“Oh, they never get it right. And I’ve been working with Jimmy Meares, who will only work with me.” Cam thought that was self-importance on Judith’s part. Jimmy had seemed perfectly willing to work with Cam.
“Maybe I can convince him . . . don’t you have a vice president of production or something you could call? Surely Jimmy would understand.” Especially if she was young and pretty, Cam thought, though she didn’t think sharing that thought was wise. She saw a flash of hope in Judith Towers-Stevens’s eyes. “Tell me who I should talk up. I’ll go work on him,” Cam said.
“Hilary Sweeny has been my right hand for six years. She’s very good.”
“I’ll work on Jimmy.” Cam spotted an opportunity in the form of her work crew putting the finishing touches on the mended garden. She called, “Dylan!”
He wandered over more slowly than Cam would have liked and then just stood in front of Judith Towers-Stevens and her expectantly.
“Dylan, Ms. Towers-Stevens is the television producer. It was her husband whom Scooter found the other day. Would you be able to see that she gets home?”
Dylan looked at Judith quizzically, as if sizing her up. “Sure. If it’s not far, I mean. I need to be back in an hour for lighting.”
Judith’s expression wasn’t readable but she didn’t argue, so Cam took that to mean she was close enough. Dylan must have understood the same thing.
“Car’s just on the street over there.”
Cam wondered if she’d regret this. She didn’t know Dylan very well, but she felt the sooner Judith Towers-Stevens was out of there, the better. It would help her argument with Jimmy Meares if Judith could be seen as too deeply grieving but that an excellent substitute was on the way.
* * *
Cam watched as Dylan escorted Judith toward the street. She looked a little like she had something under her nose, which probably reflected her opinion of men with dirt under their nails, though Dylan’s hair might have been a little long for her professional pedigree and he had grass stains on the knees of his jeans, too. As she watched, she saw something else of interest.
Ducking behind the stage was a smallish woman built like the figure caught sabotaging things, so Cam sprinted in that direction.
Rob spotted her and gave chase, too. Rob was a baseball player, and extremely fast, so it didn’t take him long to figure out who Cam was chasing and pass her in pursuit.
Tackling the woman onto the grass probably wasn’t the best idea he could have had, but it was effective, and Cam met them where they lay sprawled.
“Violated!” the woman shouted. “I’ve been violated!”
“Stopped, more like,” Cam said. “You planned more sabotage for the pageant, didn’t you?”
The woman closed her mouth and wouldn’t say any more, but Rob called Jake, whom Cam had seen go into the Arts Commission building a few minutes earlier. He was probably canvassing for potential murder witnesses, but he arrived within five minutes. The woman remained seated on the grass, glaring, and responded to the officer as expected.
“This young man assaulted me!”
“I tackled her to stop her from running. She’d . . .” Rob looked to Cam desperately. He didn’t know what the woman had done.
“She is suspected of all the vandalism that’s happened here,” said Cam. “There are witnesses who put her at the stage, and the security tape puts her in the Arts Commission building the night our music was sabotaged.”
Jake looked uncomfortable. “You just think it was her?”
“She was there two of the three times.”
“Cam, that’s circumstantial. I can’t arrest somebody for that.”
“Search her bag!” Cam shouted.
“And I can’t do that without a warrant.”
The woman looked very smug as she rose. “Am I free to leave, Officer?”
“You are.”
Cam thought they were lucky Jake didn’t offer to press charges against her and Rob. The woman seemed just the type to do it for spite.
Jake eyed them both as he headed back to the Arts Commission. Cam recognized his “You know better” look. But she wasn’t sure how to catch a criminal without chasing her down when you saw her. She decided to imagine they’d just avoided a huge fiasco by scaring this woman off.
* * *
The sound of someone screaming brought her back to the present, and the trio rushed back to the front of the band shell. It was delighted screaming. Cam rolled her eyes. In spite of the obnoxious show of his agent a few nights earlier and the agent’s recent mention in conversation, she’d forgotten that Kyle Lance would be arriving before the show to meet the girls. Teen, or in this case tween, idols brought more emotion than any other kind of star.
