Fortune Funhouse (Miss Fortune Mysteries Book 19)

by Jana DeLeon

  “They should already be on their way for Celia,” Ida Belle said as she stepped over Emmaline and dropped down on her knees across from me.

  “As much as people like Celia, I’m afraid no one called,” I said as I checked for a pulse. “Her pulse is good.”

  “But her breathing is shallow,” Ida Belle said.

  I held my phone close to Emmaline and used the flashlight feature to illuminate the area of her head where the blood was coming from. I pushed the hair aside and Ida Belle leaned closer to take a look.

  “Nothing embedded,” Ida Belle said. “Looks like she was hit from behind and landed face forward.”

  I grabbed Gertie’s purse and took out three dynamite sticks, a sub sandwich, and an inflatable raft before locating the emergency medical kit. I pulled out gauze and handed it to Ida Belle, who pressed it against the wound and held it there, putting enough pressure to stop the bleeding. I checked her pulse again and it had slowed a bit.

  “Getting weaker,” I said, my own blood pressure starting to shoot up. “Where are those paramedics?”

  “She’s going to be fine,” Ida Belle said, but I could hear the worry in her voice.

  Emmaline LeBlanc wasn’t just an incredible woman and all-around beloved resident of Sinful—she was Carter’s mother and Walter’s sister. I touched her cheek and repeated silently, Don’t you dare leave us.

  “I’ve got to call Carter,” I said.

  “Go,” Ida Belle said.

  I ran to the exit and had signal again. I scanned the crowd but didn’t see Gertie. Hopefully she was on her way back with the paramedics. I dialed Carter’s number, prepared to make a call I’d hoped I’d never have to make. But Carter needed to be here.

  “You need to get to the funhouse now,” I said when he answered. “Emmaline was attacked and she’s unconscious.”

  I was going to tell him that the paramedics were en route, but the call dropped and I knew he was headed this way at a dead run. I ran back inside just as Ida Belle lowered herself to Emmaline’s chest. She looked back up at me, her worried look deepening.

  “Getting shallower,” she said.

  I nodded, trying to think of something we could do, but the reality was, there wasn’t anything. Both of us were trained for battlefield triage, but with bandages and ointment as our only medical supplies, we were limited. Unless she stopped breathing.

  Please, God, don’t let that happen.

  I heard footsteps and looked up into Walter’s horrified face. He dropped down beside Ida Belle.

  “Emmaline?” he said, his voice almost a whisper. “Is she…she’s not…”

  “She’s alive but her vitals are weak,” I said. “Gertie went to get the paramedics.”

  Ida Belle reached over and took her husband’s hand in hers.

  “She’s going to be fine,” Ida Belle said again, but we all knew she had no way of knowing that.

  I heard noise at the exit and felt a trickle of relief course through me as the paramedics rushed around the corner. Ida Belle, Walter, and I jumped up to give them room and we moved away as they dropped down and went to work. As I took another step back to give Ida Belle and Walter more space, my foot connected with something. Figuring I’d hit a turn in the maze, I looked behind me and was surprised to see open space.

  Then I looked down.

  We had a second victim.

  Chapter Three

  The maze increased the difficulty level of getting Emmaline to the ambulance, but Carter arrived and solved the paramedics’ dilemma by picking his mother up and carrying her out. I let everyone head out without alerting them to the other body. I’d already done a quick dip down and checked, and based on the lack of pulse, the huge stab wound in his back, and the enormous pool of blood underneath him, the man was long past medical help.

  Carter needed to be with his mother and his sense of duty wouldn’t have allowed him to go if I’d told him there was a dead guy behind me. Besides, staying behind meant his attention would have been split, which wouldn’t have done anyone any good. A quick discussion sent Walter to the parking lot to follow Carter and Emmaline to the hospital. Ida Belle, Gertie, and I would head for the hospital after we’d brought Deputy Breaux up to speed on the situation so he could secure the funhouse.

  Well, and handle the dead guy that I hadn’t mentioned.

