by Penny Pike
The dwindling stragglers scattered for their cars that were parked in a dirt lot several yards away. People continued to mumble about the death of the human scarecrow and some voiced their disappointment that the festival was over, at least for the day. I wondered if it would reopen for its final day tomorrow after all that had happened. If not, someone had hinted that there would be serious financial losses for the Apple Valley merchants who’d invested their time and products in the event. But then, murder always took precedence over anything else.
“Darcy,” Aunt Abby called to me. She looked weary. I had a feeling the long day of work, coupled with the discovery of another body and her concern for Honey, was taking its toll on her usual high-energy level. I couldn’t help worrying about her.
“Yes, Aunt Abby?”
“Do you mind if I don’t join you and Jake for dinner tonight? I’d like to get back to the inn and keep an eye on the place. I promised Honey.”
I hadn’t planned to invite my aunt and cousin to join Jake and me for his birthday dinner, but now I felt a little guilty about omitting them. “Of course,” I said. “Do you need help?”
“Oh no, Dillon will be there. I’m going to whip up some dinner so feel free to join us if you don’t feel like going out either. Maybe we can figure out a few things over a nice bowl of my mac and cheese.”
I glanced at Jake; he nodded, sensing my feeling of guilt if I just went off and left them. There went our romantic birthday dinner—again.
“That sounds great,” I said to her. “We could all use a good dose of comfort food about now. Are you sure you’re not too tired?”
“Cooking a big batch of mac and cheese is about the only thing I can think of that will lift my spirits and give me back my energy. And Wes loves my mac and cheese.”
“All right, we’ll be there as soon as we can. I just have a couple of things I want to check on before I leave.”
“Anything you can do to help Honey would be nice,” Aunt Abby said. Then she and Dillon hopped onto their electric scooters and rode the short distance to the school bus. I watched as Dillon—still half scarecrow—loaded the scooters and Aunt Abby closed up the bus. Moments later they were on the road back to the Enchanted Apple Inn.
I turned to Jake, who was talking on his cell phone, and figured he was contacting the lawyer friend he’d mentioned. I scanned the area while he chatted, looking for a familiar face, hoping Crystal and Tiffany might still be around, but I didn’t see them, nor Paula, Adam, or Red.
Where had everybody gone?
• • •
“Sorry about dinner tonight,” I said to Jake as we headed for Crystal’s temporary wine tent to see if she might be there.
“That’s okay. We wouldn’t be able to enjoy it until these murders are solved anyway.”
“It’s hard to believe the two deaths are related,” I said, “since Nathan and Roman seem to have so little in common. But it’s also too coincidental that two people connected with the festival would be murdered in Apple Valley in such a short time.”
“Unfortunately Honey seems to be the primary link between the two,” Jake added.
“How so?”
“She argued with both of them,” Jake said.
“I’d hardly call her conversation with Roman an argument. A disagreement, maybe. And we don’t really know if she argued with Nathan that night.” I recalled the two conflicting answers she’d given when asked about her conversation with Nathan.
“She seems to be pretty passionate about the apple industry,” Jake added.
“That doesn’t mean she’s going to kill everyone she argues with. If I did that, the bodies would be piled higher than a haystack.”
“Promise you’ll never argue with me?” Jake said, grinning.
“As long as you keep agreeing with me, we’ll have no problem.”
We stopped our witty repartee as we approached the wine tent. The flap was down, but there was a light on inside. I called out, “Crystal?” so as not to startle her, then lifted the flap and ducked inside, with Jake right behind me.
“What are you doing here?” Crystal said, blinking rapidly. She was sitting on a stool, enjoying a glass of her own wine. “We’re closed. The whole festival is closed.”
“I know. I was there when Sheriff O’Neil made the announcement,” I said. Apparently she hadn’t noticed me. “I just wanted to check on you and your daughter, see if you’re all right.”
