A man came in pushing a cushioned cart and wheeled it up to the North Star.
“It’s time,” he said. He pulled on a pair of gloves and reached for the statue.
“Where’s it going?” Chase asked him.
“Big building,” he said, jerking his head in that direction. “So everyone can see it and take pictures. We’ll display it there on a tray table to catch the drips until it starts to melt too much, then we’ll cart it away.”
So this was the beginning of the end for the prizewinner.
Elsa and Eleanor were standing outside when she left the building. Chase couldn’t believe her luck. She said hello to them and walked closer.
“Who won?” asked Elsa. “We don’t dare go in to find out.”
Chase would see if that was true. She fished the tissue out of her pocket and waved it near her nose, taking a tiny swipe at a nonexistent itch. A couple of straws of hay fell out of her pocket with the tissue.
The twins sneezed in unison.
Elsa started sniffling and Eleanor’s eyes began to water. “Do you have another tissue?” Elsa asked, her voice choked.
“No, sorry. This one is used.” She stuck the tissue back into her pocket with the straw. Yes, the sisters were definitely allergic to it. “Astrid, the woman who carved the North Star, won.”
“Thank you,” Eleanor said, choking. They both hurried away.
That answered Chase’s question about the allergies once and for all. She didn’t think Elsa could have entered the room long enough to kill her husband.
Chase hurried back to the Bar None booth. Anna was waiting on a few stragglers. Chase turned back to where Holly Molden, the redheaded travel agent, was standing in the back of her booth, chewing her fingernails. Holly raised her eyebrows to ask Chase what she wanted. Chase opened her mouth but couldn’t tell her about Sally. Someone official should do that.
She returned to the Bar None booth. Anna was the only one there now.
“Where is everybody?” Chase asked.
“I think they’re all watching the judging of the contests today. We had a handful right after you left, but no one to speak of for the last fifteen minutes.”
“Anna,” she whispered, so the travel agent wouldn’t hear her. “I just saw the most horrible thing. Our neighbor is dead.”
“The toymaker?”
“No, Sally, the tall travel agent. I saw her body behind the booths. Detective Olson and some other official people are there. He told me to leave, but I heard him say he thinks she was strangled.”
“Strangled?”
“Shh.” Chase tilted her head toward the next-door booth. “She doesn’t know yet. Anna, if she was murdered, we’ll have to be very careful. I have no idea what’s going on around here.”
Anna glanced around at their empty booth. “Do you want to close up now and watch some of the contests, then? There will be more people there.”
“Have you noticed the time? I think we’d better do it and get Quincy ready for his big moment.”
Her cell beeped again. It was the same puzzling message from Mike except without any spacing between the letters this time: “Sos.”
Why wouldn’t he just call? Or text something more intelligible? She was going there soon to pick up Quincy. She’d ask him when she got there.
“Anna, do you know what this means?” She held the screen out.
The older woman took the phone and frowned. “It doesn’t mean anything.”
Holly came into the booth as Anna set down the cell phone and started scooping up the few dessert bars that remained unsold.
“Wait, I want to take some of those home,” Holly said, pointing her stubby fingernails at the Almond Cherry Bars. Her nails looked raw and ragged. Almond Cherry was the flavor Sally had bought.
“Do you know anything about your partner yet?” Chase asked. Somebody should tell this woman soon.
“No.” She pursed her lips and a tear rolled down her cheek. “I don’t know what to do.”
Anna came around the table, gave her the goodies, and hugged her. “I’m so sorry you’re going through this.”
Holly collapsed into her arms, sobbing, for a few minutes. The she raised her head, took a deep breath, and gave a tentative smile. “Thank you. I’m sure she’s just stuck somewhere with a flat tire and a dead cell phone.”
Chase almost gasped at how wrong that was. It was upsetting she hadn’t been told about her partner’s death yet, but Chase didn’t want to be the one to tell her. She barely knew the woman. Quick, she thought. Change the subject. “Have you heard anything new about the missing diamond collar?”
She gave a nonanswer. “Maybe.” After she paid for the bars, Holly started to leave. She got to the midway and then came back.
“You know the toymaker on the other side of you?” She spoke in a whisper, glancing around to make sure no one overheard.
Chase nodded. She’d noticed that he was still packing up. His booth was nearly empty.
“He says he saw someone run out of the sculpture building right before the veterinarian went in.”
“Did he tell the detective that?”
“No. Sally heard him tell his smelly friend. His friend said he should tell the cops, but Harper said he doesn’t like the police. Judging from some of his tattoos, I’d say he’s had some bad run-ins with the legal system.”
That had been mentioned earlier, but Chase had failed to see the significance. Now she did. Sally knew Harper had been in prison and Harper might know who murdered Oake. Harper was a link, a connection between Oake and the dead agent. And a killer? Now there was another suspect!
“Did he say who he saw?”
“Sally didn’t hear that part, she said. From what she overheard, she thinks that he does know who it was. But she told me she was going to try to convince Harper to go to the police.” Holly sniffed, another tear dropping down her cheek. “And she would if he didn’t.”
“You don’t think he would do anything to Sally, do you?”
“He looks like a rough man. I don’t know what he’d be capable of.”
Could Harper have killed Sally? It was more likely someone would want to kill Harper for what he was saying he’d seen.
Holly went back to her booth holding her head high, trying not to cry.
Chase had to find out who Harper saw. She would be very careful. But she had to know.
TWENTY-FIVE
“Excuse me, Mr. Harper.” She smiled to set the toymaker at ease. It didn’t work.
“Whaddya want now? Did you sic the cops on me?” He taped up a box. There were only two left in his booth. He must have started carting his toys to the parking lot much earlier.
“What? No. They’re questioning everyone. Please, I need some information you have. But first, you have to understand how important it is. Dr. Michael Ramos has been accused of murdering Larry Oake. He definitely didn’t do that.”
The man stopped working and scowled at her. “How do you know? Did you kill him?” Venom shot from Harper’s narrow eyes. Chase felt a chill inside.
“No, of course not.” She forced another smile, kept her voice light. “But I know Dr. Ramos very well. He devotes his life to helping animals. He couldn’t hurt anyone.”
The horrid man smirked, letting Chase know he thought she was extremely naïve.
“He couldn’t,” she repeated, more loudly, stepping closer. The man reeked of sweat and cigarettes. She tried to remember if he had worn the same thin flannel shirt every day. Didn’t the man have a coat? “But if you know something and don’t tell the police, he may go to prison for something he didn’t do.” She now took a judicious step backward.
“Worse things have happened. And I don’t know nothin’.” He shrugged and turned his back on her, lifting the two remaining boxes off his table with a grunt. They looked terribly heavy.