Fatal Fairies (Renaissance Faire Mystery Book 8) (16 page)

Grigg caught up with me. “Is that your plan? Are you going to hug everyone to make things better?”

“You run your precinct the way you want to. I’ll run my Village the way I want to. Let’s go get you some clothes. You kind of stick out here.”

He glanced away at the activity in the Village. “I’d rather stick out in this place. I can’t believe Detective Almond is going to leave me here undercover.”

“You never know. You might like it.” I knew he would as soon as he was used to it. Advance knowledge. I wish I had it in my Village too.

“Just kidding,” I muttered. “Not really a wish.”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

We went over to
Stylish Frocks
where there was a long line waiting for costumes. I hated waiting in this line and didn’t mind using my new status to cut ahead of everyone. “Look out. Bailiff business. Step aside.” The line grudgingly parted for me.

“You know you’re not dressed like Canyon Britt,” Grigg told me. “You need some leather, right?”

“I don’t think there are any costume rules about being Bailiff. And leather here when it’s ninety degrees with eighty percent humidity just seems stupid.”

He looked me in the eye—we were about the same height. “I guess you can scare the criminals away by threatening to hug them to death.”

We couldn’t reach the costume window fast enough to suit me. What had happened to the Grigg in this Village? Maybe he wouldn’t stay.

“Costume?” Portia asked in a voice that was worse than bored.

“Pirate,” I told her. “For him, anyway. I’m fine, thanks.”

She handed him a pirate costume complete with tacky hat and red kerchief.

“I don’t want to be a pirate,” Grigg told me. “Maybe a knight would be better.”

“In the Village, residents don’t wear a knight’s armor unless they’re really knights,” Portia informed him. “Jessie, I have something for you.”

She handed me a wide leather belt. It was at least eight inches of hot leather that would go around my waist. But even as I thought about complaining, she also handed me a two-way radio. I was in heaven.

I had always coveted Chase’s radio. Only a few characters in the Village were allowed to have one. I took the heavy belt and radio with a smile. I didn’t want it to last forever, but it was sweet to finally be synced with everything happening around me.

“So where do I change?” Grigg interrupted my private moment.

“Any of the shops will let you change clothes. Just show them your ID card.”

“I only have my badge.”

“That will work—unless you want to change in a privy. I’ve done it before. I wouldn’t recommend it. Report to the pirate ship over by Lady of the Lake Tavern. That’s where it berths. After that, they’ll tell you what to do.
Huzzah!
my lord pirate. Good fortune to ye.”

He stalked away with a dark scowl. I tried to remember if the Grigg in my Village was as unhappy as this one when he first went undercover. I was pretty sure he was, though maybe not as obnoxious.

Then I walked up to the castle with my utility belt wrapped around my hips rather than my waist. Gus saluted smartly as I walked by. I saw his hand reach to goose me and spun around to confront him.

“If you do that while I’m Bailiff, I will put you in the stocks for a day of Vegetable Justice, sir. Keep your hands to yourself.”

Pleased with myself when he backed off, I developed a swagger that would match my new position. As Bailiff, I couldn’t sway in a gown anymore. I had to look tough and ready for anything.

As I reached the kitchen, a call came in on the radio. One of the horses that pulled the Cinderella carriages had gone for a joy ride through the Main Gate bearing its terrified coachman and rider with it.

“Lady Bailiff.” Sir Reginald made a deep bow to me. “I believe your duty calls.”

Chapter Seventeen

Four hours—one crazy horse, three geese who wanted to nest in visitor’s hats, and two visitors who removed their clothes and jumped into a fountain later—I was back at the castle.

I knew Chase’s job was hard. I knew he was called out of bed, away from meals, and at other inconvenient moments, but I never really appreciated it until that day.

Everyone had a problem they wanted me to resolve. There were children who’d dropped their pretzels on the ground and goats who ate them—the pretzels, not the children. The blacksmith was having a feud with one of the knights and ‘accidentally’ hit him with the sword he was refusing to accept.