  As soon as we’d exited, I’d given Ida Belle the head nod and she immediately understood that something was up and she should follow my play. Sometimes I felt Ida Belle and I were an even better pair of operatives than I had been with Harrison in the CIA. We seemed to be on the same wavelength, and it came in handy. So after the paramedics drove off, I stuck my hands in my pocket, then made an exclamation, for anyone standing nearby to hear, about my wallet not being there and how it must have fallen out in the funhouse. Then Ida Belle and I headed back in to ‘find’ the other body.

  And just like that, our cover story for not reporting the other body when the paramedics were there was in place.

  Deputy Breaux was already on his way to secure the funhouse for the forensics team, and Walter had already told the guy running it to shut down, so there was no danger of a random civilian tripping over the body. After I retrieved my ‘missing’ wallet, we headed back out to wait for Deputy Breaux. When we exited the tunnel, Gertie came trudging up.

  “Emmaline?” she asked, wheezing.

  “Still unconscious but off to the hospital with Carter,” I said. “Walter is following.”

  Gertie nodded. “Can you believe the paramedics wouldn’t even give me a lift back here? And they were on the other side of the fairgrounds but I didn’t want to wait on dispatch to send them. Heck, I was starting to wane before I even set out running for them—that dragon costume is no joke to walk around in and my legs were already weak. Now I just feel like I’ve been run over by the bumper cars. And worse, every deep breath tastes like I’m sucking on an exhaust pipe.”

  Ida Belle and I listened to her rant without interrupting and when she finally finished, she looked at both of us and narrowed her eyes.

  “What’s up?” she asked. “You two know something.”

  “There’s a dead guy in there,” I said.

  “What?” Gertie’s eyes widened and she yanked her head around to the exit tunnel. “You’re sure?”

  “Sure he’s dead?” I asked. “Yeah, I’m positive on that one. No vitals and there’s a pool of blood big enough to float a ship. Huge knife wound in his back.”

  “Well, who is it?” she asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “He’s facedown. I checked vitals and figured I best not mess with him anymore. It’s bad enough we’ve contaminated the crime scene going in after Emmaline, and God only knows what kind of damage Celia did fleeing the place—good Lord, what happened to Celia?”

  “I ran into Sheriff Lee on my way back,” Gertie said. “He said Dorothy and some of the God’s Wives managed to get her up and partially walking. They were going to take her to the hospital so someone would take a look at her head. He said she seemed pretty out of it.”

  “She hit that glass hard enough to shatter it,” Ida Belle said. “And her knees were already skinned up when she ran out.”

  “She probably tripped over our dead guy or Emmaline or both, and that’s what freaked her out,” I said.

  “Well, she’s definitely left her mark all over the crime scene,” Gertie said.

  “Not to mention, half of Sinful has probably already tromped through there touching everything beforehand,” Ida Belle said.

  I nodded. “Well, none of that can be helped, but you know how the state police get. I’m sure everyone will get a dressing-down.”

  “State police?” Gertie asked. “Who called the state police?”

  “No one yet,” I said. “But I imagine the ME is going to. Carter can’t investigate a murder where his mother is also one of the victims.”

  Ida Belle groaned. “Crap! I hadn’t even thought that far. The chances of som
e yahoo from the state police catching the guy is slim to none. They give things half a lick and not even a promise and then stamp the file and shove it in a drawer. Before Carter came back to Sinful, things just mostly went unsolved.”

  I nodded. I could see that. Sheriff Lee had been past his prime since the wheel was invented. And Deputy Breaux was a good guy and took his job seriously, but he was green, and I wasn’t sure he’d ever have the mind for detective work.

  “No way Carter’s going to sit back when his mom was attacked,” Gertie said.

  “He won’t have a choice,” Ida Belle said. “If the state police catch him even raising an eyebrow, much less lifting a finger, they can take his badge and there’s not a thing Sheriff Lee would be able to do about it.”

  Gertie flopped down on the exit steps. “That blows.”

  “You think you’re mad, wait ’til Carter puts it together,” I said.

  Ida Belle nodded. “You know what we have to do.”

