Grand Prize: Murder!

by Vivian Conroy

  The clapping intensified, and Claire with the dogs in her arms came to stand beside Vicky to accept the applause as if it was meant for her. And in part it probably was, as Claire was a familiar face around town, involving herself with many activities such as the annual garden competition and the Harvest Fair.

  Not to mention her active part in most gossip that was spread around town by way of her network of ‘informers’, or—as Claire preferred to call them—‘concerned friends’.

  Vicky put her arm around her mother’s shoulders and smiled even broader as the cheers grew louder. She had come back foremost to spend more time with her mother and look after her a little, without Claire noticing of course.

  As people began to move into the gift shop for a snack and a chat, a powerful automobile engine roared further down Main Street. Claire said to Vicky, “I bet you that’s a sports car.”

  “A collector’s dream,” Vicky agreed, squinting against the sunshine to see it appear. “Whose can it be?”

  A fiery red open sports car blasted down Main Street and halted at the curb right in front of the Country Gift Shop. Behind the wheel was a striking woman, her platinum blonde curls covered with a thin Grace Kelly scarf. She waved enthusiastically at them. “Vicky Simmons, right? You wore that same skirt when you came to my book signing.”

  Stunned, Vicky drew closer, Marge hard on her heels. “Bella? I thought you’d arrive on Saturday.”

  Her heart pounded. A woman who remembered what somebody had worn two years back noticed every little detail. Like every little detail that wasn’t completely decided yet about the book signing on Saturday.

  “A change of plans,” Bella Brookes said as she clambered out of the low seat and came for Marge with an outstretched hand. “You must be the friend Vicky emailed me about. The one who can make chocolate dachshunds and has been a fan of my See Britain And Die mysteries from the start. Always a pleasure to hear that.”

  In the same breath she turned to Vicky. “I’m going to stay right here for the first leg of my New England book tour. I hate hotels, especially for a single night. All the packing and unpacking, getting used to a new bed… I do love driving so that makes it an easy choice.”

  She gave her sports car a loving pat on the hood. “I’ll have my set base right here in Glen Cove and then drive out to my other engagements in the area. Signings, meetings with the press. There’s a hotel here in town, isn’t there?”

  “Several,” Vicky said, “but it’s the height of the summer season. You might find a vacant room for a single night, but not for a longer period. You’d still have to move around.”

  “Of course—” Marge had found her voice again “—you could stay with me if you don’t mind two kids. And a big rowdy dog. I have a great guest room. A quiet color scheme, just wood and some black-and-white prints on the wall. And you can sit in my garden to write. Oh, I can’t believe some scenes in the next See Britain and Die could get written in my own backyard!”

  Marge beamed at the prospect of housing her favorite author—like a kid discovering he’s going to Disney World.

  But Bella said quickly, “I appreciate the invitation to stay with one of you at your home, very generous and kind, but I do need my privacy. Especially if I want to get any writing done. I’m kind of stuck on the plot of the book I’m working on, and I hope the change of scenery can get the creative juices flowing again. Any empty cottages around? Or…what’s that?”

  Bella gestured at the door beside the entrance to the Country Gift Shop. It had a central glass pane. A big orange FOR RENT poster was taped behind the glass.

  Vicky said, “That’s for the upstairs apartment. The tenant moved out a few weeks ago, and the owner is trying to find someone new for it.”

  Bella gestured with her hands, four or five turquoise bracelets tinkling. “Well, here I am. If you give the owner a call, I bet he will let me live in it for the time being. Gets him some cash for a place that’s otherwise just sitting empty, right?”

  “But I have no idea if it’s still furnished,” Vicky protested. She had been asked if she’d consider living over the store, but upon her return to Glen Cove, she had already rented a cottage close to her mother’s place and didn’t want to move out again. The cottage was but a few minutes’ walk from the sea. In the evenings she could watch the sun set over the frolicking waves. Just what she had dreamed about when she had lived far away from home.

