“Mom, it’s nine o’clock at night. Where are you going to find voters? And if you say in the bar, I’m going to tell you that’s a terrible idea,” Lisa said.
Penny shrugged and clasped her perfectly manicured hands together. “Fine. But I still require an explanation.”
“Can’t we have a little family fun?” Lisa said.
Toby peeked inside the grocery bag on the table. “Nice,” he said, pulling out a bag of M&Ms.
“Hey! Those are for the game,” Lisa said.
Toby paused in his effort to open the bag. “What do you mean?” he said.
“Ok, here’s the thing. And this can’t go beyond this room,” Lisa said. She waited for everyone to nod their agreement before continuing. “I have a theory and I want to test it out.”
Carly smiled, while the rest looked confused.
“My theory is that Ethan Valentine is crooked, and he was using the poker game to accept bribes,” Lisa said.
“The poker game got him kicked out of office,” Penny objected.
“True, but that was an obscure old clause in the town charter. He was probably counting on nobody remembering it, or maybe he didn’t know about it himself. Lots of places have weird old laws from a hundred years ago that nobody every bothered to repeal but don’t get enforced anymore,” Lisa said.
There were nods and shrugs of acceptance around the table.
“If Valentine was accepting bribes, someone had to be offering those bribes, right?” Lisa continued. “One of the players at that game asked me if I know of another game in town. It could be he’s just a compulsive gambler, but I think he’s dirty, and I want to catch him at it.”
“Wait a minute,” Toby said. “Wait a minute. Are you trying to do unofficial police work again, cuz?”
“Not exactly,” Lisa said. “More like, um, trying to satisfy my curiosity while also being a good citizen?”
Toby laughed. “I don’t know what to do with you.”
“You’re telling me!” Mo said from the front hall. He slid his coat off and hung it up before joining them.
Lisa planted a kiss on Mo’s lips and ruffled his brown hair. Toby went back to fiddling with the candy bag.
“Toby, leave those M&Ms alone!” she said. “Those are for betting.”
“Betting?” Toby said.
“We’re going to play poker, but we’ll bet with candy instead of cash. If Ryan Regent is coming here hoping to play poker with the potential new mayor and let her win a bribe’s worth of money, his reaction to the friendly game for chocolate stakes should tell us something,” Lisa said.
Carly yawned. “Sorry. Not bored, just tired all the time. When’s this guy supposed to get here, anyway?”
“Any minute now,” Lisa said. “Do you want something caffeinated? We are in a working coffee shop, after all.”
“No. With my luck, I’ll be sleepy here and wide awake in bed,” Carly said.
A tapping on the front door got everyone’s hearts racing. Lisa made a calming motion to the table and went to let their guest in.
“Welcome,” she said. “Everyone’s just in the library.”
Ryan walked to the library door and took stock of the room, like he was memorizing everyone’s faces and positions. After a moment, a smile broke through and he went in and sat down next to Penny.
“I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of meeting the future mayor of this lovely town,” he said. He slid a business card into her hand. “I’m Ryan Regent, with the Bargain Box Corporation. I hope I can count on your fine leadership in the matter of our proposed location.”
Mo cleared his throat. “I believe we’re all here to play some cards,” he said.
He opened one of the decks and removed the jokers and extras and started to shuffle. Lisa could tell he was nervous from the stiff way he held the cards but hoped no one else noticed.
“What are the house stakes?” Ryan said, still smiling at Penny.
“Toby, if you’d do the honors,” Lisa said, indicating the M&Ms bag he’d been fiddling with.
Toby grinned as he tore off the top corner. Lisa unstacked the little porcelain bowls and arrayed them in front of her cousin. He poured candy into each bowl until the bag was empty.
“Another bag?” he said.
“Go for it,” Lisa said.
The candy clattered into the little bowls. Lisa and Toby passed the bowls around the table when they were full. Ryan took a scant handful of M&Ms and popped them in his mouth. Carly giggled.
“Are you sure you want to eat your money?” Carly said.
Ryan left off trying to charm Penny and focused on Carly. “What do you mean?”
