6 Murder at the Art & Craft Fair

by Steve Demaree

“What’s that?”

  “Mr. Kincaid did get carried away.”

  “So, somebody backed up what I told you?”

  “Well, some others confirmed that it happened. I don’t think anyone took any sides. So, anyway, you didn’t do as well as you hoped, and you left early. Tell me about that. What time did you leave?”

  “I don’t know exactly. I guess a little after 7:00.”

  “About the same time the others left, only none of the others packed up their belongings and headed home.”

  “Maybe all of them sold more than I did. I know that Kincaid guy did. People were packing stuff out of there left and right. Say, come to think of it. You look a little familiar. Were the two of you there that day?”

  “You’ve got a good recall, Mr. Cross. Maybe you’ll be able to help us on who else you saw there that day. Did Kincaid have any trouble with anyone else?”

  “He sure did. At least a couple of guys. One had something to do with some guy’s kid. The other was some customer who wanted to return something. He got mad because Kincaid wouldn’t take it back.”

  “Anyone else you can think of?”

  “Nope. But I saw both of those guys again before I left. They were still hanging around when I left, like they wanted to do something to Kincaid or his stuff, after he left. Is that what happened? Did someone trash his stuff?”

  “Well, some of it was knocked around a little.”

  “Serves him right, after what he did to me.”

  “Tell me, Mr. Cross, was Joan Arrington, the woman set up on the other side of Kincaid, still there when you left?”

  He smiled.

  “Was she? They were so wrapped up in each other that I figured they’d end up spending the night together.”

  “Draw me a picture.”

  “Oh, she was having trouble putting her tent down, or was pretending to have trouble. Anyway, he went over to help her, kind of had his arms around her waist while she got up on the stepstool and put her sides down. She stumbled and fell off the stool. He caught her, and neither one of them seemed to be in a hurry to separate. That was when I walked by as I was leaving.”

  “And you said something to them?”

  “I might have.”

  “Did you notice anyone else when you left?”

  “Not that I can think of.”

  “You were pretty good remembering us. Maybe you saw the woman who had the tent across the way, or either of those two men you saw earlier, the one with the kid, or the man carrying Kincaid’s Statue of Liberty? Or maybe another man walking toward the tent? See any of them when you left?”

  “I’m pretty sure there was another person or two nearby, but I was in an all fire hurry and didn’t pay no attention to who they was. Say, why all these questions? What’s all of this about, anyway?”

  “Mr. Kincaid was murdered at the festival.”

  “You’re kidding me.”

  “I’m afraid not.”

  “When?”

  “It might have happened around 8:00. We’re not sure exactly.”

  “I was on my way home by then.”

  “I didn’t say what 8:00 o’clock. I could’ve meant Sunday morning or Sunday night.”

  “I figured you meant Saturday night. Anyways, like I said, I was already on my way home.”

  “Any witnesses?”

  “Well, that woman was still there when I left, and like I said, there might have been a couple of other people, but I can’t tell you who.”

  “Nobody saw you pull out of the parking lot before 8:00.”

  “Nope. Any witnesses who says I didn’t?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Well, I’m sorry to hear that Kincaid was murdered. I didn’t like him, but I didn’t want to see him dead.”

  “Any idea who might have murdered him?”

  “Isn’t that your job to find out?”

  “It is, but sometime we rely on helpful witnesses.”

  “Well, I hope you find one. Remember, I was well on my way home by the time it happened.”

  “Provided it didn’t happen sooner. So, tell me, Mr. Cross, why haven’t you been answering your phone?”

  “So, that was you calling me. I never answer out-of-town numbers I don’t recognize.”

  “I wish you would have. It would have saved us a trip.”

  “But then you would have missed seeing West Liberty, and we wouldn’t have had a chance to have our little talk.”

  “I’m glad you enjoyed it, Mr. Cross. Maybe we’ll have another one sometime. Now, that you know who was calling you, if that number comes up again, answer the phone.”

