CHAPTER 18

Travel trailer tip 18: Remember, your dog still needs a walk even if it’s scary out there.

Instead of going back to my trailer, I decided to swing by Shar’s booth while Sammie was watching my booth. Lucky for me, Sammie’s appointments had ended early and she’d had time to come back to the craft fair to help me out. I wanted to see how Shar was acting since seeing me at Caleb’s trailer. After that, I thought I would take a stroll by Carly’s setup and do the same.

Shar didn’t notice me right away when I approached her booth. Customers had her attention, so I perused the tables of jewelry. She had bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and rings. Most were silver, but she also had pieces made of copper and gold. She had a unique technique of using spiraled wires that added whimsical flair to each piece. It set her designs apart from those of the other vendors.

I watched to see if Shar had noticed me yet. If she’d looked my way, I hadn’t noticed. She was still talking with a woman buying a silver-and-jade-beaded necklace. Something on Shar’s hand caught my attention. The sun glinted off a gold ring on her finger. I distinctly remembered seeing that ring on Evan on the night we were setting up, though I hadn’t remembered seeing it on him when I found his body.

Maybe I’d been so nervous when I’d found his body that I hadn’t noticed the ring. Or maybe someone had taken the ring from him right after they’d murdered him. And that someone was Shar.

As if sensing my scrutiny, Shar stuck her hand in her pocket. Did she think that would make me forget what I’d seen? I couldn’t stop looking now. After a few more seconds, Shar turned around, and I was sure she was taking the ring off. It looked as if she tucked it into her jeans pocket.

Sure enough, when she turned around again, the ring wasn’t on her finger. Apparently, she didn’t want me looking at it more closely. Now I wanted to know why she had it.

Clearly, she didn’t want me to see that ring. Which led me to conclude that she must’ve taken it off Evan right after she murdered him that night. Okay, that was a huge assumption, and I shouldn’t accuse her for sure, but I couldn’t push the thought out of my head. What if that was really what had happened?

Once the customer had gone, Shar came over to me. “Is there something I can help you with?”

Trying to act casual, I pointed at a silver-and-turquoise ring in front of me. “It’s really pretty.”

Ugh. Why had I pointed at the ring? Couldn’t I have picked a bracelet? Now she would be reminded of the ring in her pocket and that I’d seen it.

“Yes, it is,” she said. “Unless you need something else, I need to get back to work.”

Well, that wasn’t subtle at all.

“All right. It was nice talking to you,” I said.

Just because she was snippy with me didn’t mean I had to stoop to her level. I would continue to be as sweet as honey. Nevertheless, this whole ring situation had added another twist to this puzzle. I’d found a bloody shirt in Caleb’s trash. And now Shar with the ring. Not to mention Caleb with all that cash. But Ruth had a considerable amount of dough too.

Then there had been the scratches on Caleb’s hands. And I’d seen Carly with one of those woodcarving knives. Why was everyone at the fair in to something suspicious? Didn’t they know I was trying to find a killer? Actually, I hoped that whoever did it didn’t know I was trying to discover their identity. Because that would definitely put my life in danger. And that was the last thing I needed right now.

I had a lot to consider. Maybe Van and I would take a stroll for dinner somewhere so I could think things through. I was getting sick of eating peanut butter. And I knew Van would love a little taste of my meal as well. Before that, though, I had one more stop to make.

As I walked toward Carly’s, I ran through the list of suspects in my mind. Ruth, Max, Shar, Carly, and, sadly, Caleb were all on the list. The only person I’d met recently who wasn’t a suspect was Detective Pierce Myers.

* * *

As soon as I turned the corner to approach Carly’s booth, she looked my way. We made eye contact. She didn’t smile, but she didn’t frown either, so I guessed it could’ve been worse. Especially after she’d caught me digging through Caleb’s trash can.

I looked at the embossed belts with antique gold buckles, and the leather-and-rope-braided bracelets designed like snakes that she had on display, making sure not to touch anything. It looked as if she was waiting for any chance to yell at me about something, or tell me to get lost. I just needed to act casual.

“May help you with something?” she asked in an extremely snippy tone.

I hoped she wasn’t that way with all her customers or she would never sell a thing. Nobody wanted to buy things from a meanie. However, I wasn’t going to take the time to point out the fact that she was being rude.

“I just thought I would stop by to take a look at your lovely items while I was out walking around. I’ve been thinking about buying a belt.”

She raised an eyebrow, and I knew she was suspicious of me. Now I would have to buy a belt or she would know I was up to something.

“That one’s really pretty.” I pointed without touching the brown, aged-leather belt embossed with sugar skulls.

“Yes, it’s one of my favorites,” she said in her same snippy tone. She’d been unpleasant since I’d met her, but she had really ramped it up now.

Thank goodness other customers came up and gave me a chance to look around a bit more without Carly scrutinizing my every move. When she wasn’t looking, I inched closer to her trailer. I wasn’t sure what I thought I was going to do. Perhaps look inside through the window? I wouldn’t be able to see anything that way, but it made me feel as if I was trying, at least. Maybe I should go through her trash can too. I could only imagine her expression if she caught me doing that. She would freak out. Perhaps I needed to leave well enough alone and just go back to my trailer.

The customers were buying something from Carly. I knew she would be finished soon, and I wouldn’t have that distraction to help me. Therefore, I had to move quickly. She had a small table next to her trailer with a lawn chair beside it. I supposed this was where she sat and worked on her items, and her general office area. She had a folder on top of the table.

As I walked by, a gust of wind blew a piece of paper from the top, and it floated onto the ground. I placed my foot on top of it so it wouldn’t blow away. I thought I was doing her a favor. She probably wouldn’t see it that way.

When I reached down to pick up the paper, I realized it was a map of the fairgrounds. That wouldn’t have been so unusual, except Carly had marked Evan’s trailer and the area behind it, as if she was marking out a way to get to and from it. That was highly suspicious.

I placed the paper back on the table just as the customers walked away. Before Carly had a chance to say a word, I hurried away from her. I didn’t dare turn around and look back to see if she was watching me. I assumed she was. I needed to get back to my trailer.

I wondered if Carly was walking behind me. I couldn’t stand it any longer, so I peeked over my shoulder. Whew. Thank goodness she wasn’t there.

I hurried the rest of the way to my trailer. I was almost there when I spotted Ruth and Max talking. As if they sensed me watching them, they looked over toward me and ended their conversation. Max went one way and Ruth rushed into her trailer. What was that all about?