TWELVE

Candy felt her legs go numb. Before they had a chance to collapse beneath her, she crossed to a chair and sat down heavily. Her fingertips were tingling, and there seemed to be a buzzing sound in her ears.

Sapphire murdered? Ray arrested?

How could that be?

She didn’t have much time to consider an answer, because the phone rang again. Candy rose shakily to answer it and then sat back down.

“Did you see it?” Maggie asked breathlessly.

“I saw it. I don’t believe it, but I saw it.”

“Wasn’t that utterly, totally bizarre? The way they brought her body out on a stretcher like that? It was so undignified, but at least she got her final moment in the spotlight. I half expected her to jump up in her cowgirl outfit and start reciting poetry.”

“It doesn’t seem real,” Candy replied, leaning forward and putting a hand to her forehead. She felt hot.

“Oh, it’s real all right. Someone really, truly did it. Someone murdered our Blueberry Queen.”

Candy took in a sharp breath. “That’s right! I hadn’t thought about it like that. Her Majesty is dead, isn’t she?” She paused, thinking. “But if Sapphire’s gone, that means…”

Maggie picked up the thread, finishing her thought. “It means, by decree, that the Blueberry Queen sash and crown must be handed over to the first runner-up.”

“Haley Pruitt!”

“That would be her, the granddaughter of our dear old rich friend, Mrs. Pruitt.”

“So justice is served-Haley will get what probably was rightfully hers in the first place.”

“True, but doesn’t it sound suspicious to you? If I didn’t know better, I’d say Old Lady Pruitt had something to do with this.”

Candy felt a jolt of realization shoot through her. “You think so? You really think she had Sapphire rubbed out?”

“Who knows? It’s possible, isn’t it? It sure would make a lot of sense.”

“I suppose so, but… they said they’ve arrested Ray. They must think he had something to do with this.”

Maggie snorted, a distorted blast of noise coming over the phone. “Ray Hutchins? Oh, come on! Do you really think he could do something like that?”

“I… I don’t know,” Candy said thoughtfully. “I guess not, since you put it that way. It doesn’t seem possible, does it?”

“Are you kidding? It’s ludicrous! Our little ol’ Ray wouldn’t hurt a fly. He tears up when he steps on a cockroach.”

It’s true, Candy thought, remembering the look on Ray’s face a few days ago when he had put the sides of the booth on the wrong way. “But what’s the connection? How’d he get himself arrested for killing Sapphire Vine?”

“Who knows? But I can tell you right now they’re barking up the wrong tree with that guy.”

“But if he didn’t do it,” Candy said, her mind working feverishly, “then who?” She paused as she collected her thoughts. It took her a few moments before she could put everything in order. “Even though she had motivation, I can’t really imagine Mrs. Pruitt doing something like this-no matter how much she hated Sapphire and wanted Haley to win. And it couldn’t have been one of the other contestants, could it? Or the parents of one of the contestants?” She paused, then said jokingly, “You didn’t kill Sapphire, did you?”

That got a chuckle out of Maggie. “Me? Hah! Listen, honey, don’t think I didn’t think about it more than once. In fact, I wish I had killed her. I sure could use the notoriety. And to tell you the truth, it was on my to-do list. But somebody beat me to it.”

Candy smiled as Maggie continued, obviously on a roll. “Besides, if I’d done her in, I wouldn’t make a secret of it. I’d be shouting it from the rooftops until they dragged me down and hauled me off to the looney bin. They’d probably even make a TV movie about me. Maggie Tremont, Blueberry Queen Murderer. I’d finally get my name in lights, just like I always wanted.” She let out a final laugh. “So what about you? Are you the killer?”

“Me?” Candy sighed. “Not me. I didn’t have any motive to kill her. I’ve got nothing to gain. Besides, I get woozy at the sight of blood-I have to lie down when I get a paper cut. I could never do anything like that.”

“Well, if I didn’t kill her, and you didn’t kill her, and Ray didn’t kill her, you know what that means, don’t you?” Maggie asked ominously.

“No, what?”

“It means they’ve arrested the wrong person. And that means the real murderer is still running loose around Cape Willington.”

That sent a chill skittering up Candy’s spine. “You’re right.” Instinctively she looked up to see if the kitchen door was locked, and through the window saw Doc’s pickup truck coming up the dirt lane. He had gone into town as usual that morning, telling her he had best get out of her way and let her bake.

Now she let out a breath of relief. “Doc’s here. I’ve got to go.”

“Okay. Call me tonight!” Maggie said as they hung up.

Candy walked out the door and stood on the back porch, her hands slipped into the back pockets of her jeans, as Doc pulled up and called out to her with the engine idling. “Have you heard?”

She nodded. “I’ve heard.”

He motioned her toward the truck. “Get your things and come on.”

“Where are we going?”

“To the police station. We’re gonna look in on Ray and see if he’s all right.”

Candy nodded, ran back into the house to get her purse and keys, closed the door behind her, and climbed into the cab beside Doc. He pulled the gearshift into reverse and wheeled the truck around.

“Whoever heard of such a thing?” he muttered as he drove back down the lane. “Arresting Ray Hutchins! A kinder, gentler soul doesn’t exist on this planet. He must be frantic right about now. We’ve got to give him some moral support.”

It took less than ten minutes to drive to the Cape Willington Police Department, which was located about half a mile outside of town in a relatively new one-story brick building on Route 196, also known locally as Loop Road. The village’s police station had relocated there about ten years ago, after abandoning a cramped old wooden building at the far end of Main Street, which it had operated out of for the better part of a century.

Doc parked in the front lot, and he and Candy pushed silently through the wood-and-glass door and presented themselves at the information desk.

“We’d like to see Ray Hutchins,” Doc announced to the stout woman behind the desk. She was nicely dressed, in a blouse, skirt, and silk scarf. “I believe you have him in custody in connection with the Sapphire Vine murder.”

“Oh, hi, Doc,” the woman said, looking up and pushing her glasses up on her nose. “I thought that was you. Haven’t seen you for a while.”

“Hi, Carol. How’re things going?”

“Oh, you know-Phil’s lumbago is kicking up again and the wagon needs new tires. But other than that, as good as can be expected, what with all that’s happened today. So, you’re here to see Ray, huh? You’re not family, are you?”

Doc shook his head. “Don’t think he has much of a family. We’re just here to lend moral support.”

“Moral support. Okay, I see.” Carol picked up a pen and nodded as she looked down at a sheet in front of her. She tapped at the sheet for a few moments with the pen, then looked back up. “Well, Doc, that’s a real nice gesture, and I’d sure like to let you in to see him, and he’d probably be real glad to see you. But I don’t think it’s gonna happen today. He’s still in booking, and after that they’re gonna take him up to the county jail in Machias. We don’t retain prisoners here, you know.”

“What do you mean?”

“We don’t have jail cells, Doc. We’ve got a secure area in back where we bring prisoners in to book them, but then they’re taken to Machias or Bangor for incarceration.”

“Oh.” Doc’s jaw tightened. He hadn’t been aware of that. “No chance of seeing him before you ship him out?”