Chapter 9
I inwardly groaned. I knew I should have hidden the candies or at least thrown a napkin over the plate. Aiden would have discovered the candy was mine eventually, but I would have been much better off if I’d had more time to figure out how one of my candies ended up in Josephine’s apron pocket.
Aiden locked eyes with me, but his expression was unreadable. He replaced his hat on his head and turned back to Margot. “I’m sorry, Margot, but it looks like we should stop the judging for a moment.”
The town chairwoman jabbed her fists into her hips. “Aiden Brody, will I have to call the sheriff on you?”
Aiden grimaced, and I found myself wincing. Being reported to the sheriff was the last thing Aiden would want to happen.
Aiden cleared his throat. “There has been an incident at the church.”
“The church?” Margot cried. “Then it would have nothing to do with the ACC. Go tell Reverend Brook about it and leave us alone.”
“We have spoken to the reverend, but we also need to speak with everyone who was on the square during the morning. That includes the people in your contest.”
“What has happened that is important enough to interrupt the judging? You must give me a much better reason than saying there’s an ‘incident.’ Is this about your mother’s pig? I heard about the creature running off.”
“This doesn’t have anything to do with my mother,” Aiden said calmly.
By this point, their conversation had garnered the attention of the two Amish judges and most of the contestants, who were inching forward as if to overhear what Aiden and Margot were discussing.
If I had thought that the Amish weren’t interested in gossip, seeing them close in on Margot and Aiden like a pack of hungry wolves would have changed my mind in an instant.
Aiden noticed the crowd gathering too. “Margot, let’s talk over here in private.” He nodded to the gazebo.
She scowled and stood there for a moment as if she was considering his suggestion. Finally, after what seemed like a purposely long beat, she followed him to the other side of the gazebo.
The two Amish judges and the contestants went back to their tables with an air of disappointment. I wasn’t so easily discouraged. I slid around the side of my table to follow them.
“Bailey, what about the taffy?” Emily asked.
I held up my finger to her, indicating that I needed just one minute. The crime scene tech didn’t seem to notice when I strolled by him on my way to the gazebo. He was too busy fidgeting with the radio attached to his belt.
I wove through a group of tourists who were walking around with plates of licorice samples. Several of them had samples from my table, and I realized that Josephine could have gotten a piece of my licorice from just about anyone on the square that day. I didn’t know if I found that discouraging or comforting.
The crowd thinned as I drew closer to the large white gazebo. I circled the structure and stopped when I spotted Margot and Aiden facing off just a few feet away from me. Aiden’s back was to me. For that, I was grateful. I didn’t want him to know I was there. He would only assume I was meddling in his investigation again. That wasn’t what I was doing, at least not yet, but if my licorice was somehow connected to Josephine’s death, I wanted to know about it. I realized that just an hour ago, I had accidently eavesdropped on Aiden’s conversation. Now I was doing it intentionally. I doubted he would see the difference between the two instances if he found out.
“Josephine Weaver is dead!” Margot cried loud enough for everyone on the square to hear.
Behind me there was an audible gasp from the Amish candy makers as they heard her outburst. Although Josephine wasn’t well liked—or at least she didn’t appear to be liked among the other candy makers—she was still respected as having one of the most successful Amish candy shops in the country. The news of her death sent a ripple effect through the crowd. Even at the distance I stood away from them, I heard the whispers traveling through the group.
I looked behind me and scanned the faces of the candy makers, looking for anyone who didn’t have the expected shocked reaction, anyone who had known that Josephine was dead before Margot’s outburst. I didn’t see any telltale signs. All the faces appeared equally shocked and alarmed at the news, or perhaps I had been too late in looking and had missed the telltale expression.
“How did she die?” Margot asked at a more normal volume.
“We believe it was related to her allergy to licorice,” Aiden said.
“Licorice?” Margot gasped. “You think someone in the ACC had something to do with her death? You think one of us killed her?”
He ignored her question and asked, “Did you know of her anise allergy?”
Margot frowned. “Yes, I knew. She made a big stink about licorice being part of the competition. She thought it should be removed because of her allergy. However, the other judges and I agreed that it should stay in. Black licorice is a traditional Amish candy and had to be represented. We didn’t remove peanut brittle from the competition for those who might have a nut allergy, which is far more common.”
“And she made licorice to participate?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No, her assistant made the licorice and was there for the judging. That was the one exception we made for Josephine. We didn’t require her to even be at her table when her shop’s licorice was judged. Her assistant took her place for the licorice round.”
I felt my eyebrows go up. This made sense to me. I had wondered why no one had asked where Josephine was during the judging when Emily had practically panicked because I’d almost missed the licorice judging myself.
“Lindy Beiler?” Aiden asked.
Margot nodded.
“What was Josephine’s relationship with Lindy like?”
“Well, I—I don’t know,” Margot stammered.
“What was your relationship with Josephine like?” Aiden asked.
Margot shook her index finger at him. “What are trying to say, Deputy? That I might know something about what happened to Josephine? Is that what you are trying to get at?”
Aiden held up his hands in a sign of surrender. “I’m only trying to understand Josephine’s place in the ACC. That’s all.” He paused and then asked, “Would there be anyone here at the competition who might have had a problem with her?”
Margot lowered her hand. “You mean enough of a problem to kill her? That’s what you are really asking me, Deputy, is it not? Do you think one of my competitors was murdered with licorice?” She couldn’t have asked the question any louder unless she’d shouted it.
“I think it might be better if you and I went to my cruiser to discuss this,” Aiden said.
“Your cruiser? Are you arresting me? I am not getting into your car.”