  He promised he would, and Lou and I turned to leave, to go back to the motel, and to the girls. The night was still young, although I expected that most of West Liberty were contemplating going to bed.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  “What do you think, Lou?”

  “Well, Cross did refer to Kincaid in the past tense, he hasn’t been answering his phone, he was the only one who had a grudge against Kincaid who said he wasn’t glad he was dead, and he did leave early, maybe just after the murder.”

  “But Delmont didn’t like Kincaid either, and Edmonds was there about the time of the murder, and Pitts has a temper and a delinquent nail-pounding son, and Clements might have brought the murder weapon, which he or Joan Arrington could have used to murder Kincaid.”

  “I see what you mean, Cy.”

  “It looks like the only two left are Lois Weddington and Kincaid’s wife.”

  “I’d be in favor of Kincaid’s wife if Sheriff Offutt hadn’t said he had seen her in Murray Saturday afternoon.”

  “Maybe you should check to see if Kincaid had a plane.”

  “Or if his wife has anything going on with the sheriff.”

  “That does it. It has to be that Weddington woman. She’s the only one who didn’t have a motive or the opportunity.”

  “Unless she was the one standing next to Joan’s tent when Clements walked up.”

  “You mean it might have been her instead of Joan Arrington?”

  “Well, that doesn’t seem likely, but it is possible.”

  “But it seems weak.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Guess we’re down to Maureen Eidorn or that security couple.”

  The two of us laughed. I knew what we were down to. We were down to our wits end. I wondered if the girls could help us recover.

  +++

  Lou parked in the Days Inn lot, and we went inside and down the hall to our room. We knocked on the connecting door, and hollered, “Room Service.” Someone hollered, “It’s open,” and I opened the door and saw each of the girls stretched out on her bed, watching TV.

  “Is that all you have to do?”

  “It was until now,” Jennifer remarked. “Pull up a chair and tell me your troubles.”

  “You mean a penny for my thoughts?”

  “Cy, I think your thoughts are worth more than a penny. Inflation, you know.”

  I tried to figure if she’d given me a compliment or not. I decided to move on before Lou jumped in.

  “How about a nightcap?”

  “Sounds great. There’s a McDonald’s right across the street.”

  The four of us walked over to McDonald’s. Each of us ordered a milkshake and a late night snack we didn’t need, and sat and talked for a while. It was then that Jennifer informed me that she was leaving for home on Thursday. That meant we had the rest of our road trip together, and then she was on her way back home, and I was left with our case, my books, and Lou. She had originally planned to go home on Monday, so we had three extra days together, minus my outhouse experience.

  It was almost 10:00 when we left McDonald’s, and all of us were tired. I knew we had a busy day the next day, so we called it a night.

  +++

  West Liberty didn’t exactly have a plethora of places to dine, and some of those appeared to be open for lunch only. I’d had more golden arches than I wanted for a wh
ile, but we decided that the third time in two days was the charm and walked over for breakfast before we checked out.

  We ate, walked back to our rooms to brush our teeth, pack, and check out. I had almost finished packing when someone knocked on the door. I went over, puckered up, and opened the door. The maid stepped back, not the least bit amused.

  “Sorry, I thought you were my girlfriend.”

  “I doubt if my husband would like that. Anyway, I was just checking to see if you’d checked out yet. No hurry. I’ll clean some of the other rooms first.”

  “We’ll be checking out of this room and the next one within ten minutes.”

  “Like I said, no hurry.”

  I closed the door and Lou couldn’t contain himself.

  “I guess you got turned down, Cy.”

  I didn’t bother with a reply.

  But then I remembered I had to talk to Lou.

  “Hey, Lou. You haven’t given me our clue for today.”

  “I’m not sure how much of a clue it is. It’s denial.”

  “You mean, like the river in Egypt? Are the four of us going to Egypt?”

  “I don’t know. Do any of the vendors live there?”

