“What are you doing here, Uncle Charlie?”
“I’m a judge. They always ask me, the mayor, and the newspaper editor.” Charlie motioned with his thumb.
Skye lowered her voice. “Who are the women?”
Charlie’s voice boomed. “This here is Miss Stanley County 1978, and that lady in the corner is Miss Central Illinois 1960.”
Skye nodded to the former beauty queens. “Come out in the hall a minute,” she whispered to her godfather. “I need to ask you something in private.”
Charlie lumbered to his feet, grumbling.
“Did you know that Linette Ingels competed today?” she asked.
“I heard.” Charlie shrugged. “I’m not surprised. The Ingels seem to think that because they got money and power, they don’t have to play by the rules.”
“What do you mean?”
“Let’s just say no one in town will play poker or buy a used car from Al, and the missus isn’t welcome at any bridge game.”
“So how does he stay bank president?”
“That’s a good question. One I’m going to find the answer to.” Charlie turned and walked back into the lounge before she could ask anything more.
Skye stood stunned at what Charlie had said. Was he really implying that Allen Ingels was a crook? What did Charlie know that he wasn’t telling her?
“Skye Denison!”
Who was it now? Skye looked up in time to see Abby Fleming, the school nurse, sweeping down on her. Abby was Vince’s ex-girlfriend, and although the breakup had not been pleasant, she and Skye had stayed on good terms.
“Abby,” Skye greeted her. “Before you ask, I’ve got Gillian and Ginger’s girls entered, that’s why I’m here.”
“Me too.” Abby smiled. “I’ve got my niece, I mean. Her mother’s not interested, but since I used to do the pageant circuit, I take her.”
Skye was surprised to hear Abby had been in beauty contests. Abby was a stunning woman—tall, thin, with white-blond hair and aquamarine eyes—but she was more striking than pretty and didn’t seem the type the judges usually chose.
“Hey, you want to get a pop and meet some of the other pageant moms?” Abby asked.
Skye checked her watch. It was eleven-forty-five, and she had time before she had to get back to Trixie and her charges. “Okay.”
Abby led Skye through the maze of corridors and into the cafeteria. After they each purchased a can of soda, Abby approached a table occupied by several women. “Hi. This is a friend of mine from work, Skye Denison. It’s her first contest. Mind if we join you?”
A brunette in red leggings and an oversize T-shirt spoke for her friends. “Pull up a piece of bench. Did you see Linette Ingels’ performance?”
Skye couldn’t believe her luck. That was exactly the subject she wanted to discuss. She kept her mouth shut and listened, wishing she could take notes.
“No, but I certainly heard about it,” Abby said.
One of the other moms chimed in, “I’m not surprised. My daughter competes in the same age range as Lorelei, and that mother would do anything to make her other daughter win.”
The brunette tsked. “That’s for sure. My daughter used to compete with that crowd, and Lorna Ingels deliberately stepped on the hem of her formal and ripped it, right before she was supposed to go onstage.”
“Lorna Ingels is famous for that type of thing,” an older woman added. “She grabbed my granddaughter and gave her a big old hug just as she walked on stage. I didn’t notice until it was too late that she had smeared bright red lipstick down my grandbaby’s sleeve. And it wasn’t no accident. The lipstick Lorna was wearing was pink.”
“I’m surprised Linette was never kicked out of the pageant,” Skye said.
“Lorna’s sneaky. It’s hard to prove that she deliberately sabotages the others,” Abby explained.
“We almost caught her in the act last year,” chirped a birdlike woman at the end of the table. “Someone stole my daughter’s makeup case. Lorelei’s space was right next to ours. We all went to the stage for Talent, and when we came back, the case was missing. Lorna had been the last one out of the room, and she refused to let us search her things.”
Skye couldn’t contain herself. “So, what happened?”
“The contest coordinator was going to throw her out, but she came up with an alibi. Priscilla VanHorn came forward and said Lorna had been with her the whole time the girls were onstage, and they had walked to and from the dressing room together.”
“That’s odd,” Abby said. “Wouldn’t Priscilla have been thrilled to eliminate Lorelei from competing against Zoe?”
The other women murmured their agreement.
Skye asked, “Did they ever find out who stole the makeup?”
“We figured it out later,” the brunette said. “Maybe Lorna was with Priscilla, but Linette was in and out of that dressing room, and no one thought of checking on her.”
“I was under the impression Linette wasn’t too fond of her sister,” Skye said, confused. “I’m surprised she’d steal for her.”
The bird woman piped up, “This wasn’t for Lorelei. This was against my family. My youngest daughter competes against Linette, and she had won the last contest they were in together.”
“Boy, this is more cutthroat than graduate school,” Skye commented.
“There’s more at stake,” Abby said.
“What? I understand that it’s a rush to compete, and winning is really ego-building, but the level of intensity I’ve seen here today seems way more than what I would expect. What’s the deal?”
Abby lowered her voice and leaned closer to Skye. “Money.”
“Money? You mean there’s big money up for grabs?”
“Yes. Not so much at these little contests, but as you go up the line we’re talking cars, trips, clothes, scholarships, and thousands of dollars in cash.” Abby paused to take a breath. “And that’s not all. There’s also a lot of money spent. You’ve got to have pictures, a professional coach, costumes, makeup, and hairstylists. Add to that the travel expenses and the fee to enter the contests. Then figure that many of these people enter a contest nearly every week. You can easily spend twenty thousand a year.” Abby shook her head. “I know of women who have taken a second mortgage on their houses, or work another job, just to pay for these pageants.”
“Makes you think, doesn’t it?” Skye added money to her list of motives for Lorelei’s killer. “I’ve heard a lot about Lorna Ingels, but no one says much about Lorelei. Any idea why?”
“Not really, but if you want to know about Lorelei, you should come to next week’s contest, Miss Central Illinois. It’s for the older girls, over seventeen. If Lorelei had won that one, she’d be a sure bet for Miss Illinois, which is a step away from the big one. I’m one of the judges.” Abby’s eyes gleamed.
“Was Lorelei a contender for Miss Central Illinois?”
“From what I’ve seen of the circuit, it was between Lorelei, Zoe, and another girl.” Abby shrugged her tanned shoulders. “Of course, there’s always a chance a wild card will show up.”
“A wild card?”
“Some girl from east of nowhere who has never done a pageant but is such a natural she takes the prize,” Abby explained.
“All this work and money, and someone can come out of left field and take it away.” Skye glanced at the clock. “Hey, I’ve got to go get lunch ready for the girls. See you later.”
The remainder of the pageant went without incident. Kristin won the Talent section, but Linette took Modeling, Interview, and Beauty. No one was surprised to see her win the crown.
When Linette’s name was called, Skye studied her expression. After puzzling for some time, Skye could best describe it as a look of entitlement. It seemed that Linette never had any doubt that she’d win.