She rushed back to the amphitheater. The curtain finally had been taken down to reveal her dad’s spectacular skill with the lattice. She suspected Lydia Fennewick might have made herself available to help, as she was hovering now, eying Nelson Harris with a dreamy smile.
Cam went around the giggling girls.
“Daddy, it’s gorgeous!” She hugged him.
“You sound surprised.”
“I’m never surprised when you make something beautiful, but you had so little time! So I’m still impressed.”
“What was all that excitement with you chasing that lady?”
“We think she’s the vandal, but we don’t have any evidence.”
“That little thing?”
“She’s been seen at two of the three crime scenes.”
“Well, I bet a lot of people have.”
“Oh, don’t go defending everybody.”
“Not everybody, just . . .” He paused and Cam could tell he didn’t want to say it out loud, so she leaned in. “Just women of a certain age,” he said sheepishly.
“You’re a sucker for a pretty face.”
“I suppose I am at that. Do you need anything else, sunshine?”
“I’d love it if you’d come back for the pageant. It starts at seven.”
“I’ll be here.” He kissed her cheek and headed back toward his car, giving Lydia a friendly wave and smile as he left.
The crowd had mellowed considerably. Kyle Lance had shaken each girl’s hand and promised an autographed picture for each of them before the pageant was over. Cam could see his back as he returned to his limousine, accompanied by smarmy Jimmy Meares. She liked to think the boy was nice, but somebody advising him had very poor taste. She remembered, though, she had business with Jimmy, so she shouted and ran after him.
For all the fuss Ms. Towers-Stevens had made about having Hilary step in, Jimmy didn’t seem to care at all. She was glad to check that off her list.
* * *
The supper buffet was off to one side. Hired helpers had set out chairs. Pageant veterans had spoken of the nightmares of pageant participants held up by slow restaurants. It was just easier to have it all done on location. Even if it was a little behind schedule, everyone had the same disadvantage, though Cam trusted Petunia and her luau bonanza to be right on time.
As they had the night before, Nick and Petunia pulled right onto the lawn behind the tent. The girls were starting to return from their hotels, so Cam went over to help Petunia unload.
Not five minutes later, Venus DiAngelo, one of the pageant contestants, ran out of the library shrieking, her mom not far behind. Cam practically dropped the fruit bowl she was carrying and ran to head off the upset girl.
“Venus, what happened?”
“Somebody dumped all my makeup!”
“What? Come with me. We’ll look into this.” Cam turned the girl back around and headed toward the library, catching the mother on the way and explaining that she was there to help investigate.
“It’s very expensive, you know,” the woman said. “The very best stage makeup. Venus dances a ballet. She is dressed as a dragonfly.”
“Sounds lovely!” Cam said. It actually did sound sort of cool, were it not dripping in pretension because this m
other was absurd. But vandalism was vandalism, and it couldn’t be tolerated.
When the woman showed Cam, Cam gasped. The makeup hadn’t just been dumped, it had been taken into the main portion of the library and dumped onto a bookshelf. Cam shouted and stormed back out to where the girls were gathered and called everyone to her.
“Somebody here not only sabotaged a teammate, but vandalized library books. Until the culprit comes forward, or somebody turns them in, nobody will be permitted any makeup. Violators will be disqualified.”
Unlike on school grounds, pageant contestants held no disregard for snitches if it got the rest of them what they wanted. Within ten minutes, Delphinia Lovette-Hicks had turned in Skye Derringer. Skye swore Delphinia had dared her, and Cam left the outcome between the parents, but insisted on seventy-two dollars from each to cover the makeup replacement cost and took credit card numbers to address the book replacement. There had to be a no-tolerance policy or these nuts would bring chaos upon them.
