The Begonia Bribe

by Alyse Carlson

  “Someone threatened to sell the photos to Telly. Jessica panicked and arranged for pictures of Telly that were even worse,” Cam said, ignoring Rob’s question. “And you’re saying none of this matters?”

  “Doesn’t appear to.”

  “Unbelievable! Can’t you just look at this?”

  “Of course we’ll look. I just don’t see it going anywhere.”

  “I know . . . and Annie’s a murderer and so is my brother-in-law, Nick.” The pair of them had each been police favorites in the last murder investigation Cam and Jake had locked horns in.

  Jake looked to Rob for help, but Rob just shrugged. Cam could see he was annoyed at the new evidence, but was also swayed by it. She suspected it was because she’d been right the last time and he’d also been ignored regarding Annie—the police had not dug deep enough and both Jake and Rob had stubbornly stuck to wrong candidates for much of the investigation.

  Cam looked at her watch.

  “Look, I have to be at Elmwood Park to start the double-check for tonight. Just promise not to drop this.”

  Jake wouldn’t meet her eye, but his expression was resigned. Rob left with her, claiming Cam needed a ride, though he knew she didn’t.

  “Guess you showed him,” Rob said as they walked to his Jeep.

  Cam sighed. Now that they were away from Jake, his attitude about Dylan resurfaced.

  “Can we not do this now? I have a thousand things to keep straight over the next five hours.”

  He raised an eyebrow, but gave a nod.

  “Shoot!”

  “What?”

  “We’ll need a lighting person if Dylan is being questioned.”

  Rob grimaced as Cam called Evangeline to give her a heads-up.

  “Are you sure? I just saw him,” Evangeline said when Cam explained.

  “What?”

  “I watched him walk across the park with Jessica not ten minutes ago.”

  Cam wasn’t sure what to make of that—Dylan being there, or his being there with Jessica. “I guess that’s good, then,” she said, and clicked her phone shut.

  “Emergency resolved?” Rob asked.

  “Apparently. Either Dylan wasn’t formally arrested or he’s out on bail already.”

  Cam thought Rob’s frown was less confusion and more irritation than hers had been.

  * * *

  Cam checked in with Evangeline again when she reached the park, looking around quickly with satisfaction at how nice they’d made things look—at least the setting was right. Then she made a beeline for the shell to find Dylan. Her curiosity had gotten the best of her.

  “How are you here? I thought . . . Jake said you were stuck at the police station, but then Evangeline saw you here. Were you . . .”

  “Questioned for murder, yes . . . but my reason for my hair in that booth was verified by that Sweeny woman. Not enough evidence otherwise. Besides, they could tell I don’t have the resources to leave town,” Dylan said.

  “Why were you in the booth?”

  “Ms. Sweeny needed help with all the wiring. Remember?”

  She did, now that she thought about it.

  “You don’t seem that upset.” It was true. He was fiddling with a trio of lights and hadn’t even looked at her.

  “I thought there were other suspects anyway,” a voice said.

  Cam started and realized Jessica Benchly was sitting on a chair at the edge of the shell. She was in shadow.

  Cam jumped. “What are you doing here?”

  Dylan let out a stream of air to show irritation but Jessica answered.

  “If you must know, I overheard a hissy fit from Judith on Tuesday that Dylan was Telly’s love child. I happen to be carrying Telly’s baby, who is therefore Dylan’s brother or sister. Family . . . And frankly, Dylan has been a lot nicer about this family thing than Telly was, though I guess the fact that Telly rejected them both might be a bonding point, too. Dylan and I have become friends.”

  Cam looked to Dylan, who nodded. Cam wasn’t sure why Jessica had just confessed this love child to her—maybe she knew the news would soon be public? She doubted Dylan had confessed to stealing pictures. Though he also hadn’t confessed to Cam that Jessica was pregnant, so maybe he was just a secretive guy. Whatever the case, Cam wasn’t sure how to assimilate it at the moment, and she had way too much to do to try.

  “Well, I’m glad—for both of you. Dylan, you set for tonight?”

  “Aren’t I always?”

