He guffawed. “You do beat all, and to think I offered you Millie’s job.”
Candy-Coated Secrets 201
“Just think.” I still hadn’t gotten over the mortification of that experience. “How do you get by with it? The prostitution, I mean?”
“Prostitution? Only suspected, not proven.” Eddy winked. “What my employees do on their free time has nothing to do with me. Besides, your cousin was about to put a halt to everything anyway. We don’t get invited to many towns for a second run.”
Imagine that.
“So extracurricular activities are easy to slide past the authorities.” He plopped on the other end of the sofa. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit? Business or pleasure?”
“Definitely business.” The thought of visiting him held absolutely no pleasure for me. I felt dirty just sitting in close proximity with the man. “Have you located your father?”
“Unfortunately not. He seems to have disappeared into thin air. He’s gone, the money’s gone, but his car is right where he parked it.” Eddy ran a hand through his heavily pomaded hair. “With Lacey turning up dead and Grizzly Bob in jail, I fear the worst for my old man.”
I gnawed my lower lip. Things didn’t look good for the kind owner of the carnival. Eddy looked genuinely upset over his father’s disappearance, but I wasn’t going to cross him off my suspect list yet. I decided on the direct approach. “Eddy, has anyone been embezzling funds from the carnival?”
“Embezzling? You’d have to talk to Lacey. Well, you can’t, can you? I guess that leaves Woodrow. He’s the fair’s accountant. Lacey was his assistant.”
“Could they have been stealing from you?”
Eddy shook his head. “I trust my employees, Summer. Completely. Most of them have been with Foreman’s Fair and Carnival for years.”
“So you and your father didn’t have some type of system to make sure people stayed honest?”
“We’re a small business. Besides the meddling of the IRS, we trust each other. There’s never been an issue until the other night. No, I don’t think embezzlement is a problem. It’s an act of out-and-out theft and kidnapping. Find my father, and we’ll find the money.”
“You think your father took it?”
“Someone did. It’s missing, and so is he.”
We rose at the same time. The heel of my boot caught on the frayed edge of the sofa and I tilted forward. Eddy caught me and pulled me close. My hands splayed across his exposed chest. Perspiration glistened from among the coarse hairs. The fumes from the beer he’d been drinking washed over me, and I swallowed against the bile rising in my throat.
“I’m lonely, Summer, with Lacey gone. Stay for a while.”
Averting my face, I tried to step back. For a man who was only five-foot-seven, his strength amazed me. “You don’t appear grief-stricken over the loss of your girlfriend.”
“Lacey was everyone’s girlfriend. You’re different. One woman; one man.”
“That’s right, and I’m taken.” The well-placed heel of my boot exerting pressure on the top of his foot made him release me. “I’m sorry for your loss, Eddy, and I’ll do whatever I can to help you locate your father, but I’m off-limits. Understand?” I marched to the door and turned, my manner softening. “Like I said, don’t worry about where y’all can stay. I’m not going to run you off my land.”
He rubbed his hands across his face. “We have somewhere to be in a couple of weeks. I’m afraid I won’t have enough employees left to get us there.”
“God provides, Eddy. Spend some time getting to know Him instead of the bottom of a can of beer.” When did I get so self-righteous? “I’m sorry. That came out wrong. You let me know if there’s anything me or my family can do to help.”
“You got a few thousand dollars?”
“Sorry.” I took a deep breath and decided to blurt out what had been on my mind the last few days. “I was in Lacey’s trailer a few days ago and found a sheet of paper with numbers and an amount written in red. Fifty thousand dollars.”
Eddy laughed. “She was saving to buy a house. Lacey wanted out of the carnival business. Wanted to settle down and have a family. That’s the amount she wanted to save.”
“Oh.” I jerked the door open and stepped outside. I was officially an idiot. Why did I have to make things seem more sinister than they were? Embezzlement! I shook my head. Looked like I was mistaken, and with Grizzly Bob in jail, this case was closed. More deaths than we’d had back in July, and I still had no motive for Bob’s murdering spree. It seemed the trail I’d been following led nowhere.
