Frosted on the Ferris Wheel

by Laura Pauling

  “I hear ya!” She stumbled from her bedroom and poured food and water for him. “I need you ready and raring to go today.”

  She took him for a walk, showered, dressed, and prepared her coolers for the day. After the festival she was going to take a full day off and do nothing but watch murder mystery reruns on television. She’d sleep. Eat. Read. And then watch more movies. Nothing but relax.

  Today wasn’t as hot, and Holly was glad for a sweater as she set up her booth once again. She tied Muffins to the leg of the table and placed his water dish next to him in the grass. “Good boy!” she crooned.

  Then the day started. By ten a.m. she’d sold even more than the day before at that time. Hopefully that meant word had spread. She encouraged every customer to stop by Just Cheesecake and take advantage of the twenty percent off coupon as sales had soared the day before. Whenever she glanced over at her competitor, Millicent seemed to be doing well too, flashing her smile and oozing with charm.

  Right on time, the midway started up. The carts at the top of the Ferris wheel shuddered to life and started their trip down to accept the first eager passengers of the day. She squinted. Was someone riding in the top cart? Had they spent the night there? How was that possible? Questions raced through her mind.

  The cart dipped below her view. The ride stopped and didn’t start moving again.

  “Excuse me, miss. I’ll take one smoothie.” An older woman stood impatient at her booth.

  Distracted, Holly poured the crushed ice and one smoothie bag into a plastic cup in exchange for money. “Here you go.”

  Seconds later, the lady spoke again. “I’ll need change?”

  Holly stared at the twenty-dollar bill. “Oh right. Sorry about that.”

  When the lady left, Holly grabbed Muffins and drifted over to the crowd at the base of the Ferris wheel. The feeling of dread grew as she pressed closer.

  Someone screamed.

  Murmurs rippled back through the crowd. Holly made out one of the words. A body.

  Most of the people scattered. Some were frozen, horrified, yet curious at the sight. She approached the ride. Chip had his phone out. She heard his frantic words as he reported the crime.

  Holly studied him. Everyone should be shaken up seeing a body, but Chip seemed more than that. He kept glancing at it, then at this phone, then at the street. As if the killer waited for him in the shadows.

  The crowd spread as Holly moved forward. She gasped at the sight of the man. He lay sprawled across the plastic red bench seat. An arm hung over the side. His face was pale, dried blood on the sides of his face. A bullet to the head.

  Joel Atherton.

  Holly stumbled away from the Ferris wheel and the body of Joel Atherton. It was hard to wipe that image from her mind. It was hard to grasp what his murder meant for the current investigation. Did the same person murder both Gary Schilling and Joel? Or had Joel been so envious, so enraged by his partner, that he got rid of him? Permanently. And then someone got rid of him?

  She walked away. The last thing she needed was to be questioned by Trent or Chief Hardy. The last thing she needed was to be detained. At her booth, she closed up, shoved everything in the coolers and packed up her plastic. The festive atmosphere of the day was officially over.

  Sirens wailed in the distance. Trent, in his blue uniform, strode across the fairgrounds toward the Ferris wheel turned crime scene.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Holly saw someone dart across the street. It was Chip. He climbed into a car.

  Holly grabbed her dog. “Come on, Muffins. Time to put our sleuthing skill to work.”

  Millicent rushed over from her booth. “What happened over there? Is it true?”

  “What?” Holly played innocent.

  “Don’t play those games with me. I saw you over there. Is it true? Someone was murdered?”

  Holly nodded, her face set in a grimace. “Joel Atherton.”

  Millicent’s eyes grew the size of mini-cupcakes. “Emergency meeting. Now! I’ll contact the others.” She whipped out her smart phone. “The Tasty Bite. Ten minutes.”

  Holly walked away. A meeting made no sense. Now was the time to act. They could talk and brainstorm and find the connections between clues and murders later.

  “Holly!” Millicent called. “Where are you going?”

  Holly focused on Chip pulling onto the street in a silver four-door car, beat-up and rusty around the edges. Within minutes, she could be in her car and following him.

  “Holly!”

