by Penny Pike
We cheered like rabid sports fans as Dillon was awarded his prize. Without removing his mask, he thanked Tiffany and accepted the gift certificate. I gave Aunt Abby a high five, then looked around to see everyone’s reactions. That was when I noticed Honey had disappeared.
Figuring she’d gone to the scarecrow dressing room tent to find out what had happened to Red, I didn’t give it another thought. I glanced back at Dillon, still holding the gift certificate, and noticed J.J. running up to Tiffany. When he reached her, he whispered something in her ear. Willow watched him from a few feet away, frowning.
Tiffany’s face went white when she heard what J.J. had to say, and she dropped the microphone. It landed on the hay-covered ground with a ping.
“Sheriff!” J.J. suddenly called out in our direction, his eyes wide.
Sheriff O’Neil shouldered through the crowd, followed by Detective Shelton. People nearby murmured as they began to realize something was up.
When the sheriff reached J.J. and Tiffany, the young man said something to him, then pointed toward the hay maze. J.J. started for the entrance, with the sheriff and detective right behind him.
“What’s happening?” Aunt Abby said.
“I don’t know,” I answered, puzzled. I glanced around for a clue, but everyone looked as confused as I did. I caught a glimpse of Tiffany disappearing into the scarecrow tent. There was no sign of Crystal, nor did I see Paula, Adam, Red, or Nathan.
While another young attendant kept the curious onlookers from entering the maze, we milled about, waiting for someone to tell us what was happening. Ten minutes later, J.J. and Detective Shelton came out of the hay maze entrance. J.J. looked wide-eyed while the detective, his face a mask, was talking on his cell phone.
Aunt Abby hurried over to him. Jake and I followed.
“What’s wrong? What happened?” Aunt Abby said after Detective Shelton hung up.
The detective spoke in a low, hushed voice to Jake. “Can you help that kid keep these people from going inside the maze?”
Jake nodded and began herding the crowd back from the entrance.
“Wes?” Aunt Abby persisted. “What’s going on?”
The detective shook his head. “There’s a body in the maze.”
Aunt Abby gasped. “Oh my. What happened?” she whispered.
The detective frowned. “I don’t know. The sheriff called his crime scene guys and the coroner and told me to keep everyone away.”
“Any idea who it is?” I asked.
Detective Shelton shook his head.
“Man or woman?” I asked, trying to narrow it down.
“No idea,” the detective said.
I frowned at him. How could he not know if it was a man or a woman?
And then I got my answer.
“Whoever it is was dressed like a scarecrow.”
Chapter 16
Detective Shelton ordered the festival closed, per Sheriff O’Neil’s wishes, and asked the college students working the hay maze to help steer people home. Only those of us who knew either Detective Shelton or Sheriff O’Neil were allowed to remain. Jake, Abby, Dillon, and I wandered over to a nearby picnic table and sat down to wait for further developments. Dillon was still dressed as a scarecrow but had removed the mask and the hay that had been sticking out of his sleeves and pant legs. He looked ridiculous in those tights.
“Has anyone seen Red?” Honey asked, reappearing from the scarecrow tent. She looked a little frantic and was obviously worried about her friend.
We shook our heads. “I’m sure he’ll turn up,” Aunt Abby said.
“You might ask the sheriff,” I suggested.
Honey scanned the area and spotted Sheriff O’Neil talking with Detective Shelton. She headed over and I followed her, curious about the man’s whereabouts myself.
“Sheriff,” Honey began, “Red’s gone! He signed up for the Scarecrow Contest but didn’t show up. I even helped him get ready. How could he have disappeared so quickly?” She glanced around again, her face knotted with anxiety.
“Sorry, Honey,” Sheriff O’Neil said. “Haven’t seen him. We’ve been kinda busy here.” He nodded toward the hay maze. “I can tell you this much—he’s not the one lying dead inside.”
Honey’s face visibly relaxed, but only momentarily. “Then where could he be? Nobody’s seen him since I left him in the dressing room tent.”
She shook her head, mumbled something, then went off in search of him, worry embedded in her face again.