Maybe the authorities could get Bob to tell them why he’d shadowed me dressed as a gorilla. Or why he’d killed Laid Back Millie and staged a suicide. Then there was Lacey and the disappearance of Foreman. An endless circle of questions with no answers.
My gaze roamed the almost deserted fairgrounds. A melancholy haze seemed to hover over everything as if not only the carnies and animals mourned, but the structures themselves.
What am I missing, God? With Joe out of the picture and Grizzly caught in the act, the police would look no further for answers. With my mind clear from the fog of guilt, I knew it was only a matter of time before things clicked together into something that made sense. Having Grizzly Bob caught and Mr. Foreman still missing. . .I shook my head. No, there was still some searching to be done.
My steps turned toward Sally’s trailer. The woman didn’t hold court outside her trailer today. Instead, the unmistakable sounds of heartbreaking sobs drifted to me from a partially open window. My hand paused in midknock, reluctant to intrude on someone’s grief.
Woodrow spoke from behind me. “Go in, Miss Summer. Sally could use a friend right now.”
My hand fluttered to my chest. “You scared me, Woodrow.”
“Forgive me.” He nodded toward the door. Once inside, he brushed past me and knelt in front of Sally. “Dearest, you have company.”
Sally held out a hand to me. “Summer!” The woman’s red-rimmed eyes focused on me. A smile split the folds of her face. She appeared happy to see me. Why did I feel her greeting was forced?
The feeling didn’t dissipate when she patted the sofa beside her. Her weight caused the piece of furniture to tilt. I took a seat, leaning away from her and hooking my arm over the edge of the sofa to not slide against her and the pile of soggy tissues between us. Woodrow held out a glass of lukewarm tea.
I now faced a dilemma. Let go of the sofa and take the tea, which would result in my sliding into the woman’s lap, or decline the tea and risk being considered rude. I chose to slide, spilling some of the tea in my lap as I did so. A sour smell rose from Sally’s unwashed body the closer I moved to her. My hip plastered against hers. She slung one meaty arm across my shoulders, and I felt I’d suffocate beneath its weight.
“Oh, Summer.” She pulled me closer, much the way a mother hugs a child. “I’ve lost my dearest friend. Besides Woodrow, that is. I don’t see how I can go on. Now I have the unpleasant task of deciding how to avenge my loved one’s death against the murderer. There’s only one person responsible, and that person still walks.”
“But Ginger isn’t dead.”
She raised her head and speared me with a red-rimmed gaze. “I’m talking about my son.”
Uh-oh.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Odor washed over me, causing me to feel as dirty as Sally smelled. With the ease of an eel, I slipped free of the woman’s hug and leaped to my feet. I set the glass of tea on top of a pile of books on the crowded coffee table. In slow motion the cup fell. I lunged too late and smacked my shin against the edge of the glass tabletop. Amber liquid splattered my favorite boots.
“Wait, Summer.” Sally stretched a hand toward me. “Stay. Enjoy a snack with us. We’ve managed to lay our hands on the most delicious jar of bread-and-butter pickles. You must try some.”
“No, thank you.” I forced a smile to my lips. Goose pimples prickled my flesh, and I crossed my arms. “I�
��ve really got to be going.”
“What’s your hurry? You paid us a visit for a reason.” Sally wiggled her fingers at Woodrow. “My medication, sweetie. The liquid and the capsules.” Her gaze slipped back to me. “I live my life in pain, Summer. Both mental and physical. Can you understand what that is like? Of course not. You’re bright, thin, beautiful. Life is like a bowl of cherries for you, isn’t it?”
“I prefer a box of chocolates.”
Sally giggled. “And you’re a movie buff. Splendid.”
Woodrow poured a small glass of liquid from a whiskey bottle and handed the drink, along with three small red tablets, to Sally. She chased the pills with the liquor, sighed, and laid her head back against the sofa. “Why don’t you get to the point, Summer? I’m extremely tired.”
“I came to see how you’re holding up after what happened to Ginger and Grizzly Bob.”
“Bob? What’s that fool done now?”