  Cam rolled her eyes and left him to it.

  * * *

  The pageant began with an announcement of finalists, which promptly led to minor chaos.

  Lizzie Blankenship was announced as the first finalist and took her place as expected, accepting her bouquet of daylilies, as begonias were far too short for a pageant bouquet. But when, by the end, Lauren had not been announced, Lizzie began to cry and kept trying to explain something. Evangeline gave a pleading look, and Cam came forward and took Lizzie to the side.

  “What is it, Lizzie?”

  “It should have been Lauren. Not me!” She sniffed.

  “But honey, that’s not what the judges thought.”

  “But it was my fault! I ruined her dress!”

  “What?”

  “I just wanted to go home. I didn’t want to be here. I thought maybe if Lauren’s dress was ruined, she’d want to go home, too.”

  “Oh, Lizzie, does that sound like your sister?”

  Lizzie looked down and sniffed again. “No.”

  The poor thing was devastated.

  “Lizzie, the judges wouldn’t count Lauren’s dress against her. She got a new pretty dress. And she was only judged on the talent anyway, and Lauren did really well on the talent part. You need to tell your mom, though. Can I have your mom come talk to you?”

  Lizzie wouldn’t look up, but she gave a sad, dejected nod. Cam took her to sit with the other contestants and then went to find Mindy.

  Mindy was sitting with Barry, who had a hand on Mindy’s leg.

  Cam grimaced. She couldn’t imagine a scenario where this was good news. Barry pressuring Mindy was bad. Mindy forgiving Barry was bad. Barry was bad.

  She tried to ignore it and snuck in behind Mindy. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

  Mindy jumped at the touch, but when she saw Cam, she nodded. Barry started to rise, too, but Cam said, “It’s a mom thing.”

  Barry nodded and sat again.

  “What happened?” Mindy asked as they worked their way to the finalists.

  “I think Lizzie should tell you,” Cam said. She was heartbroken for Lizzie, but felt some glimmer of hope that Mindy might finally understand this wasn’t Lizzie’s thing.

  * * *

  Cam left Mindy and Lizzie to talk everything through and made a round to check the other places where things might go wrong. The television crew seemed fine and on target. Her volunteers knew the agenda and where they had to have girls and when. And Kyle Lance was waiting in the wings to be introduced by Evangeline. Everything was set.

  Cam could see Annie near the stage, shooting pictures of everything from the activity on it to the people in the audience picking their noses, if Cam knew Annie.

  Kyle made his way on stage and sang two songs, accompanied by masses of little-girl swoons. For the second song, all the contestants went on stage, an inner half circle of the finalists, Lizzie finally back with them, and a much larger half circle around them.

  Kyle hoisted Lizzie onto his shoulders, which finally brought her out of her funk, and when he finished the song, he kissed her hand when he put her down.

  As the last girl came off the stage in one direction and Kyle Lance in the other, there was a huge commotion.

  A familiar voice screamed, “Look out!”

  It was followed by a loud crash and several explosions and flashes. One of the lighting tracks had fallen, and the bulbs exploded as they hit the stage.

  Cam dashed up the stairs and saw Dylan lying on the floor, br
eathing heavily. The warning had come in time to save him, but the falling structure had caught his ankle as he dove to the side.

  Dylan’s face, even in the dim lighting, shone slightly green and sweat beaded on his forehead. His eyes were terrified. Jessica was nowhere to be seen.

  “What happened?” Cam asked.

  Dylan swallowed. “I guess Evangeline just saved my life.”

  Cam turned to see Evangeline, also apparently in shock. She stood to the side, positioned to take the podium again as the girls left, but was too stunned to move.

  “Did you see who did this?”

  Evangeline shook her head, and finally approached the podium.

  “We’ve had a small accident back here. If everyone could just stay calm until we get this cleared up—it should only be about ten minutes.”

  The audience calmed considerably.

  Jessica rushed up and ran at Dylan. “Heavens! Are you okay?”

  “Like you care,” Cam muttered.

  “What?”

  Cam regretted saying it and hoped the “what?” meant Jessica hadn’t heard.

