“Good?”
He nodded. “Excellent. I so needed this.”
“You’ve been here all night?” I asked, glancing at the mound of dirt that was now a shallow hole. Thankfully, whoever had been in the makeshift grave had already been removed.
“I went home for a couple of hours of sleep, and came back a little over an hour ago. I got some coffee at the gas station, but let’s just say it isn’t the best coffee around.”
“I bet.” I glanced at the hole again. “Do you know who it is?” I whispered.
He shook his head. “No. She looked familiar, but we’ll have to wait until we identify her.”
That didn’t sound promising. “Had she been there long?”
“I don’t think so. Hard to say at this point. We talked to the construction crew, and they were here Thursday afternoon, so we can narrow down the time frame.”
I sighed. “That’s so sad. Did you see anything that might be helpful to the case when you uncovered her?”
He looked at me. “It's too early yet to know much yet. I know you want the details, but I don’t have many right now. I guess you’re going to have to wait.” He grinned, and then took a big sip of his coffee. “This is so good.”
“I had Brian add a shot of espresso to it. I figured you could use the caffeine.”
“You figured right.”
There were dark circles beneath his eyes, but the coffee made him look more awake now. “So this won’t interfere with the vendors’ fair?” I asked, glancing back at the barricade. It would be a couple of hours before people began arriving to set up, with the fair beginning at ten o’clock.
He shook his head. “I don’t think so. We’ll have officers posted at both ends of the barricade, and add on some more length to the sides to keep people out of the area, but as long as we don’t tell people what’s going on, I think we’ll be fine. With the construction work that’s been going on, people will probably just think it’s more work being done and they just want to keep visitors out of it.”
I nodded. “That’s a good idea.” I sighed. “I’m kind of creeped out by seeing that hand when I tried to pick up the ring.”
“I don’t blame you. That’s kind of a scary thing to have happen.”
I glanced at the evidence markers on the ground. “Did you find anything important?”
“Maybe. There were some shoe prints and a barrette. But the barrette looked like a kid’s, not a woman’s.”
I turned to him. “What did it look like?”
“It had a white poodle on it. Plastic. It kind of looked old. Not that it was in bad condition, but that it looked like an old-style I’ve seen somewhere before. I just can’t remember where.”
“Vintage, you mean?”
He nodded. “Yeah. It seems like I’ve seen one like it around somewhere.”
“Was it an older woman?” I asked. I couldn’t imagine a kid’s barrette being left at a crime scene when there wasn’t a child victim.
“No, actually, she looked young. Maybe as young as a teenager. But until we can get her identified, we won’t have a lot of information.” He looked into the bag. “I love pumpkin spice scones.”
“I know you do,” I said. Six officers were milling about and talking. “I guess I could have called you and asked how many officers were here and gotten them a coffee.”
He waved the thought away. “Mike just went to pick some coffee up. Don’t worry about it. He’s going to get me one, too, so now I’ll have two. And boy do I need it.”
I chuckled. “Are you going to have some free time to enjoy the vendors’ fair?”
“I already filed my initial report, and I’m going to be leaving here in a half-hour or so. With a few more hours of sleep, I should be able to come back and see what’s going on. Maybe.”
I nodded. “Good. I don’t want you to miss it. So have you had much time to think over having the wedding reception in my parent’s back yard?”
He shrugged. “Honestly, I haven’t thought about it since your mother brought it up, but I think it’s a great place to have it. Why? Are you okay with it?”
I nodded. “I think it will be nice. I just didn’t want you to feel like you had to go along with it just because my mother offered.”
He smiled. “I think it’s going to be really nice. As long as you like it, then I say we do it.”
I nodded. “I can’t wait.”
Our wedding was coming together nicely, and I was excited about it. I glanced at the open hole where the woman was taken from, and I shivered. I hoped it wasn’t a teenager. Some parents in Pumpkin Hollow might be waiting for a dreaded phone call as we spoke.
Chapter Four
“Hi Mia, I see your mom made pumpkin spice fudge,” Polly Givens said.
I looked up at her from where I was setting sample trays out onto our booth table. “Hi, Polly.” I nodded. “She did it. She finally made pumpkin spice fudge again, and it is delicious. And I’m not just saying that because she’s my mom.”
Polly was dressed as Morticia Addams from the Addams family. With her tall, thin build and long black hair, she had the natural looks to go with the outfit. She owned the gift shop and almost always dressed as Morticia during the Halloween season.
“Oh, I know you aren’t just saying that. She has my vote for the best candy-maker on earth.” Her eyes went over the candy on the glass-covered display plates. There were ice chests stashed beneath the booth table with more candy, and we’d take orders for whatever we ran out of.
