The Iced Princess (8 page)

“Truce.”

She smiled, lightening the mood a little bit. “But hurry up thinking through whatever it is, will you please?”

I smiled back. “I will try. Oh, and when Mark gets here, remind me to give him Molly's bag of clothes.”

Pinky frowned. “You mean her trampy outfit? Why give them to him?”

“It's up to the police to decide what to do with them, not me. I'm actually surprised they didn't take them yesterday. They must have looked through them when they were doing all their searching around here.”

“You'd think. Cami, I hate to ask you this, but are you going to try to get your clothes back, the ones Molly was wearing?”

I shook my head. “And you know what I realized during the night when I couldn't sleep? It was the same outfit I was wearing when Ramona Zimmer came in and found her sleazy husband's hands all over it.”

“
No.
”

“I should have given it away then.”

“Holy moly, that is one bad-luck outfit. You wore it and lost your job. Molly wore it and lost her life.”

My heart felt like it dropped to my stomach. “Pinky, I felt guilty enough before.”

“Sorry.”

The bell on Brew Ha-Ha's door dinged, and both Mark and Clint rushed in like they were on a lifesaving mission. And maybe they were if the envelope in question contained a deadly ingredient. They were carrying vinyl gloves and pulled them on.

“Where is it?” Clint asked.

We went into the curio shop then stopped a few feet back from the counter and I pointed. Mark pulled a plastic bag marked “Evidence” from his back pocket. Clint moved up to the counter. “Camryn, you saw the senator lay this here?”

“I did.”

“What did she say? Did she explain herself?”

“No. She was surprised I was here, because she knew what time our shop opens. She must have been watching Pinky and snuck in when she was in her back area. Or maybe the senator came in with other people. She was dressed so she wouldn't be recognized.”

“Was she wearing gloves?”

I envisioned Ramona's hands. “Actually, she did have black leather gloves on.”

Clint picked up the envelope. “It's addressed to you, Camryn.”

I knew that.

“Mark, open that evidence bag, will you?” When Mark
did so, Clint dropped the envelope in. “We'll get this over to Buffalo County and see if their crime lab can do an analysis. If not, they'll send it to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.”

The nightmare continued.

“Are you going to arrest Senator Zimmer for trying to poison Cami?” Pinky said.

“First we have to find out what's in that envelope,” Clint said.

“You could arrest her for breaking one of the snow globes in here and not paying for it,” Pinky said.

Clint focused on me. “You mentioned that last night, Camryn. What was the value of the snow globe?”

“Around fifty dollars. It wasn't one of the older, more expensive ones.”

Clint looked at Pinky. “No, we wouldn't arrest the senator on a petty misdemeanor charge. I could issue her a citation, however.”

I held up my hands and shook my head. “No, please don't. It's not worth it. I'm much more interested in what the crime lab people find in that envelope.”

“Cami's right. If there is poison in it, she will be in serious trouble, and we'll slap a list of felony charges against her,” Mark said.

“Let's get this over to the county,” Clint said. He started for the door then stopped and turned around. “I guess you know this, but as a reminder, keep on the lookout for any more unusual activity.”

Mark nodded his agreement.

I raised my hand. “Before you leave, we have something of Molly's to give you.”

“That's right, I was supposed to remind you about that, Cami.”

Clint frowned. “What is it?”

“The outfit she wore here to work.”

“But it was bad, and Cami gave Molly one of her own spare outfits to wear instead,” Pinky said.

“We didn't know what to do with it,” I said.

“We'll take it and check for possible evidence,” Mark said.

I retrieved the pants and top from the store room, and handed them to Clint. His nose twitched, no doubt due to the mothball smell that clung to the clothes, but he didn't comment.

They said a final good-bye and left with Mark carrying the questionable envelope, and Clint carrying the discarded clothes.

“I can't handle any more unusual activity.” Pinky's body straightened and stiffened like she was a missile ready for takeoff.

Her visible tension helped me to refocus. “Pinky, look at me. Hey, remember what we did when we were kids and got scared, or thought we were in trouble?”

