Perilous Pranks (Renaissance Faire Mystery) Read Online Free Page A

jousting,” he finally said, turning away from the empty lagoon. “I caught part of one of the Templar Knight horse shows earlier this year. They’re amazing horsemen.”
    I knew deep down inside, Detective Almond liked the Ren Faire. He had a hard time admitting it. He’d been the first bailiff when the park had opened. It was probably still in his blood.
    “I thought I caught a vibe this morning.” Former police officer Tom Grigg shook hands with his ex-boss. “I heard Wanda Le Fey was murdered.”
    Grigg had been assigned as an undercover officer at the Village. He’d gone native and stayed on as Tom, Tom the Piper’s son, but now he sailed on the Queen’s Revenge and had a tattoo and gold tooth to prove it.
    “Yeah.” Detective Almond tried not to look at his former contemporary—now in torn, black pants with a dirty white shirt tied around his waist. “She was dyed blue,” he glanced at me, “and someone shoved a sword through her heart.”
    “Have you heard anything that could help?” Chase asked Grigg.
    Grigg shook his head, his once super-short hair now down to his shoulders. “Nope. Sorry. She was at the Lady of the Lake a couple of days ago with a sweet young knight. We left them alone during the raid. Last time Captain Rafe went to her for a bad sprain, she wrapped it so tight—it almost cut off the circulation to his leg. We don’t mess with her if we can help it.”
    This was the second time I’d heard about Wanda’s young lover. “Did you recognize the young man she was with?”
    “Nope. Might not live in the Village.” There was a loud rumble as the pirate ship prepared to fire off one of her cannons. “Gotta go. Plunder calls!”
    “Arrgh!” Chase did the expected pirate fist pump. Grigg saluted him, and was gone.
    ‘Are they still pretending to kidnap visitors at the tavern?” Detective Almond gazed toward the ship in disgust. “They should’ve stopped that years ago.”
    “We tried.” Chase shrugged his broad shoulders. “We got a lot of complaints. People love the pirate raid.”
    Robin Hood, Maid Marion, and Little John were dressed in forest green with little green hats perched on their heads. They were battling the evil Sheriff of Nottingham for the attention of hundreds of visitors on the cobblestones. They repeated this, with some variations, every hour or so. Robin Hood always won, and led his men back into Sherwood Forest.
    We walked past the spectacle quickly, and were almost to the manor house where the museum was being set up, when I heard a call from behind us. My twin brother, who was officially the promoter and web designer for the Merry Men, ran to catch up with us.
    Tony looked a lot like like me, except with brown eyes—and male parts. He favored our father in appearance and disposition. I was more like our mother.
    I had to admit he’d been more reliable in the last year since Robin Hood had put him to work. I hadn’t loaned him money in months.
    “Hey! What’s going on, Lady Sis?” He grinned at Detective Almond and Chase.
    “We’re on our way to the museum,” I told him. “Detective Almond thinks I murdered Wanda.”
    Tony didn’t look surprised. “Was it the blue dye?”
    “How many people in the Village knew about this prank?” Detective Almond asked with a snarl.
    “Probably fifty or more.” Tony shrugged. “Someone even put it on the Internet. It was a super awesome prank.”
    “Not so super awesome for the dead woman,” Detective Almond reminded him.
    “I suppose not. But she had it coming. She knew it.” Tony stared at me. “What happened to her, if it wasn’t the dye?”
    “Someone killed her with a sword.” I filled in the blanks.
    “But not you?” he asked. “You wouldn’t do something that crazy, right? Unless she attacked you because you turned her blue. I’ll bet a lawyer could argue that issue.”
    “We don’t have time for this,” Detective Almond said. “I want to see where you found the bracelet.”
    Tony