Strolling Into Danger (A Seagrove Cozy Mystery Book 6) by Leona Fox Read Free Book Online Page B

movie cops lucky?” Zack said, a note of frustration in his voice.
     
    “It always works for them. If we show our hand, and it doesn’t produce the desired result, we are no worse off than when we started.”
     
    “But if he knows you are on to him the pressure could cause him to make a mistake,” Sadie said.
     
    “And we have to do something. The circus is set to leave town after the show tomorrow.”
     
    Zack pursed his lips and turned down Main Street, toward Sadie’s shop and home.
     
    “I don’t know. Let me think on it overnight.”
     
    “Don’t think too long,” Sadie said. “Or we’ll be out of time.”
     
    Zack pulled into a parking spot in front of Timeless Treasures.
     
    “I’m not coming in,” he said. “I need to get back to the station house.”
     
    “Okay.” Sadie leaned over and kissed him on the cheek before getting out of the truck.
     
    “I’ll see you later.”
     
    Zack nodded absent-mindedly and Sadie knew he was mulling over the options in his mind. She pushed the passenger door closed and went into her shop to see if Betty wanted to help her make a plan.
     
    “Of course I want to help,” Betty said, “And Lucy is next door getting coffee. I told her I didn’t know when you would be back and she offered to get us coffee to drink while we waited.”
     
    “Perfect,” Sadie said, “I’ll go next door and tell her I need a coffee, too.”
     
    “Don’t bother,” Lucy said entering the back room from the alley door and setting three mugs of coffee on the table along with a bag of pastry.
     
    “I anticipated your need.”
     
    “You are clairvoyant,” Sadie said happily taking a sip of coffee.
     
    “Not at all,” Lucy said. “I saw the chief pull up and you get out of the car. The look on your face said ‘I need coffee,’ plain as day.”
     
    “I’m glad you are here,” Sadie said to Lucy. “Because I’ve got a plan for catching the circus murderer and I need your help.”
     
    “What do you need me for?” Lucy asked.
     
    “And why not me?” Betty asked.
     
    “Oh I need you, too,” Sadie said, “But I knew you’d already be here. Sit down with me.”
     
    They sat at the table and Lucy rolled down the top of the bag of donuts and slid them into the middle of the table.
     
    “Do tell all,” she said.
     
    “We want to set a trap for the man we believe killed the fortune teller from the circus,” Sadie said. “And you, Lucy, get to play the starring role.”
     
    “You are casting me as the dead woman, aren’t you?” Lucy asked, a gleam in her eye.
     
    “I am,” Sadie said.
     
    “And Betty, we need you to help make Lucy look the part and then help me get her into the big top at the appropriate moment. Are you game?”
     
    “Of course we’re game,” Betty said around a mouth full of donut, “when do we start?”
     
    “The last performance is tomorrow night. That gives us roughly twenty-four hours to transform Lucy into a raven-haired beauty.”
     
    Sadie glanced at her star performer, who was currently a stunning blonde, and slid a photo of Pabelin across the table. Lucy glanced at it and handed it to Betty.
     
    “I can do this,” Betty said. “It’s classic Halloween make-up. I’ll need some tanner to darken her skin tone, but I think I have everything else I need.
     
    “How do you feel about dying your hair, Lucy?” Sadie asked. Lucy looked horrified.
     
    “I can’t even tell you how much time it took for my stylist to get my hair the exact color of Marlene Dietrich’s hair. Months of trial and error, to say nothing of the cost. Can’t we use a wig?” She looked at Sadie with puppy dog eyes.
     
    “A wig it is.” Sadie ripped a chunk from the bag, grabbed a pen from the counter behind her and started a list.
     
    “I’ll have to see if Zack can get some clothes from the fortune teller’s tent. It would be best if Winston saw her in something he recognized.”
     
    “What do I have to do?” Lucy