A Fair to Die For (29 page)

“Thought it would be best if he came to our place first and drove up the ridge with us. He said to tell you he’s making sure all deputies who come to your house are trustworthy. Well, as sure as he can be, I suppose.”

“Uh, Shirley, we had a little incident up here last night. You might want to warn your houseguest.” He explained about the fires.

“My gracious sakes, what next? Glad y’all are okay. I’ll explain that things look worse than they are. Right?”

“Right.”

“Let’s see,” Edie said, leaning against a kitchen cabinet and counting on her fingers, “Roger, Shirley, the sheriff, Carrie, you, me, Milton.” Seven. Do you have what they used to call TV trays? Maybe the dining table is too formal.”

“We have four little folding tables, and the rest of us could use the coffee table,” Henry said, “but since our reason for getting everyone together is planning, maybe we should sit around the dining table . . . think of it as a conference table?”

“Okay, good point. I’ll fill water glasses and make more coffee. We can put plates out and let everyone serve themselves in the kitchen, then take their food to the table.”

“I’ll get the plastic place mats. The dining table is nice wood, and Carrie would have a fit if I didn’t put mats out.”

Edie laughed and Henry thought,
Yes, the mood has definitely lightened. But, are we being too optimistic?

I wonder what Carrie looks like with red hair. I’ve got to remember not to act shocked.

Chapter Thirty-One
PLANNING SESSION

As she packed her bag of clothing, Carrie tried to force the anticipation of being home with Henry to cheer her up, but it wasn’t working.

W
e aren’t any closer to ending this criminal activity than we were a week ago.

Things are all mixed up.

They tried to burn our home.

They think they’ve killed me.

I’d say they’re winning—well, except for the rather important fact I’m not dead.

Maybe that place across from the Marshall’s has nothing to do with these people.

Maybe I only imagined similarities to what I heard and felt when we were . . . wherever we were when they stopped to change from the van to a car.

I thought for sure I’d see Arnie from the Marshall’s porch, but I didn’t. I didn’t recognize the man and woman who came out of that building.

I’ve been no help. I can’t identify anyone. I can’t help at all.

She stopped, and heard her mother’s voice, saying, “The world does not depend on you to solve all its problems, Missy.”

When she brought home stray cats and dogs, gave her lunch to someone at school, decided to eat no meat since animals wouldn’t be killed to feed her hunger, or stepped in the middle of a playground fight, Mama took the animals to a shelter, made rules about lunch, put fried chicken on her plate, and shook her head over bruises, then said, inevitably: “It’s good to be kind, but, Carrie Culpeper, you take things too far.
Don’t try to solve the whole world’s problems by yourself.”

Carrie stood next to the bed, one hand motionless on jeans she was ready to put in the sack.
Don’t try to solve all the problems by yourself.

So, what can I do? I feel so helpless, so useless, so confused.

There had to be something. If only her thoughts would clear.

Shirley called from down the hall. “Coming, Carrie? Norm’s here. We’re ready to take you home so our team can get to work.”

Teamwork. That was it.

Carrie stuffed her jeans in the sack, grabbed her make-up case, and prepared to smile. “Coming. I’m coming.”

“See, it’s not so bad,” Henry said as he, Carrie, and the sheriff studied the blackened logs outside the bedroom windows.

“No, though the first impression isn’t pretty,” Carrie said. “It was good of Edie to check about the repair process, but I guess fixing this will have to wait until our other problems are resolved, if they ever are.”

Henry put an arm around her, and the sheriff said, “Oh, I think we’ll get there.”

After a moment of silence, Henry asked, “Did you find the gasoline can lid?”

“Yes, a deputy picked it up under your bedroom window.”

“How about any sign of blood?”

“Nope, but that doesn’t mean Olinda didn’t hit someone, though I’m beginning to doubt she did.”

Before Carrie could ask him about that doubt, he said, “Okay, Let’s go inside and start our planning session.”

When they were all seated, and everyone had given reports on their activities, Sheriff Cook said, “Interesting that the two men thought those hollow animals had cocaine inside, and brought Ms. McCrite . . . Carrie . . . here to retrieve them. Question now is, who substituted the baking soda?”