  “Get in the middle of official police business,” I said. I’d already planned to do that the second I realized it was Emmaline and that someone had struck her from behind. I don’t care how excited and turned around you got, you couldn’t hit yourself on the back of the head like that, then land face-first. Not unless you were in the tunnel doing acrobatics.

  Or maybe if you were Gertie.

  Deputy Breaux came jogging up, looking so anxious I was afraid he might pass out. He slid to a stop in front of us and leaned over to catch his breath.

  “Emmaline?” he asked in between draws.

  “On her way to the hospital,” I said. “Carter’s with her.”

  “How bad?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “She took a good crack on the back of the head. There was some blood loss. Her pulse and breathing were both compromised by the time the paramedics arrived, and she never regained consciousness. Long and short—we don’t know.”

  Deputy Breaux was clearly upset. “I don’t understand. Who in the world would want to hurt Emmaline? She’s one of the nicest people on the planet.”

  “Uh, I’m afraid there might be more to it,” I said. “You see, after the paramedics left, I realized I was missing my wallet, so Ida Belle and I stepped back inside to retrieve it. And that’s when we found another victim. This one is dead.”

  He stared at me in dismay. “You’re serious?”

  “I wish I weren’t.”

  “And you’re sure he’s dead?”

  “I’m positive.”

  Deputy Breaux took off his hat and ran a hand through his hair, breathing deeply. “The forensics team is on their way, but they don’t know about a second body. What am I supposed to do?”

  “Wait on them to get here and fill them in,” I said. “Ida Belle and I will be here. We have to be. We’re the ones who found him.”

  “But what about once they’re done?” Deputy Breaux asked.

  “They’ll call in the ME, who will pronounce,” I said. “The ME will arrange for transport of the body to his office. You won’t have to do anything.”

  “What about witnesses?” Deputy Breaux asked. “Shouldn’t I be looking for witnesses?”

  Ida Belle, Gertie, and I exchanged glances and Deputy Breaux frowned. Then suddenly, he stiffened and gasped.

  “Carter can’t investigate,” Deputy Breaux said.

  “I’m afraid not,” I said.

  In a display of temper that I’d never seen before, Deputy Breaux took off his hat and threw it onto the ground, cursing as it went. We all stared at him, somewhat surprised by the outburst. He realized we were staring, then turned back to apologize.

  “I’m sorry, ladies,” he said. “It’s just that me and the state police don’t have the best history. They pretty much think I’m a useless nuisance and treat me that way. A guy can only take so much. They’ll never let Sheriff Lee and me handle this.”

  “Trust me,” Gertie said. “We’re no happier about it than you are.”

  “Carter’s going to sh…be really mad,” Deputy Breaux said.

  “Well, since we all agree that the situation sucks, I was wondering if you would do us a favor,” I said.

  “Name it,” Deputy Breaux said.

  “I was wondering if maybe we could move the body just a little,” I said.

  Deputy Breaux’s eyes widened. “Oh. I don’t know…I mean…we probably shouldn’t.”

  “Think, Deputy!” Ida Belle said with her best stern senior voice. “The ME is not going to release information to us. And without knowing who he is, how can we find the person who killed him and attacked Emmaline? God knows, the state police aren’t going to do the job right and we’ll lose valuable time waiting for an official announcement. You don’t want the killer to get away, do you?”

  Deputy Breaux stared. “You’re saying you plan on investigating? You know how Carter feels about that.”

  “You’re right,” Ida Belle said. “Carter doesn’t like us interfering in his investigations, but do you really think he’ll care if we do the job the state police aren’t going to bother to do when his hands are tied? That’s his mother in the back of that ambulance.”

  Deputy Breaux drew himself up straight, a resolved expression replacing the slightly fearful one. “You’re right, by God! No one is going to get away with hurting Emmaline and killing whoever the heck that is in there. But can you make it quick?”

