Frosted on the Ferris Wheel (13 page)

They chose early afternoon, hoping a lot of the crowd would have thinned due to heat and napping babies, and the rest would be focused on the parade. They were both willing to possibly look bad in the public for the sake of the investigation.

The morning felt crisp and cool, but she didn’t let that fool her. She could already tell it would be a scorcher. The fairgrounds were fairly quiet, humming with the background noise of merchants setting up their tents and wares. Like her, they hoped to sell a lot.

She tucked her cooler in the shadiest part under the table. She stacked the plastic cups and lids on the table and hung her banner across the front. It read, Taste of Heaven. Only 4.99. She’d added graphics of ice crystals that would make people think cool, refreshing, and then want to buy her smoothies. She placed a stack of coupons offering twenty percent off any size cheesecake. Ann was at the shop, ready to go. Kitty would bring extra bags of ice partway through the morning.

Holly sighed, the confidence and focus still with her. She tied Muffins’ leash to a leg of the table, and then, she glanced at the spot reserved for
The Tasty Bite
. Pierre had set up. His bakery treats were under glass containers. The new cupcake design Millicent bragged about wasn’t that big of a deal. Just flower-shaped ones. The whole setup was elegant and attractive.
 

But there was no sign of Millicent.
 

The first few people drifted under the large white canopy that housed all the merchants. The midway would start up at ten a.m. That was when Holly hoped for a surge of customers.

She sold two smoothies.

Still no sign of Millicent.

She sold five more.

No sign of her arch nemesis. Now she was worried. Nothing would stop Millicent from competing with
Just Cheesecake
. Should she text Charlene? Call
The Tasty Bite
? The police?

Half an hour later, Millicent strolled through. Even though she looked well put together as usual, she appeared tired, shadows under her eyes.
 

Right in front of Holly’s table, she yawned. “Woo wee. Late night last night.” She winked at Holly. “Budding romance can be a killer. No pun intended.” Then she flounced to her father’s reserved spot, her hips swaying in her short shorts.

Holly fumed. Mixed emotions of jealous, rage, and hurt churned.

All morning, she’d tried not to think about Millicent and Trent’s date. If it had been a date. But here was the proof. They’d spent the night together or their date had ended extremely early in the morning. As Holly’s mother always said, “Nothing good happens after eleven.”
 

Muffins growled.

“I know. Don’t let her bother us.” Millicent knew exactly what she was doing when it came to pushing Holly’s buttons.

The morning marched on. Holly’s plan for Muffins to draw the children and then the parents worked perfectly. Muffins loved the attention, and while parents waited, most of them bought a smoothie and picked up a coupon.

At eleven a.m., Millicent disappeared from the table. Again, Holly was baffled at her lack of motivation to sell. Usually she enjoyed competing with Holly. This was the first time Holly seemed to have the upper hand.
 

At noon, Holly could barely manage the surge of customers. If this continued, she’d be out of smoothie mixes. She was debating whether to take an hour off and run home to whip up some more and make it back in time for their plans.

Then, just as the parade started, the music echoing down the street, Millicent walked in with what looked like a horse. It was a Great Dane. She flashed Holly a smug smirk, assuming she’d topped Holly’s efforts. But Holly knew dogs and she knew what could possibly happen.

The large dog, seemingly uncomfortable in crowds, strained against his leash. Millicent’s face turned red as she struggled to rein him in. He barked and growled. Eventually, his presence drove the crowds away. Children were scared. The other merchants mumbled their complaints.

Holly walked over, calm and in control. Millicent had to see how her idea had gone terribly wrong. “You have to get him out of here.”

“Why should I listen to you?”’ Millicent lifted her chin. “You just can’t stand the idea that I outdid you. That my dog is bigger than yours.”

“Your dog is driving customers away.” Holly motioned to the merchants. “We’re all losing money.”

“You’re just jealous,” Millicent hissed, but the doubt showed on her face as her dog yanked on his leash. Sweat trickled from her brow. “You’ve always been jealous of everything I have from Trent’s affection to my history with Charlene and the girls. You need to get over it.”

Holly backed away. The dog drooled, great slimy globs stretching from his mouth. “I think he has anxiety issues. You need to get him out of here. Seriously.”

“You just—” The Great Dane, with a final lunge, broke free from Millicent’s grasp. Scared, he ran back and forth. He bumped into Millicent’s table, sending the treats sliding to the ground. His eyes emitted fear, and Holly ran back to Muffins.
 

She texted Trent.
Emergency! Come now!

Okay, so the plan wasn’t working exactly how it was supposed to. This was much worse than planned.

The beast of a dog crashed through the line of vendors and headed toward the street and the lines of children and families watching the parade. He bounded into the street and hurdled through a banner of the local marching band. The music stopped.

Kids screamed.

Seconds later, Trent arrived. He must’ve been close by. He ran toward the street and the screaming crowds.

Holly kept a firm grip on Muffins as the scene played out. Trent took off down the street chasing the Great Dane, breaking up all the acts of the parade. She wandered to the sidewalk, curious, hoping he’d get him under control.

An older lady stepped out, whistled low and held out her hand. The dog stopped, perked its ears.
 

The lady walked backwards, away from the parade, away from the crowds. The dog followed. Holly lost sight of them. Assuming it was taken care of, she headed back to her booth.
 

Her cooler was open, her smoothie bags opened and leaking onto the grass. The rest of her supply destroyed. She marched over to Millicent, who hadn’t followed the dog, even though she was responsible. Instead, she attempted to save whatever treats were left.

“Why?” Holly demanded.

“Well,” Millicent said in a light, breezy tone. “I had to follow through with the plan. I had to make it look good.”