  “Doesn’t look like it. I can think of a couple of people I’d like to send there, though. Like my next-door neighbor and that kid with the hammer and nails. But anyway, I guess you mean denial, like someone can’t come to grips with what happened. Like the two of us spending the night in that outhouse.”

  “I’m all for forgetting that night, Cy. I don’t ever want to experience anything like that again. But I suspect that our clue of the day has more to do with someone telling us that he or she didn’t do whatever we or someone else is accusing them of doing.”

  “You’re probably right about that. And as for the other, I was going to ask you if you want to go back to that outhouse next Tuesday.”

  “Sorry, I already made plans to count the pages in my new books, but you can go. Maybe you can find a one-holer closer to town, and go by yourself. Maybe walk so nothing will happen to Lightning. As for the clue, in time we’ll know for sure what today’s clue means. Now, we’d better hurry up and get out of here or we’ll be late getting home tonight.”

  “Don’t blame me. The girls are supposed to knock on the door when they’re ready. Why do you think I puckered and opened the door when the maid knocked? I thought it was Jennifer.”

  “What if it had been Thelma Lou?”

  “Then I guess she would’ve enjoyed an upgrade.”

  Lou was about to respond when someone knocked on the door. Instead, he hurried over, peeked out, and then threw the door wide open. It was Jennifer. Lou leaned over and planted a big kiss on her lips, just as Thelma Lou was coming out the room next door.

  “Okay, Hot Lips. Why did you do that?”

  “Cy said he was going to do it if you came to the door. I just wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine.”

  I reached over and wrapped my arms around Thelma Lou and planted a big kiss on her lips.

  As I was putting the luggage in the trunk, Jennifer came up and whispered in my ear.

  “So, Other Hot Stuff. How was it?”

  “You’re better. And you?”

  “Same here. Lou can’t compete with my Cy.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Unless you are a crow or some other bird that flies straight, there is no direct path from West Liberty to Danville. Google Maps recommended that we take the Mountain Parkway from West Liberty to Lexington, and then proceed south to Danville. This meant that it would take us two-and-a-half hours to get to Danville, and approximately the same amount of time to get back to Hilldale, even though Hilldale is nowhere near West Liberty. At least Lou was driving. And I was in the back seat with Jennifer.

  +++

  We were on the Mountain Parkway, my thoughts flitting back and forth between the case and Jennifer, when Thelma Lou interrupted my cross pollination.

  “Are you boys in a big hurry?”

  “Not especially, but I would like to get back today. Why did you ask, Thelma Lou?”

  “Well, Cy, someone told me about this restaurant in Lexington that’s really good. I thought if we have time we might eat lunch there.”

  “What’s the name of the place?”

  “Sutton’s.”

  “What kind of food do they have?”

  “Mostly Italian, and they use fresh ingredients in their dishes.”

  We had a case to solve, but time to spare, and I didn’t want to deprive Jennifer from eating at some nice place they’d heard about. Besides, she had me at Italian. But the way we’d been eating the last couple of days, I thought I’d better not be in any hurry to leave the house the next few days, because I’d have to Wii until lunchtime in order to continue losing weight.

  “Do you know where it is?”

  “Not exactly, but I know approximately where it is.”

  “You mean like somewhere in Lexington.”

  Jennifer poked me in the ribs for picking on Thelma Lou.

  “Better than that, Cy. I know it’s on Richmond Road, near Kroger. I checked on the map and it’s only a block or so out of our way. And since you’re not in any hurry, there are a couple of places in Danville I want to stop, too. They’re less than a block from each other.”

  “Is this sort of a progressive lunch you have planned?”

  “No, the other two aren’t restaurants.”

  “Oh, what are they? Clothing stores?”

  “No. Bakeries.”

  I laughed.

  “Remember, Cy, Jennifer and I have to fatten you and Lou up again after that almost twenty-four hour fast you took part in.”

  “Believe me, it was not a voluntary fast.”

