by Kate Bell
"You have to admit it's kind of scary," Lucy said, picking up her roast beef sandwich. "When a detective tells you your food was on the lips of someone that may have died from poisoning, it makes you wonder if you might be a suspect."
"Don't jump to conclusions," Alec repeated. "Tessa Brady could have had a seizure or an aneurysm or something of that nature. We won't know until the police get the toxicology reports back."
I didn't like it. It felt like Cal was the one jumping to conclusions. I was not the murdering kind, and I didn't even know Tessa Brady. I hoped she had had an allergic reaction to something. I also hoped the police figured out what killed her as soon as possible.
Chapter Six
"I want some of those," I said pointing to a display of chocolate dipped strawberries. "Please." Alec and I were wandering around the festival booths, hoping we could find more information about Tessa Brady's death. Someone had to have seen or know something. We still didn't know for sure if it was murder, but something deep down told me it was. I was getting a sense for this kind of thing. Call it intuition, or call it a good guess, but a healthy young woman does not suddenly drop dead.
"Let's get you some chocolate dipped strawberries then," Alec said, stepping up to the booth. The young woman running the booth was waiting on another customer, so we waited our turn.
"Oh, look. She has strawberry truffles," I said, reading the sign in front of the candy display. It was 10:00, and the festival had just opened. It was still chilly with low cloud cover, but I wondered how the woman would keep the candy from melting once the sun came out.
"How are you feeling after your little run yesterday?" Alec asked me.
"I still feel like a steamroller ran over me," I replied. "My legs feel like they weigh three hundred pounds apiece and it was not a little run. It was a great big, exhausting run."
Alec smirked. He was a smirker, that one.
"You get used to it. Or at the very least, you recover from it."
"I hope it's a quick recovery then. I could use it," I said as the other customer left with her candy. The young woman behind the booth turned to us and smiled.
"Hi, what can I help you folks with?" She looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties and had straight medium brown hair and the whitest teeth I've ever seen.
"The lady would like some chocolate dipped strawberries and some strawberry truffles," Alec said.
"Which kind of chocolate? Milk, white or dark?" she asked me with that brilliant smile.
"All three," I said. "Make it two of each. They all look so delicious, I can't decide on just one." I was starving. I figured it must have been from all the running I did the day before. I hoped the hunger went away before I gained ten pounds from the extra eating I was doing to get rid of the extra hunger.
"You got it," she said and picked up a small white bag to put the strawberries in.
"It's sad what happened to that girl yesterday," I said, making small talk.
"Oh, I know. I was talking to that girl earlier in the day. Did you hear what happened to her? Is she going to be okay?" the woman asked, turning back toward me.
I shook my head. "Sadly, no. She passed away."
The woman gasped and looked at me wide-eyed. "How terrible! Do they know what happened to her?"
"They have to do an autopsy and run some tests," Alec answered. "It's hard to believe someone so young would die suddenly like that."
"You said you spoke to her," I said. "Did you know her at all?"
She shook her head and put another strawberry in the paper bag. "No. When I was setting up my booth, she came over and asked if I had some tape. She had some signs to put up. I loaned her the tape, and we talked about the weather, the strawberries, but not much else. Poor thing. She looked like a healthy young woman. Why did she die?"
"It's too early to know," Alec said.
"How sad," she said. “I saw her a little later, walking from booth to booth. She stopped to chat with different people.”
"It is sad," I agreed. "I feel bad for her and her family."
"What a tragedy. I'll go over to her booth and pay my respects to the people there. I don't know if they were family to her or not."
I nodded. "We're headed over there now."
Alec paid for my goodies, and we moved on down the row of booths. I looked longingly at the strawberry salsa booth as we passed and took a bite of a white chocolate dipped strawberry.
"Mm," I said. "I don't know how they grow these strawberries to be so sweet. I swear, these aren't like any strawberries around Sandy Harbor."
"They are good," Alec said. "Let's stop in at this booth."