  “I could get the key at the real estate office,” Marge offered, “so you can have a look right away.”

  Bella beamed at her. “I just knew you two would work something out. Apropos, my people will come in too. My personal assistant Lisa. Paul DuBree, who handles my PR, and his assistant. Maybe also some lawyer or accountant. They mentioned they wanted to discuss contract issues with me.”

  She grimaced. “Dull stuff, but it can’t be avoided. So we need rooms for all of them. Or maybe a bungalow in a holiday resort? I’m sure that spending a day or two in the same house won’t kill them.”

  Although Bella said it with that ever-present smile, it sounded cynical.

  Even a little ominous?

  Vicky tried to read something in Bella’s expression. “If they’re on the same team, they’re used to spending time together, I suppose?” she suggested cheerfully.

  Bella grimaced. “They may be on the same team, but in this business it’s each to his own.”

  She fell silent as if she had already said too much. Then she sprang to life again. “If you just get that key at the real estate agent’s, we can have a look at the apartment right away.”

  Marge already started to rush down the street, but then turned back. “Your car can’t stay here at the curb. Our old sheriff stuck to warnings, but since Cash Rowland got elected, they hand out real tickets. Better transfer it into the lot there at the church, huh?”

  “Cash Rowland? Quite a catchy name. In one of my books he’d be a terrible playboy who would have scores of jealous husbands and vengeful ex-wives out to get him. He might die. Or he might be the main suspect who didn’t do it.”

  “I’d keep those ideas to yourself,” Vicky said quickly. “Our sheriff takes his new responsibilities very seriously and doesn’t like to be associated with anything…dubious.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” Bella laughed throatily. “I can’t wait to meet him. But not at the receiving end of a ticket, I guess. I’m already drowning in speed violations. Don’t know how I do it, with a car like this.”

  She got back in and drove off, people staring at her from the other side of the street.

  “Wow,” Marge whispered to Vicky with a star-struck expression, “she’s so glamorous and flamboyant. And she is actually going to live in our town for a while. Wait until I tell Kev!”

  “Yeah,” Vicky said, rubbing her temple where a slight headache was forming. “I hadn’t expected her here right now. We still need to tie up so many loose ends before the book signing on Saturday. And I have half the town in my store for snacks right now.”

  But she was already talking to thin air as Marge galloped off to the real estate office to get the key to the upstairs apartment for their inspection.

  Vicky glanced in the direction of the church parking lot with a sense of dread. When Bella had offered to do a signing in Glen Cove as part of her New England book tour, Vicky had thought that the famous author would just come into town, sign some books for local fans, maybe have dinner with Marge and her, and leave again. But now Bella would be staying here for days.

  She probably expected a whole lot, both from the small town and the simple book signing on Saturday.

  Maybe she expected a lot more than the Country Gift Shop could deliver?

  Chapter Two

  Vicky went inside the Country Gift Shop and asked her mother to entertain the locals while she saw to lodgings for her suddenly arrived guest author. Claire beamed. “Of course. You do whatever you have to do. Oh, and let the mayor welcome her. He’s here anyway.”


  “Good idea.” Vicky squeezed her mother’s shoulder and went for the town father who was just scooping lots of cream and jam on a scone. When he heard that a famous author had arrived though, he left his sweet treat in the care of his secretary and followed Vicky outside at once.

  Bella had just come back from parking her car, pulling a huge suitcase on wheels behind her. The mayor shook her hand and welcomed her to Glen Cove, offering her a personal tour of his offices if she had the time for it. Bella declined with a smile, saying she did hope the mayor would come to the book signing on Saturday.

  “Oh, I will. My wife loves your books. Too bad she isn’t here this afternoon. She left for a charity luncheon and then a fundraiser for the old lighthouse. You must have seen the lighthouse on your way into town.”