It had only been with the flat side of the sword against the knight’s bottom, but it was enough to cause an issue. There was a line of twelve people waiting outside the Dungeon for Vegetable Justice, which the Bailiff was supposed to preside over as judge and jury.

I told them to come back later. I had no idea where the squishy fruit and vegetables were supposed to come from to throw at them. I thought I knew everything about this job. I was wrong.

But I was back at the castle and hot on the trail of Apple Blossom’s killer. I hoped it was the same person who’d killed Jordan the squire. It would be a lot easier that way.

The supply closet was small and packed with a lot of dried beans. With all the meat usually served at the castle, I wondered why they had so many beans.

Jordan’s space was in one corner. His mother was right. He didn’t have much. There was a sleeping bag and a small pillow. Not many personal items beyond soap, razor, etc. No real feel for the man at all. I shook out his sleeping bag hoping a journal or pictures would fall out. All I got was some dirty socks.

It struck me how brazen both of these crimes had been. They hadn’t been committed in the night when they could’ve gone undetected for hours. Instead both murders had happened out in the open—in broad daylight while the Village was still teeming with visitors. That took some guts.

What kind of person wasn’t afraid of getting caught? I could understand why Detective Almond had arrested Canyon. He was big. He was possibly wearing the armor the killer had worn while he got rid of Apple Blossom. And the Bailiff was someone everyone expected to see walking around the Village.

The murders had been brutal, but they had also been accomplished quickly, before anyone had really noticed what was going on. Maybe I had been wrong in championing Canyon’s cause. It was possible that he was the killer—at least Apple Blossom’s killer.

He and Chase were so different here. How different was the question.

“As different as the moon and the sun.” Starshine appeared to elaborate on the subject. “You’ve already seen the difference in Chase because he didn’t become Bailiff. Everyone here was changed in one way or another by your wish.”

“Come on. I’m only a minor character. I can see where Chase is different because my wish affected him personally. I don’t see where it could have that much impact on anyone else.”

“Is that the only person you’ve noticed who’s changed?”

I thought about her question. “No. Roger and Mary aren’t together. Wanda and Isabelle are still alive.”

“Exactly.”

“Do you know who the killer is?” I narrowed my gaze in what I hoped was an intimidating manner. After all, I was a lot bigger than her. “If you know, you should tell me right away before someone else gets hurt.”

She giggled. I could tell she was terrified.

“Even if I knew, I couldn’t tell you. That would interfere with your wish. Who knows where you might go from there?”

“How about if I wished that I knew who the killer was?” I tested her resolve.

Her little wings buzzed her right up into my face. “Is that a wish?”

Our eyes locked as though we were having one of those competitions to see who would look away first.

If that was it, I lost. She giggled and disappeared.

I’d read the fairy tales with the fairy godmothers in them. No one ever mentioned how annoying they could be.

“There you are.” Chase hugged me. “I’ve been looking all over for you. How’s the investigation going?”

I sighed and rested my weary head against his shoulder. “It’s not going well at all.”

“Tell me,” he invited.

There were probably some details—like the dirty socks in the sleeping bag—that I should’ve left out, but I didn’t. I told him about the geese and the squishy vegetables. It didn’t really make any difference except that I felt better.

“If I can be any help, I managed to get someone to take my joust this afternoon. I’m free for the rest of the day. And I am at your disposal, my lady.”

“You’re the best.” I smiled and kissed him. “No wonder I love you so much.”

His dark eyes widened. “Jessie, we haven’t been together very long.”

My mistake
. I kept forgetting our relationship was different here.

“I didn’t mean love-love,” I qualified. “More like you could love a cinnamon roll or a beautiful gown. Or a sword.”

I knew I was babbling, but I didn’t want to lose him over a slip of the tongue.

He laughed and took my hand. “Okay. What’s your next move?”

“I think I should gather all the castle squires together and see if they know who Jordan worked with last. Doesn’t that make sense?”

“Makes sense to me. Let’s go.”

Because Sir Reginald hadn’t suffered a heart attack here, he wasn’t in charge of what went on in the castle. He normally would’ve been the person I’d go to for castle information. Instead when I asked Gus who kept the castle going, he pointed toward the office.