I looked at the one Alec nodded at and we went to stand in front of it. The booth had rustic looking soaps and candles. Vanilla and strawberry scents hung in the air around the booth, and I inhaled. I remembered what Barnabas had said about being wary of other vendors selling soaps and I wondered if he meant this one.
"Yum," I said.
The young woman behind the booth chuckled. "That's what everyone says."
"It smells delicious," I said, looking over the candles. "Is it made of real beeswax?" I pointed at a large round candle with a honeycomb beeswax look.
She nodded. "Yes it is. I love these. I added cinnamon to that one. You can smell the cinnamon and the honey in them when they burn. They're all natural, so no chemicals are released into the air. Our soaps are all natural, too." She looked to be in her early twenties with blond hair, blue eyes with peaches and cream skin. She was a real cute girl that I thought must have been on her high school cheerleading team.
She said the soaps and candles were made from all natural ingredients and I wondered if Barnabas was wrong about the artificial ingredients or if he was just jealous of someone else selling soaps.
"They're nice to look at, too," Alec said, picking up a white and pink swirled candle with pieces of cut-up strawberry.
"Isn't it a tragedy what happened to that woman yesterday?" I asked her and picked up the honey cinnamon candle, brought it to my nose, and inhaled.
"Who, Tessa?" she snarled. Her face went from cute cheerleader to scary witch in about two seconds.
"Oh, did you know her?" I asked, turning the candle over in my hands. I wanted this candle, even though it didn't have strawberries in it.
She snorted. "I went to school with her. Let's just say she wasn't the nicest person. I wouldn't wish anything terrible on her, but I don't feel sorry for her, either."
Ah, cheerleader rivalry. A tale as old as time.
"Yes, but she died," I said, watching her face.
Her eyes went wide. "She did? I hadn't heard that. Well, that's a shame. A real shame." She nodded her head and looked away.
She didn't sound terribly sad for Tessa, but she did sound surprised.
"Yes, it’s tragic. She looked so young and fit. You wouldn't expect someone like her to die suddenly," I said, glancing at Alec. "I can't imagine what happened to her."
The woman looked at Alec. "Aren't you the one that did CPR on her?"
Alec nodded. "I did. I'm trained in CPR, but unfortunately, there wasn't much I could do for her."
If she had been close enough to recognize Alec as the person who gave Tessa CPR, I thought she might have gathered around the booth with the onlookers and watched as Tessa's life slipped away, but she acted surprised to find out she had died. She also had something against Tessa. My intuition was twitching.
"Were you and Tessa close in school?" I asked. "I'm sorry, I didn't get your name?" I wanted to keep her talking. Maybe she would slip up and tell us something important.
Her face clouded over. "Tracie Jefferson. Tessa and I were best friends when we were younger. But then Tessa stole my boyfriend in high school. I guess you could say we were anything but close after that. It's not like I held a grudge, though. Hey, if Rich wanted to be with that—Tessa, it wasn't my business. I've got better things to do with my time than pine over him."
"Rich?" I asked. "The
same Rich that was selling strawberry jam with her?"
"Yeah, the one and only," she said. "They broke up after dating a few months in high school and then got back together sometime last year. I don't keep track of those things, though. Rich never could make up his mind about what he wanted."
I nodded. "It's hard to know what men want sometimes."
"You can say that again. He played us both, but Tessa couldn't see it. She wouldn't see it. She was one of those desperate girls that chase after a guy long past the point when the guy shows he isn't interested. Then she was dumb enough to get back together with him after he dumped her. Idiot."
"That's a shame," I said. "There's no point in chasing someone that doesn't want you. It's a lack of self-esteem."
Tracie looked down at the candle in her hands. "That's what it is," she said, nodding.
I wondered if Tracie was the one with the self-esteem issue, and not Tessa. She was a beautiful girl and had no reason to feel that way, but you never could tell with some people.
"It's still a tragedy, any way you look at it. The poor thing died before she had a chance to live her life," I said.
