by Eryn Scott
She rubbed her right hand up and down her jeans as she talked; there was something sticky on her fingers she couldn’t seem to get off.
“Looks like he must’ve been allergic.” Paul furrowed his black eyebrows as he studied Charlie’s body.
Voice full of false hope, Hadley said, “Maybe there were bees on the flowers when he loaded everything into the van this morning. His van says they’re the freshest flowers around.”
The James twins looked in the back of the van at the buckets full of freshly cut bouquets.
“But they left him alone on the twenty-minute drive down here from Cascade Ridge, waiting until he parked to sting?” Paul asked, skeptical.
Hadley glanced over her shoulder as Suze crested the small hill from where the market was still setting up. Her face darkened and she picked up her pace.
“I got worried when you took so long.” She grimaced, glancing from the flower van to Paul and back to Hadley. “This doesn’t look good.”
“Sorry.” Hadley sighed. “I should’ve texted you. I think I was in shock.”
She filled Suze in on what she’d found, pointing to the crime scene and Charlie’s still-warm body.
“Poor guy,” Suze said in an exhale as she took in the scene. “What killed him?”
Kevin, who was examining the body, looked over his shoulder. “I’ll have to wait until Doctor Hall gets here, but from the way he’s swollen, it appears to be anaphylaxis. He must’ve been allergic to these stings he’s got on his arms.”
The three friends shook their heads and turned their attention to their shoes. Hadley felt awful for the man.
“Anything else you noticed?” Paul asked Hadley. “I think we’re going to have to shut down the market for today. I want to question everyone while this scene is still fresh.”
Hadley nodded in agreement. “He was here when Suze and I pulled up, but parked the way he is, I couldn’t see into the driver’s window until I came around to this side. We figured he was already setting up. But then Penny told us no one had seen him yet, so I came to check.” Hadley squinted as she thought. “Then there were the bees and…” She rolled the tips of her fingers together, still feeling a tackiness there. “And my fingers are sticky.”
Hadley walked around to inspect the driver’s side door handle, knowing she’d used her right hand to open it. A sticky film coated a few areas of the metallic silver handle, matte in the morning sunshine.
“We’ll have that tested to see what it is.” Paul nodded to Kevin who went to his cruiser to grab whatever he’d need to take a sample.
“So you think it wasn’t an accident?” Suze asked in a whisper.
Paul shrugged. “I don’t know. At this point it’s just highly suspicious.” He rubbed the back of his hand against his bearded chin. “Kev, hold this down for a minute.”
When the other deputy confirmed he would, they walked across the grassy park to break the news to the vendors.
“Dead?” Penny cried, covering her mouth with her hand.
The crowd of vendors gasped as they squeezed closer, some people looking confused, like they didn’t hear correctly. The market hadn’t opened yet, so he’d sent Suze to the entrance off Main Street to turn away any potential customers.
“I’m going to need to talk to anyone who saw him this morning.” Paul’s raised voice carried across the small crowd.
Murmurs wove in and out of the group, but no one spoke up until Hazel Smith yelled out, “That’s just it. No one did.”
Paul shook his head. “All of you vendors coming to set up, and no one saw him but Hadley and Suzanne?”
They blinked back at Paul with confused, scared expressions.
All except Hazel Smith, who pointed at Leo. “If someone killed that man, it had to be him! He’s been going on all morning about how he would love to get rid of the interloper for daring to encroach on Stoneybrook businesses.”
Everyone’s gaze swiveled to the local florist who scratched at the back of his arm.
“I—you can’t think…” Leo stammered, backing up, hands out in defense.
Louise Stanton, owner of the local knitting shop, placed a hand on her hip. “What else are we supposed to think, Leo? You hated the man and then he shows up dead the same day he comes to compete with you?”
Murmurs of agreement sounded around the group. The two women were usually the only ones who were brash enough to say what everyone was thinking. It wasn’t normal for the townspeople to do anything but support each other, but they were staying on the cautious side since one of their own had decided to off an old rival a few months earlier.