“He’s a murderer, Sally.” My hand fumbled for the doorknob. “He killed an old couple and wounded a police officer. He’s in jail.”
“Well, we’re all murderers of a sort, aren’t we? In tidy prisons of our own. Some of us are just ignorant to the fact. Living in their pretty little houses, with their pretty little lives.” Sally’s hand crushed the fragile glass she held. Scarlet drops fell on the pile of snowy tissues beside her. “The one responsible for hurting my beautiful Ginger will pay. Don’t worry your lovely little head about that. But that’s not the justice I’m focusing on right now.”
I shoved the door open and ducked back out into a drizzly, rainy day. Directly across from me, the fun house clown’s head towered over the grounds as if in agreement with Sally’s threat. I needed to warn Harvey, then pay a visit to Joe in the hospital.
I glanced over my shoulder. Woodrow peered through the curtains. To hide my ever-increasing feeling of fear, I waved and increased my pace toward the other end of the fairgrounds. A breeze picked up as I walked, leaving me cold and clammy.
I knocked on the door of what I believed to be Harvey’s trailer. No response. I peeked in the window to see the lights off and a neat orderliness to the living space. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but I couldn’t help wondering if he had gone missing, too, adding one more name to the missing person’s list. Two, if you count Harvey’s wife. I shrugged. With luck, the couple was shopping in town, and my imagination was working overtime.
Once behind the wheel of my car with the doors locked, my rapidly beating heart returned to normal. The small groups of carnies who’d braved the increasingly cloudy weather to work on the carnival’s tearing down had disappeared, seeking drier places to congregate. A quick glance at my watch told me Ethan still had a couple of hours of work before he’d be home. I started the car and drove to the hospital.
Aunt Eunice and her friends Ruby and Mabel stood outside the front entrance. The three were engaged in an animated conversation of friendly rivalry over whether or not we should have contracted Foreman’s Fair and Carnival for our annual fair. I shook my head. Those three would argue over the shade of gray of today’s sky if nothing better presented itself. Aunt Eunice waved me over.
“What do you think, Summer? There’s been nothing but trouble since this group arrived.” Ruby’s tiny frame trembled in the cold. “Your aunt Eunice won’t see reason and make those people leave.”
I released a frustrated burst of air that puffed out my cheeks. Guide my words, Lord. “There’s no guarantee in life, ladies, that any other carnival would have had better luck. Y’all contracted them. What was your reason?”
“They were the cheapest bid, and we thought it would be nice to have a little something extra with our county fair.” Mabel announced. “I told Ruby you get what you pay for. We need to clean up Mountain Shadows and tell them to go.”
“The land belongs to me, not Aunt Eunice or Uncle Roy. I’ve already said they could stay until things are resolved. I won’t go back on my word. They have nowhere else to go until they get their money back.”
“Eunice said you’d be that way.” Ruby hugged her purse to her chest. “You always were a headstrong girl. I thought maybe once you got with that nice boy, Ethan, you’d get your head on straight.”
My Irish temper flared. “I’d rather have my head on crooked than be a self-righteous old busybody with a cold heart. Have you forgotten that Christ asked us to consider the least of these? That in giving them just a glass of water we’ve quenched His thirst?”
“Summer!” Aunt Eunice’s eyes widened.
“I’m sorry, Aunt Eunice, but you need to keep a tighter rein on your friends.” I spun on my heel and shoved through the double doors of the hospital. The fact that Ruby and Mabel were correct about the heap of problems we’ve had since the fair came to town hadn’t been lost on me. I just had a problem with the women’s way of wanting to handle the trouble. In a gesture of goodwill, I poked my head back out the door.
“I’ll ask Joe what we should do.”
My boot heels clipped against the tiled floor as I marched past the nurses’ station. Lucky man. They’d given him a single occupancy room. His eyes were closed, so I flopped into the chair next to him.
“I’m not sleeping.”
“Oh, good. I need to talk to you.” I scooted forward and perched on the edge of the seat.
“Otherwise you wouldn’t be here.” He opened one eye to peer at me.
“Be nice. I came to see how you’re doing. And I brought you chocolate.” I pulled a box containing a dark chocolate lion from my purse.
