"I talked to the florists. Not one of them ever made arrangements for anyone in Behold."
"Are you saying that Basil made it up?" I asked. Why hadn't it occurred to me to do that?
"I'm not saying that at all." Rex held up his hands defensively. "I was really hoping to play the detective card and get three names. Now it could mean that they refuse to give out that information and lied to me or that it was the one I couldn't get ahold of who did the arrangements. I don't think it rules out the rumor."
"We were counting on three of the five suspects to be romantic interests." I set down my fork.
"That doesn't mean they aren't," Kelly pointed out. "After all, Dr. Morgan didn't say he wasn't in a relationship with Aunt June."
"And that Oroner Coroner dude," Inez added, "admitted that he was involved."
"You," Betty said, "haven't talked to the postmaster yet."
I agreed. "That's all true. You guys are good."
"Very good," Rex said. "Those are all very good deductions. Nice job!"
Lauren buttered a biscuit. "There has to be at least one boyfriend because Nancy was jealous."
"But Basil said that." Kaitlyn reached for her lemonade. "So maybe it isn't true."
I thought about that. "No, I think it is. That time I talked to her in the café…she gave off a hostile vibe when I mentioned Aunt June."
"A toast!" Kaitlyn held her lemonade up. "To this cool house and awesome camp!"
We all lifted our glasses and drank. Then seven people turned a little green as we swallowed a sort of yellow sugar paste. Hands dove into the biscuit bowl and wolfed them down. All of us…except Betty.
"This lemonade is pretty dope," she said before taking another drink.
After the near poisoning, the girls wanted to play tag outside, and I thought that was a good idea. Even though most of us only had one sip of the toxic lemonade, we were all experiencing a sugar buzz. So Kelly, Rex, and I sat on the patio by the river as the girls played tag nearby.
"Five bucks says Betty will live to be over one hundred years old," I said quietly.
"Eating what she does?" Kelly asked, her nurse side kicking in. "I might take that bet if I didn't think we were going to die before she does."
Rex laughed. "It's a sucker bet. She drank half of that pitcher of lemonade, eats things burned to a crisp, and doesn't even get sick. She's got a cast-iron gut."
"Guys!" I shouted as Ava and Kaitlyn ran right to the edge of the river. "That's too far!"
Kelly and Rex turned to see what I was looking at when Ava, standing at the edge of the yard, tripped and fell into the river.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
I was on my feet immediately, kicking off my shoes as I ran to the shore. The other four girls began shouting as Ava floundered in the water. Swim for it! Kick your legs! Don't drown! and the mostly unhelpful, Watch out for the killer river monster!
It bears repeating that the Mississippi River is extremely dangerous, with hidden undertows, whirlpools—not to mention the giant catfish—all of which make it nearly impossible for even the best swimmer to stay afloat. I dove into the water fully clothed and, since she wasn't far from shore, reached Ava easily.
I towed her to the bank and helped her over the edge. Kelly swept the girl away, and Rex reached for my hand. He gripped it along with the other one and began to pull, with my feet scrambling for purchase on the rocky ledge. Except there was no ledge. It was more like a shelf as my feet felt nothing but dead air.
My mind raced to process this as my husband lifted me out of the river. If I hadn't look like a drowned rat, it would've seemed a bit sexy.
"Mrs. Wrath is a hero!" Inez jumped up and down clapping.
Kelly began gently berating the girls for taking such a risk so close to the river. But all I could think about was where was the bank? It didn't seem possible that the yard was some sort of shelf or overhang over the river. It would've collapsed during one of the floods decades ago.
"I'm sorry! I was just looking for the ball!" Ava bleated. "I threw it in, and it went under us."
Betty agreed, "It vanished under the yard. We were looking to see if a river monster had eaten it, and that's when she fell in."
I dropped to my hands and knees and crawled to the river's edge.
"Merry!" Rex pulled me back, but I brushed him off.
"I need to look at something underwater."
"I know!" Kaitlyn said as she ran off.
"You really think you can see through that water?" Rex asked. "They don't call it Old Muddy for nothing."
Kaitlyn appeared and handed me a child-sized scuba mask.
"Where'd you find that?" I asked.
Kaitlyn looked at the other girls. "Um, I found it?"
I guess it would have to do. Letting out the length of the strap as far as it could go, I stretched it over my head and pulled it down over my eyes. It barely covered my eyes and was so tight that I thought it was going to cause permanent damage to my skull.
"She's gonna get eaten by Fred!" Ava shouted.
"Fred?" Rex asked.
Lauren said, as if he'd asked if the sun was shining, "The river monster. I've named him. Saves time from saying all those syllables."
"That makes sense," I said. "Rex, I need you to hold my legs. I need to check something."
Before he could protest, I lay on the muddy edge and dunked my head upside down into the water. Rex was right. I couldn't see anything. The mask was crushing my nose, and the water looked like liquid mud. I reached forward and swung my arms.
Nothing. It was wide open. Bringing my arms up toward me, I finally felt a rocky wall about two feet in length. Or was it