  Millicent called her name several more times until her demanding voice faded. Holly climbed into her car and dropped Muffins in the front seat. She buckled and pulled into traffic before the cops shut down the entire area.

  Too late.

  Chief Hardy herself parked her cruiser at the edge of the fairground and was stepping out.

  Holly stepped on it and sped past before the chief could officially signal cars to stop, before Holly officially disobeyed a direct order. She’d lost sight of Chip’s car but had a hunch where he was headed.

  Minutes later, she parked down the road from Judy’s house. She crept through yards until she approached an open window. Voices carried outside. Holly crouched and listened.

  “What were you thinking?” Chip asked, his voice brimming with anger. “You put me as a direct link to a murder. It was my ride.”

  “I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about.” The disdain in Judy’s voice was new, a tone Holly had never heard from the grieving widow.

  “I think you do,” Chip shot back. “Was that your way of sending me a subtle threat? If I yapped or I didn’t following your bidding you’d off me too.”

  Holly pulled out her phone, pressed record on video, and lifted it as high as she dared.

  “I’ve done nothing but follow your orders. To the letter. I killed off all your late husband’s real estate deals. I sent the last minute text to Gary and Joel from your phone asking them to come because of an emergency.”

  Muffins whimpered. Holly shushed him and stroked his back. So Chip messed up Gary’s real estate investments? But then why did Judy tell her yesterday Joel had been the one to sabotage those efforts? Was she lying? Or had she really thought that? Kitty made it clear Joel swooped in and made the purchases.

  “Idiot!” Judy cried. “Just like Joel. Just like Gary. Assuming because I’m a woman that I don’t carry any weight. That I couldn’t figure out betrayal and treachery. I wasn’t warning or threatening you—I was tying up loose ends.”

  They continued to argue. Holly pressed Stop on her phone just as Muffins wiggled out of her arms and darted into the hedges along the side of the house. She had to send this first. Quickly, hands shaking, Holly tried to share the video clip with Trent. She was about to press Send when a cloth covered her mouth. One breath of the fumes and the world faded to darkness.

  ***

  Holly awoke, confused, a fog of sleep blanketing her. The sun felt warm on her face. She blinked and tried to scratch her face but her hands were tied.

  Panic exploded resulting in a flurry of movement to free her arms and legs.

  “Fight all you want, dear. Won’t help.”

  The voice sounded familiar. Drowsy, Holly tried to remember what had happened. The last she knew she was at the fair. No, she left the fair and followed Chip to Judy’s. She’d captured their conversation and tried to share it. Her heart sank when she realized she never did.

  “Why?” Her voice came out a croak. She blinked off sleep and the glaring sun.

  Judy laughed but it faded quickly. “You’re smart. Such a great quality to have in a young woman. But you’re asking the wrong question. One you already know the answer to.”

  Holly figured it wouldn’t work but tried anyway. “I was concerned about Chip. He ran off. I tried to find him but then near your house my dog ran away. I was just about to knock on your door...”

  “Oh, sweet young thing. I know you think you’ve been spying on us,
but we’ve been tracking your movements since you kept bumping into Chip. Feigning friendship and concern. Cleaning my house under false pretenses.”

  Holly’s vision finally cleared. Judy stood over her. They were in the woods, a clearing. The dirt sides of a pit surrounded Holly. For the first time, she noticed the hum and grind of a machine. The smell of damp, pungent earth.

  “Don’t mind that noise. It’s just the cement mixer.” Judy sighed. “I’m quite the feminist at heart, you know. My husband underestimated me. I don’t mind telling you now since you’re going to take a little bath in a few minutes. But he was such a caveman. We’d been married thirty years. He was buying up properties with profit from the business, planning on fixing them up, and flipping them. Without telling me. The nerve!”

  “That’s terrible.” Holly offered but realized how stupid it might sound. Judy was smart enough to know that Holly would say anything right now to get on her good side.

  Judy kept talking as if Holly wasn’t even there. “It was my family’s money that allowed him to start up Sunny Side Realty. Then instead of paying it back into our retirement fund, he grew greedy. I found the divorce papers the day before I killed him.”