“I’m not arresting you,” he said evenly. “But it would be much better to have some privacy while we discuss what might have happened to Josephine. We could go to my car or speak in the church.”
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m in the middle of judging, and I can’t leave.” She leaned toward him and pointed. From where I stood, it appeared that her index finger was just inches from his face.
“What’s going on here?” a deep voice boomed across the square.
I turned to see Sheriff Jack Marshall lumbering across the grass. He was a large man; if he didn’t tip the scale at three hundred pounds, it was close. His belly hung over his duty belt, and he had a rolling, bowlegged way of walking. Unlike Aiden, he didn’t wear a departmental hat as part of his uniform. His hair was closely cropped to his head, military style.
Aiden turned around and saw the small crowd that had gathered behind him while he and Margot had been talking. I was certain he had taken in everyone who was there, but his eyes focused on me before he moved his gaze to the sheriff. He didn’t look any more pleased to see his boss than I was.
“Brody, what’s going on here?” Sheriff Marshall hooked his thumbs through the loops in his duty belt.
“Sheriff,” Aiden began.
Before he could explain, Margot jumped in. “Your deputy is trying to shut down the Amish Confectionery Competition. He doesn’t understand how important this competition is to the village and the entire county.”
“I never said that,” Aiden protested. “We do need to interrupt the competition for a few minutes to speak to potential witnesses.”
Margot waggled her index finger at him. Her index finger was certainly getting a workout. “Don’t try to change your tune now. I know what you’re getting at, and I won’t allow it. This competition is too important.”
Marshall cocked one eyebrow. “I agree. The county wants to see this event be successful.”
Aiden grimaced at the sheriff’s statement, and I wondered if there was something more to it. Did he not agree with the sheriff’s statement? I knew the Amish Confectionery Competition was important to Harvest and Holmes County. It was bringing in a flood of tourists, and tourism was how both jurisdictions made their money. It was how Swissmen Sweets made money too.
“I understand that,” Aiden said. “However, a crime has been committed, and I believe there is a connection to this competition.”
Margot put her hands on her hips. “Just because busybody Josephine Weaver went and got herself killed, it doesn’t mean we should ruin a good thing for the rest of the county.”
“I agree,” Marshall said.
Aiden opened his mouth as if to protest, but Marshall was faster. “Here’s what we do, because Brody is right. We have to investigate the Amish woman’s death.” He made this statement with an odd lilt of reluctance. “Margot, you continue on with your candy-making shindig, and Deputy Brody and my other deputies will quietly and discreetly talk to the people right here.” He narrowed his eyes at Aiden. “And we will do our best not to disturb what the village and Margot have worked so hard to build up.”
“I already told you, sir, that I had no plans to shut down the competition.” Aiden’s jaw twitched.
The sheriff nodded. “I’m glad you’re willing to listen to reason, Deputy.” He paused. “For once. It will be good for us all if you remember your place throughout this investigation.”
Aiden made a face, and I was confused by the sheriff’s comment. It was as if the two men were having a conversation about the Amish Confectionery Competition, but that wasn’t all there was to it. There was a much less friendly debate going on just beneath the surface.
“But it is important that we talk to the contestants to find out if anyone saw anything that might tell us when Josephine was exposed to the licorice,” Aiden added. “We will be discreet.”
Margot threw up her hands. “There is licorice on every table. It could have happened at any time, and I already told you Josephine had voiced her concerns and would have known to stay away from it. I can’t see her seeking it out.”
“Perhaps it was an accident,” the sheriff mused. “Maybe she ate something that contained anise without knowing it.”
Even as he said this, I knew Aiden didn’t believe it was an accident. That would be saying that Josephine had climbed into the organ of her own accord after eating licorice. Why would she do that? Why would anyone in their right mind do that? I had no reason to suspect that Josephine had been unstable. She had spoken very succinctly about wanting to boot me from the ACC just before she died.
And clearly, she knew about her licorice allergy since she hadn’t been shy about telling others of it. She wouldn’t have hidden away after eating the candy. She would have asked for help. That would have been the logical thing to do, and my impression of Josephine was that she knew exactly what she was doing in all things.
“That seems unlikely, Sheriff,” Aiden said in measured tones.
The sheriff rested his right hand on his belly as if it was a shelf put there purposely for that reason. “Don’t be an alarmist, Brody. Margot, you know that we will do our best to get to the bottom of this, but like you, I see no need to halt the competition. Brody will take a few samples from each contestant’s table and ask a question or two, but it won’t be anything more than that.”
Margot beamed at the sheriff. “I’m glad that we could come to some sort of agreement. Now, if you gentlemen will excuse me, I have more licorice to judge.” She spun on her heel and returned to Beatrice and Jeremiah.
“What’s the problem?” the sheriff asked Aiden in an affectedly jovial tone. “I came over because there’s been another suspicious death in our sweet town. As sheriff, I’m doing my utmost to stop the crime that is pouring into Holmes County from more urban places, destroying the innocence of this county.” He said this as if he were recording a sound bite.
Aiden’s jaw twitched again. “I would like to discuss the case with you in a more private setting, sir. Maybe we should return to the crime scene to talk.”
The sheriff shook his head. “It’s your job to investigate, Brody. It is my job to keep the public calm and happy.”
It sounded like a campaign slogan to me. Not for the first time, I wondered how much police work Sheriff Marshall actually did. It appeared to me that a lot of the weight of it fell on Aiden.
Marshall clapped his hand on Aiden’s shoulder and lowered his voice. “Let’s get this cleaned up quick, Brody. I have a reelection to worry about.”