Kingsman rasped, sounding out of breath. “You are indeed an
artist – this looks exactly like me,” he nodded with approval. Missy and
Grayson exchanged a look and both had to concentrate hard on not bursting into
laughter.
“Thank
you sir,” he replied, shaking the candidate’s hand.
The
two candidates stayed long enough to pose for some photos, publicly continue to
debate some of their favorite topics, and sample a few of Missy’s delightful
goodies before retiring for the evening. The party continued for a couple of
hours after their exit, with Missy and Grayson faithfully restocking cupcakes
as needed.
“I
am so ridiculously tired,” Missy blinked, slumping into a chair for a moment,
prior to starting cleanup, after the last guest had been ushered out.
“Me
too,” Grayson yawned and stretched. “But the sooner we clean up our stuff, the sooner
we get out of here,” he reasoned, heading to the van for boxes in which to
place the leftover cupcakes. After major events like this one, Missy took the
leftovers to the local homeless shelters for an evening snack.
Grayson
came charging back into the reception hall moments later, white as a ghost.
“Goodness
gracious, honey, what’s wrong?” Missy’s southern accent went into overdrive
when she was scared.
The
poor young man could barely get the words out. “Chester Kingsman is in the back
of our van…and it looks like he’s dead!”
Chapter 5
Police
swarmed the elegant reception hall and Missy and Grayson now had so much
adrenalin racing through their veins that neither of them could even think
about going to sleep, despite their earlier exhaustion. Detective Chas Beckett
was overseeing the investigation and had interviewed all of the staff members
who were still at the hall at the time before heading over to Missy and
Grayson, who were huddled together at a small table.
“Did
you look in the van?” Chas asked Missy quietly after sitting down across from
the shaken pair.
She
shook her head slowly. “I couldn’t…I didn’t want to see,” was her numb reply.
“And
you?” the detective asked Grayson.
The
youth swallowed hard, remembering the gruesome sight and the coppery smell of
blood. So much blood. “Yes sir,” he nodded, wide-eyed. “I saw.”
“Was
there anything that struck you as odd when you approached the van? Anything
that seemed out of place?” he probed.
“I
was a little bit surprised that it was unlocked, but then I just figured that I
had probably done that by accident when I ran out here to fix Judge Kingsman’s
nose,” he explained, receiving a startled look from Chas.
“His
nose?”
Missy
jumped in. “We had a strange encounter with Mrs. Kingsman right before the candidates
came in, and she ended up ruining part of the display that featured her
husband…” She went over the incident in detail for the detective, his brow
furrowing deeper by the second. He rubbed his forehead in a telltale gesture
that let Missy know that something was bothering him.
“What
is it, Chas?” she asked, alarmed.
“The
fact that you had an altercation with the candidate’s wife shortly before his
body was found in your van, rather complicates things,” he made a face like he
needed an antacid.
“But
we didn’t do anything,” Grayson protested. “Judge Kingsman was actually really
nice to us both and complimented the display that looked like him. Maybe the
security cameras picked that up,” he added hopefully.
“I’m
sure the cameras picked up footage of the nastiness that happened with the
Judge’s wife as well,” Chas sighed. “Well, you two can head on out, but the van
is still being processed, and it’s going to be a long night for me, so I’ll
have a patrolman take you home.”
“Uh…actually,
can he just take us to the shop? Both of our cars are there, and if my mom sees
me get dropped off by a police car, there’ll be hell to pay, especially if
she’s been drinking,” Grayson requested,
Michelle Pace, Andrea Randall