„Mrs. Fenniman,“ he said, glancing up as he scraped little bits of dirt into a plastic bag. „I heard her say at the party that he was a no-good sneak thief, and someone should shoot him down like a rabid dog.“
„But he wasn't shot,“ the sheriff said. „And besides, I don't think Mrs. Fenniman even owns a gun.“
„I didn't say she did,“ Horace said. „But that's what she said.“
„She has her grandfather's Civil War sword,“ Dad put in.
„But what does that matter if – “
„We'll put her down as having reason to dislike the deceased,“ Monty interrupted, looking up from his notebook.
Monty finally let me change out of my costume, under the careful scrutiny of the waiting female officer. Cousin Horace produced evidence bags large enough to hold the dress, the stays, and all the other parts of my outfit.
„Is it okay if I take my laptop and my cash box with me, for safekeeping?“ I asked.
„That depends,“ Monty said. „Where did you leave them?“
„In one of my storage cases,“ I said, pointing. „The padlocked one.“
The deputy looked at Cousin Horace, who shrugged.
„If it was in a locked case, why not?“ he said. „Anyway, we're all finished here.“
„Give me the key, then,“ Monty said, holding out his hand.
I handed my keyring over, with the padlock key separated out from the rest, and watched in exasperation as he let it fall back into the bunch and proceeded to try five or six other keys, including several that any halfwit should have known weren't right. Did he really think Honda made padlocks?
„Ah, that's got it,“ he said, when he finally got around to the right key. He removed the padlock and lifted up the lid of the case.
„I thought you wanted a computer and a cash box,“ he said.
„I do,“ I said.
„Nothing but birds in here.“
„Birds?“
I ducked under the yellow crime-scene tape and went to where I could look over his shoulder. Sure enough, the case he'd just opened was filled to the brim with pink wrought-iron flamingos.
„That's the wrong case,“ I said.
„Only one with a padlock.“
I shoved past him, ignoring his protests, and began opening the other cases. Most were empty, their former contents used to stock my booth. But I found the case where I'd stowed the computer and the cash box. The computer was there. The cash box wasn't.
„They've taken my cash box,“ I said.
„Nonsense, you're just looking in the wrong case,“ Monty said.
But my cash box wasn't in any of the cases. It wasn't anywhere in the booth.
„Maybe you took it with you when you left the booth.“
„For heaven's sake, I know what I did with it,“ I said, exasperated. „I was going straight from the booth to Mrs. Waterston's party. Why on Earth would I lug along my cash box? I'm very sure I put it and the laptop in this case and padlocked the case to keep them safe till I got back.“
„Only you didn't padlock the case,“ he said.
„Yes, I'm sure I did,“ I said.
Monty crooked an eyebrow.
„Obviously someone came in, picked the padlock, took my cash box, and – of course! That would explain what happened to Mr. Benson!“ I exclaimed. „He interrupted a robbery in progress! The robber killed him, and was so rattled that he put the padlock on the wrong case.“
I thought it was a brilliant theory, but Monty looked unmoved.
„That's very interesting,“ he said. „We'll keep that in mind as we investigate.“
Yeah, sure you will, I thought.
„You ask me, the killer only took the money box to distract us,“ Monty said. „Whoever did it rifled the booth to make it look like a burglary and lucked out, finding you'd padlocked the wrong case. He took the cash box to make it look like a robbery, but not the computer.“
„And why not the computer?“ I said. „The cash box only had about a thousand dollars in it – “
„Must be nice to be rich enough not to miss a grand when you lose it,“ Monty said.
„I didn't say I wouldn't miss it,“ I said, gritting my teeth. „As a matter of fact, if you don't find it, I'll be eating macaroni and cheese till Ground Hog Day. I meant that my laptop's worth at least twice that. Why would the killer take the cash box to cover up his motive and not a much more valuable laptop?“
„Well, maybe a laptop's a lot harder for the killer to dispose of,“ Monty said. „One bill spends just like another, but if the killer's an amateur and doesn't know how to fence stolen goods, what's he supposed to do with a laptop? Or maybe – “
He narrowed his eyes, and I knew I wasn't going to like what he said next.