Crowning the Slug Queen (A Callie Stone Mystery Book 1) (12 page)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

On Wednesday, Callie made the mistake of telling her mom she had no plans until later in the afternoon. As she had shown a willingness to be out in the garden, Coral took that as permission to set Callie at tasks all morning long. She picked more zucchini blossoms, which Coral added as the last items to her truck piled high with vegetables to take to the farmers' market. Coral didn't have her own stand, but participated in a collective where she brought the vegetables and someone else sold them for her.

Coral had left Callie a list of tasks written on the blackboard in the barn. How Callie had hated that board when she was a teenager. As there was always something to be done on the farm, the list never got any shorter.

Callie weeded the carrots, fed Basil the kid and then went out to her personal nemesis, the green bean patch. The bean plants had been grown on sticks laid together and Callie always imagined them to be some sort of Native American teepee. She thought the shape actually made the beans harder to find as the cone was bushier and broader at the bottom than at the top. Callie had seen other green bean patches where the beans were grown straight up in tall, narrow rows and had even suggested this variation to her mom during some of those long vegetal summers. But Coral said this shape provided more shade for the beans and less use of water and fertilizer, so the bean teepees remained.

She picked as many as she could find, although she was convinced there were still large bunches of beans hiding out of sight. That had often happened in high school. She would present a teepee to Coral as fully picked only to find her mom would always be able to get another pound of beans off the thing. Callie thought they were treacherous plants.

She had a 5 gallon bucket over half full by the time she was done and she took them into the kitchen for Grandma Minnie to clean and freeze.

The next task was one of her favorites and she spent a full hour in the raspberry patch picking what would probably be the last batch of the year. Callie thought she probably ate as many as she managed to get into her berry containers.

Lunchtime took her back to the kitchen where she enjoyed toasted cheese sandwiches with her Grandma.

              Callie was satisfied with her day's labor and felt like she had definitely paid her room rent to the farm, so she retreated to the cottage to get cleaned up before heading to the theater. Practice for the pageant had been set for 2:00 p.m. instead of later in the day to accommodate the schedule of the emcee, Kit Carter.

Callie drove into town and parked in the garage near the Newsome Center. Instead of entering through the lobby and theater as she had done before, Callie now knew enough to come in through the side door where the stairs led down to the basement level dressing and storage rooms.

She hesitated a moment before heading down the hallway to the sound room. The last time she had been there, she had found Molluska, dead.

There was no body this time, only Wade sitting at his desk mournfully staring at the space where his computer used to be and sipping a cup of coffee.

"Afternoon, Wade. Where's your computer?"

"Hi, Callie. They took it thinking there might be something they could find about the murder, and haven't given it back yet. I'm thinking of renting one. They couldn't tell me how long they'd be keeping it."

She looked at the cup of coffee in his hand. "Is the coffee safe to drink?"

"They took that, too. This is my machine from home," he said. "I figured I'd need it more here than I did there."

Callie sat down in the only other chair in the room. "Are you the one setting up the a/v for the outdoor version of the pageant?"

"Nope. They hired one of the local outfits, although I usually end up working as part of the crew since there's no show or anything going on here that day. Why do you ask?"

"I just want someone to walk me through the stage set up as I won't get to see it until the actual event."

"Well, I worked on it last year, so I can at least give you a run down." Wade and Callie spent a half hour talking through the logistics of the outdoor stage set until Callie felt comfortable she knew what types of audio visual equipment would be present.

They were interrupted by a knock on the door. Callie looked up and saw a trim, dark-haired man wearing a gray striped suit. In fact, his hair was so jet black Callie couldn't help but wonder if it came out of a bottle. He was sporting a tan that would not be able to be supported by the Oregon climate without a lot of outdoor field work, but from his well-manicured nails and smooth, uncallused hands, Callie assumed outdoor work was not his forte.

The man's eyes passed over Wade as if he wasn’t standing there and landed on Callie. "Ah, you must be the event planner from the East Coast. I am Kit Carter, weatherman at KVAL." The way he announced himself gave Callie the idea she was supposed to have known of him prior to the introduction.

"Kit, it's nice to meet you," she said standing and shaking his hand. "I'm Callie Stone and this is Wade Taylor, the stage manager here at the Newsome."

Kit nodded his head in an almost regal manner and continued to talk only to Callie. "I take it you are familiar with the greater New York metropolitan area? I have reported from Albany. The New York state capitol, not the Oregon wood chip town." From his tone Callie could tell he thought any place in Oregon could be considered at the wood chip town level. Wade, whose back was to Kit, rolled his eyes at Callie.

Callie had assumed she was getting an emcee, but she knew instead she could add Kit Carson to her list of pageant divas right along with the slug queens.

She told Wade they'd start the practice as soon as all the slug queens arrived and then took Kit out to the stage.

Callie had made a copy of the production schedule, updating it with a spoken script for the emcee and printed it out at the library after speaking to Steven the day before.

"Because the stage set outdoors is a little more basic than what we have here, you have a choice of either staying on stage for the entire show or announcing from someplace in the audience. I think we could arrange to have you sit with the judges on stage, which would give you a good view of the action."

She could see him consider where he would get the most exposure. "Would there be a special seating area for me if I choose to sit in the audience?"

"No, we'd just have a seat held for you in the front row. It would allow you to work the crowd if you wanted."

He shook his head. "No, I think my public would expect me to have a more prominent place, so I believe I'd like to sit on the stage. If I want to mix with the crowd I can do it before or after the show."

