As if from a distance, she could hear Karen cry out.

  "Analise." Jean was surprised her voice worked. "Let's calm down. What's going on?"

  "You… you bitch." Analise's blue eyes were wide and wild. A sheen of sweat covered her face. "You just couldn't leave things alone. You must be sleeping with him, otherwise why would you get involved?"

  Jean blinked. "Wait, Analise. What are you talking about?"

  The knife tip touched Jean's throat. "Don't play coy with me." Spittle gathered at the corners of Analise's lips. "You and Arris are trying to cheat me."

  Jean's head was buzzing. She couldn't take her eyes off of the foam in the corner of the other woman's mouth. "I didn't…"

  "Yes, you did! Don't try and deny it. You're after the money. Admit it!" Analise pressed the knife against Jean's throat.

  "Drop the knife, Analise!"

  Jean tore her eyes away from Analise's face, just inches from her own. Ten feet away, Nick White was standing just inside the building door, gun pointed at Analise's back. Jean could feel her legs start to tremble. Do not faint, Jean. Do not faint.

  "You heard me, Analise. Drop the knife. Let Ms. Hays go."

  Jean saw him take a step forward just as Analise let go of Jean's shirt and slid her thin, ropey arm around Jean's neck. The woman moved in behind her somehow managing to keep the knife pressed against her throat.

  "The money is mine, Chief. I put up with that man for years. Stupid ranch, he just wouldn't let it go!"

  "Turn her loose, Analise. We can talk about it." Nick took another step forward.

  Jean could see officers, including her former shadow, Tom Williams, approaching from both ends of the building. Her brain started to work. Analise was actually smaller than Jean, older and thinner. What if I just drop and roll, or twist and roll? I might not get cut with the knife too much. She swallowed, and another flood of adrenaline rushed through her.

  "Don't be stupid, Nick. That's not like you at all." Analise's voice was right in Jean's ear.

  Nick stood up, holstered his weapon and held his hands out to his sides. "Look, Analise. We'll just talk. Tell me the plan. Did you kill Ina?"

  Analise's arm pressed tighter into Jean's throat. It was getting harder to breathe. If I don't do something soon I'm going to pass out from lack of oxygen. Jean glanced at the officers approaching from both directions. To her right, Jean could see Karen herding fair-goers toward the end door.

  "No, I didn't. I hired Josh and Martin to do it. I should have done it myself."

  "What was the plan, Analise?" Nick took another step forward.

  Jean wondered how he was keeping his face so friendly.

  "Arris would get blamed and go to prison. The property would come to me. I'd sell it and get the hell out of this backwater dump. I could be on TV, on the Cooking Network or something. Have a big, famous restaurant. But no. The man wouldn't sell."

  "That's a shame, Analise. You do make a mean sandwich." Nick took another step forward.

  Jean was getting dizzy from the pressure on her neck. She had to do something soon.

  "I do. Don't I?"

  The pressure on Jean's neck eased just a little, and that was the moment she decided to go for it. She grabbed Analise's arm and moved it just enough to twist to her left, away from the knife. Analise tried to regain her grip but slipped, dragging her fingernails across Jean's neck as she twisted away and dropped to the floor in a roll.

  Jean could feel Nick rush up behind her. As she rolled to a stop, she saw Nick grab Analise's knife hand and twist it behind her. The knife dropped with a clang on the cement floor. Two officers rushed to Nick to take Analise while Officer Tom Williams helped Jean to her feet.

  "Are you okay?" He winced when he looked at her neck.

  "Um. Yeah. I think so."

  He walked her to her chair by the door. "Let me get a medic in here. You're scratched up pretty bad."

  Jean's head was buzzing. She touched her neck and stared at the blood on her fingers. Karen rushed up.

  "Oh my God, Jean! Are you all right?" Her face was white and full of worry.

  Jean felt as though everything was distant. "Yeah, sure."

  An EMT arrived. "Hey, Ms. Hays. Remember me? I took care of you a few days ago."

  Jean blinked. "Yeah. You bandaged my thumb."

  "That's me." He pulled a flashlight from his breast pocket and flashed it in her eyes. "Did you hit your head, Ms. Hays?"

  "No." She shook her head. "My neck is scratched, that's all."

  He put the light back in his pocket. "Nasty things, fingernail scratches. Let's take a look."

  Jean watched as two officers took Analise out of the side door. The woman glared at her but with an officer on each arm, there wasn't much else she could do. Jean could feel herself start to shake. "I think the adrenaline is making me sick."