“We’ve been in competition for years. And sure, I didn’t want him here, but I wouldn’t kill him to stop him.” Leo’s eyes moved around to the faces of the other vendors as if trying to find one person to support him. “Louise, you agreed with me that we shouldn’t let Cascade Ridge infiltrate our market,” he pleaded.
Louise leveled an icy stare at Leo. “There’s a difference between being upset by it and taking someone’s life.”
“Enough.” Paul’s deep voice cut through the argument. “Anyone with information will come through me. No more yelling accusations across a throng of people.”
The vendors nodded, some stiffening at the firmness in Paul’s tone.
“We’re closing the market today. You may pack up, but do not leave until you check with Kevin or myself. Clear?” Paul asked.
The vendors agreed and headed back to their booths.
As a group, the two-dozen faces of the vendors all seemed to meld together, but Hadley watched as they split up, keeping an eye out for any odd behavior. And even though she agreed with Louise that it didn’t look good for Leo at that point, she hated to think the kind florist could’ve done something like this.
From the way the vendors looked over their shoulders and whispered, it was tough to discern any other suspicious behavior. Everyone was acting weird.
Until she spotted Barry Guthrie crouching behind his honey booth.
Hadley narrowed her eyes. Honey. Bees.
Barry’s wild white hair was especially disheveled that morning. The harried man ran a hand through it and then picked up a box to fill with his stock. His gaze shifted as he began packing up his jars of golden honey. His hands shook as they placed each new glass back into the box. He swiped at his fingers with a handkerchief as if trying to wipe off something.
Immediately, Hadley’s mind fought the idea Barry had anything to do with this. He was a sweet old man whose gentle soul calmed the people around him just as well as it did the buzzing bees living in his many hives. In fact, just last month, she’d seen the man break down and cry when three of his hives had been killed by a mysterious disease.
That wasn’t a man who hurt or killed people.
But as much as she fought against the idea, Hadley felt more and more sure Barry was hiding something as he shook and startled at any noise.
Hadley bit her lip while she made her way back to her cart. She hadn’t even had the chance to unpack, so she didn’t have anything to do at the moment. She definitely wasn’t feeling ready to take her things back to her van, so near Charlie’s body.
Suze had managed to unpack most of her art before coming to look for Hadley, and since she was helping turn away customers at the front gate, Hadley began to load her items onto the cart for her. After finishing and placing the boxes and folding table onto Suze’s cart, she glanced over at Penny’s booth where the older woman was just laying her last few potholders into big plastic bins.
Scanning the nearby tables, Hadley realized Josie still had quite a few pieces of pottery to wrap and pack, so she headed in that direction.
“Can I help you?” Hadley asked the potter.
Josie tucked back a lock of frizzy, red hair that had escaped her low braid. “Thanks, Had. It’s going to take me forever by myself.” She motioned to the crinkled, old newspaper she used to pack her creations from her studio and into customer’s bags.
Hadley grabbed a large porcelain bowl with a wildflower design carved and painted onto it, and began wrapping the newspaper around it.
Josie was friends with Hadley’s mother since they both worked at the local high school. And even though they worked in different departments—pottery and history were about as far from each other in the building as they were in study—they had always been the best of friends.
“This is just awful, isn’t it?” Josie clicked her tongue as she shook her head.
Hadley nodded. “I know. You don’t really think Leo had anything to do with it, do you?”
Josie paused, her fingers curling around a black-and-white plate with gold leaf flowers on it. “I can’t say. I would hope he didn’t, but I also know good people who’ve been pulled down by jealousy.”
They packed in silence for a while before Hadley got up the courage to do some digging about Barry.
Licking her lips, she said, “Barry’s acting pretty weird.” She kept her voice low, even though when she glanced around, it was obvious they weren’t the only ones making conjectures. Almost everyone else was having similar whispered conversations.
