A Fair to Die For

by Radine Trees Nehring

  At six a.m. on Monday, Carrie and Henry were sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee when the phone rang. Carrie answered, and a male voice asked for Edie. When Henry mouthed the question “Milton Sales?” she nodded, shrugged, and went to knock on the guestroom door. When Edie, fully dressed, opened it, Carrie pointed to the phone on the nightstand. “For you.”

  Back in the kitchen she said, “He asked for Edie, so I assume he knows her voice well enough to recognize she wasn’t the one answering.”

  While she was up she poured more coffee for both of them, and had just returned to her chair when Edie appeared.

  “That was Milton. We’re meeting for breakfast at War Eagle Mill. Nine o’clock.” She lifted her chin and stared at Henry. “I assume we can make it by then.”

  Carrie looked from one to the other and took a sip of coffee to conceal her smile. She’s still miffed about who’s calling some of the shots. Henry knows that, and he’s ignoring it. Evidently he doesn’t believe our presence is going to endanger her real mission—tracing a drug source into this part of the Ozarks.

  Keeping her expression bland, she said, “Coffee?” and, when Edie nodded, went to pour it.

  Henry asked, “Did you tell him you had turned the car in?”

  “Yes. And I told him I would be depending on you for a ride to the mill.”

  “What did he say?”

  “Pretty skittish at first, so I had to say I trusted you . . . both of you,” she finished, looking at Carrie. “I told him you were my cousin and we were tight. But don’t you have an appointment with a deputy sheriff today?”

  So we’re suddenly tight? Best buddies? Carrie thought as she said, “The deputy who came here to test the powder said something about an appointment, but I don’t want to talk to anyone official until after the meeting with Sales. Don’t know what direction to go, or who I’m possibly covering for.”

  Edie winked at her. “Careful. You might get caught doing something illegal, or even working undercover.”

  Carrie ignored that. Her mind had moved on to another problem. “Odd he’s chosen the Bean Palace. It’s kind of boxed in, steep stairs to the third floor, no other exit. What if someone, law enforcement or not, follows either Sales or us? Catches us all there together?”

  “You are thinking like an agent,” Edie said. “But Milton says if someone is keeping tabs on any of us they’ll know how to find us, no matter where we choose to meet. He also told me there are little-known back stairs for a quick and easy exit to the parking lot, if needed. We’ll be right by the stairs if we park at the side of the mill facing the river.”

  “Remind me,” Carrie said, “Why are you so interested in meeting him again when it obviously could invite more trouble for all of us? You found out what you wanted to know about your father, didn’t you? So I’m guessing your continuing interest is only in Sales’s possible connection to drug distribution. You want to clear up the issue of whether or not he’s involved, right? On the other hand, why does he want to meet with you? Does he know what your job is? Otherwise, what possible reason could he have for a meeting this morning?”

  Before Edie could say anything Henry spoke up, “She—and we—want to know how he’s connected to those powder-filled toys. Even if we weren’t curious about events at the RV, you and I are now part of this because of the toys. As for his reason for wanting to schedule a meeting? That’s murky, I admit, and it could be because he’s suspicious of Edie. He might wonder if her interest in finding him was truly because she wanted information about her father. Is she in danger from him? I doubt it. He could easily have killed her Sunday morning, but that’s one reason we’re going with her now. On the other hand, I wonder if he doesn’t want to affirm his innocence of any wrong-doing through Edie, and now, through us as well.”

  “Us?”

  “Yes. Yesterday I learned that Edie and Sales had exchanged cell phone numbers. Her cell phone doesn’t work here, so how did he call?”

  “Ohhhh. He used our land line.”

  “And, assuming she didn’t give that number to him, how did he find the number?

  “Phone book. He met you at Hobbs. He knows our names.”

  They both looked at Edie, and she nodded.

  “So, he probably knows a lot more than our phone number. Thanks to the Internet, few of us have secrets any more. It is quite possible for any diligent searcher to learn our recent past connections to several criminal cases on the side of the law.

