FIFTEEN
As Chase walked toward her booth with two cups of steaming coffee for her and Anna, just before opening time, she passed the travel agency booth and heard sobbing from inside. She paused for a moment.
“Do you need any help?” she asked, taking one tentative step inside.
The cute short redhead blinked at Chase, tears streaming down her freckled cheeks. “My mother called just as I was leaving. Couldn’t get her calmed down.” She looked between her partner and Chase. “She’s prone to fake heart attacks. All I can do is talk to her until she thinks she’s over it.”
“Another visit to the emergency room?” asked the blonde, who had just arrived.
“No, I convinced her to see her regular doctor later today.” The redhead dashed a hand at her tears and leaned down to retrieve some pamphlets from a box. “But, somehow, it always makes me feel guilty when she does this and I don’t rush to be with her.”
“She’s manipulating you,” the tall blonde said, patting her partner’s shoulder. She wore a ring on each finger again.
“What if she does go to the hospital? I don’t want to leave you alone here.”
The blonde shrugged. “You do what you have to do, Holly. If you think you have to go to her, then . . .”
The redhead smiled and the storm seemed over.
“Will you be all right?” Chase asked. She felt like a fifth wheel, standing at their booth, learning secrets she had no business knowing.
“Thanks for being concerned.” The redhead seemed recovered. “She’s right.” She nodded at her partner. “I’ll just do what I have to do.”
“I hope your day goes well,” Chase called as she went toward her own booth with the coffee. The blonde, as usual, was wearing a lot of bling. Did that mean she really, really liked diamonds? Would she be tempted to steal a diamond collar?
Chase and Anna got a chance to gulp down most of the strong coffee before the customers started coming.
When there was a break at the Bar None booth shortly before lunchtime, Chase ran down to talk with Mike. Luckily, he had no patients in the clinic.
“I know you’re not a people doctor,” Chase began.
“I am definitely not a people doctor.” He continued putting stainless steel gizmos into the sterilizer.
“But people are mammals.”
He turned to face her. “It’s a question of licensing and legalities.”
“Like in losing your license, right?”
“Among other things.” He went back to preparing the machine, twisting dials and pushing buttons.
“But you could never lose your license from anything you told me.”
“Come on. Sit down and tell me what your problem is.” He waved her to a chair in the corner and pulled one up facing her as the autoclave began to hiss.
The glossy black cat hissed, too.
Mike chuckled. “He does that every time I run it. It annoys him, I think. Okay, what do you need?”
“It’s my houseguest, Inger.”
“Yes? Isn’t she seeing a doctor? An ob-gyn?”
“She saw someone at a clinic. I don’t know if she’ll go back—I hope so. But she needs another kind. I’m not sure exactly which kind.”
“Because?”
“She’s depressed. At least that’s what I think.”
“How is she behaving?”
“Weepy, sad, and she’s hard to get along with.” Chase gritted her teeth as she said the last part.
Mike reached over and took Chase’s hand. “Try to imagine what she’s going through. She’s alone in the world, about to have a child. She probably has no idea what to do with it once it’s born. Her parents aren’t any help at all. In fact, they’re piling on top of her problem stack, from what little you’ve told me. Wouldn’t you be a little cranky?”
“Yes, of course. But I think she’s having trouble coping and could need some professional help.”
“You might be right about that. Let me call around tonight and see if I can find someone for her to see.”
“Someone who doesn’t cost much.”
“Yes, I agree.”
As she strolled back to the booth, munching on a taco from the food court, it occurred to her that she didn’t have a good excuse anymore to see Dr. Ramos during the day, since Quincy wasn’t there. She wasn’t exactly glad that Inger was having problems, but it at least gave her a reason to visit him.
As she approached the booth, she saw Detective Olson walk inside it. She waited outside, quietly, behind the opening flap, to see what he wanted. She could see his back as he looked over the displayed wares. Anna jumped up from the chair when she spotted him.
“What’s the best?” he asked Anna.
He was there to buy dessert bars?
Anna suggested Hula Bars, of course, and pointed out the Pink Lemonade Bars and the Margarita Cheesecake. He asked for two Hula Bars and one each of the other two. He was buying treats, all right, but Chase didn’t think that’s why he was there.
“Is Ms. Oliver around?” he asked.
“She’s out for a few minutes. She’ll be right back.”
Chase moved back a step to be sure Anna couldn’t see her.
“Good,” he said. “I want to talk to you.”
Chase almost dropped her taco. Why on earth did he want to question Anna? He couldn’t believe she had anything to do with Larry Oake’s death.
“It’s come to my attention that you’re housing one of our . . . a person of interest in the Oake murder case.”
Was he about to say Elsa was a suspect?
Anna must have nodded because Chase didn’t hear an answer.
“I want to make sure,” he continued, his voice so low Chase had to strain to hear the words, “that you know to be very careful.”
“Careful about what?” Anna sounded alarmed.
“Careful in case she’s dangerous.”
“To me? Why would she be dangerous to me?”
“Let’s say that I don’t think it’s a good idea for her to be staying with you.”
“But she can’t find a hotel that will take a parrot.”
