“Noted.” I stepped into the booth. All my wares, from the cherries themselves to the baked treats, were perfectly displayed.

  “You did all this while I went back to the truck?” I blinked. It looked so much better and more lovingly placed than I would have been ever able to do. She even has my handmade soap out on display.

  “Those are samples. They aren’t for sale,” I said.

  “You need to sell these soaps. You gave out samples yesterday to get the word out, and now it’s time to make money.”

  “Okay,” I said with sigh, but I was quite happy with Kristy taking over. I was still more than a little bit shaken by Esmeralda’s entanglement with the snare and my encounter with Chief Randy at Jessa’s. I told myself that all I needed to do was take a deep breath and focus on selling and stop worrying about murder. That was easier said than done. However, with Kristy jumping in to help, I felt like the day really had the potential to turn around.

  “Thank you so much for coming. Chesney was right. I really could use the help, and everything looks perfect. You really have an eye for product display.”

  She grinned. “Thanks. I’m pretty happy with it.” She peeked into the cart and began unloading more muffins and cookies. “And I’m so proud of you. Having a booth at the National Cherry Festival just one year after you came back to Michigan is no easy feat. It’s proof that you’re making it work and that you are saving the farm.”

  “The festival is intense,” I admitted. “But you’re right. I know what a big deal it is.”

  “It’s a big deal for Cherry Glen too. It will bring more people to our local farmers’ market because you’re here. Do you know that Bellamy Farm is the first farm from Cherry Glen to be invited to participate in the festival in over twenty-five years? Many have tried, but until now, no one was up to the festival’s standards. It’s a real boon to you but also to the community as a whole.”

  “I hadn’t realized that it had been that long since anyone from Cherry Glen was in the festival.”

  “It’s not easy to get in. It seems like every year, the festival has more and more rules. Since your farm has been certified organic, that definitely gave you a leg up. I know Tanner tried too.”

  The hairs of the back of my neck stood on end. “He tried this year?”

  She nodded. “He asked me to write a reference letter for him just like you did.”

  “And did you?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “Sure. The more farmers from Cherry Glen who do well, the better the farmers’ market will be.”

  I nodded and wondered if I should tell her about what happened when I went to my orchard that morning.

  “He’s been certified organic a few months longer than you, but what it really came down to was he doesn’t have enough cherries to sell.” She took a breath. “He planted trees, but as you know, it takes years for the young trees to really take hold.”

  I nodded. “I did have a head start since the orchard was on my father’s side of the farm not my uncle’s.”

  She nodded. “Besides, the baked goods you make with the cherries really gave you a leg up. As far as I know, he didn’t have anything value-added like that.”

  I frowned. It seemed more and more likely that Tanner would have a reason to hurt my farm. For the last year, we had been in competition with each other, but I never thought that it would go any farther than some awkward conversation over the property line.

  A woman came up to the booth. “Do you have any soap? I stopped by here yesterday to smell it, but you were all out.”

  Kristy stepped forward. “We are so glad that you came back. The soap is a brand new product. We are thinking of doing a whole line.”

  The woman held the soap up to her nose. “I love the smell. Oh, you should. This would make a fabulous hand lotion too.”

  “We love that idea,” Kristy said.

  “I’ll buy two bars,” the shopper said. “I know my daughter will love this as much as I do. I wish you had more to buy for my friends too, but I don’t want to hog it all.”

  I smiled. “We hope to have it up on our website by the end of the month. We just have to ramp up production.” I handed her one of my business cards. “The website is listed there.”

  After she left, Kristy said, “Shi, this soap idea is great. A skin care line could be amazing for the farm.”

  “I wasn’t thinking full skin care. I’m not a chemist. I’m not even sure I could pull off a lotion.”

  “You need to see the big picture, Shi,” Kristy said.

  “I believe that I should scale modestly until we find our footing. I don’t want to make the same mistakes my dad did with the farm.”

  She sighed. “Fine, but when you get that money from your grandmother, you can scale faster.”

  That was assuming that Stacey and my father could come to an agreement without continually putting me in the middle. However, I had a more urgent plan for the inheritance than just jumping into a new sales market, and that was paying my debts and my father’s debts, both of which were considerable as we struggled to keep the farm in operation. Once I paid off all the debt, it would be tempting to put the rest of the money in the bank under lock and key where I knew it was safe. However, I knew from my years in Hollywood that you had to spend money to make money. I hoped I didn’t have to spend all of it and land back where I started.

  Business was brisk at the booth, and before too long my stomach was growling, reminding me that it was well after lunchtime. As if she could read my mind, Kristy said, “I’m starved.”

  “Me too,” I admitted. “How about I walk into town and pick up some noncherry food, and you stay here and mind the booth?”

  “Fine with me,” Kristy said. “I’m having a lot of fun. Working in a farmers’ market booth is so much more fun than managing an entire market. I can just sell cherry pastries and don’t have to fix anyone else’s problems.”