  “I said we need to get him out of here. He needs medical attention.”

  Jessica frowned.

  “What about lighting?” Evangeline asked.

  “He can’t do it. Maybe Benny?”

  “Oh, I don’t think . . .”

  “Benny can do it,” Dylan said. “He’s helped me at a few band shows. Nothing fancy, but he can point and change which lights—gives you maybe three shades and all the locations.”

  Cam dialed Benny before Dylan finished.

  “But do you think . . .” Evangeline protested.

  Cam knew what her argument was. Cam had learned a few months earlier that Benny and his father had gone to great pains to make the Garden Society believe Benny was dim because of a minor crime he’d committed as a teen. Evangeline, Cam thought, needed to believe it because of some of the things he’d done more recently. If Evangeline believed Benny had full mental faculties, it might destroy their friendship. On the other hand, the show needed him, so she took on a confident expression and nodded.

  “If you’re sure,” Evangeline said.

  A few of the “muscle” helpers arrived to clean up the glass and metal, and an EMT who’d been on site arrived to look at Dylan’s ankle.

  “You’ll need stitches and maybe to have this casted, sir. I’m not sure if it’s broken or just a very serious sprain, but you need to go to the hospital. If another person can help, I can get you to the ambulance.”

  Cam didn’t want to do it, but the only person she could think of was Rob. She went on stage and shouted for him, certain that Dylan and Rob spending ten minutes together was the worst idea imaginable. She couldn’t justify not giving Dylan the help he needed, though. Rob was the only person she knew present she could ask who was strong enough, aside from Jake, and Jake was on duty.

  She watched as the EMT and Rob helped Dylan off the stage. The crowd considerately parted for them as they made their way to the ambulance, which was only a short distance away.

  Cam turned to Jessica. “You really don’t know who did this?” she asked.

  “Why would I?”

  “Because it seems to me, if your baby is the only heir left, you stand to inherit an awful lot.”

  “For your information, I’m wealthy in my own right. I don’t need Telly’s stupid money. Even if I did, half is plenty and family is worth more. I have a mother with Alzheimer’s and no one else. I really want Dylan as family.”

  Jessica was quite the actress. In fact, Cam really wanted to believe her. At the moment, though, the show had to go on and she didn’t have time to second-guess herself.

  CHAPTER 17

  Benny arrived a short while later. Evangeline introduced the next segment under the bluish lights that had been up for Kyle Lance’s second number, less the row that had fallen. Benny was able to get them adjusted as the finalists lined up for the poise routine.

  Cam finally left the stage, relieved things seemed to be on track to at least finish the night.

  “Psst!”

  Cam looked around, unsure at first that the call was meant for her, but it was Annie.

  “What?”

  “This is it.”

  “This is what?”

  “Where the lighting unit was jerry-rigged.” Annie was standing at one of the spots where the lighting gadgets were anchored, but there was no rope.

  “So you think it was on purpose?”

  “Look at those other knots. You think they untied themselves?”

  “Crap! Wait, what are you doing?”

  Annie was fumbling in her camera case for something.

  “Calling Jake. He needs to get over here.”

  Cam started to argue but knew she’d only offend Annie, and it was Jake’s job. Maybe he could get fingerprints or something. She also felt a little satisfied that the most logical suspect for this was the person she’d spent so much time arguing for as a murder suspect.

  “I knew that Jessica was evil,” Cam said.

  “Why?”

  Cam spun to find Evangeline behind her.

  “Look.” Cam pointed to the empty anchor. “Someone set the lighting thing up to fall on Dylan on purpose.”

  “It couldn’t have been Jessica,” Evangeline said.

  “Why not?”

  “She’s been helping me all night. She’s hardly left my side.”

  That couldn’t be right. Even if it were true, it wouldn’t be the first time Jessica had had an accomplice. They both looked around for clues as to who the culprit was when Evangeline’s eyes lit on Annie.

  “You!” Evangeline shrieked and Annie yelped, looking betrayed. She’d been accused of something she didn’t do before. Cam started to protest, but then heard the rest.