“Those aren’t snacks, silly, they’re for betting with,” Carly said.
“Oh,” Ryan said, nonplussed.
Mo slid the cards to Gideon to cut, then started dealing.
“The game is Texas Hold’em,” Mo said. “Ante is one M&M.”
Everyone started throwing in their ante.
“What’s the buy-in?” Ryan said.
Mo raised an eyebrow as he finished dealing everyone their two cards face down. “Buy-in?”
“Right,” Ryan said, “the buy-in. We’re using candy instead of chips, but what’s the buy-in?”
“Chips?” Carly said, giggling. “They’d have crumbled when you tried to rake in a pot.”
“It would be even worse if someone brought out some onion dip,” Gideon said, nudging his wife.
“What is going on here?” Ryan demanded.
“We’re playing poker,” Mo said. “Gideon, your bet.”
“Are the different colors of candy different denominations?” Ryan said, visibly frustrated.
“No, they’re candy,” Lisa said.
“What about the money?” Ryan said.
“I bet two M&Ms,” Gideon said, sliding the candy to the center of the table.
“Too rich for my blood,” Carly said.
“I’ll call,” Lisa said.
“Fold,” Penny said.
Everyone stared at Ryan, waiting for him to bet. His mouth opened and closed like a goldfish.
“This is… just a friendly game?” Ryan said.
Everyone nodded.
“No money, just… candy?” Ryan said.
They nodded again.
He pursed his lips.
“I thought you liked to play poker,” Lisa said.
“This game is… not what I expected,” Ryan said.
“You didn’t think we were playing for real money,” Lisa said. “With my cousin here? The cop?”
Toby waved.
“I thought… I thought…” Ryan looked at his cards. “I fold.”
They played for about fifteen minutes before Ryan made an excuse to leave.
“Thanks for coming,” Lisa said as she unlocked the front door for him.
Ryan gave her a long, suspicious look. “I don’t know what your game is, lady, but I’ll figure it out,” he said. “Good night.”
She closed the door after him, went back to the library and sat down.
“What do you think?” she said.
“I think that young man wanted to bribe me,” Penny said. “What a cad.”
“I think so, too,” Lisa said. “Toby?”
“I’ll keep an eye on him,” Toby said.
“What about the murder?” Lisa said. “Please tell me his alibi was faked.”
“I’ll call Officer Handy, see if she has anything new on it,” Toby said. He took out his phone and went into the parlor.
Lisa grabbed a handful of M&Ms from her porcelain bowl and ate them. She’d lost every hand she’d played, which meant no one else had touched any of the candy in her bowl, unlike that of the winners. She smiled to herself.
Toby came back into the library and blew out a breath. “Sorry, cuz. His alibi is rock solid. Karen talked to the person he said he was on the phone with and they confirmed it.”
“But couldn’t he have been on his cell at the same
time as committing a murder?” Lisa said.
“Multitasking?” Toby said. “That might have worked, except he was on the landline in his hotel room.”
“Can’t that be spoofed?” Lisa said, feeling increasingly silly in her desire for Ryan Regent’s alibi to be proved fake.
“Turns out he asked for some fresh towels that night, and housekeeping confirms he was in his room on the phone,” Toby said.
“I guess that rules him out,” Lisa said.
“Yep.”
“I still think he’s dirty,” she said.
“Understood. But he didn’t kill Dan Weston,” Toby said.
“Anyone want to play another hand?” Lisa said, waving to the cards on the table.
“I’m a little tired,” Carly said.
“Yeah, I think we’ll head out,” Gideon agreed.
“And I need my beauty rest,” Penny said. “I have voters to connect with tomorrow.”
“I’m with them,” Toby said.
The guests started gathering coats and filtering out to their cars. Mo hung back.
“Do you have to go, too?” Lisa said.
“I’m all yours,” he said with a smile.
Chapter 29
The week flew by in the café, with increasing sales of the Sunshine Muffins. As she served customers, Lisa went back and forth between pondering how to get Ethan Valentine to admit his crime and how to keep her mother from having a nervous breakdown before the debate.