Chase and I went there looking for someone who would know all the squires and could help round them up. We stepped into the office, which in my Village is nothing more than a computer hub.

“Can I help you?” the man behind the desk asked. “I don’t see people who wander in off the cobblestones. That’s why there are appointments.”

I was stunned and thrilled to see my friend, Bart, working through a mountain of paperwork.

“I’m so happy to see you.” I started around the desk to hug him.

He held up one massive hand. “I don’t know you. Go back the way you came and find my secretary if you have something to discuss. Good day.”

Chase took my arm and whispered, “He’s always like this. Everyone hates him. He gets his authority right from Adventure Land and couldn’t care less about the Village. Come on.”

But I couldn’t believe it. Bart and I had been friends almost since we’d met in my Village. His brother had been missing, and he’d come to find him. Chase and I had solved that crime.

Bart made Chase and Canyon look small. He was a giant, the biggest man I’d ever met, and he had the best heart of anyone I knew. This couldn’t be all there was to him.

“I’m the Bailiff,” I told him. “I need your help solving the two murders that have happened.”

His hair was cut very close to his head, unlike the longish style he usually favored. I wondered where he’d found a gray suit big enough to fit him. His clothes were usually tunics and britches—and they had to be specially ordered.

“They’ve finally lost their minds, haven’t they?” He snickered. “A female Bailiff. Crazy.”

“Not crazy,” I argued. “You think women can do anything. You’re in love with Daisy the sword maker. Why not a woman Bailiff?”

“Young woman, you’ve been out in the sun too long. I don’t have a relationship with a sword maker. I think you should leave now.”

“You and I have always been friends. It can’t be that different here. And you worship Daisy. Think about it. I need your help, Bart.”

He rose slowly to his feet, towering over us, making the room feel tight.

“You know there are more security agents in the Village than just the Bailiff, right? Don’t make me prove it to you.”

Chase kept tugging me toward the door. I finally had to acknowledge defeat.

Out in the corridor, I thought again about these changes. Bart wasn’t with Daisy. Roger wasn’t with Mary. I’d set both of them up when I knew they really cared about each other. This Village wasn’t just influenced by Chase not being the Bailiff. It was also missing my skills as a matchmaker.

But how did that make any difference?

“What were you talking about in there?” Chase asked. “Were you serious about him being with Daisy? Or were you just trying to throw him off?”

“I don’t know. I thought maybe I could relate to him in some way. I guess not.”

I had to talk with Merlin again. We left the castle but he saw us coming and quickly hid in his apothecary.

“I need you, wizard,” I said to him. “You can’t hide behind that screen forever. Don’t forget that I know who you are.”

“Who is he?” Chase wondered. “Someone besides a crazy man in a starred, purple robe?”

“He knows who he is.” I’d forgotten that the only reason Chase knew about him being CEO of Adventure Land was because he was Bailiff.

“Go away,” Merlin said. “You’re ruining everything.”

I managed to get across my idea of bringing all the squires together in the castle. Merlin finally looked around the screen he was hiding behind.

“And this is it? You won’t keep bothering me?”

“Probably not if you tell Bart to help me.”

“All right. But this is it. I won’t help again. I don’t care who you tell.”

Chase shook his head. “What’s he talking about?”

“He’s the CEO of Adventure Land. He just likes living here.” He was going to find out anyway, I reasoned.

“What?” Chase glanced between me and Merlin. “Is that true? How’s that possible?”

“That’s enough of that,” Merlin protested. “You’re not supposed to tell anyone if you want my help.”

“He won’t tell anyone else. Let’s go, Chase.”

“But he’s the head of Adventure Land! There are so many changes we could make—he could help us!”

“Not now!”

We followed the path back up to the castle and waited outside Bart’s office as Merlin told him to help us. Chase asked how I’d known about Merlin. What could I say? There was no way to explain.

Bart heaved himself out of the office door. He barely fit through it. He didn’t look happy about it either. My Bart would never have looked so angry about such a small request.

“I’m having Marcus gather the squires into the Great Hall,” he said. “Please tell me if you need anything else, Lady Bailiff.”