After she left, I noticed Crystal and Tiffany were huddled by the entrance to the maze. They too looked anxious, no doubt for news as to the identity of the dead body. Tiffany bit her nails while Crystal rubbed her daughter’s back.
Paula seemed to have disappeared completely, and I wondered where she’d gone—and why. Apparently this wasn’t the photo op she was looking for. Meanwhile, Adam stood alone at a distance, a frown on his leathery face. Several other scarecrow contestants had gathered by the tent, talking and shaking their heads and probably wondering who the dead scarecrow was. But the victim couldn’t have been among the contestants. He—or she—must have died before the contest began.
Moments later several of the sheriff’s deputies arrived, along with paramedics and the coroner. The deputies continued the job of clearing the festival area of looky-loos while the paramedics and coroner rushed into the maze, guided by J.J. Jake had mentioned that most of the kids who worked at the maze knew its twists and turns by heart and could rescue anyone who became seriously lost. Wish I’d known that earlier.
“There’s Honey!” Aunt Abby pointed at Honey and Red, who were headed our way. Red, looking a little dazed, was still dressed as a scarecrow, while Honey was smiling and holding on to Red’s arm as if he was keeping her upright.
“You found him!” Aunt Abby said, sliding over on the picnic bench so Honey could have a seat. But Honey remained standing, still clutching on to her scarecrow. Red’s costume featured a tattered tux, full of patched holes and stitched tears. He wore a top hat with a large stuffed crow perched on top, and I wondered if that was actually supposed to scare away other crows, or attract them.
“I’m so relieved,” Honey said, patting her chest. “He’d gone to the restroom and missed the whole contest! Can you believe it?”
Red blushed and grinned. “Oh well. I won last year. It was time for someone else to take home the prize. I heard you came in first place, young man,” he said to Dillon.
Dillon nodded and waved the certificate.
“What are you going to spend it on?” Red asked.
Dillon shrugged.
“Well, save a little for some of my caramel apples,” Red said. “They’re the best in the West. I’ve got ’em covered in nuts, sprinkles, candy, coconut, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and anything else you can think of. With your winnings you could sample one of each!” Red seemed either unaware or uninterested in the discovery of the dead body.
Dillon mumbled something unintelligible and Red nodded as if he’d understood him. Before I could kick Dillon under the table for his rudeness, Honey caught her breath.
“The sheriff’s back!” she said. She quickly let go of Red’s arm and headed for the lawman who’d just appeared from inside the hay maze. We got up and followed her over, eager to hear what he had to say. Tiffany and her mother joined us.
“Murph!” Honey said. “Did you find out what happened?”
“Who is it?” Tiffany demanded, after pulling her finger from her mouth.
Crystal patted her daughter’s back.
“Was it an accident?” Aunt Abby asked. “A heart attack?”
“Calm down, everyone.” Sheriff O’Neil took a deep breath. “It seems we’ve had another murder.”
“What?” Honey said, her hand covering her mouth. “Who? How?”
The sheriff shook his head, then finally said, “It’s weird. His mouth was stuffed with apple seeds.”
Honey’s eyes widened. “You can’t be seri
ous!”
Aunt Abby frowned. “You mean, he choked to death on a mouthful of seeds?”
Honey shot her a look. “Apple seeds are poisonous.”
“Was that the cause of death?” I asked.
“No,” the sheriff said. “Apple seeds are only poisonous if ingested. Plus, it would take a lot. I think that was symbolic.”
“Symbolic? So he wasn’t poisoned?” Aunt Abby asked.
“Actually he was stabbed,” the sheriff answered.
Honey looked ready to faint and grabbed Red’s arm.
“Stabbed? With what?” Red asked.
The sheriff locked eyes with him. “As a matter of fact, it was a sharp-pointed stick.”
Red frowned. “What kind of stick? Like a tree branch or something?”
“No, the kind you use in making caramel apples, Red,” the sheriff said solemnly.
“Wait a minute,” Red said. “You don’t think—”
“I don’t think anything, right now,” the sheriff answered. “But I do have a lot of questions.”
Tiffany spoke up. “You keep saying he. Do you know who he was?”
The sheriff’s frown deepened. “I’m sorry to tell you this, but the victim was our own Nathan Chapman.”
