Foul Play at the Fair Read Online Free PDF Page A

impeccably kept, freshly painted, and as charming as a postcard.
    “I’ll walk you on home,” Fred offered.
    “Thanks, but it’s only another block; you go in and surprise Dolly.”
    Fred smiled and Liv felt a little envious, wondering how it would feel to have someone smile like that over her after twenty-five years of marriage. She couldn’t even imagine someone smiling like that after a few dates.
    Event planning and longevity in relationships did not mix.
    “Go on inside.”
    “If you’re sure.”
    “I’m sure, but thanks. Tell Dolly I’ll see her tomorrow.”
    As he opened the gate, something moved in the shadows.
    “Fred,” Liv whispered, grabbing his arm. “Over there, someone is in your driveway.”
    “Where?”
    “There.” Liv pointed just as the shadowy form of a man slipped into the hedge that ran along the property line.
    “Probably one of the teenagers taking a shortcut.”
    Two houses down a pickup truck started up and sped out of sight.
    Fred walked out into the street and peered after it. “It doesn’t look like any truck I know of. I better go in and check on Dolly. You come, too. I don’t want you alone out here until we make sure there’s nothing wrong.”
    Liv didn’t argue.
    Fred opened the gate, ran ahead, and flung the front door open. “Dolly? Dolly? Where are you?” He rushed into the living room, Liv right behind him.
    Dolly appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. Her hair was down; she’d changed out of her gingham and was wearing a purple velour tracksuit. Her hand was pressed to her chest.
    “Thank heavens, you’re here. There was a man—a Peeping Tom—at the window. Oh Fred, he didn’t look human.”

Chapter Three
    “I’m calling Bill Gunnison right now.” Fred gave his wife a reassuring hug and steered her toward Liv. “Do you mind staying until Bill gets here, and then I’ll walk you home?”
    “Of course I’ll stay. Why don’t we sit in the living room, Dolly? Can I make you some tea or something?”
    “No, dear, I’m all right. It was just such a fright. And now to drag poor Bill out when he’s down with a bad back.”
    Bill Gunnison showed up ten minutes later. Fred opened the door, and the police chief slowly shuffled his way into the room. Normally he was a tall man, well over six feet, with grizzled gray hair and twinkling blue eyes. Tonight he was bent over at the hips, which made him almost the same height as Fred.
    “Oh, Bill,” Dolly said. “You shouldn’t have come out. You sit right down.”
    Bill crooked his head up to look at her. “Thanks, but I’m better standing.” He managed a smile and fumbled inside his jacket pocket for a tape recorder. “You don’t mind if I use this?”
    Dolly shook her head, and Fred came to sit beside her.
    Bill mumbled into the tape recorder, then lifted his head back to Dolly. “Now, tell me what happened.”
    “I was in the kitchen doing the dinner dishes when I heard a noise outside. It sounded like a raccoon was getting into the trash, so I went to the back window to look out, and he was there at the window staring right at me. Not the raccoon, the man.”
    Bill nodded and winced. “Can you describe him?
    Dolly shook her head. “He didn’t look human. More like a ghost—no, a skeleton. He was all white with black holes for eyes. Then his mouth opened and I think he laughed at me. It was awful.”
    “Sounds like he was wearing a mask, didn’t want to be recognized, maybe.”
    “Recognized? But we don’t know anyone who goes around looking in people’s windows.”
    “Dolly, you’d be surprised at what some folks will do. Anything else?”
    Dolly shook her head. “I ran out of the kitchen, and then Fred and Liv came in and we called you.”
    Bill twisted his head to Fred and Liv. “You two see anything?”
    “Liv saw someone in the driveway, but when I looked he was gone.”
    “Ms. Montgomery?”
    “I saw someone moving along the driveway. Then he, or she, slipped through the hedge