“He’s had years of experience at public speaking,” Penny said Friday morning as she stress-ate a third muffin. “I’ll be humiliated.”
“You won’t be humiliated,” Lisa said. “You’re an excellent public speaker. You’ve been giving talks at your real estate conferences for years.”
Penny sighed. “That’s different. Of course I can talk about real estate! Anyone could do that.”
“That’s not true. Most people don’t know the first thing about real estate.”
“That’s my point exactly,” Penny moaned. “I can talk about it because of my experience. But Mayor Valentine has experience in politics. What was I thinking?”
“First of all, he’s Mr. Valentine now, not Mayor Valentine. And second, you were thinking that our town deserves honest leadership,” Lisa said. “Don’t you believe that anymore?”
“I do,” Penny mumbled.
“Come on, say it like you mean it. Does Moss Creek deserve honest leadership?”
“Yes, it does.” Penny straightened her spine. Her hands went to her hair. “Do I need a trim before I go on stage?”
“It looks fine to me,” Lisa said. She gathered up Penny’s dishes.
“You would say that,” Penny said, casting a critical eye on Lisa’s hair and clothes. “I have to go. I’m sure Jean-Paul will fit me in for a little touch-up.”
Penny bustled out of the café to go bully her hairdresser into giving her a last-minute appointment. Lisa sighed in relief. She wouldn’t have to call her father to come and retrieve Penny.
While soothing Penny, Lisa had let things pile up around the café. Several tables needed busing and wiping down. A new pot of coffee needed to brew, and a fresh batch of bread was due to go in the oven. Lisa rushed around playing catch-up, barely getting things done in time for the lunch rush.
Lisa dipped a tasting spoon into the soup of the day. The rich earthy flavor of wild mushroom greeted her tongue. She added a dash of salt and gave it a stir. Paired with fresh bread for dipping, the soup was sure to be a hit. As she swirled the spoon in the pot, an idea floated to the surface of Lisa’s mind. Instead of confronting Ethan Valentine and trying to trick him into admitting guilt in Dan’s murder, maybe she could get Fern Valentine to admit that his alibi was fabricated. Lisa smiled and stirred the soup. If his alibi crumbled, his guilt would be easier to establish.
The front bell jingled. Lisa put down the spoon and went to greet her customers. She found a crowd dressed in tie-dye and peace signs waiting in the hall, with Olivia and Billy Jack in front.
“Hi, Aunt Olivia,” Lisa said, giving her aunt a quick hug. “I see you’ve brought friends.”
“That’s right,” Olivia said. “We’re going to have a rally in front of City Hall, and then a march to the high school for the debate. But first, lunch.”
“Oh! You’re all coming to the debate?” Lisa said.
A rumble of assent came from the crowd. Billy Jack stroked his long, grizzled beard and waggled his eyebrows.
“We sure are,” Billy Jack said. “That snake Valentine might think he can put one over on Moss Creek, but we’re going to show him different.”
“Good,” Lisa said. “The lunch special today is wild mushroom soup.”
Olivia turned around to get a head count of who wanted soup.
“Is it gluten free?” someone in the back asked.
“Jill is gluten free,” Olivia said.
“Yes, the soup is gluten free, unless you dip the bread in it,” Lisa said.
“No bread for me,” Jill said.
“Ok, that’s sixteen soups, and give me Jill’s bread,” Olivia said. “And water for everyone. But not bottled. Bad for the environment.”
“Coming right up,” Lisa said. “If you’d like to have a seat, I believe the sitting room has plenty of tables available. Are these separate checks?”
“Nah, I’m taking up a collection,” Billy Jack said. “Passing the hat.”
A young guy in a beanie took off his hat and gave it to Billy Jack.
“See?” Billy Jack said, dropping some crumpled bills into the hat.
Lisa went to the kitchen to dish up the soup. Olivia’s crowd had answered one fear about the night’s debate. The audience would not be empty. Lisa wasn’t sure Penny would like a group of rowdy hippies cheering her on, but it was better than nothing.