“Yeesss.”

“Okay. First let's shake our hands.” We backed away from each other to avoid accidental slaps and shook away. “Now our feet.” We circled one foot then the other. “All together now.” We sang a little song as we moved: “Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes. Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes. And eyes and ears and mouth and nose. Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes.”

When we stood up, there were two older women standing in the archway staring at us. Pinky's headband had slipped
down to her eyebrows. “Oh, um, just getting in some exercise between customers.” She fixed her clothes and pushed her band higher, gaining some control over her wild curls.

One of the women smiled slightly, but her companion wore a pained expression. I had to wonder if they were thinking Brew Ha-Ha put less emphasis on “brew” and more importance on “ha-ha.” No matter. With Pinky running the show, that was often true. Pinky left to help her customers. When I heard one of them order a muffin, my stomach groaned, reminding me I hadn't had breakfast. I went to the serving counter for a cup of coffee and a raspberry scone.

—

O
ur teacher friend Erin stopped by after school ended. “What a day it was with my fourth graders. Even the kids who are usually angels had ants in their pants. I only had time to think about Molly about a hundred times.” She blew out a breath of air and sat down at Pinky's counter. She looked at me then at Pinky. “How are you guys doing? You both have funny looks on your faces. And where is Emmy—was she too freaked out to come back to work?”

“Golly, Erin, you will not, not, not believe what I am about to tell you.” I sat down beside her. Pinky stayed behind the counter and served Erin a decaf with milk.

Erin's mouth hung open through the entire account of Emmy's past—and how she had gotten out of town just before the law caught up to her.

“Sweet little old Emmy? I can't believe she's been living a secret life right here in Brooks Landing under an assumed name. Oh my gosh.”

Then Pinky launched into the story of how Senator
Zimmer had left an envelope addressed to me, and how we were waiting to find out about the lab results.

Erin grabbed my hand. “Forget about what I said about my day. It was a breeze compared to what you've been going through.”

There was no one else in either shop, so it was a good time to tell Pinky and Erin what had me on edge all day. “Do you want to hear what I think might have happened to Molly?”

“What?” they said in unison.

I looked around to confirm no one had come in. “This is really bad. And if it's true, I don't know how I'll ever make it up to Molly's husband.”

“What in the world are you talking about?” Erin said.

“I think it was the Zimmers.”

“The Zimmers what?”

I lowered my voice. “I think it was the Zimmers who poisoned Molly.”

“Cami, you are not making sense,” Pinky said.

“The Zimmers knew Molly?” Erin said.

“No, not that I know of.”

Erin raised her palms. “Then why would they kill her?”

“Okay, I'll back up. I don't think they actually did it themselves. I think they hired someone and he got the wrong woman.”

“A hit man? You're talking about a hit man?” Erin said.

“In Brooks Landing? Holy moly.” Pinky came around the counter and sat down next to me.

“You are not saying what I think you are, are you?” Erin said.

I shrugged. “Pinky, when we talked about it earlier, I told you it was bad. Think about it, first Peter Zimmer stops by
for a visit. Actually, he wanted more, but that's too disgusting to talk about right now. Then Ramona Zimmer shows up at Curio Finds and has an evil eye on Molly.

“Molly was helping a customer with her back to Ramona. I think she thought Molly was really me. On top of it all, Molly was wearing my clothes. Ramona's mad at me and loses it for a minute. She creates a little scene—maybe accidentally, maybe on purpose—and then takes off before anyone can stop her. The senator is no sprinter by any means, but she knows I can't run to save my soul. So once she was out of the store, she was home free.”

“Cami, I hate to say it, but Molly did look a lot like you yesterday, especially after she'd changed into your spare outfit. I did a double take a few times thinking it was you, but it was really Molly,” Pinky said.

“Really?” Erin sounded like she was trying to envision it.

Pinky nodded. “I wasn't going to bring it up, but it was kind of freaky. It's not that Cami's and Molly's features are that much alike, but their hair color and style, their height, and the way they're built is very similar.”

