Perilous Pranks (Renaissance Faire Mystery) Read Online Free

of this place, it might be better if you don’t get involved personally in the investigation,” Detective Almond told him.
    “Okay—I quit. If being Bailiff for the village means I can’t defend Jessie then I quit.”
    I knew Detective Almond didn’t want that to happen. He wanted Chase to stay where he was. If he left, that would mean Myrtle Beach would have to assign another trained officer to take his place.
    “Let’s not be hasty. I know you love your job here. We just need to be unbiased.”
    “Maybe you should take that to heart,” Chase shot back. “I don’t think immediately pegging her as the killer is unbiased either.”
    Detective Almond gave in. “Fair enough. I’m going to question other possible suspects. You have to admit, your girlfriend looks to be on top of the list. She had motive. She may have had opportunity. And if I remember correctly, she’s pretty good with a sword, which my assistant medical examiner tells me is probably the weapon used by the killer.”
    “First of all, she’s my fiancée. You know that. We’re getting married in a month. And second, I told you she was with me all night. You can take opportunity off that list.”
    They were talking about me like I wasn’t even there.
    “Excuse me,” I interrupted their debate. “I don’t think we got up until seven a.m. and the showerhead prank was set up yesterday afternoon while she was working. Someone told me she took showers in the morning before work.”
    “How did you get into her home?” Detective Almond demanded.
    “Everyone knows she leaves her door open while she’s at the First Aid Station. It only took me a few minutes to get the dye ready.”
    He was writing down what I’d said in a small notebook and glanced up as I finished. “And you set this up by yourself? No help from anyone else?”
    I thought about Shakespeare, who was a big help in relaying Wanda’s habits to me so I could make the prank happen. He wasn’t actually at the cottage while I was putting in the dye pack, but he was there right after me that morning.
    I wasn’t giving him up, at least not yet, not until I had a chance to talk to him.
    “I was alone. It wasn’t hard to do,” I responded. “Are you going to arrest me?”
    “No.” He put away his notebook. “Not right now anyway. Show me where you found the bracelet.”
    We walked down the path that took us past the castle and Mirror Lake where the pirate ship was in the process of sailing toward the Lady of the Lake Tavern.
    The Hanging Tree was beside it .  Public hangings of unfortunates happened at least once a day here. It was always surprising to me how many visitors wanted to be publically hanged. They signed up for it as they entered the gate, and even paid extra for the privilege.
    Of course it was all staged, like the stocks where visitors threw squishy vegetables and fruit at each other for supposed wrongs—and almost everything else in the Village.
    We walked past Eve’s Garden where they sold live plants and herbs used for food and medicine during the Renaissance. There was a tour and a tasting. It was never as popular as I thought it should be. There were some interesting plant poisons used during that time.
    As we reached the mermaid lagoon at the far end of the lake, Detective Almond’s eyebrows shot up. “Where are the mermaids?”
    Usually, the mermaids would have been sunning themselves on large rocks in the water. They’d flick their tails and giggle as they waved. They each wore long blond wigs that covered their shoulders, and left plenty of cleavage showing from their bikini tops.  
    But it was November and the hot days of summer were behind us. The mermaids would be back again in May.
    “It’s too cold,” Chase explained. “Everyone asks about them.”
    I watched dozens of people make a sharp turn to the left to visit the mermaids after entering the Main Gate. Their looks of disappointment mimicked Detective Almonds’.
    “I’ve always liked the