• • •
Deputy Bonita Javier came over to the sheriff and whispered something in his ear while we stood in stunned silence, watching.
The sheriff nodded. “Adam? Red? My deputy says you saw Chapman about an hour before the contest. Any idea what happened?”
“Sorry, Sheriff,” Red said. “I was indisposed.” He put finger quotes around the last word.
Adam shook his head. “I haven’t seen him since he announced the contest. And then I only heard his voice. You might ask Paula. She seemed interested in him all of a sudden.”
The sheriff nodded and looked at the rest of us. “Anyone else see him in the last few hours?”
Tiffany slowly raised her hand, her eyes now rimmed with tears. Her mother tried to pull her daughter’s hand back down, but the sheriff wrote Tiffany’s name in his notebook. “Crystal?” he said to the woman. “How about you?”
She shook her head. “I haven’t seen Nathan for hours. I was in the scarecrow tent, helping with costumes and makeup and what not. Tiffany was in there with me most of the time too, weren’t you, Tiff?”
Tiffany turned to her mother. “Mama, I told you I saw him, and I need to tell the sheriff. Don’t you understand? Somebody killed him!” She began weeping and covered her face with her hands.
“She’s sensitive,” Crystal said to Sheriff O’Neil, wrapping an arm around her distraught daughter. “If anything bad happens, she dissolves into tears.” She guided Tiffany over to a picnic table and sat her down on the bench.
The sheriff looked at the rest of us standing nearby. “All right, anyone else see or talk to Nathan Chapman in the last couple of hours?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Paula backing away from the gathered group. I hadn’t noticed her earlier and figured she must have crept up to find out what was going on. Apparently the sheriff saw her too. He looked down at his notebook, then called out, “Ms. Hayashi?”
Paula froze. “What? I had nothing to do with this. I can’t hang around here while you people decide who killed that guy.”
“But you do need to tell the sheriff that you were talking to Nathan earlier,” I blurted, then wished I hadn’t, noting the stinging look she shot me. Still, he needed to know. I had seen Paula not just talking to Nathan Chapman, but obviously flirting with him.
“Shut up,” Paula snapped at me. “You didn’t see anything, because I never saw the guy.”
I met her vicious gaze and frowned. Why was she lying? “Paula, I’m not the only one who saw you.” I glanced at Tiffany, remembering the spat she’d had with Nathan, then decided not to bring her into it. “Willow, the coffee girl, also saw you flirting with him.” Willow could give the sheriff her eyewitness account.
“I wasn’t flirting!” Paula huffed. “And I certainly didn’t hang around and kill him. I had no reason to. He was a hick, just like the rest of you.”
Honey murmured something I couldn’t make out. The sheriff glanced at his notebook, then said, “You might have had a reason, Ms. Hayashi.”
Paula’s eyes narrowed. “Oh yeah? Like what?”
“How about that promotion you’ll receive at Eden Corporation after your boss’s death?” the sheriff asked.
Paula shrugged. “Well, sure, now that Reub—I mean, Roman is gone. But that just means more work for me.”
Honey pointed to Paula, her eyes wide. “That certainly gives her a motive to murder Roman!”
“Well, I didn’t do it!” Paula said emphatically, but I thought I saw a crack in her tough facade.
“Honey’s right. You did have motive,” the sheriff said.
“Why? So I could take over his job?” Paula said, shaking her head. “He was on the way out already. It was just a matter of time.”
“Maybe you wanted to hurry things along,” the sheriff said.
“But why would I kill Nathan?” Paula asked. “I had nothing to gain. Besides, anyone could have stabbed him with that apple stick. They’re probably all over the place. Why don’t you ask Honey what she and Nathan were arguing about the other night at the bed-and-breakfast. You want a motive? She’s got enough for two murders.”
Sheriff O’Neil turned to Honey, who looked stricken.
“I . . . I told you,” Honey muttered. “We were just discussing the GMO apple situation and trying to figure out what to do about it. Red was thinking of selling, while I was against it. Then Nathan seemed to be weakening. . . .”
Odd. I thought she’d said they’d been discussing the festival.