“John Harley?” Edie asked. “He’s the one who gave the toys to Carrie and said they belonged to Milton. I think he was trying to implicate Milton in drug dealing, and was unwilling to give up so much coke to accomplish that. Hence, the baking soda. But, did he know about Milton’s connection to the Drug Task Force? Maybe not. I think telling Carrie the toys were Milton’s was an effort to steer any suspicion—present or future—away from himself.”

“Your idea about the substitution sounds logical,” Henry said. ‘Those animals held a lot of powder. Too much money, I’d think, to throw away on making Milton look guilty. Closer analysis will eventually tell if there was any trace of cocaine there, but it may be they always had only baking soda inside. Of course, whoever put it there knew simple testing would show what it was, but thought the look of drug dealing was enough to cast the shadow of doubt over Milton.

“It’s also possible someone unknown to us thus far was cheating someone else. That someone, and not John Harley, filled the toys with baking soda. But it seems to me a dealer wouldn’t want to take the chance a regular customer might get baking soda instead of what was paid for. That could sure blow up in the dealer’s face. So, I’m guessing the animals handed to Carrie were meant for deception from the beginning, and, if not to make Milton look guilty, it could be we’re talking rival dealers.”

Carrie was watching the sheriff. He looked intensely interested, but was choosing to let them talk out their thoughts and suspicions. It was almost like they’d forgotten he was here.

Henry went on, “Another question is, could Harley have decided independently to trap Milton? Did anyone else know what he was doing? Sounds like Arnie and friend didn’t know about the substitution. They thought Carrie had the animals and they were full of cocaine.”

Milton said, “In all the years I’ve worked craft fairs I never saw anything like the wooden pull toys you describe. Of course, until recently, I never suspected John Harley of any wrongdoing, either. But, if the pull toys were part of a drug distribution system, I’d say they weren’t being displayed by Harley, or anyone else at the War Eagle Craft Fair. My own interest in wooden toys means I’d notice something like what you describe, and I never have. I’m even wondering if they were made here in the United States. The War Eagle Fair folks judge merchandise being sold very carefully. The rules say that what the crafters bring in must be ‘products of their own skill and creativity.’”

Sheriff Cook finally broke in. “What about that? Carrie and Henry, Roger and Shirley, all of you handled them. Any thoughts?”

“Well, they certainly didn’t have the smoothness and fine detail of what Milton makes,” Carrie said, “but as to being handmade? Handmade in China would be handmade. Peel off or sand off a label, and I suppose they’d pass. They did have a varnish or lacquer finish, though. Could it be tested to see if it’s something unique to China?”

“Ha! Probably wouldn’t matter,” Roger said. “Stuff at the paint store here could come from China.”

“Can I change the subject?” Carrie asked. “Did the search of Milton’s trailer have anything to do with the papers the two men searched for here? What do all of you think?

“Looking for them in Milton’s RV?” the sheriff said. “Interesting point, and certainly worth considering.”

I guess I am being of some help after all,
Carrie thought. She glanced up at Henry, and he pursed his lips in an imaginary kiss. She looked around to see if anyone was watching her, then returned the gesture.

The sheriff spoke to Milton. “Are you able to tell us more about those papers? Has anything else come to mind?”

“Not any more than I’ve already told. Edie’s father just said he was collecting information about the drug traffickers we worked for in case he needed leverage over them some day. He showed me a handful of papers, but didn’t ever let me hold or read them.”

“Okay,” the sheriff said, “Try this. Picture going back to that time, re-creating all you saw, heard, and felt back then. That sometimes works to call up hidden memories.”

He looked at his watch. “I have to leave in a few minutes. Any more ideas?”

Carrie decided that was the opening she needed. “I know one way the business on Marshall road could be observed by deputies without causing any suspicion. Family members and friends often sit on the Marshall’s porch with Jo during the day. A deputy could dress in civilian clothing, take the part of a visitor, and observe activities across the road just like Shirley, Roger, and I did.

“Good idea,” Norman Cook said, after thinking a minute. “But it seems to me that Milton should be the watcher, to begin with at least. I realize he’d have to create a disguise since, if this business is a cover for drug activity, some of the people there might recognize him, just as we hope he’ll recognize them. Don’t forget, the two men who abducted Carrie probably also saw Milton and Edie at War Eagle Mill.

