“The battery’s probably dead,” I said, “but I think when you charge it and check the recording, you’ll find out who killed Ronnie Cass.”
“This was hidden in the bear all this time?” she asked.
“Thanks to Bobbie Kay, everybody in Proper has a teddy bear. Who better to keep a secret?”
* * *
THE first publication to break the news was Spicy Acorn. In addition to what went public, Don added a first-person tribute to Ronnie Cass. Whatever fame and fortune she’d sought over the course of her life couldn’t possibly compare to her newfound reputation as Proper City’s darling. Don’s reputation around town had gained a new sheen too. Twice when Don and my dad thought nobody else was around, I caught them discussing the order their names would appear when they won the Pulitzer.
A small group of those of us involved had been granted permission to view the footage at the police station. The recording device that had been hidden in the bear caught more than any of us had expected. First, a fight between Gina and Ronnie. My knock on the trailer door interrupted the argument, right after the crash and scream that I’d heard from the sidewalk. Others might have seen a typical mother-daughter tête-à-tête, but I didn’t know what one of those was like. Ronnie told Gina to make sure she stayed in costume any time she was at the festival—that it would jeopardize Ronnie’s reputation if anybody knew she wasn’t the one performing. Gina, usually quick with a disparaging remark, had lashed out. The last words that Ronnie ever spoke to her daughter: “And don’t forget: you’re only the center of attention because everybody thinks you’re me.” No wonder Gina acted the way she did.
The next clip was Ronnie talking to the camera. “I’ve waited a long time for this,” she said. “Fifty years. Don, you always said you wanted the scoop of the century, right? If all goes as planned, this should make up for what I did to us.” She held up an engagement ring. “There are two things I’ve held on to for all these years. The truth about the Proper City robbery and this. It’s time to let go of them both.”
The third clip—the money shot—was what Wharton Young had been hoping to destroy. His visit to Ronnie’s trailer. Her accusations. His denial and her proof. “I know the truth. I’ve kept your secret all these years—my insurance policy.” She turned her head and coughed. “Turns out that’s exactly what I need. Insurance. I’m sick, Wharton, and the only way I can afford treatment is for you to pay my medical bills. You want me to keep quiet about the gold theft and the way you faked documents in the mayor’s office to make it look like the gold wasn’t real? How you traded the real gold for campaign support? How the entire incorporation of Proper City is your way of paying back the people who got you elected and kept you in office all this time?”
“So what if I did? That gold bought me an introduction into the powerful circles that can make or break a political career. That gold put me on a rocket ship that’s going to take me all the way to the White House. It’s your word against mine, Ronnie. Nobody’s going to believe an old dancer who couldn’t make it in Vegas over the mayor of a city that’s about to explode off the map.”
“Maybe they won’t believe me, but they’ll believe you.” She laughed. “And guess what? You just told them everything they needed to hear.”
Wharton Young froze for a moment, his body very still while his eyes flicked around the interior of the trailer as if trying to find a camera. And then, swiftly, he grabbed a nearby frying pan. I didn’t watch what I already knew had been caught on camera. Wharton killed Ronnie, and then took the black wig off the plastic stand and pulled it over her head to hide the impact wound.
He reached for Ronnie’s hand and pulled away the engagement ring. A small teddy bear sat on the inside window ledge. Wharton picked up some scissors, cut a hole in the back seam of the bear, and shoved the ring inside. He dropped out of site. We couldn’t see what he did, but we knew. He’d hid the bear with the ring inside the sewer grate under the trailer to implicate Don.
The last thing Mayor Wharton Young did before leaving Ronnie’s trailer was to pause in front of her. “If I never see another domino costume, it’ll be too soon.” Wharton Young had entered that trailer a thief. He left it a murderer. The very last thing on the recording device came about half an hour after Mayor Young had left. It was Ronnie, standing up and walking toward the bear. She picked it up and held it out.
“Take it,” she said.
The voice of Chet Lemming answered. “You never could hold your liquor,” he said. “You’re lucky our daughter was willing to cover for you.”
The last of my questions were answered. Ronnie had tried to give Chet the bear before she collapsed back in her chair and died. And Chet told us the one secret Ronnie had been willing to keep: that he was Gina’s father.
* * *
WITHOUT a mayor to drive the attendance of the Sagebrush Festival, the vendors agreed to cut our losses and pack up. Even Ebony, who had done a bang-up job with the board game theme despite major obstacles, seemed happy to admit that it was time to move on. We were all looking forward to a new distraction, and Kirby’s party for Varla was just the ticket.
I took one day to recover from my lack of sleep over the past week and then pitched in to help Ebony and Kirby. By Saturday morning, we were ready to roll. Kirby was on a special high. Grady had been held up at the festival because of what had gone down, putting Angus and Varla out past curfew. Even though they had a legitimate excuse for being late, her parents viewed Angus as trouble.