  “What about Chip? And Joel?”

  “Oh, them.” Judy laughed. “At first Joel was on my side, a true friend. When Gary died Joel made the mistake of blackmailing me. When are men going to realize they can’t cross me and live?”

  Holly didn’t have much left to say, except to plead for her life. “You don’t have to kill me, a fellow woman. No one would believe me anyway, not even if I could remember everything you’ve said. It would be me against you.”

  At first, Judy didn’t answer. She dragged the mixer over to the pit and moved the spout. Thick gray cement traveled down the spout and onto Holly’s legs. It felt cold and rough. The panic, the thoughts of death, traveled through her. She tried again.

  “Let me go and I’ll say nothing. My way of saying thanks. I just want to sell my cheesecake.”

  “Where do you think I’ve been living, Holly Hart?” Judy’s face appeared over Holly. Her piercing gaze, cold and heartless. Determined. “You’ve been up to you ears in the last two murders in our quaint little town. You can’t help but solve the puzzles. To tell your little boyfriend. Don’t worry. Death will come fast.”

  The cement filled the bottom of the pit, inching its way up her legs and sides. Holly felt suffocated and gasped for breath while she still could.

  “Goodbye, Holly. You had so much potential, too.”

  A sharp barking sounded. Muffins appeared and attacked Judy, biting at her heels. Judy kicked him.

  “Hey!” Holly yelled. “That’s my dog.”

  Judy laughed. “Great attack dog. The little mutt.”

  A deeper, louder, more threatening bark pierced the tension. Judy stopped laughing.

  Fear grew as the cement reached Holly’s shoulders. Only a few more inches and her mouth would be covered.

  Sprinkles, or Thumper, bounded full speed at Judy. His great paws landed on her chest. She fell over and her head hit the mixer with a dull thud. Her body landed on the ground and Thumper sat on her.

  “Holly! Holly!”

  It was Millicent. Holly felt nothing but relief.

  Millicent stood over the pit. Words spilled out her mouth. “I knew you were up to something, so I tried to follow you. Except Muffins found me and led me to Judy’s where I found your phone. I listened to the video clip that you hadn’t shared yet with Trent. I shared it but couldn’t wait. Before I followed Muffins into the woods behind Judy’s house, I ran and borrowed Thumper again. Sorry, but I didn’t think Muffins would be enough.”

  “Millicent?” Holly’s voice shook.

  “Then Muffin led me right here.” She glanced at Judy. “That witch. I can’t believe it. She played her part so well.” Millicent sighed. “This will definitely have to be part of my next novel. Such cunning deceit.”

  “Millicent!” Holly shouted. “Help!”

  “Right, sorry.” She plunged her hand into the hardening cement and tried to lift Holly out.

  “Turn off the machine!” Holly ordered.

  “Right again.” Millicent shut it off and stepped into the cement. She let out a squeak. Then, with a grunt, freed Holly by pulling her out of the pit.

  Holly didn’t care she was covered in cement. Or that she was still tied. She wasn’t going to die. She stared up at the blue sky and puffy clouds. She breathed in the scent of the damp woods and ferns. She smiled when Muffins licked her face.

  In the distance, shouts echoed, growing closer. Sounded like Trent. They had evidence. This murder investigation was solved. At least one thing in Holly’s life made sense.

  Later that night, Holly sat curled up under a fleece blanket, a glass of wine in hand. Her body tingled with warmth. It had been a long day. She’d sat through the interrogations, the questions, offering her testimony to what she’d seen and heard.

  Turns out, Judy Schilling had been telling the truth. She’d been arrested for murder.

  Holly shivered as a shudder rippled through her chest. She couldn’t shake the feel of the wet cement coating her skin, seconds from a deadly bath. The last minute thoughts that went through her head. Things she meant to do but had never done. She thought about her family and how they’d been forced to all go into hiding.

  Someone knocked on the door. “It’s us!” Kitty called.

  Holly unlocked the door and let her friends inside. They entered carrying wine and a goodie basket filled with cookies, treats, bath soaps, and body sprays.