“He hasn’t been himself since he lost those colonies last month.” Josie sighed.
“I know,” Hadley replied, wrapping a small cream pitcher and tucking it into a box. “He took it really hard. There wasn’t anything he could’ve done for them, though.” She packed away another bowl and then started to work on an assortment of mugs.
She startled as she realized Josie had moved closer, an intensity burning behind her brown eyes. “Didn’t you hear?”
“No.” Hadley held her breath.
“It was preventable. He figured out the bees died from a pesticide someone used on their flowers, not a disease.”
Gasping, Hadley said, “But Leo uses natural pest deterrents in his garden.” She knew that for a fact because she used to help him when she was in high school, and contemplating a degree in botany. “Fenton Farms is also organic.”
Josie raised her brows suggestively. “But Leo and the Fentons aren’t the only ones growing flowers around here, are they?”
Hadley pulled in a deep breath. “True.” While she knew Stoneybrook had committed to using natural pest deterrents in gardens, that was all based on the honor system since it would be too hard to police. She packed up the last of Josie’s mugs and closed the box.
“Barry’s a sensitive guy,” Josie said, closing up her last box too. “I’m sure it’ll take him a while to get over the loss.”
Nodding, Hadley focused on stacking Josie’s crates onto her cart. She waved goodbye and then wandered back to her own cart, feeling lost. Paul and Kevin were talking near the edge of the market, their heads ducked together in confidence.
Suze walked up behind her. “Thanks for packing up for me.” She hooked her arm through Hadley’s and rested her head on her shoulder. “This day is the worst.”
“Yeah, we should get out of here as soon as we can.”
Suze nodded. “Sure, but I need to talk to Paul real quick. I think I may have seen something suspicious while waiting at the entrance to the park.” She stood up straight.
Hadley wrinkled her brows in question.
“There was some lady parked the wrong way on Main Street wearing dark glasses and driving a fancy car. She was watching the parking lot, and when I approached her, she peeled out, took off.”
3
After telling Paul about the mysterious woman she’d seen, Suze helped Hadley pull their carts back to the Jam Van.
Charlie’s van was taped off, making it almost impossible to load their stuff. Terry, a local kid who helped out the sheriff’s department from time to time, watched them from his post looking over the crime scene.
The women finally managed to unload and were ready to take off when Hadley noticed one of her business cards had fallen out from her stack and slid under the tire of her van. She bent to retrieve it.
Crouching down like she was, something metallic glinting in the sunlight caught her attention under Charlie’s van. It was right under the front end of the car, but would’ve been hidden to anyone who was standing.
“Terry, there’s something over there.” Hadley stood and walked around to the front of the van.
The young man frowned and unfolded his arms, following her and putting a hand out to hold her back.
“I’m not going to touch it.” She put her hands up. “I just want to show you where it is.” Kneeling, she pointed to the small plastic case.
From a closer angle, she recognized it as a lipstick in a pink, plastic case with a silver, metallic band around the middle.
“Hmm… I’ll let the deputies know, but I don’t think I should touch anything either,” Terry said, leaning down next to her.
“Right.” Hadley agreed, though she was a little disappointed she couldn’t read the brand or color name from where she was. “You’ve got it from here.” She stood, wiping her hands on her jeans.
Suze was already buckled into the van, and she peered at Hadley through the window.
“I’m so confused,” Hadley said, groaning as she climbed in the driver’s seat and started up the van.
“Because of what Terry was just showing you?” Suze asked, waving to the kid as they pulled away.
“Of what I showed him.” She described the lipstick as she drove down Main Street. “Why would Charlie have a tube of lipstick near his van?”
“It could’ve already been there this morning,” Suze suggested.
Hadley pulled the van into the alley behind the jam kitchen and shook her head. “They’ve been running that community cleanup each Saturday morning since spring, remember? There hasn’t been a speck of trash in the park or the lot before a market since they started.” She clicked the ignition off and sighed.