“I'll have to think about that some more,” Erin said.

Pinky shifted. “Cami, tell Erin about the outfit, what you told me earlier.”

“It was the same one I was wearing when Ramona found Peter and me together.”

“Oh my gosh. No wonder she flipped.”

“I know. And I can see how if someone didn't know Molly or me very well, or was looking at us from the back, they might mistake us. I've certainly gotten people confused before.” I let that sink in a second. “Back to the other thing that happened yesterday; there was that guy in here asking about
the blonde that worked in Curio Finds, and I don't think he was looking for snow globes.”

“That's right. He only said he was looking for the blonde,” Pinky said.

“And then early this morning Ramona Zimmer snuck in via the coffee shop and was blown away when she saw me. That's when I put two and two together.”

“You need to tell the police about your suspicions,” Erin said.

“They have the envelope and are going to have it tested. We'll see what the results are first. Besides, they're really focused on finding Emmy right now. She seems to be their prime suspect.”

“But you're looking at the Zimmers and you don't think Emmy is the guilty one?” Erin said.

I shrugged. “I would have said positively no yesterday, but I have to admit, her past has got me wondering.”

“For sure. What surprised me about Emmy was the other side of her that Molly brought out. The catty side.” Pinky lifted her hands, formed claws, and said, “Grrr.”

“Catty is a good word. When Emmy was picking on Molly about little things—okay, annoying things—if Molly had stood up for herself and told Emmy to stop it, we may have had a catfight. I was planning on having a talk with Emmy about it to ask her to be nicer to Molly.”

“I was thinking I should do the same,” Pinky said.

“Are you planning to hire someone else?” Erin said.

Pinky and I stared at each other, trying to read the other's thoughts. I shrugged, then Pinky shrugged.

Erin put her elbow on the counter and rested her head on her hand. “Hey, I want to throw it out there that I'm available
to help you on the weekends, even after school. Not every day and every weekend, but maybe a Saturday one week and a Sunday the next.”

“Erin, that's more than generous, but we wouldn't want to burn you out. Plus you've got parent-teacher conferences coming up soon,” I said.

Erin lifted her shoulders in a small shrug. “I'm nearly done with the students' reports. And the conferences are two of the evenings I couldn't work here.”

“You do know a lot about both our shops.” Pinky touched my shoulder. “Cami, we know Erin's really smart. And fast. She's helped me whip up my coffee delights before when I've been swamped. We wouldn't have to get all stressed out teaching her the basics.”

I reached out and grabbed Pinky's hand on one side and Erin's hand on the other. “I think it's a great idea. And Mom said my dad can help in a pinch, too. But I don't want to count on that yet. Erin, how about we give you our master calendar and you can write down the dates and times you're available? That will give us an idea of whether or not we'll need to look for another part-timer.” We gave our hands a final squeeze then released them.

Pinky swung around on her stool and stood up. “I'll get the calendar.”

She went into her back room, and Erin leaned closer to me. “Cami, I know you too well. Don't put yourself in danger like last time, when you tried to find out who'd killed Jerrell Powers.”

“I was not in danger, contrary to the popular belief held by you and Pinky. And a few others.” Like Clint and Mark and my parents and . . . well, the list was fairly long. “And
that is all water over the dam, or under the bridge, or whichever way it happens to flow.”

Pinky returned with the calendar and handed it to Erin, who pulled out her phone and came up with some dates she'd be available. A day here and there would help ease our stress and give our customers better service.

While Erin worked on her project of finding dates she could help out, Pinky waited on new customers, and I went back into Curio Finds to sort through the rest of the merchandise my parents had delivered a few days before. They had ordered some new merchandise, but most of the stock—outside of the extensive and ever-changing snow globes from around the world—were unique items they found at auctions, estate and garage sales, and the want ads. Their scouting and scavenging had slowed during Mom's illness and treatment, but Dad got out on his own occasionally, as long as he didn't have to leave Mom alone for long.