AS PLANNED, GARRETT, KAT, AND I regrouped after lunch. Kat had opened the bar and was filling small wooden bowls with peanuts. Garrett was testing the taps.
“I vote that we give that a try tomorrow morning,” he said. He had swapped his wallpaper-scraping attire for a pair of jeans and a gray Nitro hoodie with our atomic logo of the beer elements. “I don’t know about you two, but I’m happy to spend the rest of the afternoon pouring pints and chatting with customers.”
“Alex agreed to stop by after school. Maybe we can start brainstorming some ideas for the posters with him,” I said to Kat.
“Oh yeah, totally. I’ve been pinning stuff like crazy on my Pinterest boards. He’s going to think I’m nuts.”
“He’s fifteen. I think he’ll be thrilled to be part of this.”
Garrett went to check on the gravity of our holiday beers. Brewers use different techniques when it comes to checking the gravity. Some check two or three times near the end of the fermentation process but otherwise leave their beer alone to do its thing. Garrett was slightly more obsessive. He measured the decline of sugar every day (or even multiple times a day) to get a sense of how the beer was progressing.
I went to help Kat in the tasting room, which had a decent post-lunch crowd, including a table of retirees who had decided to take the train from Seattle for a quick midweek getaway. I spent a good thirty minutes chatting with them and giving them a rundown of our beer selection. One woman asked if it would be possible to see our brewing operations, and I happily obliged. Beer education was one of my favorite parts of the job. I loved getting to share my knowledge. It never failed that tour groups would leave slightly awestruck about the many steps and variables involved in brewing. I hoped that they also left with a new appreciation of beer’s many nuanced flavors and with some tips on how to expand their tasting repertoire.
After the tour, I poured the group a tasting tray and had them put their newfound beer education to the test. I smiled as they took turns holding each tasting glass to their nose before sipping. They were quick studies. I was impressed with how easily they identified the citrus tones in our Pucker Up IPA and the earthy chocolate notes in our stout.
I left them to their expert tasting and went outside to check on the patio tables. Nitro’s small patio didn’t rival Der Keller’s, but we had created an intimate, cozy outside seating area in the enclosed space with a collection of small wrought-iron bistro tables and potted plants. Once the snow began to fall, we’d have to bring everything inside, but for the moment, locals were soaking up the lingering late-afternoon sun.
A group of city light installers took up one of the tables and a small crowd wearing Valerie Hedy T-shirts had pushed together a collection of two-person tables. I took their orders and when I returned with a tray of drinks, Valerie Hedy had joined her campaign team. I delivered the contractors’ drinks and took a minute to think about how I might approach Valerie. As it turned out, I didn’t need a reason. She gave me a friendly wave.
“Sloan, good to see you,” she said as I passed around drinks to her campaign volunteers. “Did you get a sign for the window? We’d absolutely love to have your support.” She pointed to the young man sitting next to her, who produced a poster from his saddlebags. “Please take a couple. As you know, the election is next week, and we’re counting on your support.”
I took two of the posters with Valerie’s face plastered on them along with the slogan LET THE BEER FLOW. VOTE FOR VALERIE HEDY, PROUD CITIZEN OF BEERVARIA.
“Is it even an issue now that you’re the only one running?” I asked.
Valerie glanced at her team. “It’s even more important now than ever before. Who knows what Kristopher’s campaign might have up their sleeve? I wouldn’t put it past them to try something sneaky.”
“Like what?”
“A special election, asking the council to appoint someone rather than have the election go on as planned. There are several possibilities, and my team and I are reviewing every single one of them. Isn’t that right?” She waited for her volunteer crew to nod in agreement. “Do you happen to have a minute to chat in private?”
I couldn’t believe the stars had aligned. I wanted nothing more than a chance to speak to Valerie alone and see if there was any merit to what Ross had told me. “Sure, would you like to come inside?”
Valerie stood. She advised the volunteers not to imbibe too much. “Remember we still have dozens of doors to knock upon this afternoon.”
I took her inside and back to the office. “Have a seat,” I said, gathering up some of our notes and sketches for the upstairs remodel.
“What’s all this?” Valerie asked. “It looks like fun.”
I explained our plans to open up the inn to beer tourism.
“Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant idea. Yet another reason to hang those in the front window,” she said, pointing to her campaign posters, which I had set on the desk. “We absolutely cannot run the risk of Kristopher getting elected postmortem.”
“Are you sure that can happen? I heard part of your speech at Kuchen last night, and it sounded like the city council was going to make a decision about how the election would proceed.”
Valerie took one of the posters and rolled it up into a tube. “Unfortunately, I’m sure. More than sure. I confirmed everything with the mayor this morning. I make it my job to be sure of everything. You can’t be too careful in politics, especially in small-town politics, you know?”
I nodded. Although I wasn’t entirely certain I did know. Valerie was obsessed with the idea of losing to a dead man.
“The numbers looked good on paper, but believe it or not, Kristopher has a rabid following. I wouldn’t put it past them to try something underhanded next week.”
“Like what?”
Valerie shrugged. “I don’t have any solid details, but there are some rumors swirling that are pretty nasty and not in line with Leavenworth’s family values.”
“I don’t understand.”
She glanced at the door. “Do you mind if we close that?”
“Sure.” I got up and shut the door.