  “Very picturesque,” Bella said. “I’ll be looking out for your wife at the book signing. Now I’d like to go up and see the apartment I might stay in.” Her tone was charming and her smile wide, but just a little impatience rang in her movement as she inched her suitcase closer to the apartment’s door.

  “Of course,” the town father said. “Until Saturday then.” And with a bow he vanished into the gift shop, no doubt to dig into his scone.

  “Here we are.” From ten feet away Marge waved the key to the apartment. She panted as she came to a halt to unlock the door. “If you need anything special, you just have to shout. Groceries for cooking maybe? I could get you fresh fish from the harbor. Today’s catch.”

  “No, I think I’ll eat out. I’m not the best cook.” Bella waved a hand. “I do love fish and by the looks of this place, there is plenty of fish cuisine around here to try.”

  “And don’t forget the lobster,” Marge enthused. “With butter and bread from the oven.”

  The door creaked open. Marge said, “Let me carry your suitcase up for you. It looks heavy.”

  “Thank you.” Bella followed Vicky up the bare stairs, Marge closing the door with the large suitcase in her hand.

  To Vicky’s relief the former tenant had left the apartment quite neat and clean. Basic furniture such as a sofa, table and chairs and a bed were all there. The kitchen was a little dated maybe, and the faucet in the bathroom dripped, but Bella twirled in the middle of the living room, lifted her arms to the ceiling and sighed. “Perfect for my needs. Arrange it with the owner, will you?”

  She walked over to the window and glanced down into the street. For a moment it seemed she froze and stared at something, then she turned round to Vicky again and said lightly, “I have a present for you two.”

  She opened her purse and produced a paper-wrapped parcel and held it out to Marge with a flourish. “I went to the website you write book recommendations for and saw how many times you have written reviews of my series.”

  Marge nodded. “I love gushing about my favorite books.”

  While Bella handed the gift to Marge, Vicky moved to the window unobtrusively to look down into the street. Tourists had just come off a tour bus and were walking to the diner. In front of the hardware store families watched as one of the Dawson brothers created small wooden animals with his coping saw. A man stood a little apart, looking up at the window behind which Vicky was standing. He had a camera in his hand. But that was nothing new in a tourist town.

  Bella was saying to Marge, “You didn’t start when you knew that I’d be coming over here. No, you plugged my books before you knew you’d ever meet me. You’re not…sucking up to me.”

  Bella’s tone was angry as if she had experienced that too often. “You really love my books for the stories. Exactly the sort of person I tour for. The fan I want to meet and make happy. So here it is.”

  Marge clutched the parcel with both hands, then carefully tore off the tape. She folded the simple brown paper away and looked down on the colorful cover of a hardback book marked ARC.

  Vicky read the title upside down: Murder At The Manor, the new installment in the See Britain And Die series.

  Bella said, “Nobody has this yet. I pinched one to gift to you and thank you for all your support through the years.”

  Marge had already opened the book. “Oh, it starts with a prologue of a man on the moors. Very evocative.” Her eyes moved quickly as she glanced down the page. “You always set the scene so well. I feel like I’m there from the first sentence.”

  Vicky said, “I’m glad you like the apartment. That takes care of your lodgings for the duration of your stay. Now about the book signing on Saturday, it’s really just a simple thing…”

  She glanced at Marge for support, but her friend was oblivious to the world. Vicky took a deep breath and continued, “We had talked about adding some promotional activity to give it some more pull, but to be honest, we hadn’t quite figured out what yet. Of course we don’t want you to sit there for nothing.”

  She already envisioned Bella behind a table with a stack of books on either side of her and not a single soul to come ask for an autograph. That would be a disaster.

  But she had no idea what she could come up with on such short notice.

  “Oh, don’t worry,” Bella cut across her nervous explanation. “I’ll add my scavenger hunt.”

  Vicky stared at her. “The what?”

  Bella smiled. “I already did that once in another state and it worked like magic. You give people clues and whoever first solves the mystery, the case as it were, wins the grand prize.”