“Oh right.” Suze nodded. “So maybe we’re looking for a woman with sticky hands and a vendetta against florists.”
“I sure hope so, because the alternative seems to be poor Leo, and I can’t bear the thought he could’ve killed someone. Him or Barry.”
“What does Barry have to do with this?”
“He was acting weird.” Hadley waved a dismissive hand toward her friend. “But it was probably because he’s sad bees were involved.”
“Yeah, he does get emotional about bees.” Suze shrugged.
“What did Paul say about suspicious, fancy-car lady?” Hadley asked, tapping her fingertips along the steering wheel.
“Asked for the make and model of the car, plus the plates.”
“Which were?”
“Black, shiny SUV, but I didn’t see the number on the plates.” Suze shrugged.
Hadley waved her off. “I can’t blame you. I don’t know that I would’ve done any better at getting a description.”
“But she was a lady. Ladies use lipstick.” Suze held up a finger as if she were Sherlock Holmes himself.
Chuckling, Hadley opened the door and slid out of the front seat, then began lifting boxes. “Well, we’ll just have to keep our eyes open for a fancy lady from out of town who wears lipstick. That won’t be difficult or anything.”
“Right.” Suze’s mouth twisted into a frown as she grabbed her art from the back. “Whatcha doing today since we have the day off?”
Setting down the box she’d picked up, Hadley said, “I should do more packing.”
“I still can’t believe your house sold so quickly.”
“I know, though I shouldn’t be surprised. Tara warned me that she was interested,” Hadley said. “Though, it’s going to be a little weird having my ex-sister-in-law living in my old house.”
“A little weird?” Suze cocked an eyebrow. “That’s a whole lotta weird, if you ask me.” She stood and stretched, turning for the door. “I’m off. Going to take advantage of my time and finish up a painting Thea Clark commissioned.”
“Hey, Suze?” Hadley’s question stopped her friend just as she was about to leave.
“Yeah?”
“If I can’t find a place by the time I have to move out, would I be able to stay with you for a bit?” Hadley held her breath, remembering the weirdness with Paul.
“Of course,” Suze said, her face relaxing after having bunched up at Hadley’s serious tone.
Hadley’s shoulders sank down from where they’d been, tense and practically up to her ears. “Oh good. Thank you.” She shook her head. “I asked Paul earlier, and he acted all strange and seemed like he didn’t want me to. I mean, he offered months ago when Tyler and I split, but now it’s like he’s taking that back. So what’s changed in those months? I don’t understand.”
Hadley had looked down during her vent session, but when she glanced up, the smile had slipped from Suze’s features. She chewed on her bottom lip.
“Isn’t that weird?” Hadley asked.
“Yeah. Super weird.” Suze sighed and waved. “Well, I’m off! See you around.” Tipping her head back in a goodbye since her hands were full holding on to her box of art, Suze headed down the alley toward her storefront three doors down.
Speaking of super weird, Hadley thought, that interaction was not normal either. What’s up with my friends?
If it had been a decade earlier, she would’ve wondered if the two of them were hooking up behind her back—or maybe hoped was a better description. There wasn’t anything better than thinking of her brother and her best friend being a couple. But she’d quickly realized that Paul and Suze were no more inclined to start a relationship than she and Hal from the country mini-mart. She shrugged. Maybe they were planning a secret birthday present for her or something, though that was a few months away still.
Unable to answer the questions floating through her mind, she entered the kitchen and got all of the stock from the day put away. Then she loaded some empty boxes into the van and decided to drive back home, not looking forward to figuring out how to ride her bike while carrying a bunch of cardboard.
Ansel, her small black-and-white cat named after the photographer Ansel Adams, greeted her when she got home. He serpentined around her feet, brushing up against her legs as she set down the flattened boxes and hung up her keys.
