Murderous Matrimony (Renaissance Faire Mystery) Read online

  Tony swallowed the last of his beer. “I’m out of quarters.”

  “Me too. Sorry,” I said before he asked me for change.

  “I wanted to talk to you about the wedding, Jessie.” Tony sat down. “I’d like to give you away. I don’t know if you have anything planned like that. I just thought, since Dad is gone, I’d be the one to do it.”

  I was surprised, and happy, that Tony had thought about it. I hadn’t wanted to ask him. I was afraid he might think it was stupid.

  “I’d like that. We’ll work it in.” I hugged him. “Thanks for offering.”

  “Sure. While we’re talking about it, I might need some help getting something decent to wear. You think Chase could lend me a few bucks?”

  My heart sank. He seemed as though he’d been changing the last few months. I’d hoped he was growing up.

  I sighed. I loved him, despite everything. Maybe he was changing. Renaissance wedding finery didn’t come cheap. “I’ve got some money. Get something, and put it on my account at Stylish Frocks.”

  “Thanks, Jessie.” Tony hugged me again. “You’ll be proud of me. I promise.”

  “I’m going to call it a night.” I smiled at Tim. He jumped to his feet as I got to mine. “Thank you, Sir Squire, for your very fine service this evening.”

  “I was most happy to spend time with you, Lady Jessie. Sleep well.”

  “I’m hanging out here for a while longer,” Tony said. “Will you go with me to see Beth tomorrow? She’s always hated me.”

  “I have a fitting tomorrow anyway. I’ll meet you at Stylish Frocks at nine.”

  “Thanks, Sis.”

  I walked outside. The rain was gone but it had left a dense mist over the Village that seemed to permeate everything. I was about to cross the cobblestones, when three police cars drove slowly through the mist. The cars had their lights on, but no sirens.

  “Manny!”

  Chapter Ten

  I ran into the dungeon, and shut the downstairs door behind me. There was a man in a pizza delivery outfit walking down the stairs from the apartment.

  He tugged at his cap. “Evening, ma’am. Sorry if I startled you. I couldn’t drive through the gate so I had to walk in. Have a good one.”

  I smiled, thanked him, and darted into the apartment. I closed and locked the door behind me, and turned off the lights. “Manny, what have you done?”

  He removed a slice of pizza from his mouth. “What? What’s wrong, Jessie?”

  “You ordered pizza.”

  “The name and number were on the board.” He pointed to it. “Naturally, I assumed it was correct to order from that location.”

  “It should’ve been—in normal circumstances. Did you use your name?”

  He thought about it. “Of course I did. Who else’s name would I have used?”

  There was pounding on the apartment door. “Open up,” Detective Almond said. “I know you’re there, Mr. Argall.”

  Manny froze and stared at me. “What should I do?”

  “We don’t have any choice now. You’ll have to go with them.”

  “I may be able to jump out of the window.”

  “Seriously, you’ll have to go with them. We’ll figure something out later.”

  I opened the door.

  Detective Almond had a smug expression on his face. “Well, well. What do we have here? How long have you been hiding him, Jessie?”

  Before I could speak, Manny said, “I have only been here for a few minutes. Lady Jessie was informing me that you wanted to speak with me, sir.”

  Detective Almond looked skeptical. “Yeah, right. Get over here. We’re gonna have a talk at the station. Where’s your lawyer?”

  Manny nodded. “I’ll call him, of course.” None of the fear I’d seen in his face a moment before showed. He was as cool about being taken in by the police as he might have been about being asked what he wanted to eat for lunch.

  “Don’t panic,” I told him. “It will be all right.”

  “Certainly, Lady Jessie. I hope to return in time to help with the tapestry exhibit tomorrow.”

  “I hope so too.”

  Detective Almond glanced around the apartment. “Where’s Chase?”

  “He’s helping with the storm damage.” It was just as well that Chase wasn’t here with Manny.

  “I’ll be in touch.”

  One of the officers that had come with Detective Almond walked with Manny down the stairs. I saw Chase come in through the downstairs door to the Dungeon. He stopped and spoke with Detective Almond for a moment and then came up to the apartment.

  “I was afraid something like this would happen.” He closed the door with a grim expression on his handsome face. “Now Detective Almond thinks I’m involved with hiding Manny, and withholding information. We didn’t gain anything.”