  I smiled. “I really appreciate the help.”

  “I know you do, and I know you will return the favor sometime in the future with free babysitting while Kent and I have a night out.”

  I chuckled. “Sure, I’d be happy to. Huckleberry loves the twins.”

  At our feet the little pug, who had slept through the morning, snorted. The snack overload from Jessa had really done him in.

  I removed my apron and hung it over the back of one of the folding chairs.

  “Just promise me one thing before you go,” Kristy said.

  I didn’t like the sound of that. Usually Kristy’s request for a promise meant that she had a new idea in her head, and I was the one who would be charged to execute it.

  “Don’t try to solve this murder.”

  I blinked at her.

  “Why?” I asked. Kristy had never asked me to stay out of a murder investigation before. In fact, there had been several times that she encouraged me to participate.

  “Because I’m afraid you will get yourself killed.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  “Killed?” I yelped.

  Kristy folded her arms over her chest. “You have almost been killed before, more than once. You’re not a cat with nine lives.”

  I let out a breath. “So you don’t know any particular reason why I could be killed?”

  She threw up her arms. “No, other than a killer is on the loose.”

  “I appreciate the concern, Kristy. I really do, and I know you’re coming from a good place. But if I don’t clear Stacey’s name, she could go to prison. Not to mention, the dispute over my grandmother’s stocks will go on forever. What motive would she have to settle it if she’s locked up?”

  “She might need the money for attorney fees.”

  I gave her a look.

  “You know, I almost didn’t even bother saying anything to you about not getting killed because I knew this was how you would respond. You’re as stubborn as your father.”

  I wrinkled my nose, but I didn’t refute her claim. As much as I didn’t like the comparison, I knew she was right.

  “How about I make you a deal?” I asked.

  She arched her brow. “Go on.”

  “I’ll clear Stacey’s name and then drop it. She’s the reason I’m involved in the first place. If the Traverse City chief of police removes her from his list of suspects, then I’m done.”

  She squinted at me. “Okay.” The word was a little drawn out, but I’d take it. She added, “But you had better keep that promise.”

  I smiled, hoping that I could. What I didn’t tell her was how difficult it might be to clear my cousin’s name considering the penicillin bottle I found last night.

  Kristy stood up to help another customer. Over her shoulder, she said, “Tacos sound good.”

  I laughed. “Tacos it is.” I coaxed Huckleberry out of his bed. “You’re coming with me, buddy. We could both use a little exercise.”

  After rolling over a couple of times, he finally stood up and let me click his leash on. With Huckleberry in tow, I left the booth with one mission in mind. Well, two missions, if I counted tacos for Kristy. I needed to talk to my cousin. The evidence against her was growing.

  I didn’t even know if she was at the festival since there were no play performances today. I texted Stacey asking if we could meet. A text came immediately back and told me to come to the stage.

  The stage where Stacey’s actors performed was the same stage where smaller bands, local singers, and even magicians performed throughout the festival.

  I knew for a fact that Stacey hated the idea of sharing the space.

  People were already grabbing seats in the audience for the big band concert that would be on the stage that afternoon. The festival was doing all that it could to appeal to every person who might come.

  Stacey peeked her head through the curtain. “Shiloh, over here.” She waved at me.

  I bent over, picked up Huckleberry, and hurried onto the stage. Behind the curtain there was a sound system, ropes to raise and lower the curtain, a few props, and little else. I had seen all of this the night before, but everything was clearer in the light of day. The trunk where I had found the pill bottle was still there.

  Did Stacey know about the pill bottle? Chief Sterling had to have told her, right? But the real question was, did she know that I was one who found it and turned it over to the police?

  “I’m glad to see you, but I will admit I’m surprised you’re here today. Dad said the play was done for a bit.”

  “I’m always here,” she said. “I have to keep an eye on things.”

  I wasn’t sure what she meant by that but thought it not wise to press her about it just yet.

  “I assume you spoke to Lily at her gallery the other day,” Stacey said. “What did you learn? Can you prove she is the killer?”

  I blinked. My mind was on the bottle of penicillin not a days-old conversation with Lily Fullbright. “I didn’t have much time to talk to her alone because the Traverse City police chief showed up.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “I met him. Did you know he came to my theater yesterday and wanted to be let inside?”

  “Did you let him in?”

  She scowled. “Yes, what choice did I have? If I didn’t let him in, he said that I would have to go with him down to the station. Can you believe that?”

  “So, he didn’t question you at the station?”

  She glared at me. “Of course not. They only question criminals at the station, and the only thing I’m guilty of is thinking that horrible man really cared about me.”

  I had been questioned at the station. In fact, I had been questioned at a police station more than once, but I wasn’t a criminal. However, I didn’t think it was the time to bring that to Stacey’s attention. I cleared my throat.

  “Can you tell me about your relationship with Dane?”

  She folded her arms. “You want all the intimate details?”