She nodded, and another customer stepped up to the booth, asking questions about the candles.
"I want this candle," I said to Alec. "I forgot my purse at the booth, though."
Alec smirked. "How inconvenient," he said.
"What do you think about what she said?" I whispered while Tracie helped the other customer.
"I don't know. We'll make a note of it and keep it in mind."
We looked over the rest of the soaps and candles. I picked out a smaller candle and three bars of strawberry coconut soap. We waited while the young woman finished with the other customer and then Alec paid for my purchases.
Chapter Seven
We had spent the morning of day two walking all over the festival and I had spent a lot of Alec's money by the time we finished. Have I said how much I love this guy? He never complains about a thing. He's a real keeper.
We stopped back by the booth to check in on Lucy and Ed. My daughter Jennifer was sitting on a folding chair with her feet up on the edge of the booth.
"Hey, lazy," I said, pushing her sneaker-clad foot off the side of the booth.
"Hey. Not lazy. I made strawberry cream pies until late last night for you."
I smiled. "Okay, not lazy, but it's bad for business for you to have your feet on the edge of the booth. People might think those feet came in contact with the pies. And thank you for making the pies for me."
Jennifer was right. She had made the pies and strawberry cookies we were selling today. She had also made two dozen more strawberry cupcakes, and she was just about as good a baker as I was. I had taught her everything she knew. Jennifer was on summer break from college and I was glad. I needed her help.
"Got it. What's this I hear about a girl dying yesterday?" she asked, eyeing me.
"Yeah, it's sad. Alec gave her CPR, but she didn't make it. No word on the cause yet," I said, lifting the lid on a pie box. They smelled heavenly.
"She just dropped dead?" she asked with a horrified look. "How old was she?"
"Kind of. I'd guess she was in her early twenties. Someone screamed, and we went over to see what was happening and she stopped breathing."
"It's sad," Alec said, sitting on the edge of the booth.
We looked up at an approaching figure. Detective Calvin Black. I returned his smile and nudged Alec.
"Good morning, all," Cal said and nodded at me.
"Good morning, Cal," Alec said. "Anything new?"
"Well, I told you they would get right on this case due to Tessa being the mayor's daughter. It appears she died of asphyxiation," he said with a sigh.
"Asphyxiation?" Alec asked.
Cal nodded and leaned in close to whisper. "Her windpipe closed off. The Medical Examiner thinks she ingested something she was either allergic to or was poisonous. It's too early to tell, but off the record, things look suspicious."
"Maybe she was allergic to strawberries?" I suggested. "I've heard some people have allergies to strawberries and the reaction can be extreme."
"Not likely," Cal said, turning to me. "Her parents said she has no known allergies, and she eats strawberries all the time. Plus, she was in the middle of a strawberry festival. I don't think someone with a severe strawberry allergy would hang out around this many strawberries. And the pink frosting is still suspicious."
"You're not being serious, right? I mean, it's a coincidence she ate one of my cupcakes right before she died," I said, frowning at him. "Right?"
He shrugged. "We need to look at everything, and that's the most obvious thing right now. There was half of an uneaten cupcake in her booth that we sent over to toxicology to examine. We've asked them to put a rush on it."
I looked at Alec. "Tell him I am not a murderer. I didn't even know the girl. Why would I kill her?" I could feel the adrenaline rushing through my body and I wanted to tell this Calvin Black a thing or two.
"Now, Allie, calm down. Cal's just following procedure," Alec said, putting his hand on mine.
"You're taking his side?" I exclaimed. "What are you thinking?"
"I am not taking his side," Alec said, and then he turned to Cal. "Cal, I assure you that Allie isn't a murderer. She has never murdered anyone in her life, but right now she might be thinking about murdering me."
"Oh, thanks, Alec. You're making things better," I said, sticking my lower lip out. He was treading on thin ice.
Cal had a smirk on his face. "I completely understand. I'm not making accusations. I'm just telling you how things stand right now. The investigation has just gotten started and there's a lot we still need to look at."