* * *
The talent competition always caused high tension, or so Lydia Fennewick had told Cam. Cam had never seen a Young Miss pageant before. As she hovered behind the scenes, she felt a little dirty for being involved. Mothers rubbed Vaseline on their daughters’ teeth to make sure they sparkled, and poked them into perfect posture, barking reminders every ten seconds.
When Alexandria pushed Andromeda over, though, Cam stepped in again.
“Do y’all want to explain what this is about?”
Neither girl would look at her.
Cam knew she had to be tough or she’d be dealing with this all week. “Let me rephrase. I saw Alexandria push Andromeda over. If you won’t explain yourselves, I will just tell the judges and you’ll both be penalized.”
Andromeda’s mom tried to protest, but Cam stared at her. “I have this authority. I suggest you don’t interfere.”
“Andromeda called me names,” Alexandria said.
“No. I said hers was a white trash song,” Andromeda argued.
Cam spun to stare at her. “Did you not hear the no-criticism rule?”
“I was trying to help. She needs a better song.”
“You are not helping when a song has already been practiced. Keep it to yourself or go home.”
Andromeda looked down as Alexandria smiled.
“You.” Cam turned. “Pushing is physical. I could send you home this minute. Do you want that?”
Alexandria sobered and sputtered.
“You apologize, and if it happens again, you’re disqualified.”
Alexandria nodded and muttered a quiet apology. Cam thought about harassing her for a better one, but it wasn’t worth it. It was time to get this under way, and she had bigger things to worry about.
Sofie went on first with an impressive piano performance, followed by Delphinia’s ballet and Alexandria’s rendition of a song Cam had never heard before that indeed might fall under the category “trashy,” but the performance of it was cute, rather than mortifying. Unfortunately, near the end, Mindy found her, needing urgent help.
“Come quickly!”
Cam rushed after her toward the library, where they found Lauren in tears. The blue formal gown she was going to wear for her song had been shredded with scissors, the white undercoats peeking through in grotesque, jagged lines.
“When did this happen?”
“We only brought it from the hotel just before supper.”
“Celeste.” Cam turned to the volunteer who was working the changing room. “Who’s been in here?”
“Only the contestants and their mothers, and I’ve been here the whole time.”
“Somebody is sabotaging Lauren!” Mindy cried. “She’s a favorite!”
Cam wasn’t sure that was true, but she didn’t say that to Mindy. This was much more serious than the makeup, in any case. Dresses could cost close to a thousand dollars, and Cam doubted Mindy was a bargain shopper, never mind the inherent threat implied by using a sharp implement for the job.
“You’re sure it was fine before it got here?”
“How could it not be fine? I packed it myself in Lynchburg. It was fine then. Who would touch it in the hotel?”
“You’re right. That’s silly. For the time being, I’ll get Lauren moved to Thursday for the talent piece. Hopefully you can replace it or borrow something by then?”
“This was specially made!”
“Mindy, I’m so sorry. And we will investigate, but it is her song that is the talent, right?”
Mindy looked furious for a minute but finally gave in.
“Mindy Blankenship?”
They both turned to find Jake in the doorway.
“Yes?”
“I have a few questions for you.”
“The police are here already? I only just found it twenty minutes ago.”
“Found what?”
“Lauren’s shredded dress.”
“Oh. No. I’m here because a witness saw you arguing loudly with Telly Stevens yesterday morning.”
“Oh!” Mindy’s pale face lost another few shades. Cam thought if she turned a light off, Mindy might glow.
“Do you need me to leave?” Cam asked. She didn’t want to, but felt it was probably most appropriate.
“If you wouldn’t mind,” Jake said, which was his polite way of telling her to scram.
But at the same time, Mindy shrieked, “No!” She grabbed Cam’s wrist. Her eyes looked scared and a little desperate.
“Can I stay, Jake? It sounds like Mindy would prefer . . .”