Callie was happy to settle that so easily. "Well, let's practice that way. She went stage right and grabbed a chair for him to sit in. Wade brought out a wireless microphone for Kit to use. "If you aren't talking, you'll want to turn this button off, otherwise you'll broadcast through the whole theater."

Kit brought the microphone to his mouth. "Testing, testing," and the sound filled the theater. "Yes, this will do fine," Kit said to brusquely to Wade.

He turned to Callie and focused his full attention on her. "It's nice to meet someone from the civilized part of the world," he said giving her a wide smile. Callie thought his brilliant white teeth seemed overlarge for his mouth. "What brings you to Skinner?"

"I'm visiting my family," she said. "I was born here."

"You have my sympathies." He seemed unconscious of the fact she might be slightly offended by his characterization of Skinner, although it had been one she had held at one time in her life.

"Maybe places like New York exist to give us a greater appreciation of these somewhat uncivilized places," she said.

"I can't think of any other reason for them to exist," he said, leaning in to her and laughing at his own witticism.

Callie smiled at him. "I think I can see why you must be very popular in New York."

He slid his thumb along one side of his coiffed jet black hair, preening at her implied compliment. She contrasted that gesture with Scott's habitual hand running through his thatch of hair. He'd never be able to maintain Kit's well moussed style. As she wondered why Scott came to mind, she saw him coming on stage from the dressing room area.

As she saw him, she realized Kit was standing uncomfortably close and took a step back. "Oh, Lieutenant McMillan, have you come to join our little shin dig?" asked Kit.

"I was just coming off my shift and I thought I'd do a walk-through of the theater. We still really don't have a full picture of what happened here Monday, so we can't be too careful." He looked at Callie with a distant expression in his eyes. "Everything fine here, Miss Stone?"

She wondered at the formality and looked at him curiously. "Umm...yes. Everything seems fine, although I think Wade was wondering when he could have his computer back."

"He'll get it back when we're done with it. I really can't give a time estimate," he said curtly.

Callie wasn't certain what had changed between them, but she realized any conversation with Scott at this moment would be less than productive. "Well, thanks. Just let him know. Excuse me, I think some of our contestants are arriving."

Callie left Kit and Scott on the stage. She wondered what they'd have to talk to each other about.

In the large dressing room, Sheldon Normal had arrived and was setting up at the station farthest from the door. He was already in costume, but his hair was tied back in a ponytail and not yet up in the beehive style he performed in.

Callie said, "Well, you look almost ready to go."

"I wait until I get here to tease up the hair. Otherwise my head is too high to fit into my car for the drive over," he said.

Callie thought she probably wouldn't have a better chance alone with Sheldon to ask him about Monday. "I know this might sound like I'm prying, but do you realize you and I were the last ones in the theater on Monday night? Did you see anything before you left?"

He didn't turn to face her, continuing to comb his hair. "You mean we were the only ones left except for Molluska and the killer, right? Or is that what you're accusing me of? Once a criminal, always a criminal, is that it?"

"No, no, that's not what I meant," Callie said apologetically. "I was just hoping you had seen something, that's all."

"And if I had, wouldn't have it been better for me to tell the police than you? I don't have anything to hide. They spent a couple hours trying to pin this on me, but I didn't do it, had nothing to do with it and don't want to talk about it," he said vehemently.

Callie wondered if he didn't have something to hide, why was he so defensive? But before she could continue someone knocked on the open door. Callie turned to find the 3 other slug queens and Dot Felson all listening intently.

Bella Oozonia, who had knocked, said, "Are we interrupting anything?"

Callie shook her head. "No, come on in. I was just asking Slimerita if she remembered seeing anything odd on Monday. I wasn't singling her out, I was interested in hearing an answer from all of you."

There was general murmurings of no, didn't see anything and nope, so Callie gave up trying to find out anything else.

Dot stood in the door behind the 3 slug queens. "Good to see you again, Dot,” Callie said. “ Are you planning on staying for the full practice?"

"No," Dot said, her blonde bob shaking back and forth. "I was just dropping Steven off and then I have a committee meeting at City Hall. He'll join me there when he's done." She sounded disapproving.

Steven brushed past her in the doorway and took up the station one down from Sheldon. "Thanks, I'll see you later."

Callie watched Dot go out into the hallway towards the side of the theater that led to the door to the street, then turned her attention back to the group. "Well, does anyone have any questions after Monday?"

The room was silent. Callie wasn't sure if anyone else knew of Steven's relationship with Alex so she didn't mention it. "I was asked by the committee to create a short memorial segment in the pageant for Molluska. Steven, apparently she liked folk songs from her native country. I know you can play the guitar from your talent part of the show and I wondered if you would be so kind as to find a song you think she might have liked and perform it."

Steven looked as if he might cry again. "I think I can manage that."

"Today we also have the services of Kit Carter, who is the emcee for the show. He's decided to sit on the stage, so that's where he'll be announcing from today. I pulled together a script for him, but if there's anything you want to change, just let him or I know after practice. Today, for the talent portion, let's go in order of Queen Slugabeth, Bella, Gastronia and last Slimerita," Callie said.

Callie went out and took her seat in the front row. Kit read through the script a bit too dramatically for Callie's taste, but she figured he didn't get to announce much but the weather and was hungering to spice something up.

"Callie, I need a favor," he said in sing song tone after Queen Slugabeth was done mutilating her poetry. "I feel a bit underdressed up here with all this magnificence," Callie could only assume he was being sarcastic, "Can you find me something a little more theatrical to wear?"