"See?" Alec said, turning to me. "Everything is fine."
"And the thing is," Ed said from his corner of the booth, "Lucy was the one selling cupcakes yesterday. Allie was running the marathon so she couldn't have done it. Unless she poisoned a cupcake and then made sure Lucy sold it to the victim."
We all turned and looked at him. What on earth was he thinking?
"Ed. Shut up," Lucy said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"What?" he said and shrugged his shoulders. "We need to look at this thing logically."
"Seriously, Ed. Shut up," I said. "Neither Lucy nor I are murderers. We don't have a motive, regardless of what the girl ate. Got it?"
Ed nodded and fixed his eyes on a box of cookies on the table near him.
"I hope you both look good in stripes," Jennifer said.
"Jennifer, stop it," I warned.
I looked up and Alec and Cal were smiling.
"Stop it. Both of you. I don't think it's funny. Neither Lucy nor I had anything to do with a murder," I said, putting my hands on my hips. "You need to get out there and find the real killer."
They may have been enjoying the moment, but I was about to blow my top. If my legs hadn't felt like lead, I would have gone for a run to blow off steam.
"We still aren't positive it's a murder yet," Cal reminded me. "I've got to do interviews and we've got to wait on toxicology."
"I've talked to a couple of people," Alec said, pulling his notebook out of his pocket. "Not much yet, but we talked to an ex-friend of the victim. The relationship ended badly, and she didn't know anything about Tessa's death, of course."
"Got it," Cal said, taking a look at Alec's notebook. He whipped out his own and copied Alec's notes to it. "I appreciate your help, Alec. This is great."
Alec nodded. "You got it. Let me know if you need anything else."
"I sure will," Cal said. "I'm going to scout around and do some investigating of my own. I'll talk to you all later."
When he was out of earshot, I looked at Alec. "I really need you to stay on my side."
Alec put his hands up. "Sorry, I was just teasing you. Everything will be fine, you'll see. Cal needs to check out every possibility, but he's a good detective and he'll find the real killer."
"Fi
ne," I pouted. I didn't like being looked at suspiciously and I hoped Cal did find the real killer.
Later, Alec and I took another walk and talked to people running booths. Alec made notes in his trusty notebook, but few people had seen much or even knew who Tessa was. We were a little disappointed with the results of our investigation.
Our last stop was the booth where Tessa and her boyfriend had been selling strawberry jam. A woman that looked a little older than Tessa sat on a folding chair, looking sad.
"Hi," I said. "I don't mean to intrude, but we wanted to express our condolences. We're so sorry about Tessa."
The woman looked up at me with tears in her eyes. "Thank you. Tessa was my cousin Rich's girlfriend. I just can't believe this."
"We're very sorry," Alec said. "I'm Alec Blanchard and this is Allie McSwain. I’m a private investigator and the police have asked me to help with the investigation into Tessa's death."
"Alec gave Tessa CPR," I said, nodding at Alec.
"Thank you for trying to save her," she said, entwining her fingers together. "It all seems like a bad dream. I can't believe this."
I nodded. "She was so young and looked like she was in good health. Did she have any health problems?"
She shook her head. "No. I mean, she really was in good health. She had planned on running the marathon, but a few weeks ago she pulled a muscle in her leg and it was slow in healing, so she decided not to run. She's always been a runner, though. Runners are healthy, right?"
I nodded. "I'm a runner and I rarely even get a winter cold."
"It's a shame," Alec said. "She never complained of not feeling well?"
She shook her head. "She took lots of vitamins and got plenty of sleep. She was almost obsessive with her health. She had a chance to try out for the Olympics this summer. It was her dream. I think she could have made it."
"Wow," I said. "She must have been an excellent athlete."
"Do the police think someone hurt her?" she asked Alec.
"I think everything's up in the air until they get test results back. They just want to make sure they know as much of what happened as possible," Alec said.