  “Another reason we want to meet with Sales, Carrie, is that you’re possibly suspected of connection to a crime because you had those powder-filled toys in your possession, and also showed a peculiar amount of interest in Sales while you were at the fair. We need to learn the history of those toys.”

  Carrie said, “Okay, I see all this. But, Edie’s the only one who can clear me on the reason for my interest in Sales at the fair. And she hasn’t chosen to do so thus far.”

  Edie had been turning her coffee mug around and around on the tabletop. She now pulled a paper napkin from the holder and concentrated on blotting a drip of coffee on the side of the mug.

  Henry watched in silence while she did this, then said, “Here’s something else. We really don’t know who those two men followed to the park. Was it you, Edie? Or Sales? Both, maybe? The only way Carrie and I can get rid of the men as far as our own lives are concerned is to solve your mysteries. And of course both of us want to be sure you’re not in any danger. By the way, I’m convinced those guys are not part of the FBI, no matter what badge Arnie is flaunting. The fact Ray found no evidence of an FBI connection is suggestive, if not final confirmation.”

  He reached out and took Carrie’s hand across the table. “It looks like we’ve become part of another investigation, like it or not.”

  Carrie smiled at him. “Does anyone think it’s odd Sales chose to return to the same neighborhood where there’s been trouble? Maybe that should tell us something?”

  “Tells us he knows the area at least,” Henry said, “and maybe he wants to check on his RV from a safe distance—see what’s happening there. I doubt the sheriff’s department has bothered to tow it away, assuming the people who run the fair are okay with it being left on their property. They live right next to the fairgrounds, and would be able to see the RV from their front windows.”

  Carrie said, “Phooey. He could check on it less noticeably without three more people around to draw more attention to him.”

  The phone rang again and, before answering it, Carrie looked at the Caller ID. “Unidentified number, but the prefix is the same as the sheriff’s office.”

  She waited until the answering machine picked up.

  “Ms. McCrite, this is Detective Investigator Burke. Please call me as soon as you hear this message.” He gave the number and hung up.

  “I have an idea,” Carrie said. “Let’s ask Shirley if we can borrow her car for the drive to the mill. No one involved in this investigation has seen it yet. It was in the garage all during the fair.”

  Henry nodded. “Good idea. Call her. My truck still has their stuff in back, and it’s the more distinctive of our two vehicles, so leaving it at their house for a while makes sense.”

  “This is getting out of hand,” Edie said. “I don’t like so many people knowing what’s going on.”

  “I understand your concern,” Carrie said, “but Shirley and Roger have been part of several of our investigations already. They’re close-mouthed. Not even their son, who works with them on the farm, knows much about their side activities with us. Besides, they aren’t aware of your current DEA work, and we don’t need to mention that.”

  “Okay, I give up,” Edie said as she took her coffee mug to the sink. “I can be ready to leave in less than thirty minutes.”

  Shirley’s car sat in front of the house, and the large workshop door was open when they drove through the farm gate. After Henry’s truck was closed inside the shop, Shirley came off the porch to hand him her car keys.<
br />
  “I hate to ask another favor,” Henry said, “but, Eleanor’s shop . . .”

  “Yep, I thought of that. I need to go into town to pick up some things at the store so I’ll stop by, check everything, and put a sign on the door. Already got the sign made. ‘Closed for a family emergency.’ That do it?”

  “Yes, great. Thanks, Shirley. I’d planned to put up a sign myself, since I wanted to be with Carrie when she was questioned today, but when this appointment with Milton Sales came up, there wasn’t time.”

  ”Y’know, she said, “I’ve been doing some serious thinking about that man. He seems crooked as a dog’s leg for a lot of reasons, including those powder-filled animals. But, on the other hand, could he be law enforcement of some kind? Undercover, like? What do you think?”

  No one said anything.