“Huh?”
Chase almost giggled. She could picture the puzzlement on his normally composed, self-assured, clean-cut face.
“Her sister brought Elsa’s parrot, Lady Jane Grey, when she came from Wisconsin.”
“Lady Jane Grey?” He seemed to drawl and sneer a bit when he repeated the name.
“I think it’s a fine name.” Anna was bristling, Chase could tell. “She’s an African Grey.”
“Uh-huh. But that’s quite an imposition on you, isn’t it?”
“Not really. I’m not there most of the day.”
“What do I owe you?” Chase heard the rustle of a paper bag.
“Oh, for the dessert bars? They’re on the house.”
It sounded like he was leaving, so Chase sauntered into the booth. Maybe she could find out if he knew about the Minskys. Detective Olson handed Anna a few bills. She tried to wave them away, but he put them on the table.
“Hi, Detective Olson. It’s good to see you. You like those Hula Bars?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t tried them yet. They look good. I’m glad you’re back.” He motioned to a uniformed policewoman standing in the midway. “Since you’re both here at the same time, it makes this easier. I’m very sorry, but we have to do this.”
Before Chase could even open her mouth to protest, the policewoman had thoroughly patted her down. Detective Olson and another policeman who had materialized out of nowhere proceeded to open and go through every box in the booth. After the woman patted Anna down, she left and the other uniform left shortly afterward. They were extremely efficient in their search. It had taken only a few minutes.
Chase caught her breath and g
ot her mind into gear before Detective Olson could follow them out to the midway. “Wait just a minute. Am I a suspect now? Why are you searching me and Anna now?”
He paused. “We got a new anonymous tip on the valuable article that’s missing. It might still be on the fairgrounds. We’re not just searching you, we’re searching everyone. Keep your eyes open and you’ll see that.” He started to walk away again.
Chase was getting annoyed. “Wait. I want to talk to you about Karl Minsky. And his daughter.”
“Mara.”
“Yes.”
“Did you know that he quarreled with Larry Oake the morning of the murder?”
“Why do you think that?” Those dark blue eyes narrowed at her. Did he not believe her?
It was Chase’s turn to bristle. “I’m not just trying to get Dr. Ramos off the hook. I talked to Minsky and his daughter the other day. She was very upset because it happened outside the exhibition hall. She’s afraid a lot of people might have seen them, and I’ll bet she’s right.”
He looked upward for a second, considering. “I think we’ll look into that. Thanks for the information.”
After he left, Chase let her breath out. Maybe something would come of questioning the Minskys that could clear Mike. She sure hoped so.
SIXTEEN
Chase picked up the money Detective Olson had left on the table and added it to their cash box.
“That was nice of him to pay, wasn’t it, Charity, after I said I would give them to him?” Anna must have gotten over the parrot insults and the pat-down and search quickly. “So what are you thinking?”
“I think that it’s very possible Karl Minsky is the one who killed Larry Oake.”
A shadow fell across the table. The bulky form of Karl Minsky inched into the booth.
“You’d better watch your mouth, young lady,” he snarled at Chase.
Her initial reaction was to cower, but she squashed the impulse and stood as tall as her five-foot-five frame would let her.
He came closer and loomed over her, at least a foot taller. His menacing scowl hit her in her clenched stomach, but she wouldn’t let him know that.
“You were eavesdropping on me and Mara?”
“No. But you were eavesdropping just now. Does the detective know you were there?”
“He never saw me.”
Chase wondered about that. The man was hard to miss. “If you didn’t harm Mr. Oake, then you have nothing to worry about.”
“Except busybodies like you poking their noses into my affairs and stirring things up.” He shook his meaty fist inches from her nose. “I’m warning you.” Then he stomped off down the midway toward the butter sculpture building.
“I think you’d better tell Detective Olson about this, too,” Anna said. “That man is threatening you.”
“I think I will. But Karl Minsky has to get far, far away first.”
Chase waited until an influx of dessert bar buyers had bought their fill, then she poked her head out of the booth and looked up and down the midway to make sure Karl Minsky wasn’t anywhere in sight. It would be hard to miss him if he were there. His daughter, though, would be easier to overlook. Chase looked carefully. No, Mara wasn’t around. She stepped to the back of the booth and called Detective Olson. He didn’t answer. All that preparation for nothing! She left a message that she had new information for him and went back to working the booth.
As the end of the day approached, Anna started fidgeting.
“Everything okay, Anna?” Chase asked.
“Sure. Hunky-dory.”
As she said it, though, the worry lines didn’t leave her brow.
“Say, if you don’t mind, I’ll do the baking tonight,” Anna said.
“I don’t mind, but I’ll be happy to help out.”
“No, don’t bother. I can do it.”
Chase knew she could, but why didn’t she want help?
After they closed up and got everything packed to go, Anna took the leftovers and the cash box and rushed out. Chase was chatting with the travel agents next door when Anna left. The short one’s mother hadn’t had another crisis, and she was in a cheerful mood. Chase wondered what her relationship with her own mother would be like today if she hadn’t died so young. A lot of time had gone by and the pain of losing her parents had faded. In fact, some days she didn’t think about them at all. But when grown children didn’t get along with their own parents, it made her sad, made her wish hers were still alive.