“Sloan, I know that we don’t know each other very well, but I have respected and admired your work for many years. You’re a pillar of this community, and I feel like I can trust you to be discreet. If I share something with you, can I count on you to keep this between us?” She unrolled her campaign poster and then scrunched it up into a tube again.
A pillar of the community? That was an exaggeration, to say the very least.
“Of course.” I was surprised that Valerie wanted to share a secret with me. We had known each other as acquaintances since I’d first moved to Leavenworth. With only two thousand people in town, it was impossible not to know everyone, but Valerie and I had never spent time alone together or connected socially. I knew her from community meetings and town events, and had served her a number of times at Der Keller.
She let out a long sigh. “I’m telling you this because I know that you’ve recently been through a bit of drama with Mac, and you handled it so well—so professionally. You never seemed to let the gossip mill here in the village rattle you. I’d really appreciate your input on a touchy issue.”
“Okay.” I had no idea where Valerie was going with this.
“Many, many years ago in college, I made a stupid mistake.” She stabbed the top of her thigh with the tubular poster.
“You’re not alone in that.”
She tried to smile. “Yes, but when you run for public office, your past mistakes have a way of haunting you.”
I waited for her to continue.
“You know what Oktoberfest is like for college students, right?” She squeezed the poster so tight that the tube folded in half.
“Yeah. Having lived here for decades, I think I’ve seen it all.” I chuckled.
Valerie frowned. “I came to Leavenworth for the first time with a group of my sorority sisters my junior year of college. I fell in love with the town and surrounding mountains immediately. In fact, as soon as I graduated, I moved here.”
“That’s a recurring theme in the village.”
“Yes, but let’s just say that I wasn’t on my best behavior while I was here for Oktoberfest that first year. I drank way too much, as college students tend to do.”
I nodded.
“I got really plastered, and I made a stupid, stupid mistake.”
“Okay.” I couldn’t imagine what Valerie was referencing. Most college students who came to Leavenworth for Oktoberfest came to imbibe.
“My sorority sisters and I rented a guesthouse at the end of town, and one night after we were kicked out of the tents, we stumbled home and decided that it would be fun to give everyone on the sidewalk below us a show.” She laid the poster on the desk and tried to smooth it out. The attempt was futile. The poster was wrinkled and crumpled. There was no chance of rescuing it.
“A show?”
She buried her face in hands. “Yes. We went topless and flashed everyone from the upstairs balcony of the villa. It was stupid, Sloan. A drunken mistake. I was a straight-A student in college. I came to blow off some steam and ended up making a poor choice that I’ve regretted for years.”
“I don’t get it, Valerie. I mean, of course, I understand that it’s an embarrassing memory, but you were young and drunk. We’ve all done stupid things that we regret.”
“I wish it was just that.” She sighed again. “Someone recorded video of our drunken escapades. I never knew that a video existed until last week when I received a threatening note from Kristopher telling me to drop out of the race or else he would release the video.”
“What?” Add blackmail to the ever-growing list of Kristopher’s seedy campaign tactics.
“I have no idea how he found the video. He must have done some serious digging to come up with it.” She twisted a piece of hair around her finger and then yanked it from her head.
I winced in response.
“The man was insane. I tried to talk to him, to reason with him, but he wouldn’t hear it. He knew that I was in the lead, and he was desperate. Why would he do something so terrible? If that video gets out, it will kill my chances of getting elected and ruin my career.”
I hated to admit it, but Ross’s theory that Valerie could have killed Kristopher was looking more likely. She obviously had a major motive. Not only did killing him basically guarantee her a win, but it also ensured that he couldn’t release the embarrassing video.
I wasn’t sure how to respond.
Valerie stood and paced in front of the whiteboard. “I’m sorry to burden you with this, Sloan, but like I said, you held yourself with such strength and grace in the face of town gossip about your husband.” She gave me an awkward, apologetic smile. “Sorry—I mean about Mac. I know he’s soon to be your ex.”
“Yep.” I tried to steer the conversation away from me. “Was there anything you needed?”
“No, I should let you go, but I would love to have your official support for my campaign, and personally, I’d love any advice you might be able to offer about what I should do if the video somehow surfaces in the days before the election.”
Maybe I should have been flattered that Valerie had been impressed by how I had handled Mac’s infidelity, but her praise made me cringe internally. “I don’t understand. Kristopher is dead. How would the video get out?”
“That’s the thing. I have no idea how many people he shared it with. For all I know, he and his campaign planned to release it this weekend—right before the election, to sink my chances. I’ve been walking around on eggshells, waiting for my phone to blow up. The worst part is that the village is swarming with press. Every time I see someone with a camera, I hide or run away. I’m waiting for it all to come crashing down any moment.”
Ah, so that might explain why I had seen Valerie hiding behind the oak tree in Front Street Park. Or it could be a convenient excuse. Maybe she had seen me staring and had crafted this story to distract me.
I thought for a moment before responding. “My advice, if the video does get released, is to stay calm and own up to your mistake. People in Leavenworth are reasonable. There might be a few gossips who will get a good laugh at your expense, but most people won’t even give it a second thought.”
“You don’t understand the magnitude of this, though. I have long-term hopes for higher office. City council is a stepping-stone to running for state government, and maybe more after that. If this video gets released, my political career is dead.” She shook her head. “I could have killed Kristopher myself. I’m not surprised someone beat me to it. For all of Kristopher’s pious talk of the evils of alcohol, the man didn’t have an ethical bone in his body.”