  Shirley continued, “Henry, you having law enforcement savvy, could you guess the truth about someone who’s doing that kind of work? Does anything they do give them away? I see stuff on the television about the county’s drug task force, and just last month there was that big sting pulled by undercover deputies. Could Sales be in on something like that? I think this whole thing sniffs of secrets, and people being tricked. Was he trying to catch someone by using those toys and the powder? Did he light out because bad people on the wrong side of the law found out what he was doing?”

  Carrie and Edie stared at her, and Henry looked thoughtful.

  “Well, by golly, I didn’t mean to shock y’all into total dumbness. And, what’s so crazy about my idea anyway? Why wouldn’t it be possible? Might explain some things about Mr. Sales. Let’s say he’s law enforcement, and the bad guys suspect it. Wouldn’t that fit in somehow with his messed up trailer and the unscrewed gas lines? Someone wanted to scare him, or even kill him? Makes a reason for those powder-filled toys, too. Decoys of some kind?” She looked at each of them in turn, but, Carrie noticed, her brow-wrinkling study spent the most time on Edie’s face.

  “Well now, don’t y’all talk at once.”

  Edie was the one who broke the silence. “Shirley,” she said, “that’s certainly one explanation. And it does have logic.”

  “Yes, it does,” Shirley agreed, bobbing her head.

  “We have a lot to think about when it comes to Milton Sales,” Carrie told Shirley as the three piled into her car. “We’ll report when we come back. Probably around noon. Thanks for the loan.”

  “Y’all be careful now,” Shirley said. “That car is only ten years old.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  MILTON’S STORY

  “Interesting woman, Shirley,” Edie said as they drove out of the valley.

  “And my dearest friend,” Carrie said. “Never in my life have I admired a woman so much.”

  “After what she came up with, and since she is your best friend, I’m not sure I believe you haven’t said anything to her about my current work.”

  “Beyond being insulted because you suggest I revealed that, Edith Embler, I am insulted on Shirley’s behalf. And you can’t discount what she suggested about Sales. She beats us all in intuition and smarts.”

  “Yet you said she couldn’t read anything but her own name until her oldest child started school and shamed her into working with a literacy tutor.”

  “That’s right.” Carrie turned in the Cadillac’s front seat so she could look over her shoulder at Edie. “That has nothing to do with her intelligence, only her life circumstances.”

  “Okay, if you say so.”

  Carrie faced front again, tightening her lips because, to her, the “if you say so” clearly revealed prejudice. Then the pique dropped away and she grinned as she heard Edie scuffling her feet on the car floor, making a crunching sound.

  “What’s this . . . stuff . . . on the floor of the car? Looks like someone dumped a box of . . .” The crunching continued. “Cereal? Is it crumbled cereal on the floor back here?”

  Face still front, Carrie explained. “Oh, that. A couple of years ago, Roger took the truck and went fishing without telling Shirley, forgetting she needed to go into town to get some special feed for their dairy cows. So she took off for the co-op in her Cadillac, and had the bags loaded in the trunk and back seat. One bag in the back seat broke and spilled. Shirley cleaned up most of it, but not all. Irritates the heck out of Roger whenever he sees it, and neither of them has ever been inclined to finish cleaning it up. He’s too proud, and she thinks it reminds him to keep her in the picture when he plans to leave the farm.”

  Carrie hoped the sounds she was hearing from the back seat now were caused by suppressed laughter.

  Conversation died then, and everyone stayed with their own thoughts until they reached the mill’s parking area.

  Edie leaned on the back of Henry’s seat and reached her arm across to point. “According to Milton, the stairs start over there. If you pull up next to the mill by that door, we’ll be near the exit for the secondary stairs.”

  “Yes, I can see that,” Henry said, and, chastised by the tone of his voice, Edie leaned back in her seat and said only, “I don’t see Milton’s truck.”

  “Look across the river!” Carrie said as Henry pulled up and parked.

  “What? I don’t see anything.” He got out of the car and looked.

  “That’s the point. Look way to the left. The exhibitors’ parking lot is empty. Less than sixteen hours since we left here, and Milton Sales’s RV is gone.”

  “Sheriff must have impounded it, after all,” Henry said.