Chase stepped back into the booth to check that everything was wrapped up. There was Anna’s cell phone on the table. Chase reached to pick it up just as it rang, nearly sending her through the roof of the tent. Her nerves were on edge all the time here, knowing a murderer might be lurking anywhere.
“Yes?” The light was too dim for her to check the number.
“Anna?” said the voice on the phone.
She was almost certain it was Bill Shandy. “No. Is this Bill?” He said it was. “Anna left her phone in our booth. I’ll take it to her, since she’s baking tonight.”
“That’s what I’m calling about. Tell her I’ll be a little late. Not too bad, maybe a half an hour.”
Late for what? Chase wondered. Was the pet shop owner helping her bake? Maybe the man had hidden talents. Bill had given Anna an engagement ring in September, thrilling Anna, Chase, and Julie. Chase thought he was a catch and a good match for Anna. Every time her eye caught the sparkle of Anna’s diamond, it cheered her heart.
As Chase walked to her car, she pulled her jacket close. A colder front must be coming through, she thought. Fall was progressing toward winter in Minnesota.
The temperature kept dropping perceptibly from the time she left the tent to the time she reached her car, and the wind whipped her hair into her face. She spat out a strand, scooted into the driver’s seat of her Ford Fusion, started the engine, and cranked up the heat.
Halfway to the dessert bar shop, Chase realized that she didn’t know if Anna was going home first or to the shop. She called the shop, but there was no answer. Maybe Anna was going past her own house first. Chase would swing by there to make sure she had her phone. It wasn’t that far out of her way. She took the next left and circled the block to turn around.
A few miles later, Anna’s phone rang again. This time it was Julie.
“Jules? This is Chase. Anna forgot her phone. Is she home yet?”
“I don’t think she’s coming here. She told me she would go straight to the kitchen.” Julie’s voice sounded strained.
“Are you cold?”
“Yes. I’m in the backyard so those women won’t hear me.”
“Elsa and her sister?”
“Yes, Elsie and Ellie. Stupid, confusing nicknames. I can’t ever remember which is which. Chase, I’m not sure I want to be alone with them. Can you come over and keep me company?”
“Well, Inger is at my place right now.”
“Oh, right. I forgot. Why don’t you bring her? Pick up Chinese or something.”
“Why don’t you want to be alone with them?”
“I don’t know. It’s a feeling I get. For one thing, they’re expecting me to cook for them.”
“Really? They should be taking Anna out to dinner.”
This time Chase slowed, let traffic pass her by, then swung out and made a U-turn, heading back to her place.
Anna wasn’t in the kitchen downstairs, but Inger was pacing the living room floor in the apartment upstairs. Quincy crouched at the edge of the seat on the stuffed chair, swiveling his head to keep track of Inger’s movements, looking uneasy about this unsettled person in his space.
“Where have you been?” Inger demanded when she saw Chase.
“I’ve been at the fair, you know that. I’m not that much later than usual. I had to . . . make a few turns on my way home.”
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br /> “Turns?”
“We’re going to Anna’s house for dinner. You need to get your coat on.”
“I’m awfully hungry.” The woman was whining. Chase wondered if her parents had been looking for a reason to kick her out. No, that was extremely uncharitable. The poor gal was probably beside herself with worry about her future. And was probably also pretty darn hungry.
Chase put a cheese sandwich together and slipped some carrot sticks in a plastic bag.
“Here, eat this on the way. It’ll tide you over.”
Inger regarded the offering in Chase’s outstretched hand with suspicion, or maybe distaste, pursing her small mouth like a pouting child.
“Do you like cheese? Carrots?”
“I guess so.”
Chase swallowed a retort that had to do with thanking people and being gracious. Her situation must be getting to her, Chase thought. Or maybe there’s a bit of her parents in her? Did pregnancy give women mood swings? This wasn’t like her, at all, but Chase didn’t know how much more of the bad behavior she wanted to take. After giving Quincy his din dins, they trundled down the stairs and headed for Chase’s car to drive to Anna’s house. She still hadn’t shown up at the Bar None.
SEVENTEEN
Chase sat back in the kitchen chair and wondered why the two sisters didn’t dry up and blow away. They had hardly touched the Chinese food she had picked up . . . and paid for. The parrot, however, should soon be waddling like a penguin. They fed tidbits, almost nonstop, to Lady Jane Grey, who perched on a corner of the table, chattering with Elsa.
“Who’s your baby?” rasped the bird. “Hello. Hello. Grey hungry. Grey hungry.”
Elsa laughed every time the parrot opened her beak, then she pushed another morsel across the table to her.
Chase eyed the trails of sauce and grease this was leaving on Anna’s table. At least it was the rustic, scarred kitchen table and not her nice maple dining room one. And the parrot did make her smile, she had to admit. Such a silly bird!
Julie said the twin sisters had told her they hadn’t eaten all day. Then they asked her to cook for them, and after Julie had come from a long day at work.
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