Read Online Fete Worse Than Death (9781101595138) by Claudia Bishop - Free Book Online
Authors: Claudia Bishop
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“The whole village is in an uproar.”
It was late, well after midnight, but Myles had e-mailed her the only time he was available for his call, and they were both hostage to his schedule. “That’s not the worst thing. I told you Carol Ann said she was going to make the eleven o’clock news? Well, she did. She and Brady Beale have started something called Citizens for Justice. They managed to organize some of the people who’ve been unhappy about having the fete here in Hemlock Falls all these years. The first meeting was out at the car dealership and Carol Ann talked the anchor from Channel 11 out ofSyracuse into covering it. They’re claiming corruption, cronyism, and all kinds of inflammatory things. Oh! And conspiracy. That’s what caught the attention of the TV people.
“Davy had to send the patrol cars out to Peterson Automotive—Carol Ann kept insisting that the Citizens for Justice needed police protection. Of course, the presence of the patrol cars made really great TV.” Quill shook her head in disgust. “Some citizens’ movement. There were twenty or so people there, at most, none of them with anything substantial to say. Brady kept shoving people in front of his store sign so the TV cameras would pick it up. If you ask me, he’s in it for the free advertising. Too bad for us it was a slow news night. Oh! And Carol Ann’s started a Twitter campaign. She’s calling it fete-fraud. Very catchy, which is also too bad for us.”
“What does Adela have to say?”
Quill rubbed her forehead. “Nobody can find her, poor thing. Dookie, Elmer, and I signed all the permissions to launch a bank inquiry. Elmer’s a mess. Davy let all the deputies know we needed to talk to her…in an informal way, since there’s no evidence a crime’s been committed yet—but then they got diverted with this protest Carol Ann organized.
“Marge and I went over to Adela’s three times today, but her car wasn’t there. Then I had to go to Syracuse to see about renting those crates for the Furry Friends booths, and by the time I got back, Carol Ann was blatting away about the conspiracy. Don’t ask me what kind of conspiracy. It doesn’t make any sense. She’s named herself president and the whole purpose seems to be to hangpoor Adela out to dry. It’s awful. I went down to the Croh Bar for a glass of wine after Doreen put Jack to bed, to kind of get a feel for things. Everybody shakes their head and says: “I always knew there was something funny about those Henrys” and “I didn’t want to say anything before, but…” And then they go on to say the most dreadful stuff. She’s got a few supporters, all of us at the Inn, and Marge, and Miriam, and Clare’s people up at the academy, but everyone else is just nasty. I’ve been an innkeeper too long to be disillusioned, but still.” She rubbed her hands over her face. “Ugh.”
Her husband shook his head slightly in sympathy.
Myles was in an airport lounge, she could tell that much. But where the lounge was located and where he was going was a complete mystery. She never wanted to know, in case it was one of the hot spots featured so terrifyingly in the
New York Times
and the
Syracuse Herald
. He’d been traveling for at least twenty-four hours, so it had to be halfway around the world. Beyond that, she didn’t want to speculate.
“This will blow over, dear heart.” Myles’s voice was deep and resonant, even through the distortion of the speakers. Quill’s heart turned over. Somehow, phone calls had been easier than the video conferencing and she wished, briefly, that she’d never set up the video software. She missed him less when she couldn’t hear him and see him at the same time.
“I suppose you’re right. The big question is the fete. Elmer keeps saying the fete’s the responsibility of the steering committee, which it is, of course, except that Adela took care of everything. I got a little ruffled whenBrady Beale accused us of being
It was late, well after midnight, but Myles had e-mailed her the only time he was available for his call, and they were both hostage to his schedule. “That’s not the worst thing. I told you Carol Ann said she was going to make the eleven o’clock news? Well, she did. She and Brady Beale have started something called Citizens for Justice. They managed to organize some of the people who’ve been unhappy about having the fete here in Hemlock Falls all these years. The first meeting was out at the car dealership and Carol Ann talked the anchor from Channel 11 out ofSyracuse into covering it. They’re claiming corruption, cronyism, and all kinds of inflammatory things. Oh! And conspiracy. That’s what caught the attention of the TV people.
“Davy had to send the patrol cars out to Peterson Automotive—Carol Ann kept insisting that the Citizens for Justice needed police protection. Of course, the presence of the patrol cars made really great TV.” Quill shook her head in disgust. “Some citizens’ movement. There were twenty or so people there, at most, none of them with anything substantial to say. Brady kept shoving people in front of his store sign so the TV cameras would pick it up. If you ask me, he’s in it for the free advertising. Too bad for us it was a slow news night. Oh! And Carol Ann’s started a Twitter campaign. She’s calling it fete-fraud. Very catchy, which is also too bad for us.”
“What does Adela have to say?”
Quill rubbed her forehead. “Nobody can find her, poor thing. Dookie, Elmer, and I signed all the permissions to launch a bank inquiry. Elmer’s a mess. Davy let all the deputies know we needed to talk to her…in an informal way, since there’s no evidence a crime’s been committed yet—but then they got diverted with this protest Carol Ann organized.
“Marge and I went over to Adela’s three times today, but her car wasn’t there. Then I had to go to Syracuse to see about renting those crates for the Furry Friends booths, and by the time I got back, Carol Ann was blatting away about the conspiracy. Don’t ask me what kind of conspiracy. It doesn’t make any sense. She’s named herself president and the whole purpose seems to be to hangpoor Adela out to dry. It’s awful. I went down to the Croh Bar for a glass of wine after Doreen put Jack to bed, to kind of get a feel for things. Everybody shakes their head and says: “I always knew there was something funny about those Henrys” and “I didn’t want to say anything before, but…” And then they go on to say the most dreadful stuff. She’s got a few supporters, all of us at the Inn, and Marge, and Miriam, and Clare’s people up at the academy, but everyone else is just nasty. I’ve been an innkeeper too long to be disillusioned, but still.” She rubbed her hands over her face. “Ugh.”
Her husband shook his head slightly in sympathy.
Myles was in an airport lounge, she could tell that much. But where the lounge was located and where he was going was a complete mystery. She never wanted to know, in case it was one of the hot spots featured so terrifyingly in the
New York Times
and the
Syracuse Herald
. He’d been traveling for at least twenty-four hours, so it had to be halfway around the world. Beyond that, she didn’t want to speculate.
“This will blow over, dear heart.” Myles’s voice was deep and resonant, even through the distortion of the speakers. Quill’s heart turned over. Somehow, phone calls had been easier than the video conferencing and she wished, briefly, that she’d never set up the video software. She missed him less when she couldn’t hear him and see him at the same time.
“I suppose you’re right. The big question is the fete. Elmer keeps saying the fete’s the responsibility of the steering committee, which it is, of course, except that Adela took care of everything. I got a little ruffled whenBrady Beale accused us of being
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