Carter nodded. “The problem with people like Gil is he spent so much time in character that I think he forgot who he really was.”
None of us bothered with costumes that night. Nothing we put on could top the Headless Horseman and besides, we were all tired. Between the Mad Moped Dash, all the wine, and listening to Nora’s many drug-induced man conquests, we probably all needed to stay home and sleep. But come sundown, we were all back in the park, hitting up the corn dog vendor even though we’d all eaten at home. Even Ida Belle had indulged in a corn dog but balked when Gertie and I moved on to caramel corn.
“Too much sugar,” Ida Belle said and pointed a finger at Gertie. “You don’t need it and it will catch up with Fortune one day. There’s a reason I’m still in good shape.”
Gertie rolled her eyes. “If they were selling Ally’s cookies, you wouldn’t have that opinion.”
“That’s a completely different situation,” Ida Belle said and I laughed.
“So do you guys want to go do the maze?” I asked.
“I do!” Gertie said. “We’ve already had our headless guy at the festival this year so it ought to be safe.”
“That’s quite a disturbing and unfortunately accurate statement,” Ida Belle said.
We headed toward the maze, Gertie and I munching on our caramel corn, when suddenly Gertie stopped short and pointed to a barbecue stand about thirty feet away.
“Look, it’s Judith Trahan,” she said.
I looked over.
Midfifties. Five foot six. A hundred fifty pounds. A good bit of it muscle mass. This was a woman who spent a lot of her day doing manual labor. Given she was a farmer, probably also deadly with a shotgun and a thresher. Threat level low for me, high for crops and chickens.
We set off in her direction and she looked up as we approached and slipped her cell phone into her jeans pocket. Then she gave Gertie and Ida Belle a smile and me a curious look.
“Ladies,” she said. “It’s been a while.”
They both nodded.
“Have you met our friend Fortune yet?” Gertie asked.
Judith raised her brows and extended her hand. “The lady spook. I’ve heard about you but haven’t had the pleasure. How are you getting by in Sinful?”
“I really like it here,” I said.
“Not quite as fast-paced as CIA work, though,” Judith said.
“I don’t know,” I said. “It has its moments.”
She smiled. “We’re nothing here if not interesting.”
“Definitely,” I agreed.
“How have you been?” Ida Belle asked. “I assume all the rain this year did you some good.”
“It did,” Judith said. “My best crop to date, actually. I was finally able to get a new tractor. Not sure the old one would have made another year.”
“That’s great,” Ida Belle said. “I have to say, I’m surprised to see you here. Crowds aren’t usually your thing.”
“No, they’re not,” Judith said. “And that hasn’t changed one bit. But Marie called me up and asked if I’d make some of my chocolate pies for the children’s charity auction. Between the kids benefiting and Marie asking, I couldn’t say no. So I was just dropping off my contributions.”
“Your chocolate pies will bring top dollar,” Gertie said. “Marie was smart to hit you up.”
Judith looked pleased with the compliment. “Thank you. I still can’t bake a casserole I’d put up against yours, but the chocolate pies and I seem to get along.”
“I hate to bring up sad things,” Gertie said, “but I wanted to say how sorry we are about Gil. His death was a shock. I know you guys have been friends since you were kids.”
Judith’s expression shifted from jolly to sad. “Yeah, that was a big blow. I mean, ever since Gil married Tiffany, we haven’t spent as much time together. Not appropriate and all that, I suppose. You know how people around here can talk. But it was a real shock. Seems unbefitting him going out like that.”
Gertie nodded. “It was dramatic, I guess, but not the kind of drama Gil would have appreciated for his curtain call.”
“Exactly,” Judith said then frowned. “I guess Tiffany is probably gleefully counting her chickens. She didn’t have to wait a lifetime to cash in and be free again.”
“You think she married Gil for his money?” Ida Belle asked.
Judith snorted. “Who doesn’t?”
Ida Belle nodded. “Yes, I suppose that’s the general consensus. Have you talked to Liam?”
“Not since I picked up steaks a couple weeks ago,” Judith said. “I’m thinking I should go by but honestly, I keep making excuses not to. What the heck do I say to the boy?”
Gertie shook her head. “We took him a casserole earlier today. Said we were sorry, but that’s about it.”
“How’d he take it?” Judith asked.
“As well as can be expected, I suppose,” Gertie said. “He thanked us for the food and the sentiment but said it didn’t matter to him.”
Judith sighed. “He’s lying, of course. I don’t believe for a second that Liam didn’t still love his dad. He just didn’t like him overly much. And he’s still carrying around a whole lot of mad. Not that I blame him, mind you. Hell, Gil’s dead and I’m still carrying around some mad at the way he treated Liam.”
“It was a really bad situation,” Ida Belle said. “It’s a shame Gil died before they could reconcile.”
Judith sadly shook her head. “I doubt it ever would have happened. Gil would have had to leave Tiffany and apologize for a hundred years before Liam forgave him. He tried to talk to Liam, you know?”
“No,” Gertie said. “Liam didn’t say and we rarely talked to Gil.”
Judith nodded. “Tried several times over the last couple years but Liam wouldn’t have it. He even threatened to call the cops on Gil once to get him out of the butcher shop. Liam ended up calling me and I convinced Gil that accosting the boy at his place of work wasn’t the way to go about things.”
“I guess you heard about what happened last night,” Ida Belle said.
“I heard,” Judith said, “but I’m not sure I believe it. At least, not the way it was told to me.”
“If you heard that someone strapped Gil to a horse and he rode into the middle of the festival, then lost his head, that’s pretty much the story,” Gertie said. “The horse stopped right in front of us, so we saw it all.”
Judith’s eyes widened. “You’re serious? Good God! What in the world?”
“I wish we knew,” Gertie said. “Doesn’t make much sense.”
Judith looked over at me. “Don’t you date Carter? What’s he saying?”
I laughed. “Carter never says anything to me about his investigations. He’s afraid I’ll get in the middle of them.”
“Probably because you do,” Ida Belle said. “Not that I’m complaining, mind you.”
Judith stared across the park, silent for several seconds, then looked back at us. “You know, the whole thing feels off to me. Not that stunt last night. Obviously, that’s way off. I can’t even imagine where that came from or why, and I’m not even going to try. But Gil’s death, I mean. It doesn’t sit right.”