“We’re fine,” she said bluntly and got up. Setting down her empty glass, she began loading bottles of wine into a cardboard carton. “Of course, I won’t make half my money back for renting the tent and buying all the supplies, but at least my daughter and I are still alive.”
Odd thing to say, I thought. “Uh, yeah. I hope no one else gets hurt.” I looked around for her daughter, then asked, “Is Tiffany here?”
As if on cue, Tiffany appeared from the tent’s back entrance. She had wiped off her scarecrow makeup and changed into jeans and a “Wise Apple Winery” T-shirt, but her cheeks were still flushed, her eyes red-rimmed, and she looked as if she was in a daze.
“Tiffany? Are you all right?” I asked.
Tiffany started to say something, but Crystal cut her off. “I told you, we’re fine. Tiff just lost a friend of hers. We both did. But she’ll be all right. As soon as we pack up here, I’m going to take her home, run her a nice hot bath, and get her to bed. She needs rest, that’s all.”
Obviously Crystal wasn’t feeling the same loss for Nathan as her daughter. But then, Crystal and Nathan hadn’t seemed as close as Tiffany and Nathan.
“Is there anything I can do?” I offered again.
“Yes, pack up and go home too. The festival’s probably canceled for the rest of the weekend. There’s nothing more to do around here.”
“Aren’t you worried about a killer running around?”
“Tiff and I have no reason to be frightened by some nutcase. I told you, I’m sure it has something to do with that GMO company, and I’m not a threat to them. You heard that Asian lady. She said Nathan was secretly planning to sell his property to Eden Corporation. Somebody around here must not have liked that idea, and it had to be someone who knew about the deal. Someone who was worried she might lose her farm someday too, if the GMOs took over everything.”
Her farm? Crystal was clearly referring to Honey.
“You really think Honey did this?” I asked.
Crystal shrugged. “It looks that way to the sheriff. I’m just sorry for Red. He didn’t know what he was getting into with her.”
“Mama!” Tiffany snapped. “Shut up! You act as if Dad were stupid. It was you that drove him away. I don’t know what you did, but whatever it was, he couldn’t live with us anymore and left. He’s happy with Honey, so just let it go.” Tiffany stormed out of the back of the tent, leaving Crystal standing there with her mouth open.
Crystal pulled herself together, closed her mouth, and resumed packing her wine bottles. “As you can see, my daughter is very upset. If you want to help us, then help Sheriff O’Neil prove that Honey killed those two men so the rest of us can get on with our lives.”
I glanced at Jake, who’d been standing by, letting me do all the talking. He gestured toward the entrance flap, indicating we should go.
“Well, I hope Tiffany feels better soon,” I said, not knowing what else to say. We let ourselves out of the tent.
After we’d stepped out of hearing distance, I stopped.
“Crystal seems awfully protective of her grown daughter,” I said to Jake.
“A bit overinvolved,” Jake agreed. “But then, Tiffany’s father left the family, which must have been painful. Maybe Crystal feels a sense of guilt about that and is trying to compensate.”
“Do you think Tiffany saw Nathan as a father figure? Or do you think they were romantically involved?”
“If she was involved with him, I can see why Crystal might not like the idea of him being so much older.”
“Makes sense, but they were behaving too oddly,” I said. “I wonder if Dillon can find out more about Tiffany—and Crystal, for that matter. We don’t know much about either of them, other than Tiffany is living with her mother, who owns a winery and is divorced.”
We started for Jake’s truck; then I spotted Adam and Paula in the dimly lit parking lot. Paula was gesturing a lot while Adam was just standing there. I wondered what they were talking about.
“Come on!” I whispered to Jake.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
“Follow me.” I led him through the few parked cars that were still in the lot, staying in the shadows and keeping quiet. As soon as we were within hearing range, I ducked behind a van, then pulled Jake down with me.
Jake looked at me as if I was crazy.
Maybe he was right.
“What are you doing?” he whispered.