  “Were you shooting the crowd when Kyle Lance was playing?” Evangeline asked.

  “Of course I was. You didn’t think I’d shoot him, did you?”

  Cam bit her lip at Annie’s sarcasm, glad Evangeline caught it for the humor it was.

  “Silly me. But that’s perfect. We can see who left their seats!”

  “Oh, yeah! Reliable Annie,” Annie said.

  “Funny. That phrase has never occurred to me,” Cam said.

  “Really? That’s where you want to go right now?” Annie said.

  “No! You’re right. Steadfast, never-failing Annie!”

  “That’s better.” Annie began to scan her pictures. “Crowd shots are way too small. We’ll need to do it on the computer.”

  Cam sighed. She’d figured as much.

  * * *

  A big screen dropped after the last routine and the finalists were called up one at a time to give a brief statement as to what being Little Miss Begonia would mean to her. After the girl’s very brief rehearsed answer, her talent and a clip of her interview were shown. Then the next girl was brought onto the stage.

  Cam barely paid attention. She was alternating coordination of the show with scanning the audience for suspicious details. She didn’t spot anything that stood out.

  Only when Lizzie, the last finalist, got up did Cam listen.

  “I wish my sister was picked,” she began. “She really wants to be Little Miss Begonia, and I’m only here because I want to be like my sister.”

  She looked down then and gave a sniff. There were a lot of “Awws” from the crowd, but Cam knew the reality: Lizzie had basically stepped out of the race without knowing it. The other girls—or more notably, their mothers—would be outraged if somebody won who didn’t want it, and, frankly, the criteria mentioned having a passion for the program and being a good representative. How good was a representative who didn’t want to be one?

  When the finalists were done, the audience was given a ten-minute intermission while the judges met to make their decision. Cam was ready to spend the time problem solving, but Evangeline caught her.

  “Come with me, will you? I need to change, but I want
to ask you something.”

  “Of course.”

  Cam followed Evangeline around the crowd and into the library.

  “Do you have a plan,” Evangeline asked quietly, “for keeping the murders disentangled from this?”

  “Stalling,” Cam answered honestly. “The people interested in this pageant will be frenzied through Monday, and then all interest will drop off except for the individual girls. If we can keep the deaths ambiguous until then, we should be okay. Then, when the information on the murders begins to be more public, it will only be tied in passing to the pageant.”

  Evangeline sighed. “Okay. Not ideal, but I can’t see a better plan. Will it work?”

  “Unless a motive related to the pageant is uncovered, and I can’t see that happening.”

  “Good girl.”

  * * *

  When the audience was called back to their places, the judges went on stage. Each gave a brief speech regarding the qualities they were meant to judge on, the high caliber of the participants, and the spirit and benefits of the competition.

  Toni Howe then called up the second runner-up, Andromeda Barrows. Barbara Mackay called up the first runner-up, Venus DiAngelo. And finally Clancy Huggins called up the winner, Daisy Rae Hawthorne.

  Cam was a little annoyed to see Andromeda in the finals, as she’d proven herself a poor sport, but the judges had not been informed of that. Cam made a mental note that perhaps they should hear such things if she ever did this again. Venus was a bit of a know-it-all, but really was very talented and charming when she tried. Daisy Rae, on the other hand, was kind, pleasant, talented, and most of all, she seemed genuine, so Cam could be content with the results.

  Once the girls were assembled, Kyle Lance came out for a last ballad and then walked to the front of the stage, formally escorting Daisy Rae.

  * * *

  When the pageant wound up, Mindy approached Cam, Barry clinging to her hand.

  “Thank you so much for everything! You’ve been so great.”

  Cam had to bite her tongue. A reunion with Barry wasn’t the outcome she’d hoped for now that she’d met the man, or even before, based on Mindy’s description. He just wasn’t a good guy. Instead, Cam addressed the girls.

  “Your daughters are really fabulous. I had a great time getting to know them. And it’s wonderful Lizzie got Nell’s runner-up award—I know $250 isn’t a thousand dollars, but it’s a lot more scholarship than most people have at seven!”