  I waved my hands in the air. “No, thanks. I just want the basics. How long were you together? How did you meet? How did you not know he was married?”

  She narrowed her eyes.

  “I can’t help you if I don’t have the right information,” I said.

  “We met at the university. I asked for a meeting with the head of the drama department at the end of April because I already knew that we would be performing The Tempest at the festival. The university would be the best place to get some student actors who could play most of the roles, and they would be free.”

  “Free? You didn’t pay any of them?”

  “No, what Dane and I came up with was they would get one drama credit for being in the play. It would give them experience, and it would give me the cast that I needed.” She examined her perfectly shaped, pale-pink nails. “There was a flirtation from the start. I was hesitant though. I don’t like to mix business and pleasure. I saw it happen way too much when I was in New York, and it always ended badly for all those involved.”

  I tried my very best not to make a face. “But you agreed to date him.”

  “In a moment of weakness, yes, but he didn’t ask me out until early June. We hit it off right away. We were together a month. When you’re working on something like this, you spend long hours with the other people involved. It’s difficult not to become emotionally entangled. I let my guard down. That was my fault, but he’s a liar, so I put most of the blame on him.”

  My heart softened toward Stacey just a little. Everything else aside, she was still my cousin. Other than my father, she was the only living relative I had on this earth. I also knew what she said was true. Although it had never happened to me personally, I knew several coworkers in LA that had similar relationships start that way. Not a single one of them lasted longer the project.

  Knowing my cousin, who cared more about the Michigan Street Theater than anything else, I guessed that the same would have been true for her. After the play wrapped, her interest in Dane would have come to an end. She only made a big scene at the Cherry Farm Market because he made a fool of her, and no one made Stacey look like a fool and got away with it.

  “How did you find out he was married?”

  “His wife told me.”

  I raised my eyebrows.

  “It was that morning, before I saw him with you in the market. We were at intermission during dress rehearsal, which was thirty minutes long. At that time, the cast always scatters, and I’m left behind to set the next act with Whit. Dane was always one of those who left. I should have known then that he was a bad guy. A decent man would have stayed behind and helped us.” She shook her head.

  The question was, how did Lily Fullbright learn about the affair? Only Lily could tell me that. I would be surprised if she was at the festival today. If I were her, I would stay as far away from it as possible.

  “I was furious. I went to look for Dane immediately, and when I saw him in front of your booth, I lost it. Part of me expected him to say it was all a lie, but he admitted it. I felt like such a fool. I will never let a man, or anyone else, make me feel like that again.”

  I believed her, but I had to push a little bit more. “Did you ever ask him if he was married?”

  “He told me he wasn’t when we first met.”

  I pressed my lips together.

  “I know what you’re thinking. That I was stupid. And maybe I was. Do you know at forty years old I haven’t had one serious relationship?” She held out her hands. “And look at me. I want to get married. I want to have children. I woke up after my fortieth birthday and asked myself what I was doing with my life.”

  This was the most forthcoming that Stacey had ever been with me.

  “I poured myself into acting and tried to make it on Broadway. When that didn’t work, I came home with my tail between my legs and decided that I could prove myself by saving the Michigan Street Theater. I did that. It’s doing better than anyone could have expected, but now what?”

  I didn’t have an answer for her, and her situation was hitting a little too close to home for me. After Logan died, I poured myself into work too, and I hadn’t been in a serious relationship since. It was shocking to see that Stacey and I were so much more alike than I realized.

  I wasn’t sure how to respond, so I said, “I assume the police talked to you about the pill bottle.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “How do you know about that?”

  I held up my hands. “You’re the one who asked me to look into this case. I have to follow up on every lead to do that. Why did you have the medicine? What was it for?”

  “If you must know, I had strep throat a few months ago. The urgent care doctor gave me the script. I took it and got better. That’s the end of the story.”

  “Why didn’t you finish the bottle? I thought for antibiotics to work, you have to finish the course.”

  “That’s what they tell you, but I’ve never been a rule follower.”

  How well I knew that.

  She went on. “I was feeling better and back to my old self, so just stopped taking them.” She shrugged. “I don’t think that’s a crime.”

  “You didn’t throw the pills away then?” I asked.

  She scowled. “They were in my medicine cabinet. Out of sight and out of mind. There was nothing nefarious about it. This was before I ever started a relationship with Dane. It had nothing to do with him.”

  “But it does have something to do with him because he was allergic to the medicine in your medicine cabinet, and the bottle somehow ended up at the National Cherry Festival where he died.”

  “Well, if you say it that way, it does sound bad.”

  “It is bad, Stacey. I’m surprised the police haven’t arrested you already.”

  “Oh, they tried, but they were stopped.”

  “Stopped how?”

  A smug expression crossed her face. “By Chief Randy.”

  “What? How can he stop another officer outside of his command from making an arrest?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know, but I do know that’s what happened.”