“Spying on Paula and Adam. Isn’t it obvious?” I whispered back.
“Why? I feel like a fool.”
“Because I think they’re up to something. Shhh! Listen.”
I caught Paula in midsentence. “. . . that’s why I need you to do this for me, Adam!”
“I don’t want any part of it, Paula,” Adam said. “You led me to believe everything would be okay, and obviously it’s not.”
Paula’s former light flirtations had been replaced by insistent vocals, while Adam’s puppy dog demeanor had morphed into that of a frightened mouse. What was going on between these two?
“But you said you’d help me convince the others to sell, Adam,” Paula said. “You can’t back down now.”
“What are you doing?” a voice called from behind us.
We were caught!
I turned to see Red standing under one of the parking lot lights, but he wasn’t looking in our direction. He was squinting at Paula and Adam. He hadn’t seen us after all!
Paula froze. Adam glanced around the semilit parking lot to see where the voice had come from.
“Is that you, Adam?” Red called. He began heading over to where they stood.
“Now what?” Paula said under her breath. “That’s all I need. Honey’s doofus boyfriend snooping around. Get rid of him.”
Adam frowned at Paula. “How’m I supposed to do that? He’s my friend.”
“Really?” Paula said, eyeing him. “I doubt he’d be your friend if he knew—”
“Shut up!” Adam said, his face twisted in anger. This was a change. It was the first time I’d seen the usually even-tempered man look and sound upset.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Red said as he approached the couple. He scrutinized Paula.
Paula forced a smile. Adam kept his frown.
“Nothing,” Paula said. “Just chatting.”
“We were talking about—” Adam started to say.
Paula cut him off. “The dead guy. Poor thing. And now they’ve arrested Honey. You must be devastated.” She reached over and placed her hand on Red’s arm.
Boy, the woman could really turn it off and on, I thought.
“The sheriff didn’t arrest her,” Red said, shaking off her hand. “He’s just questioning her. He’s probably going to question everyone who saw Nathan before he got murdered.” Red’s face fell and he shook his head. “I’m heading to the station right now, see if Honey’s all right, if I can take her home.” He started to turn and walk away, then looked back at Paula. “Don’t think you’re fooling anyone, young lady. We all know what you’re up to.”
“Oh, what’s that, Red?” she said smugly.
“You’re trying to sweet-talk us all into selling our properties. That’s what the other dead guy was trying to do, only he tried it with cash. You’re just using a different approach.” He eyed her up and down, making an obvious reference to her sex appeal. “But we see right through you. Don’t we, Adam?”
Adam started to say something, but Paula interrupted him again. “Listen, carrot top, you better face it. You’re about to lose your Honey Bear ’cause she’s going to prison for murder. I’ll bet they find her fingerprints on that apple stick of yours, and when they do, maybe they’ll arrest you as her accomplice.”
“Why, you little . . . ,” Red sputtered. “If I weren’t a gentleman . . .”
“I doubt you are, leaving your wife and kid for another woman,” Paula said.
If Red suddenly felt like murdering Paula at this point, I wouldn’t have been too surprised.
“You know nothing about my marriage or the reason I left,” Red said. “I don’t cotton to liars. And you fit in that category perfectly, lady. The sooner everyone realizes it, the sooner you’ll be out of here on your butt.”
“Oh, it’ll take a lot more than a few fires and a couple of murders to get rid of me,” Paula said. “In fact, I’ll bet you set those fires yourself and tried to make it look like Eden Corporation did it. Funny how only a storage building and an old barn were burned and not the nearby houses. Seems a safe way to gain sympathy while you place the blame on others. I’ll bet you and Honey thought that whole plan up, and when it didn’t work to drive us out, she took it a step further and murdered my boss. And maybe Nathan found out about it and you killed him too.”
“Why, you . . .” Red reached out, ready to grab Paula around the neck.
Paula hustled back behind Adam for protection.
