Punked by the Pumpkin: A Cozy Mystery (Sweet Home Mystery Series Book 4) Read Online Free Page B

watch the parade. And I’ll ask Gertie to make some individual-sized versions of her prize-winning apple pie – maybe empanadas – and sell them out front.”
    “And I’ll get some pictures and do a little feature on her baking so people will forget about Francine’s hatchet job.”
    “Yes! You and Moira can work the crowd outside, Gladys and Mildred inside, and Trevor and I will be your baristas!”
    I was back. Funny how a little hope can change you from a huddled mass of tears into Super Girl in the blink of an eye. Now I’m the freight train. Watch out!
     
    Toe and Harvey were almost normal today, although Harvey was still drinking not-too-hot tea with honey. He was eating his chocolate chip muffin and fiddling with his iPad mini as usual. Instead of solitaire, he was doing crossword puzzles today.
    “Hey, Toe, what’s a six-letter word that means the opposite of ‘malignant’?”
    “I guess that would be ‘benign,’ Harv.”
    “BEEE…NIGN.”
    Okay, maybe not that normal. I noticed that his face was looking a lot better today too.
    “Hey, Harvey, the scratches from Miss Pickles seem to be almost gone already. That’s pretty fast.”
    “Yep. The Pastor, Miranda Cassidy, healed me.”
    I’m burning all my Stephen King books. I’m not sure if that made me more freaked out or more curious. But it was Tuesday, so tonight Eli and I would do a little snooping around the church.
     
    Of course, Trevor was more than happy to pitch in during the parade and the entire Harvest Festival if we needed him. He would do anything for Eli. Plus he liked the idea of having a little extra spending cash around his favorite holiday – Halloween. It’s a pretty big deal for the kids in Sweet Home.
    Maybe the biggest perk of all was that it would get Trevor out of working for his dad’s landscaping company. Mike Barton had a good-sized crew now for his growing business, so he didn’t need the help, but he liked to keep his son busy. Mike had all the attachments for his big tractor-mower to keep him busy year-round with tilling and even some small harvests.
    Eli even arranged for Trevor to work at the Coffee Cabana tonight too so we could check out the bingo hall. Jules had a lot of writing and ad design to do for the Gazette, but she asked Moira to come over and help Trevor (which Moira was eager to do, since she had a crush on Trevor), and she would sit at a table there to do her work and keep an adult eye on the business.
    The parking lot of the Methodist Church was jam-packed with golf carts from the retirement village and all of the other Sweet Home seniors who preferred that form of transportation. Harvey’s shark fin was right up front, so he obviously was an early arrival.
    Eli and I set up our stakeout next to O’Hennessey’s Funeral Home across the street and watched the people line up to get inside. The sun was just settling beneath the horizon shortly before 7:00 p.m. so Eli was using his night vision binoculars. He had a regular pair for me.
    “What’s Albert Johnson carrying in his arm, Eli? It’s moving around.”
    “It’s a chicken. A big, plump chicken.” What the frick?
    “Why is he bringing a live chicken to bingo?”
    “I don’t know, but I can see three or four feathered hens in the crowd. And I’m not talking about your aunts.“ Eli chuckled at his funny. “Mary West has small basket of fruit or tomatoes or something. A lot of people are carrying things.”
    “And there is almost no chatter coming from that big group of people.”
    Pastor Miranda Cassidy had walked from her home nearby in a long black choir robe and was approaching the crowd in front of the Methodist Church. She was a fit, chipper woman of about 50 with blonde hair in a very short pixie cut.
    “Praise the Lord!” she said loudly, extending both arms toward the heavens.
    “And pass the bingo cards!” The entire mob spoke with one enthusiastic voice, and then they all applauded and whistled as she made her way