  We hurried inside and stood over the body. The man was crumpled facedown, his knees slightly bent, which would make sense if he’d buckled while dropping after being stabbed. I took a couple pics with my phone but didn’t notice anything remarkable except that his wardrobe was completely wrong. Gray slacks, navy long-sleeve button-up shirt, and gray dress shoes. It wasn’t the kind of outfit you wore to a funeral in Sinful in September, much less a carnival.

  Gertie handed me gloves from her purse and I reached into his pockets.

  “No wallet,” I said. “Or cell phone.”

  “Maybe whoever did this took them,” Gertie said. “Roll him over a little and we’ll see if we recognize him.”

  I placed my hands on both sides of the man’s head and turned it around. Ida Belle and Gertie both leaned over.

  “A visitor, maybe?” I said, not recognizing the vacant stare.

  Ida Belle frowned and shook her head.

  “Is that who I think it is?” Gertie asked and leaned in closer.

  “It certainly looks like it,” Ida Belle said.

  “Will someone please tell me?” I said. “Because I’ve never seen this man before.”

  “Lucky you that you only had to see him after he was dead,” Gertie said.

  “Normally,” Ida Belle said, “I’d think that statement a little tacky but given the identity of the man in question, I’m going to have to agree.”

  “Let’s get out of here and you can fill me in,” I said.

  “That is Rupert St. Ives,” Ida Belle said as we exited the funhouse. “A very short-term Sinful resident, originally from England, who spent every waking moment of his time here telling us how far beneath him we were and how everything in this town was wrong.”

  Gertie nodded. “He used to record the sermon, transcribe it, and correct the grammar. Pastor Don developed an ulcer over it. Don’t even get me started on the church bulletin. Heck, one week, he marked up a hymnal. A hymnal, I tell you.”

  “At least he didn’t correct the Bible,” I said.

  “Wrong again,” Ida Belle said.

  “So if he was short term, what’s he doing here now?” I asked.

  “Bleeding in the funhouse?” Gertie suggested.

  “That’s a really good question,” Ida Belle said. “Aside from him being gone for a while now, the fair isn’t the sort of place I’d expect to find St. Ives. It has all kinds of people and noise that he would disapprove of.”

  We located Deputy Breaux at the edge of the roped-off funhouse. The crowd had finally dispersed once they decided there was nothing else to see and determined t
hat Deputy Breaux didn’t know anything. I imagined they’d flock back in droves as soon as word got around that the house of fun was harboring a dead man.

  “Anything?” Deputy Breaux asked.

  I heard someone call Deputy Breaux’s name and looked over to see the forensics team arriving. Deputy Breaux explained the situation and indicated that we were the people who’d found the second body. The team asked some general questions about things we’d touched and took our information in order to contact us for elimination testing, and finally we were free to go. Obviously the state police hadn’t gotten wind of the situation or hadn’t yet exerted their control over it, or we would have been instructed to wait for them to arrive. Since we knew that was the case, we took off from there as though we were on fire, promising Deputy Breaux we’d fill him in later.

  I glanced at the funhouse entrance as we went by. It was still roped off and had an Attraction Closed sign on one of the posts.

  “Crap,” I said as I scanned the crowd. “I was hoping to talk to the guy who was running this thing.”

  “You think he saw the killer?” Gertie asked.

  “Well, he didn’t materialize from behind one of those glass panels,” I said.

  “You think he walked in behind St. Ives?” Gertie asked. “That would be ballsy.”

  “Maybe,” I said. “Or maybe there’s other ways in. But I’d like to know if our ticket taker saw anything. Unfortunately, it looks like he split.”

  “It’s not surprising,” Ida Belle said. “He probably cut out as soon as he figured the police were coming.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, probably so. First thing tomorrow, we need to come back here and see if we can run him down. In this, we have the advantage of not being the police. He might actually talk to us.”

  Chapter Four

  I could hear Carter’s voice when I took the first step in the lobby, and he wasn’t happy. I said a quick prayer for the ER doctor that he was really on his game and spotted Walter, sitting in the corner of the room. Gertie, Ida Belle, and I headed over and I nodded toward the double doors to the ER where the loud talking was going on.