Jake rolled his eyes. Cam read his meaning. She got entangled in these messes far too easily, but Mindy wanted a friend near. And if Cam was honest, she was dying to know what was going on. It seemed so unlikely, but Cam knew the argument was suspected of being related to the murder.
“Can you tell me what you and Mr. Stevens argued about, Mrs. Blankenship?”
“He was a horrible man,” she said.
“So you confront all horrible men? Just out of habit? Or had he done some specific horrible thing to you?”
Mindy sniffed and looked up, then turned to look at Cam. She seemed to find courage.
“Telly Stevens was also a judge last year . . . Lauren was a local finalist then, too. I . . . he . . . It was important she win . . . we needed the scholarship. I saw him at the bar one night, about two drinks too late, and said something to that effect. He suggested I might earn my daughter an advantage . . .”
Cam felt her eyes bulge and couldn’t seem to call her lids back down. She did, however, manage to keep from shrieking or gasping.
“Let’s put it this way,” Mindy said through a clenched jaw, “I followed through and he didn’t.”
Cam had to cover her mouth.
Jake’s eyes narrowed. “I see. And so yesterday?”
“I just told him he was a bastard and that I couldn’t believe he’d show his face near this year’s pageant.”
“And the man wound up dead.”
“Officer, if this is how this man behaves, then probably half the moms here have a motive. I didn’t kill him. I thought he had a heart attack until now.”
“And what do you know about gardening?”
“What? Not very much, why?”
“Just answer the question.”
“I did a special study with Cam’s mom when I was in high school, but that was mostly so I could get a science credit without taking physics.”
Cam frowned. She hadn’t known that. It was always a little bit of a shock to realize her parents had led lives she didn’t know about. Especially her mom, who had passed on more than three years earlier.
Jake didn’t know anything about Cam’s discomfort and continued his questioning. “And so you would know which plants are edible and which are poison?”
“Was he poisoned? By a plant?”
“I’m just trying to assess what you know.”
“I know a few flowers make for a lovely salad—nasturtiums and violets. And I was war
ned about a few when I had small children. That is something you see in parenting magazines. So I know foxglove and I watch for nightshade. I haven’t worried about it, though, other than to watch my girls.”
“I’ll need you to give an accounting of your whereabouts that morning and the day before . . . and who was with you.”
“I was driving to Roanoke that morning—with my girls! We had errands to run and the hotel to check into. The day before, we were in Lynchburg. What could I have done from Lynchburg?”
Cam felt bad for Mindy. She hated the idea of the girls being questioned, but knew it would have to happen—they were their mom’s only alibi.
When Jake left, Cam hugged Mindy and promised Jake was a good guy who was just trying to get to the bottom of this.
“What you must think of me!” Mindy said. “Cheating on my husband for a stupid . . .”
“I’m not judging,” Cam said.
“I would. At least until recently. But the truth is my marriage was over before that. Barry left me eighteen months ago and spent the first nine months or so trying to get out of paying any child support at all. So when the pageant happened, I was feeling desperate about that scholarship money. Now Barry’s changed his mind and is trying to act like a superdad. I think he wants to take the girls from me.”
She broke into tears and Cam hugged her again as a pair of girls hustled in, grabbed props, and hustled back out. By the end of the talent night, Cam felt a little lost about the pageant process, but very glad for the next day. There would be no public show, so the girls could work on their coordinated routines.
CHAPTER 8
Cam slept in a little the next day and then had a surprisingly smooth morning until she got an urgent call from Dylan about an hour after lunch.
“Cam, I need to leave my post. I’m just guarding. Can you call Benny? And maybe cover watching while I’m gone?”
“Of course. I’ll be right down.”
She called Benny as she rode down the elevator, covering her ear to the piano music from the bar as she walked through the lobby. Benny agreed to be there in a half hour, so Cam resigned herself to standing on the lawn in her pumps until he got there. The heat had returned, so she took off her jacket as she came outside. Jake was talking to Dylan.
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