  “This wasn’t my idea.” Charlene nodded to the basket.

  Holly was just glad to see her friend. Glad to know that the reason she’d been pulling away was that she had a hard time balancing life, friendships, and Pierre Monroe.

  They took seats on the couch and in the armchair. Kitty chatted about the weather and the upcoming thunderstorm. Ann talked about a new, handsome librarian and how he loved Shakespeare and poetry. Charlene added in her usual comments.

  “Guys? I see what you’re trying to do. And thanks.” Holly drained her wineglass. “I appreciate your friendship.” She bit her lip. She’d been thinking a lot this afternoon. “And I wanted to apologize.”

  “What?” Ann asked, her disbelief obvious.

  Kitty said, “I agree. No need to apologize. None of this was your fault.”

  “But it was.” Holly picked up one of the soaps and ran her finger over the pastel wrapping. “I let Millicent get to me. I let her lies and exaggerations push me over the edge of logic. It’s Trent’s choice who he wants to date. I can’t hold that against him or Millicent. I rushed into the last leg of this investigation foolishly. I should have let one of you know I was following Chip. That I was at Judy’s.”

  Holly fully expected Charlene’s reprimand, but instead, her friend studied her with the hint of a smile. “Well, don’t expect me to apologize,” Charlene retorted. “For not telling you about my love life. That’s no one’s business but my own.”

  “Noted.” Holly smiled at her friend. It really was okay, too. Charlene would talk about it when she was ready.

  “Um.” Ann picked at her fingernails. “What did you mean about Trent and Millicent?”

  Holly thought back on the last couple days. Ever since her date with Trent, her miserable picnic on the beach, Millicent had stepped in and replaced Holly effortlessly. “I accept that sometimes you can’t fight history. I don’t have years of memories with Trent, so I understand his choices.”

  “Oh.” Kitty glanced at Ann.

  “Why?” Holly narrowed in on Ann.

  “Well,” Ann started but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

  “Holly, it’s Trent.”

  Emotion flared, all the hurt from the last two days. He could’ve talked to her if he wanted to move on. This wasn’t middle school. She glared at her friends. Obviously, they had a hand in this.

  “Don’t look at me.” C
harlene raised her hands.

  Kitty opened the door and welcomed Trent. “We’re just leaving. Right, girls?”

  Her friends left, even though a part of Holly desperately wanted them to stay. Seconds later, they were alone. Trent stood awkwardly by the door. Tears rushed. She had missed him.

  “Sorry they dragged you over here. Don’t feel like you have to stay,” she said.

  He entered the room and sat next to her on the couch. “I’d rather stay.”

  There was so much unspoken between them that had to be said. Holly decided to let him off easy. “You don’t have to say anything. I understand. I’m not blind. You two have history and prom date memories and your parents are dating. She’s beautiful. I get it. I understand I frustrate you to no end when I get involved in police investigations, but if you understood my past, you’d understand why I can’t let them go.”

  “Whoa! Let’s backtrack a bit first.” Trent poured them both a fresh glass of wine. “What are you talking about? Who are you talking about? History? Prom dates?”

  Holly thought it was rather obvious. “You and Millicent. Dating.”

  “Dating?” Trent chugged his wine after almost choking. “We are not dating. What gave you that idea?”

  “You two were at the restaurant.” Holly felt the heat of her flush, remembering how she’d encouraged Muffins to jump on their table. Well, that part she didn’t regret.

  He sighed and took Holly’s hand. “We weren’t on a date. She said we had to have dinner together. It was an emergency. She wanted to talk about her dad and my mom.”

  “You’re not dating?” Hope swirled.

  “No.” He leaned closer. “Why would I go on a romantic date with her, when I’m dating you? I’m sorry I didn’t mention my dinner with Millicent beforehand. After, the investigation heated up, I didn’t get a chance.”

  “I thought you were mad at me,” Holly whispered.

  “Maybe a little. Frustrated? Yes. Concerned? Yes. And clearly, I had good reason to be concerned.”

  “I know.” She shivered, fighting off the feeling of panic.