“Not the way I heard it from Nathan,” Paula said, raising an accusing eyebrow. “He said he told you he was going to sell his land to Eden Corporation, and you threw a hissy fit, told him you’d do anything to stop anyone else who might be thinking of selling. That’s the truth, isn’t it, little miss innocent?”
“I . . . I . . . would never kill anyone,” Honey said. She glanced at Red, who was frowning.
Aunt Abby put an arm around Honey, but the woman shook it off. It wasn’t looking good for Honey, but then again, Paula didn’t look so innocent either.
“You’re just trying to make it look like I killed Roman to cover your tracks,” Honey said, turning her wrath on Paula, “and now you’re accusing me of killing my friend Nathan just because we had a little spat?” She looked back at the sheriff. “It’s all lies, Murph. These city big shots come into our county and try to take over our businesses, but they aren’t going to get away with it, right, Red?”
Red looked helplessly at Honey. Doubt was written across his face. Did he think the woman he loved was possibly guilty of two murders?
The sheriff dug into his pocket and brought out a plastic baggie. Inside was a red bandanna. He carefully took the bandanna out of the bag, holding it by the tip of one corner. “I found this near Nathan’s body,” the sheriff said. “Do you recognize it, Honey?”
Honey’s face want pale. “It’s not mine, if that’s what you’re implying. Look around. Almost all of the scarecrows use bandannas as part of their costumes.” She glanced at Red, who had his hand on the pocket of his plaid flannel shirt. He pulled his hand away quickly. It appeared empty. Had there been a bandanna in his chest pocket?
“Where’s your bandanna, Red?” Sheriff O’Neil asked.
Apparently struck speechless, Red just shrugged.
“There was something stuck to this bandanna,” the sheriff continued. He held up the plastic bag. At the bottom were two tiny black seeds.
Apple seeds.
“Can I check your pocket, Red?”
“Sure,” Red said, stepping forward. He pulled open his pocket and let the sheriff dig around inside. “Nothing, see?”
The sheriff stepped back. “Honey, I need to see your pockets.”
“Deputy?” the sheriff said, nodding to Deputy Bonita Javier. The woman went over to Honey and gently slid Honey’s hands away from covering her pockets. “Is there anything in your pockets that could poke me—needles, knives, anything like that?” the deputy asked.
“Of course not!” Honey said.
The deputy slowly reached into one of Honey’s pockets and came out empty. She reached into the other one, dug around, and again pulled out an empty hand.
Then she held up one finger. A black seed was caught just under her fingernail.
The sheriff looked at Honey, clearly disappointed. “Honey, I’m afraid I’m going to have to take you in for questioning.”
Honey looked at Red, her eyes beginning to cloud with tears. “I . . . I . . . I want a lawyer!”
Chapter 17
“I’m not arresting you, Honey,” Sheriff O’Neil said. “I just want to talk with you in a more private setting.”
Jake stepped up. “Honey, if you want an attorney, you have that right. I can contact one of my colleagues who lives in Sacramento. Just let me know.”
Honey looked at Jake, then back at the sheriff. “All right, Murph. I’ll come with you. But I didn’t see anything or do anything.” She turned back to Jake. “Thanks for the offer. I may take you up on it.”
Aunt Abby embraced Honey. “Don’t worry, dear. Wes will make sure you’re okay, won’t you, Wes? Will you go with her?”
Detective Shelton looked at Sheriff O’Neil, who nodded.
Honey took Aunt Abby’s hand. “Will you take care of everything at the Enchanted Apple while I’m gone? There’s apple pie in the fridge. The coffeemaker is ready to go. The rooms have been cleaned, so there’s not much to do. Just fill in for me until I get back? You have a key.”
“Of course,” Aunt Abby said. “And you’ll be back in no time.” She shot Detective Shelton a look.
While Sheriff O’Neil gave orders to his deputies to close down the festival, Honey hugged Red, wiped away tears, and followed the sheriff to his patrol car. To everyone’s relief, she was saved from the humiliation of handcuffs, since she wasn’t being arrested. Detective Shelton continued to help clear the area, promising my aunt he’d see her back at the bed-and-breakfast inn after he stopped by the sheriff’s office to check on Honey, per Aunt Abby’s orders.