“Milton, what do you think? You’ve worked next to John Harley’s craft booth for several years, and would be the most likely of anyone here to have seen those involved with Harley in the drug business. If, after a day or two of observing, you don’t identify anyone, it is possible, as Carrie suggested at the beginning, that this was not the place where Arnold Frost and the other man changed vehicles. Are you okay with doing that?”

Milton nodded. “I have a wig, but I’d need help with a more complete disguise.”

Carrie asked, “I guess we’re assuming Arnie, Second Man, and the Harleys are linked in the same operation?”

“Probably,” the sheriff said.

Shirley asked, “What about the suspicious death of Mr. Harley?”

“He’d been drugged, and he didn’t make the cuts on his wrists,” the sheriff said.

“Then somebody sure didn’t get along with him,” Shirley mumbled.

Carrie said. “They sure didn’t, and if somebody is at odds with another somebody, doesn’t that work to our advantage? If one person or group is arrested, they might want to implicate others, and . . . ” She stopped.
Could Harley’s killer have been Second Man?

After a moment, she went on. “Would you arrest Arnold Frost if one of us recognizes him at the place on Marshall Road?”

“With your testimony pending, yes, we could, but we’d like to have concrete evidence against some of the others as well. We might lose an opportunity for that if we arrest Frost by himself. And, by the way, though John and Elizabeth Harley went by their real names, we have no evidence that Arnold Frost has, and, of course, none of us has a name for the second man.”

Carrie picked at her napkin for a minute before she went on, “You’re assuming Liz Harley is dead?

The sheriff hesitated, then answered, “Possibly.”

Edie said, “I think I should go to the Marshall’s with Milton. I realize I’d need a complete disguise too, but I’ve seen Arnold Frost and his companion, though only briefly. Milton hasn’t seen them at all, so far as any of us knows.”

“You’re right. I can’t say I have,” Milton said.

“I’ve seen them very clearly,” Carrie said, earning a frown from both Henry and Edie.
Ah
,
Edie wants to be the one going with Milton.

She thought
teamwork,
and continued, “Of course there’s no need for both Edie and me to be there unless we make a party of it.”

“That’s it! Why not a party?” Shirley said. “We could take balloons, gift-wrapped boxes, refreshments. That would be a good cover for a bunch of people.”

“Hmmm,” the sheriff said. “It’s not a bad idea. But don’t forget, if this is the place, four of you are known to at least some of those involved. I can see disguising Milton and Edie enough to pass for a while, but a whole group?”

“Well now,” Shirley said, “I’m pretty good at making up disguises. Henry, being such a big man, will be toughest with what I have on hand, but I think I can manage. He could also watch from Jo and Ben’s bedroom window since it looks out on the place. The rest of us, and any of your deputies, could come and go on the porch. You know, move around, laughing and talking. They have picnic tables and a place for croquet in back of the house, but of course you can’t see the place we want to watch from there. Ben might be willing to set up his cooker for hot dogs in the front yard, especially if I bribe Jo with fresh eggs and butter.”

The sheriff said, “It would be best to try Milton and Edie there first, and see if they recognize anyone. All of this is a gamble, but since, according to what you say, there’s activity at the business seven days a week, those two might recognize someone. If they do, we can move on from there, maybe to a party set-up.”

“Should we begin our surveillance this afternoon?” Milton asked

“If you’re game,” the sheriff said.

“Yes,” both Edie and Milton said, and Milton continued, “I’m eager to get started.”

Shirley stood. “I’ll call Jo, see if it’s okay with her. If it is, I’ll take Milton and Edie to our place, see what I can do to change their looks. Hey, Norm, you need a disguise person in your department? I’d like to put in for the job.”

He grinned at her, but didn’t answer.

When Shirley, Roger, Milton and Edie had left, Carrie said, “Sheriff Cook, what about Olinda? Is she involved on the wrong side of this somehow?”

“She admits nothing except that she was solicited a couple of months ago to pass on information from our Drug Task Force.”