Holly grabbed a cupcake and smushed it in Millicent’s face.
 

She gasped and wiped at the frosting. She spluttered and stammered before completing a full sentence. “How dare you?”

“Just wanted to make it look good.”

Trent rubbed his temples. “Tell me again, Millicent. What happened?”

The three of them stood at the edge of the fairgrounds near the line of portable potties. The excitement died down, eventually. The parade ended and now the crowds surged onto the grounds to the rides and the cotton candy and the popcorn.

Holly held Muffins as much to comfort herself as to comfort him. She listened to Millicent’s blubbering and lies, her heart sinking.
 

“It was her fault.” Millicent pointed at Holly. “And her stupid little dog. When I brought Sprinkles in to attract customers, her dog went crazy. That made Sprinkles anxious so he ran away.”

“Millicent.” He sighed and spoke softly. “Is his name really Sprinkles?”

Millicent hesitated, then said. “Well technically, no.”

“Isn’t he the fire chief’s dog? I believe his name is Thumper?”

“Fine.” Millicent huffed. “But he looks more like a Sprinkles to me.”

“And isn’t Thumper known to have anxiety issues? Why did you think this would work?” Trent asked.

“I don’t know.” Millicent sobbed. “I felt so much pressure. I wasn’t thinking clearly. Of course, now, I see it was a bad idea. In hindsight…” Millicent brought on a fresh wave of emotion. “Then she came over and ruined my father’s display. Just to rub it in. That she was selling more. That her products were more original than boring old cupcakes.”

Holly listened to the lies. It didn’t surprise her, and she stayed calm, almost numb. Her mind almost detached from the emotion pumping through her body. Then she realized she wasn’t required to stay or give her side of the story. She had no desire to engage in this kind of battle. “May I go?”

“Would you like to share what happened?” Trent asked, gently, while Millicent’s blubbering turned to quiet sobs.

The kindness in his words made Holly’s breath hitch in her chest. It had only been a couple of days, but she missed him. Then she thought about Millicent and how easily she snowed him. Holly stiffened. If he couldn’t see through her lies, if he was going to handle her like she was a five-year-old, then maybe Holly had misjudged Trent.
 

“No, thanks. I’ve had quite enough,” Holly said.

“Okay, then you two. I suggest you stay clear of each other. No more trouble for the rest of the festival, or you’ll both be banned.” His voice grew stern. “You understand?”

“Yes.” Holly marched back to her table to clean up. She’d call it a day. Head back to the shop, throw together more cheesecakes, and whip up enough of smoothie batches for the next day.

Maybe before she fell into bed exhausted, she’d have worked through the emotions raging in her heart. Never mind…think about the murder investigation.

***

 
The next morning, Holly stayed in bed and stared up the ceiling. Mentally, she tried to prepare for another day with Millicent. Hopefully, after yesterday, they’d both man their booths and ignore each other.
 

She thought about the murder, about Gary Schilling. Charlene’s digging around in Trent’s files had come up with nothing. She thought about the tried and true fact that the murderer was often family or close friend to the victim. As far as she could tell, that left Joel Atherton and Judy. Then there was Chip, who seemed to have some sort of connection to Judy.
 

Maybe on lunch break today, she’d visit Sunny Side Realty again and talk to Joel. Maybe ask if he knew Chip.

Muffins barked from the door.

“I hear ya!” She stumbled from her bedroom and poured food and water for him. “I need you ready and raring to go today.”

She took him for a walk, showered, dressed, and prepared her coolers for the day. After the festival she was going to take a full day off and do nothing but watch murder mystery reruns on television. She’d sleep. Eat. Read. And then watch more movies. Nothing but relax.

Today wasn’t as hot, and Holly was glad for a sweater as she set up her booth once again. She tied Muffins to the leg of the table and placed his water dish next to him in the grass. “Good boy!” she crooned.
 

Then the day started. By ten a.m. she’d sold even more than the day before at that time. Hopefully that meant word had spread. She encouraged every customer to stop by
Just Cheesecake
and take advantage of the twenty percent off coupon as sales had soared the day before. Whenever she glanced over at her competitor, Millicent seemed to be doing well too, flashing her smile and oozing with charm.

Right on time, the midway started up. The carts at the top of the Ferris wheel shuddered to life and started their trip down to accept the first eager passengers of the day. She squinted. Was someone riding in the top cart? Had they spent the night there? How was that possible? Questions raced through her mind.
 

The cart dipped below her view. The ride stopped and didn’t start moving again.
 

“Excuse me, miss. I’ll take one smoothie.” An older woman stood impatient at her booth.

Distracted, Holly poured the crushed ice and one smoothie bag into a plastic cup in exchange for money. “Here you go.”

Seconds later, the lady spoke again. “I’ll need change?”

Holly stared at the twenty-dollar bill. “Oh right. Sorry about that.”
 

When the lady left, Holly grabbed Muffins and drifted over to the crowd at the base of the Ferris wheel. The feeling of dread grew as she pressed closer.

Someone screamed.

Murmurs rippled back through the crowd. Holly made out one of the words. A body.
 

Most of the people scattered. Some were frozen, horrified, yet curious at the sight. She approached the ride. Chip had his phone out. She heard his frantic words as he reported the crime.
 

Holly studied him. Everyone should be shaken up seeing a body, but Chip seemed more than that. He kept glancing at it, then at this phone, then at the street. As if the killer waited for him in the shadows.
 

The crowd spread as Holly moved forward. She gasped at the sight of the man. He lay sprawled across the plastic red bench seat. An arm hung over the side. His face was pale, dried blood on the sides of his face. A bullet to the head.

Joel Atherton.