In LA, Lisa had attended enough music nights, comedy nights, and one-act plays with no one in the audience except the performers’ closest friends. She shuddered at the memory of the forced laughter and perfunctory applause. Olivia and Billy Jack and their friends were going for the right reason—they were interested in the political fight.
As she brought soup to the sitting room, Lisa’s mind went back to the problem of Fern Valentine and the phony alibi. At the funeral, Fern had been gossipy and quick to spread the word about others. Maybe a tidbit of juicy gossip would serve to draw her out. But even if she did admit it, would anyone believe Lisa about the alibi? Lisa needed a way to get proof.
Her phone buzzed and Lisa took a quick moment to check it. She had a text message from her dad.
“I’ll be at the band room at 6 to set up. What time will you be there?”
“Meet you as soon as I close for the day,” Lisa texted back.
She put her phone away at the sound of a ruckus in the front of the café.
“Corporate shill!”
“Pig!”
“Parasite!”
Lisa ran into the hall. Billy Jack and several of his friends were on their feet in the sitting room, hurling insults at the front door, where Ryan Regent stood frozen. He stepped out of the doorway when Lisa arrived.
Lisa put her hands on her hips and summoned her best sing-it-to-the-cheap-seats voice. “That’s enough. No yelling at my customers, not in my house.”
Billy Jack scowled. “We were just leaving anyway.”
He marched out of the room, followed by the rest of his protest crew. Olivia went last. She gave Lisa a half shrug and a double handful of wrinkled money.
“Keep the change. See you tonight,” she said.
“Have a nice protest,” Lisa said, stuffing the money into her apron pocket.
Ryan walked into the sitting room and sat at one of the vacated tables. He pushed the bowl and cup out of the way and sat back, folding his arms.
“Can I help you?” Lisa said, picking up the dishes.
“Just looking for some lunch.”
“The soup of the day is wild mushroom.”
�
��Fine. And a coffee,” he said.
Lisa nodded and went to the kitchen. It felt strange having him back in the café after their poker game. Lisa brought him his lunch and then did her best to avoid him.
More lunch customers came into the café, and by 1:00 Lisa had run out of fresh bread for dipping in the soup. By 1:30 she’d sold out of the soup itself. She peeked into the sitting room. Ryan had gone, leaving some cash tucked under the edge of his bowl. Lisa sighed in relief.
*
Lou Chance was moving music stands off the risers of the band room when Lisa arrived just past six. She picked up a stand and followed him to the band storage room.
“Hi, Daddy.”
“Hey, baby. Reminds me of old times,” Lou said, gesturing at the band storage room.
Instrument cases were stacked by size in the shelves on all sides of the room. A faint smell of brass polish and teenage sweat lingered in the air. Lou put a hand on a little black piccolo case, his face mournful.
“Not many boys in the band played piccolo or flute,” Lou said.
“Dan did,” Lisa said.
“Dan did,” Lou agreed.
They were silent for a minute, drifting in memory. Then Lou took his hand off the case and strode back out to the band room.
“Lots more to do,” he called.
Lisa followed, collecting more music stands and stowing them out of the way for the night.
“What kind of PA system does this place use now?” she said later.
Lou grinned. “We’ve got clip-on mics,” he said.
“No way. When did that happen?” Lisa said.
“A year or so before I retired. PTA helped with a big fundraising push for the band, and I got to pick a pretty nice set-up. Want me to show you?”
“Yes, please.”
Lou led her into the band director’s office. Lisa caught her breath when she saw the new décor. It wasn’t the same without the cardboard standee of Robert Preston as “Professor” Harold Hill in The Music Man. The new director had pictures of the Moss Creek Tiger Band on the wall, but they were new pictures, not the old band pictures that had been up on the wall since Lisa was a little girl.
Lou unlocked the cabinet behind the desk and started pulling out sound equipment. Lisa smiled at his enthusiasm as he showed her the ease of use and the speaker setup, and the little clip-on microphones.
Killer Campaign (Lisa Chance Cozy Mysteries Book 3) Page 16