Strolling Into Danger (A Seagrove Cozy Mystery Book 6) Read Online Free
Author: Leona Fox
not. This is hearsay, for I do not know it to be true, but the rumor was he was having an affair with Pabelin. Maestro’s wife was not happy with him.”
“He’s married?” Sadie said. “And having an affair with the fortune teller? She could have predicted her own death.”
“It is different where we come from,” Roman said.
“Affairs are not considered moral failings. Wives may not like them, they will get jealous and angry, but they accept that they cannot control the actions of their husbands.”
“And what if the wife has the affair?” Sadie asked. She was somewhat appalled at this attitude.
“Do the husbands accept that they cannot control the actions of the wives?”
“Men are not quite as forgiving as women in nature, so women are more discreet in their affairs to spare their husband’s feelings. But it is still not a moral failing.”
“Why bother to get married at all then?” Sadie asked.
“There are many reasons to get married,” Roman said.
“But fidelity is not one of them.”
Sadie shook her head. Her idea of marriage was very different from this.
“I will need to question people,” Zack said. “Is there a room here I can use, or shall I ask your people to come to the police station?”
“You can use my office,” Roman said. “People will talk more comfortably here.”
“Thank you,” Zack said, “But before I get started I’d like to visit Pabelin’s trailer and fortune telling tent.”
“Certainly,” Roman said.
“You may go anywhere you would like. Come back here when you are ready and I will have one of my boys fetch people for you.”
They left the trailer and Sadie was glad to be out from under the eyes of the goons. The day was still cool, but the sun shone brightly and the air was crisp. There was something oppressive about the security hovering around inside like they were going to stomp on you if you made a wrong step. She didn’t like feeling menaced.
Zack took Sadie’s hand and they skirted the edge of the big top and out a narrow gap in the fence so they were on the edge of the midway. They found the back of the fortune telling tent and slipped inside. The rear portion of the tent was just an ordinary dressing room with a make-up table and lighted mirror. There was a small table with an electric kettle and things for making tea and a small overstuffed couch that took up the side of the tent across from the makeup mirror. The clothing rack held the voluminous garments of the fortune teller. Pabelin had several choices of combinations of garments and headdresses.
Zack rifled through the clothes, but there were no notes hidden in pockets or any other clue to her death. There wasn’t anything in her make-up case, the trash can or down the cushions of the couch. Sadie wondered if the couch was for illicit meets or just for drinking tea or napping.
Finding nothing in the dressing room, they stepped through to the part of the tent the customers saw. The walls in here were draped with rich fabric in black and red patterns. Sadie could see it was wearing thin in places and was a little moth-eaten. But she imagined that at night no one would notice those things.
There was a round table in the center of the room, set on a similarly threadbare carpet. The fortune teller’s chair was carved with minute detail and stained an almost black. The chairs for those who came to have their fortunes read where plain gunmetal gray folding chairs. The standard glass ball was sitting in the center of the table and Sadie ducked under the layers of tablecloths to see an electric cord running to the underneath of the crystal ball, through a hole in the table.
The cord was taped along the underneath of the table top and there was a switch near the edge of the table. Zack pressed it and the globe slowly lit. Then smoke swirled within, coalescing into shadowy shapes.
“Well that’s
“He’s married?” Sadie said. “And having an affair with the fortune teller? She could have predicted her own death.”
“It is different where we come from,” Roman said.
“Affairs are not considered moral failings. Wives may not like them, they will get jealous and angry, but they accept that they cannot control the actions of their husbands.”
“And what if the wife has the affair?” Sadie asked. She was somewhat appalled at this attitude.
“Do the husbands accept that they cannot control the actions of the wives?”
“Men are not quite as forgiving as women in nature, so women are more discreet in their affairs to spare their husband’s feelings. But it is still not a moral failing.”
“Why bother to get married at all then?” Sadie asked.
“There are many reasons to get married,” Roman said.
“But fidelity is not one of them.”
Sadie shook her head. Her idea of marriage was very different from this.
“I will need to question people,” Zack said. “Is there a room here I can use, or shall I ask your people to come to the police station?”
“You can use my office,” Roman said. “People will talk more comfortably here.”
“Thank you,” Zack said, “But before I get started I’d like to visit Pabelin’s trailer and fortune telling tent.”
“Certainly,” Roman said.
“You may go anywhere you would like. Come back here when you are ready and I will have one of my boys fetch people for you.”
They left the trailer and Sadie was glad to be out from under the eyes of the goons. The day was still cool, but the sun shone brightly and the air was crisp. There was something oppressive about the security hovering around inside like they were going to stomp on you if you made a wrong step. She didn’t like feeling menaced.
Zack took Sadie’s hand and they skirted the edge of the big top and out a narrow gap in the fence so they were on the edge of the midway. They found the back of the fortune telling tent and slipped inside. The rear portion of the tent was just an ordinary dressing room with a make-up table and lighted mirror. There was a small table with an electric kettle and things for making tea and a small overstuffed couch that took up the side of the tent across from the makeup mirror. The clothing rack held the voluminous garments of the fortune teller. Pabelin had several choices of combinations of garments and headdresses.
Zack rifled through the clothes, but there were no notes hidden in pockets or any other clue to her death. There wasn’t anything in her make-up case, the trash can or down the cushions of the couch. Sadie wondered if the couch was for illicit meets or just for drinking tea or napping.
Finding nothing in the dressing room, they stepped through to the part of the tent the customers saw. The walls in here were draped with rich fabric in black and red patterns. Sadie could see it was wearing thin in places and was a little moth-eaten. But she imagined that at night no one would notice those things.
There was a round table in the center of the room, set on a similarly threadbare carpet. The fortune teller’s chair was carved with minute detail and stained an almost black. The chairs for those who came to have their fortunes read where plain gunmetal gray folding chairs. The standard glass ball was sitting in the center of the table and Sadie ducked under the layers of tablecloths to see an electric cord running to the underneath of the crystal ball, through a hole in the table.
The cord was taped along the underneath of the table top and there was a switch near the edge of the table. Zack pressed it and the globe slowly lit. Then smoke swirled within, coalescing into shadowy shapes.
“Well that’s
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