Adam held up his hands, trying to keep Red at bay.
Jake jumped out from behind the car and ran over.
I was right behind him.
“Hey! Calm down!” Jake shouted as he approached them. “Everyone, just chill.”
I caught up with him in time to see Paula peek out from behind Adam as her cover.
She had her Coach bag open and her hand inside.
Moments later, she withdrew a gun.
Chapter 18
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Jake said, raising his hands. “Put the gun down. You don’t need that.”
Uh-oh, I thought as I felt sweat break out on my forehead. Paula had a gun. Did she murder Roman and Nathan? If so, why hadn’t she used the gun?
“Back off!” Paula said, wildly waving the gun at all of us. “One of you could easily be a killer and I’m not taking any chances.”
“Wait a minute.” I raised my hands like Jake. “You think one of us did it? Then why do you have a gun?”
“To protect myself, obviously,” Paula snapped.
“But you said you thought Honey was the killer and now you’re accusing us.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jake inch closer to Paula. What was he up to?
“I don’t know anymore, but I’m not going to stand around and be the next victim, that’s for sure. Whoever killed Reuben probably wants me dead too, since we both work for the same company. And the way I figure it, it has to be one of these apple fanatics.”
“But what about Nathan? He’s not one of your GMO company men. Or is he?” I asked.
“No, he probably just got in the way,” Paula answered. “Who knows? Like I said, I’m not going to wait around and find out. I’m outta here.”
She started to back up. Adam, standing next to her, didn’t move, his face frozen. Red stood with his hands in his overall pockets, looking baffled.
Jake took another step forward. “Paula, wait. Is there something you’re not telling us? Something you know that could help us figure out who killed those two men?”
“No, I told you,” Paula said. The gun trembled slightly in her hand. “Now stay back!”
This time Red stepped forward, his hands still in his pockets. “Listen, miss, if you do know something, you have to at least tell the sheriff. Honey didn’t do this and we need to clear her name before anything more happens.”
“Shut up, you old geezer,” Paula said, aiming the gun at him. “And back off!”
Red started to pull his hands out of his pockets.
“Don’t even think about it!” Paula snapped.
“I was just going to raise my hands,” Red offered.
�
��Okay, but do it slowly. If I see any kind of weapon, I won’t hesitate to use this gun.”
He continued to withdraw his hands. In one of his hands he held an object.
“Freeze right there,” Paula said, waving the gun. “What is that?”
Red slowly held up the round red object for Paula to see. “Calm down. It’s not a weapon. Just an apple.”
Paula frowned at him, obviously puzzled.
“You always carry around—” she started to say, but Red saw his opportunity and went for it.
“Here! Catch!” he called out. With a lightning-fast motion, he tossed the apple to Paula.
As expected, Paula’s reflexes kicked in and she tried to catch the apple coming right at her. In that split-second of distraction, Jake rushed over and knocked the gun from her hand. He bent over and snatched it up, then checked to see if it was loaded. He removed the clip and pocketed it and the weapon. The guy seemed to know his way around a gun.
I let out a breath of air. Red and Adam looked visibly relieved.
“Give me that!” Paula screeched, and lunged for Jake as soon as she realized what had happened. Adam and Red rushed to yank her off, wrestled with her for a few seconds, and then pulled her arms behind her back and held them tight.
“Call the sheriff!” Jake said to me.
But I was already on it.
• • •
“Do you think she did it?” I asked Jake on the ride back to the Enchanted Inn. The men had kept Paula under control until Sheriff O’Neil arrived. Jake explained to him what had happened; then the sheriff arrested her—for threatening the lives of others. It was all he could charge her with at the time, but I was hoping he’d find more that would link her to the murders.
Jake shrugged. “I don’t know. She certainly had motive. If she killed her boss, she could take his place in the company faster. Then again, maybe it was a crime of passion. Maybe she and Roman-Reuben were having an affair and he cheated on her.”