Saturday morning, Dig Allen delivered a package to Varla’s house in his version of a DeLorean. It was the Le Sabre that he’d loaned me. He’d removed the regular doors and welded on gull-wing doors that opened up and down instead of swinging out, and even added a makeshift flux capacitor to the interior. The package contained a powder blue strapless dress with several full crinolines underneath.
Kirby had borrowed an outfit from my dad’s personal wardrobe: a vintage suit with narrow lapels and a skinny tie. And Ebony, who would be busy planning high school parties for the rest of her life if the reaction to what she’d accomplished was any indication, transitioned Proper City High School into the “Enchantment Under the Sea” set from Back to the Future. Even Principal Stanley had gotten in on the act, wearing a bald cap and strutting around, asking if anybody knew the whereabouts of Biff Tannen.
At the dance, Bobbie and I stood by the punch bowl acting as chaperones. “Do you think Proper City will ever be the same after this?” she asked.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. A week ago we had a mayor, an annual festival, and a publicist. We had an unsolved bank robbery and two thousand residents who liked to dress in costumes. Today we’re without a mayor, without a festival, and without a publicist. Nobody’s pushing to incorporate Proper City. Probably nobody really cares what happens to us.”
“What’s going to happen to Tak?” Bobbie said. “Mayor Young wasn’t exactly a good guy, but because of him, Tak had a job. Is he going to have to head back out there on a new job search?”
“I wouldn’t worry too much about Tak Hoshiyama,” said a familiar voice. Grady, looking James Bond handsome in a classic tuxedo, approached from behind us. He set a stack of Spicy Acorns on the table in front of us and helped himself to a glass of punch. “I figured you’d want to join the cause.”
The cause? I picked up a newspaper and flipped it over to see the headline: “Tak Hoshiyama—Proper City’s Next Mayoral Candidate?”
I glanced up to the ceiling and wondered if there was a patron saint for this.
Recipes
SPICY ACORN TREATS
Wilton Chocolate Candy Melts
Chili powder
Unwrapped Hershey Kisses
Mini Nutter Butters
Mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Put about 10–20 Wilton Chocolate Candy Melts in a microwavable dish
Microwave on 50 percent power for 30
seconds
Stir and repeat until discs are smooth consistency
Add 3 tsp. chili powder to melted chocolate, mix
Using chili powder/chocolate mixture as a paste, coat flat end of Hershey Kiss and attach to a mini Nutter Butter cookie
Swipe a small amount of chili powder/chocolate mixture on the flat end of a mini semi-sweet chocolate chip
Press the mini semi-sweet chocolate chip into the side of the Nutter Butter that is not connected to the Hershey Kiss
Set on tray
When you’ve made as many spicy acorns as you want, refrigerate for 10 minutes and then enjoy!
Tip: Serve with sprigs of mint to add to the appearance of acorn treats
SPICY ACORN SALSA
1 acorn squash
1 clove garlic
2–3 tbsp. olive oil
12 grape tomatoes cut in half
½ small red onion
1 jalapeño
1 bunch cilantro
1 lime
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Corn chips
Cut squash, scrape seeds and pulp. Peel. Discard seeds, peel, and pulp.
Dice squash
Mince garlic
Sauté diced squash and minced garlic in olive oil over medium heat for 10 minutes
Set aside and let cool
Dice onion
Mince jalapeño
Chop cilantro
Add juice from 1 lime
Add salt and pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients
Serve with corn chips
Costume Ideas for a Conspiracy-Themed Party
Secret Service Agent
Alien
Man in Black
Grassy Knoll Shooter
D. B. Cooper
Fox Mulder
Dana Scully
Stanley Kubrick
Oliver Stone
The Knights Templar
The Masons
Elvis Presley
Lee Harvey Oswald
The Rothchilds
Count St. Germain
HOW TO MAKE A SECRET SERVICE AGENT COSTUME
Black suit
White shirt
Black tie
Nondescript black shoes
Slick hair back with heavy hairspray or gel
Attach a curly white telephone cord behind one ear and tuck the other end into the collar of shirt
Aviator glasses
Clip on name badge that reads: “Secret Service”
About the Author
Diane Vallere is the national bestselling author of the Lefty-nominated Material Witness Mysteries, which include Silk Stalkings, Crushed Velvet, and Suede to Rest, and the Costume Shop Mysteries, which include Masking for Trouble and A Disguise to Die For. She is the daughter of a seamstress and a scientist, which makes her feel like the love child of Edith Head and Mr. Spock. After twenty years in the fashion industry, she now writes full time, trading fashion accessories for accessories to murder. She launched her own detective agency at ten years old and has maintained a passion for shoes, clues, and clothes ever since. Visit her at dianevallere.com, facebook.com/DianeVallereAuthor, and twitter.com/dianevallere.
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