  “You think so?” Carrie asked.

  “Well, at least it will be safe from more vandalism if they did impound it,” Edie said. “But, I wonder, does he know? Let’s go inside. Maybe he’s driving something other than his truck and is already here.”

  “Whew,” Carrie puffed as she led the way up the stairs. “There’s something to be said for stopping to look around the second floor gift shop on your way to the restaurant. A straight climb up these steep stairs is a bit much.”

  “True, but hunger helps push,” Henry said as they lined up to study the Bean Palace breakfast menu posted on the wall. “Ah. Sausage, eggs, wheat germ biscuits and gravy for me. What about you gals?”

  “I don’t see Milton,” Edie said. “Aren’t we going to wait for him?”

  “You can wait if you want, not me, I’m too hungry,” Carrie told her. “I’ll have the Buckwheat Waffle Supreme with blueberries and whipped topping.”

  “Done,” said Henry. “Edie?”

  “Well, I’m hungry too. Since he’s late, I’ll go head and order their biscuits and gravy. Never had that, and I’ve wondered what it’s like. I see it on about every breakfast menu these days.” She pushed ahead of Henry and told him, “I’ll order for us. I’m paying.”

  “I’ll get a table,” Carrie said. “How about that one by the window? Place for four, and no one is seated nearby if we need to talk privately. We can see the road and parking lot from there.”

  Edie and Henry nodded, and Carrie went to secure their place and wait for her food.

  Except for exclamations of pleasure, not much interrupted eating for the next twenty minutes. Finally, after a bit of conversation about probable recipes for what they’d eaten, Edie came back to the business at hand and said, “I’m worried. Milton is over forty-five minutes late. How long can we occupy this table after we finish?”

  “Do you suppose he hooked up his own trailer and just drove off?” Carrie asked. “Perhaps the sheriff didn’t post anyone to guard it after all. But Sales would have had to move it in a short amount of time, since there was only a two-and-a-half hour window between when he called you and when we got here.”

  “I guess I shouldn’t have told him you were bringing me,” Edie said. “That may have spooked him, and he decided not to come.”

  “No, it didn’t spook him,” Carrie said, looking out the window. “I see him getting out of his truck right now. Let’s each order a biscuit to put honey on. That way we have something to d
o while he eats, and he won’t feel uncomfortable eating alone.”

  Milton Sales nodded briefly to them, went to order his breakfast, and took the seat next to Edie. He said, “Sorry I’m late, couldn’t be helped.” Then he looked across the table at Carrie and Henry. “First thing I want to tell you is that I had nothing to do with the powder-filled toys Edie describes. In fact, I’ve never seen them.”

  He went to pick up his breakfast tray, and, after taking a few bites, continued, “I understand John Harley supposedly found them on the shelf under my sales counter, said I’d forgotten them, and gave them to you, Ms. McCrite?”

  “Calling me Carrie is fine. And yes, that’s exactly what happened. Since we’re talking about the drug business here, and you claim you never saw those toys, I begin to wonder about John Harley.”

  “Uh-huh. Did you see anything like them when you came to my booth on Thursday morning?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t remember seeing toys like that, no.”

  “As you think about the cars and other toys I do make, and those four animals on wheels, does the style of craftsmanship, the wood used, and anything else you remember look the same, or even similar?”

  “No, but many artists work in more than one style.”

  “Perhaps, but I assure you I never saw those animals and never touched them, as any fingerprint expert can learn if someone cares enough to test them. Edie said they had a smooth finish. Probably take fingerprints well.

  “What’s more to the point, John Harley knew I didn’t make them when he gave them to you. Even if I’d decided to branch out with new items since I saw him last, the first thing we always do when we meet here each year is show off any new items we’ll be selling. Conclusion? He knew those wheel toys weren’t mine. They were a plant and he knew it.”

  He looked around the table as if expecting someone to say, “Of course you didn’t make them,” while he ate a few more bites, but no one spoke until Henry said, “The whole situation with those toys does raise questions. Any ideas about the powder inside them?”