  I thought of pies, and cakes, and pastries of all sorts, and envisioned the groan my Wii would give me when I stepped on it the next day, not to think of the disparaging remarks it would make to me, asking me what I did to gain so much weight, and pointing out that I was already obese. I made a mental note to mute my TV before I stepped up on the Wii, and I wouldn’t bother to read anything on the screen until I started my first workout.

  It was a good thing we didn’t have to make any stops in any other towns besides Lexington and Danville. Of course the Wii could only scream at me once a day, no matter how much I gained, and the mute button would solve that problem. But then I thought of Doc, and he could relieve me of my job if I didn’t keep the weight off, and I didn’t know where his mute button was. Of course, if I lost my job it would mean I would be less frustrated and get to spend more time with Jennifer. I considered pigging out. I contemplated asking Thelma Lou to think of more restaurants and bakeries while Lou drove.

  +++

  Sutton’s Restaurant was hidden from all traffic passing by on Richmond Road. It was a good thing Thelma Lou knew to take the first right off of Man O War. Once we turned right, it was right there. We had no trouble seeing it.

  We got there a little before noon, so we managed to beat some of the lunch crowd. We even found a parking spot near the door. We got out, walked in, and were greeted and seated promptly.

  Luckily, none of us had gotten a big breakfast at McDonald’s, so we perused the lunch menu and were ready to sample a few things. We started off by splitting two appetizers, pepperoni pups and baked stuffed mushrooms. After they arrived and we allowed them sufficient time to cool before eating them, we each plucked one of each and plopped them into his or her mouth. I thought about sneaking back there sometime all by myself and ordering pepperoni pups. The crust, the cheese, the spicy pepperoni were all delicious. It was hard for two of us to nibble and munch, but we followed the girls lead. Both appetizers received thumbs up from all four of us and we figured if everything else Sutton’s served was nearly as good, we had found a winner of a restaurant.

  We waited until the appetizers arrived to order the rest of our food. We looked over the lunch menu and each of us selected something different. Thelma Lou order
ed French onion soup and a house salad. Jennifer selected a club sandwich. Lou chose a hot brown, and I opted for spaghetti and meatballs. All of us were very pleased with what we ordered, and we were all willing to share. Each of us saw other items on the menu we wanted to try, so we made a note to make a return trip, and told Thelma Lou to thank whoever it was who recommended the restaurant to her. The menu definitely had a good variety, and at reasonable prices. When we had finished, we turned down dessert, and even turned it down a second time when we noticed a Baskin-Robbins across the street when we left. Besides, Thelma Lou planned to storm two bakeries before dinner, and we still had a case to solve.

  +++

  When we left Sutton’s, the Lexington traffic in no way resembled the traffic we had left behind in West Liberty. West Liberty’s idea of a traffic jam is when two farmers stop in the middle of the road to talk about the weather. Lexington, on the other hand, has lots of farmers of some sort, and traffic engineers to see that they don’t move. I heard that drivers in Lexington used to mind all the stoppages at lights, but that was before someone invented texting.

  We waited for an opportunity to dash out of Sutton’s parking lot into lunchtime traffic. Eventually, Lou prayed and floored it. Once we got out onto Locust Hill Drive, we had stop lights to aid us until we hit the countryside again, and stop we did at most of the lights. Just about every corner had one. It seemed like it was three days later when we turned off of Man O War and headed out Nicholasville Road on our way to Danville. According to what I remembered from studying Google Maps, it was approximately an hour from Lexington to Danville, probably a little more considering the time of day it was. We had gotten to the other side of Nicholasville before we saw more countryside, and before we left the traffic lights behind. A little over an hour after we left Lexington, we arrived in downtown Danville, home of at least two bakeries, and who knows what else. If Danville is like most towns, those most likely to occupy space downtown are lawyers.

  We hit the bakeries before searching for Joan Arrington, because we weren’t sure how long those small town bakeries stay open each day. For Thelma Lou’s sake, we got to both of them before they closed for the day. Compared to a lot of Kentucky towns, Danville isn’t small, but it’s not exactly Lexington or Louisville, either.