“Uh-huh. Spill.”
“How certain are we that Grizzly Bob is our man?”
Both of Joe’s eyes were now open. “We caught him in the act of shooting me. You and Ethan were next.”
“I know, but there are still a lot of holes. Like, where’s Mr. Foreman and the money? And why does Big Sally have Aunt Eunice’s missing pickles? I saw them with my own eyes. Sally has threatened to make someone pay for murdering her son and—”
“Whoa!” Joe pushed the button to raise his bed. “Slow down. You’re running off at the mouth like a tsunami.”
I balanced my elbows on my knees and leaned forward. “Did you know that Sally drinks whiskey and takes pills? Together? She’s insane, Joe. I saw a side of her today that I’ve never seen, and I have to admit, it frightened me. Gone was the jolly fat woman.”
“Lord, take me home now. Save me from this woman.”
“Aren’t you curious?”
Joe reached for the plastic cup of water on the bedside table and took a sip. “Start at the pickles. You lost me on that one. Then move on to Sally’s son being killed. That’s new to me.”
I refilled his cup from the salmon-colored pitcher. “I paid Sally a visit. To give my condolences for Ginger and Bob. She offered me some bread-and-butter pickles. Remember Aunt Eunice’s disappeared right before the judging?”
“And what makes you think they belonged to your aunt? Lots of people can stuff cucumbers in a jar and call them pickles. They could also have been a gift. Maybe you should ask Eunice if she gave them to Sally. Or Ruby or Mabel did.”
“What about Sally’s drinking and popping pills? What about her threatening to get even for her son’s death?”
“She wouldn’t be the first person. When’s this murder supposed to have taken place?”
“She didn’t say. Drugs are expensive. It could be a motive for murder and robbery. You should’ve heard her talking, Joe. Very spooky.”
He stared at me as if I’d lost my mind or had worms crawling out of my ears. “Grizzly Bob admitted to killing Lacey, Pete, and Mrs. Hodge. You personally ripped the gorilla head off him. In time, he’ll crack and tell us where Mr. Foreman’s body and the money can be found. The case is winding down, Summer. Leave the carnies alone.”
I slouched against the back of the chair. “Something tells me there’s more.”
“Do I have to arrest you again?”
“What about Harvey? He wasn
’t at his trailer.”
“So? Besides, Harvey doesn’t live with the carnival. He only hires on when one comes to town. He and his wife live down Forrest Road.”
“Then why haven’t I met him?”
Joe laughed. “He belongs to the same hunting lodge as your uncle. You don’t hunt.”
No time today. “Ruby and Mabel want to know what you intend to do about the carnies.”
“Me?” His eyes widened.
“Okay, what do you want me to do? I already told them they could stay until either the money is found or Eddy’s father is.”
“Well, they can’t stay forever.”
“No, but having them there makes it convenient for solving this case, right?”
“The case is finished. Leave it alone.”
“I can’t. With you laid up, there’s no one to see that justice is done.”
“I’m not the only officer on the force. I can have you locked up.”
I stood. “Stop threatening me. Do what you have to. I’ll do what I have to. Right now I’m going to meet Ethan for dinner. Stop me if you can. Bye.” I clapped him on his uninjured shoulder, winked, and strode from his room.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
My favorite royal blue wraparound blouse and black pants hung on the outside of the closet waiting for my date with Ethan. With the fair taking up so much of my time, it’d been a while since we’d spent romantic time together. Despite that, I couldn’t help but wonder whether Ethan would want to go on a stakeout with me. My Handy Dandy Guidebook to Spring beckoned from my bedside table.
I snatched the book and let it fall open. The pages fell on “Ten Ways to Think like a Spy.” Number one, act like you belong. That’s easy. I own the land the fair sits on, so I belong there as much as anyone else. Number two, have a purpose. I did, didn’t I? A desire to get to the bottom of things. So far so good. Number three, blend in. A bit harder now that everyone knows me, but not impossible, right? I could feel my mind become sharper, like a trap ready to ensnare the suspect.
Candy-Coated Secrets Page 17