  "I imagine so, Ms. Hays." He pulled antiseptic and bandages and gauze from his kit and began working on her neck.

  "Hold up, Mike."

  Nick came up with an officer with a camera. "Let us get a couple of pictures of the scratches before you fix them."

  Mike nodded. The officer stepped in, took a couple of pictures and hurried off. The EMT went back to work.

  "How you doing, Jean?" She watched him trade glances with Karen.

  "A little shaky, but I'm fine."

  He nodded. "Good move, dropping and rolling like that. It let us get to her without hurting you. Too much," he added belatedly, after a glance at the EMT working on her neck.

  "Glad I could help."

  Karen rested her hand on Jean's shoulder, patting it with her fingers. Nick looked at her. "Can you get her home?"

  "Sure. Not a problem."

  "Good work, Jean." He nodded and went out the door. The rest of the officers were in the process of taking pictures of the scene and generally milling around.

  "Looks like there's going to be a delay in exhibit pick-up." Jean nodded at the confusion in the middle of the building.

  "Yeah, but people will get a big, juicy tidbit of gossip to share." Karen chuckled. "Don't you worry about it."

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  The next day, Jean met Karen at the Exhibits building. The doors were open, everything gone but the permanent stands. Jean pulled the plastic bins with left over ribbons out from under the display stand where she had stashed them.

  Karen helped her count them.

  "I have quite a few left. I'll get them over to Gila County and see if I can get a refund for them." Jean tallied the ribbons. "Hopefully we'll get our bins back from the police before next year."

  Karen laughed. "Maybe. Who knows how long it will take? Have you heard anything else about Ina's murder?"

  "I did. I spoke with Chief White early today. He told me he had gotten a warrant to search the K Seven bunk house and the ranch tool sheds. They found a ball peen hammer in a tool shed. He's had it in the lab, checking for blood and they found it."

  "The murder weapon?"

  "Apparently. Anyway, that and the finger prints on my car from the tire slashing was all they needed to bring in Marlow. They found him at Analise's house. Why he was still there is beyond me. Anyway they brought him in and started questioning him and he blurt out everything. It was him, Analise and a young guy, Martin Johnson, the dark-haired man I saw having an argument with Analise. Martin was blackmailing her." Marlow confessed to attacking me. They picked up Johnson and after the man started tal
king, Nick came to pick up Analise but she was outside the truck. You know what happened after that.

  "What a cow she is." Karen shook her head, then grinned. "Talking with the police chief first thing in the morning, huh?" She looked out of the corner of her eye at Jean as they put neatly stacked ribbons back in the box. "Chief White seems to have taken an interest in you."

  Jean turned her head, eyebrows up. "You have got to be kidding. He was just filling in the details for me. The paper will have it all in a day or so. The man regards me as a total flake. You should have heard him yelling when he found out we went over to Analise's house."

  "That's to be expected." Karen wiped the sweat from her forehead. They hadn't bothered to turn on the building fans. "You seem attracted to him."

  "I was interested in the murder." Jean snorted. "What on earth do I want another man for? The last one was enough."

  "Too soon, huh?"

  Jean glared. "I am quite happy with my single state, thank you very much." She taped the cardboard box closed. "I come and go as I please. I cook when I feel like it. I have a lot of friends here already so I don't lack for company. Why would I want a guy around to mess all of that up?"

  "Fine." Karen threw her hands up into the air. "Just sayin' it looked like you two were attracted."

  "Nick White seems okay, but I'm not interested." Jean shook her head and picked up the box. "I'm taking this out to the car. I'll be back in a minute to finish closing this place up."

  When she came back, Karen was sweeping up the last bits of dirt. "Find the dustpan, would ya?"

  Jean found it next to the ladies room door. "Here you go." She squatted down to hold it while Karen swept the dirt in. "How about lunch?"

  "I'd love it. Let's wash up here, then lock up."

  "Fine by me." Jean looked around at the now barren building. Display cases were stacked neatly against the walls. The place echoed. "It's kind of sad, all empty like this."

  Karen eyed her. "Yes. Yes it is."

  The End

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Connie Cockrell began writing in response to a challenge from her daughter in October 2011 and has been hooked ever since. Her books run the gamut from SciFi and Fantasy to Contemporary to Halloween and Christmas stories. She's published two stand alone novels, a complete four book series and has now started a Dystopian SciFi, this Cozy Mystery, and a Contemporary New Adult series along with three collections of short stories. She has been included in four different anthologies and published in the ezine, Every Day Fiction. Connie continues to write about whatever comes into her head.