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Cassidy shrieked and yanked on Oliver’s leash to pull him back to the asphalt as she fumbled for her phone. She punched in 911 and took a deep breath.
The dispatcher asked, “What’s the emergency?”
“Hi, yes. This is Cassidy Green at the Amelia Speedway. I was walking my dog, and he found something near the back gate. I need you to send police and rescue. We’re setting up for a rummage sale tomorrow, and my dog found what looks to be a body in one of the stalls.”
“Is the person breathing?”
“I don’t think so. It looks like a heavy piece of furniture fell on him. I didn’t move anything.”
“Stay there. Rescue will be there in a few minutes. Are you in any danger?”
“No. I’m fine. Tell them to drive around to the back exit. I’ll make sure the gate is open,” Cassidy said.
“Will do. Do you need me to stay on the line?”
“I’m going to hang up and open the gate now.” Cassidy disconnected the call.
She tapped Uncle Henry’s number. After several rings and his quirky voicemail, she left her own message that she hoped was coherent. Dragging Oliver to the back gate, she unlocked it and pushed the metal grate open. Oliver continued to tug on his leash, eager to return to Ron’s furniture. “Oliver. Stay.”
He let out a whiny sound and sat on her foot.
“I know. You don’t want to just sit here either. Let’s go put on some lights.” Oliver hopped up, ready for something more exciting.
By the time Cassidy and Oliver returned from turning on the track lights, a county police cruiser with blue and red lights flashing slowed at the gate. Continuing on to the stalls, the cruiser kicked up a small dust storm. Deputy Charles Smith stepped out and adjusted his gun belt.
Cassidy smiled. He would always be Chuckie from Mrs. Harris’s fourth grade class to her. “Hey, Charles, thanks for responding so quickly.”
“I was in the area when the call came through,” he said. “What’s going on tonight?”
“We’re having a rummage sale tomorrow, and as Oliver and I were taking our evening walk, he became interested in that tarp over there.” She pointed to the tarps draped over Ron’s furniture.
Charles moved closer, waving the beam of his flashlight around. He lifted the tarp and stepped back. He cleared his throat. “Has anyone else been back here?”
“Not to my knowledge. The track was cleared of guests when I locked the gates. I didn’t notice this then, but I wasn’t exactly looking for it either.”
More flashing lights appeared at the gate. An ambulance and a state police cruiser drove slowly in and parked near Charles’s vehicle. The EMTs climbed out and started moving tarps. Trooper Todd Hendricks followed at a slower pace.
“Hey, Cassidy,” the tall trooper said as she approached. He leaned over and patted Oliver’s head.
“Hi, Todd. Oliver and I were wrapping up the evening. When we rounded the corner on our walk, he zeroed in on what was under that tarp.” Cassidy had met the trooper last summer when a love triangle, involving one of the racers, had gotten out of hand, and Todd had been the investigator. She tried to shake off the eerie memories, but a glance in the direction of another dead body made her shiver.
“Any idea who it is?” he asked.
Cassidy stepped around the furniture as the EMT lifted the tarp for her.
She closed her eyes for a moment. “That’s Ron Silver in his silver sneakers. He rented a space for his furniture business.”
Todd made notes and said, “Thanks, Cassidy. Let me see what the plan is, and I’ll be back in a sec to get your statement.”
Oliver leaned in close, and she hugged him with one arm. “I know. It happened again.” Cassidy had another flashback to the previous summer as she looked over her shoulder at the garage where Oliver had found the body of racer, Donnie Ellis.
“You stirring up trouble?” Uncle Henry asked as he sidled up next to Cassidy and Oliver.
A wry smile crossed her face. “No. Oliver found another body. It’s one of my vendors for tomorrow’s event.” Cassidy sighed. “It looks like a piece of his heavy furniture fell on him.”
“Ewwww. Sorry I missed your call. It was poker night. I’m glad I got your message before arriving home to all the blue and red lights outside my front door. And it’s not even racing season.”
Cassidy looked over her shoulder at the back of the property where Uncle Henry’s farmhouse stood behind the copse of trees.
“I’m sorry about Mr. Silver. I can’t stop thinking about him and his wife. That was a terrible way to go...” Her voice trailed off.
“It’ll be okay. People aren’t going to blame the track for this. You’re doing a good job at bringing in business to the local community. And if we have to postpone tomorrow, we can. People will understand.” He patted his niece on the shoulder.
Todd made his way to the pair. “The medical examiner’s office will be here soon. What do you know about the deceased?”
“His name is Ron Silver,” she said, and she filled the trooper in on what happened earlier with Marti.
“What did you say to him?” Trooper Hendricks asked.
“I told him I was going to charge him for two more booths if he didn’t move his things.”
A slight grin crossed the officer’s face. “Anything else you can tell me?”
“I have a copy of his registration form if you want it?”
He handed her a card. “Can you send me a copy? “
“I don’t want to sound crass, but what should I do about tomorrow?” It was going to be a long night if she had to contact all the sellers and update all the social media posts. She might not have time to get word of the cancellation out to everyone.
Todd looked over his shoulder. “We’ll see what happens with the ME’s office, but they should be able to wrap it up tonight. I’m heading out in a bit to talk to his wife.”
“I’ll get copies of the paperwork for you. Be back soon,” Cassidy said. “Come on, Oliver.”
“I’ll stay here,” Uncle Henry said, “and take care of the lights and the gates.”
Cassidy took Oliver home and then hustled to the office. While waiting for the copier to warm up, she flipped on her laptop and scanned through the camera feeds to see if she picked up anything helpful. Not seeing anything out of the ordinary, she saved the electronic copies to a thumb drive.
By the time Cassidy returned with a folder and the thumb drive for the police, the medical examiner’s office had removed Ron’s body, and the forensic crew photographed and measured everything.
She stood next to Uncle Henry who had a front-row seat for all the activity. “Did I miss anything?”
“Not really. Emergency workers come and go. The person from the medical examiner’s office left a few minutes ago. I saw a news truck pull up by the back gate.”
Cassidy sighed. “Great.”
Todd sauntered over. “I’m leaving to talk to the family. Deputy Smith will stay here until the forensic folks are done. You can go ahead with your event tomorrow. Not sure about this booth. You may want to keep it tarped until the owners can arrange to retrieve their stuff.”
“Thanks,” Cassidy said.
“I’ll talk to you later this week.”
Watching the trooper return to his cruiser, butterflies awakened inside Cassidy. She tried to suppress the charge of excitement. A death scene wasn’t the place to think about the cute trooper.
“Why don’t you head on home? You’ve got an early day tomorrow. I’ll take care of things here,” Uncle Henry said.
She gave him a hug and jogged home. A hot bath and bed were exactly what she needed, but she was too wired to go to sleep. And her phone kept dinging with texts from people asking about what happened and if the sale was still on. And what had happened to Ron? Could his death be more than an accident?