  Vicky hoped that Bella herself would provide that grand prize. Maybe a set of autographed books? Just starting out, the Country Gift Shop didn’t have the cash flow to cover prize money.

  Bella continued, “A trip for two to London.”

  Now even Marge came back to reality. She looked up from the ARC and gasped, “Did you say London?”

  Vicky’s mouth hung open. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Flights aren’t cheap, and if you want to stay in London itself, the hotels charge steep prices.”

  “Oh, no. Look, when I planned my New England book tour, I knew I wanted to do the scavenger hunt someplace. Why not here in Glen Cove? People might come in from a wider area. It will boost the town. And I enjoy a bustle. We can kick off during the signing. That’s Saturday, right? Then we can have the scavenger hunt continue during the next few days. I’ll reveal new clues every now and then. People can play along and then on the next Friday I’ll announce the big winner.”

  Vicky blinked. “That sounds amazing. The announcement of the winner would coincide with the closing barbecue for the One-Mile Book Market. But… Uh… You will put in this prize? The trip to London?”

  “Yes, I have a sponsor.” Bella sounded as if it offended her. “A travel agency that does trips to the UK. They insisted on me giving away a prize like this, to promote them. I accepted because it attracts attention; people buy more books. Win-win situation, my marketing strategist calls it.”

  Bella gestured with her delicate hands. “Once Paul is here, you can meet him. Brilliant ideas, but a bit of a…big ego.”

  Vicky just nodded. Her mind was not on big egos, but on the easy solution this scavenger hunt idea provided for Marge and her. They need not come up with something fast. And it would really make her contribution the highlight of the One-Mile Book Market. After that, the name Country Gift Shop would be seared into people’s memories. Even the normally slow winter season would be good.

  Bella said, “There is one little legal thing. Because your store sponsors my book signing, people associated with the store can’t participate in the scavenger hunt. Not only them, but also their family members. So I’m afraid you two can’t try and win your way to London.”

  “That’s a bit of a downer,” Marge agreed. “But it will be amazing publicity for the Country Gift Shop.”

  A snazzy tune resounded, and Bella grabbed her purse. She pulled out a sleek silver phone with a pendant studded with colorful gemstones and accepted the call. She listened for a few moments, her fine brows drawing together.

  Then Bella said, “Look, I flew out
here today, because I wanted to. You people can’t tell me what to do or not. I pay you. You don’t own me.” And she disconnected.

  She gave Vicky an apologetic smile. “My PR people think they can tell me what flight to take and in what hotel to stay. But I like to take care of such things myself. Thanks again for getting me the apartment. I really appreciate the privacy it affords to work on my plot problems.”

  “Of course.” Vicky nodded with a smile. “We’d better be getting down again. There are people at the store.”

  “Of course. I’m sorry I intruded. Thank you again for setting me up here so quickly. I’ll get my things unpacked.”

  Bella waved them off, and Vicky raced down the stairs, followed by Marge holding the ARC she had put back in the brown paper.

  Marge whispered, “She is wonderful.”

  Vicky nodded. Wonderful, but also determined and used to getting what she wanted. Some people might read that as being stuck-up, self-centered, even domineering. They’d better make sure everything moved along smoothly so there was no reason for confrontation.

  She closed the apartment’s door and went into the gift shop to mingle with the guests still present. The mayor and most shopkeepers had already left again to see to their own business, leaving a bouquet or other small gift on the counter. Claire pointed out at once which gift was from whom. “Typical of the baker to give you a pot of honey. He can never keep his hobby out of it.”

  “I’m glad they were all here. And thanks for covering for me, Mom, while I was up with Bella. She’s all settled in now.”

  Marge had immediately descended on Ms. Tennings and her bridge friends to whisper to them about the scavenger hunt. “It will be announced Saturday after the book signing. I think we need posters or something to advertise it. I can design something. If we print it off and multiply it at the Joneses where they have this big machine, it need not cost a ton either.”