Bushel Full of Murder Read Online Free Page A

be?”
    Harry reached into a small pocket with embroidered edging on the front of his vest and pulled out a picture.
    “This her?” he said as he held it out for me to inspect.
    The picture was a close-up of a young woman leaning out over the counter of the truck, serving someone a hot dog piled high with onions towering above the red and white paper boat the dog sat in. The woman’s short, wavy, dark hair was held back by a blue bandanna and her eyes were just as happy as her big smile.
    “Yes, that’s her.” My heart sank. I literally felt it plummet.
    “I see.” Harry sighed heavily and sat back on the chair.He returned the picture to his pocket and then steepled his fingers, resting his chin on top. “I suppose there are some conflicts of interest arising here.”
    “Because you and I know each other?”
    “Yes.”
    “So you won’t be able to investigate thoroughly because you’re friends with your suspect’s cousin? We might be fast friends, Harry, but we only hung out a few days total.”
    “Someone might question the integrity of my investigation.”
    “I don’t believe that. Again, I might not know you well or for long, but you don’t let personal feelings get in the way of your investigations. I know that firsthand. I saw that. In Arizona, it got pretty personal for you, Harry.”
    “Still.” Harry’s eyebrows came together and he moved his hands to the chair’s armrests.
    “Hang on.”
    I needed to think about what I wanted to say. I knew what I was about to suggest wasn’t the most usual way to handle the predicament in front of us. I’d been shaken by my cousin’s potential involvement in illegal activities, but I still had enough of my wits about me to know that I didn’t want Harry to relinquish his investigating duties to someone else. Harry waited patiently as I held up one finger and let my brain work through some needed gyrations.
    “Harry, let me help you,” I finally said after the pieces came together in my mind.
    Harry laughed, transforming his serious face into a happy, amused one. “Becca, either you like or don’t like your cousin. She’s family, it can go either way. But whatever the case, youhelping me doesn’t make sense, and would only compromise the investigation even more.”
    “No, hear me out. My boyfriend, Sam, is a local police officer. I’ll introduce you to him. He’s like you—wouldn’t let personal feelings get in the way of investigating a case, ever. You two can work on it together. I can help by trying to prove Peyton innocent, but Sam won’t let me get in the way. You look for evidence of guilt; I’ll look for evidence of innocence. I know that’s not how it’s supposed to work, but I do like Peyton, Harry. I love her. I haven’t seen her for about five years, but I care deeply for my cousin. She was a sweet, kind, but somewhat untamed child who Allison and I probably tormented way too much, but she always had a determined attitude. I really hoped she’d find herself. She sure seemed to need to search a lot.”
    Harry couldn’t hide his skepticism. His friendly chocolate eyes, it seemed, could squint perfectly with doubt. “I’m not sure that’s the best way to go about this, but Arizona is a long way away, and it might be a challenge to get someone else from there interested enough to make the trip all the way here. All right, Becca, I’ll give it a day or two.”
    “Great! This will work. Somehow, this will work.” I lifted my coffee cup in a toast.
    I just hoped it worked in Peyton’sfavor.

Two

    The plan was to take Harry to the police station immediately and introduce him to Sam, but when I called to see if Sam was at the station, he told me he was actually at Bailey’s, there to provide crowd assistance and suggestions regarding the placement of the soon-to-arrive food trucks. He’d quickly educated himself on town ordinances regarding the legal placement of all types of temporary businesses. I mentioned that I was