  “I’m so sorry. I didn’t think about him ordering pizza. I suppose the police told them to call if Manny’s name came up.”

  He sank down on the bed, soaking wet and exhausted. “That’s okay. You couldn’t have known. He’s your friend. You wanted to protect him.”

  “Detective Almond will get over it. He doesn’t have much choice since no one else wants to be Bailiff here.”

  “That’s true.” He smiled. “I have a job no one else would have in a crazy place haunted by a mean ghost. I guess this means Manny probably isn’t a sorcerer.”

  “Probably not.” I sat on the bed beside him. “You know you’re getting everything wet, right?”

  “I suppose.” He frowned, prepared to get up.

  “You should at least get out of these clothes.” I pulled on his soaking shirt until it came out of his pants.

  “Yeah?” I saw hope in his blue eyes. “Wanda isn’t here?”

  “Not right now. Quick before that changes.”

  *

  It was raining again the next day, and even cooler. Fall weather seemed to be settling in.

  That meant traffic on the cobblestones would be limited today. It also meant nothing much was going on. Chase and I had both slept through the night without his radio going off—or Wanda rearing her ugly head. It was wonderful.

  “I guess Wanda left us alone last night.” Chase put his arm around me and I snuggled closer.

  “I haven’t seen her since Madame Lucinda banished her. Maybe she’s gone for good.”

  He kissed me. “I hope so. It’s not easy competing with a ghost for your time.”

  “Do you have to see Detective Almond today?”

  “Yeah. He’s not too happy with me.” He rubbed the dark stubble on his chin. “That means I have to put on civilian clothes.”

  “You look good either way,” I assured him with a big smile.

  “You too.” He rubbed his nose on mine and then kissed me.

  I kissed his chin. “Thanks. “

  “Just think, in less than two weeks, we’ll be married. I’m excited. Are you?”

  “Except for the ridiculously large wedding, the dress fittings, and going to see Renee and Rene about the ring, I’m delirious.”

  “What about just being with me for the rest of your life?” He stared into my eyes. “Are you good with that?”

  I wrapped my arms around him. “That part, Sir Bailiff, goes without saying.”

  Chase got up, showered, and put on jeans and a Ren Faire T-shirt before he went to see Detective Almond. He promised to find out what was going on with Manny while he was there.

  I kissed him goodbye, thinking how handsome and sexy he looked even in his street clothes. I was a lucky woman to have Chase, and be able to share my Renaissance passion with him.

  I promised myself that I’d try not to complain about the wedding anymore. It was just one day. We’d have the rest of our lives together. Who cared if that one day would be on the Internet forever? Somehow, we’d still find a way to make it our own.

  That thought was good, but likely to change several times during the day.

  The fitting for my wedding
gown went fine. The dress was mostly finished. Beth Daniels, the owner of Stylish Frocks, had taken personal charge of all of the clothes for our wedding. The shop provided costumes for all the residents of the Village as well as visitors.

  Beth had me try on the gown once more with the veil and train. The gown was beautiful—pink and white velvet with gold trim. The veil was handmade lace shot through with gold threads. The train was as long as I was tall. It was made of white and gold tulle that glistened when I moved.

  This was actually the second gown Beth had made for me. The first gown had been in shades of purple, red, and blue. It had been the same as the one Queen Olivia had planned to wear. Something had to change.

  “I don’t know about that neckline,” Beth complained, pulling at it a little. “I’m not happy with it. I still have time to work on it.”

  I looked at the heart-shaped neckline that was trimmed in gold. “What’s wrong with it?”

  “I don’t know. Ask me again in a few days.”

  Beth and two of her assistants helped me remove the heavy dress. I watched them replace it on the headless mannequin. It was so stiff, it could almost stand up by itself.

  Tony showed up with two of my bridesmaids. Beth worked on their outfits, assuring my brother that he’d be wearing black velvet with gold trim. Chase’s groomsmen were wearing light blue with gold trim, just like my ladies.

  Master Armorer Daisy Reynolds was my maid of honor. She argued with Beth about wearing her breastplate over her gown. Beth was insistent that the breastplate wouldn’t fit. Daisy, a large woman with badly dyed blond hair, appealed to me.

  “I don’t care if you wear it if it fits over the gown,” I told her. “I’m not sure if I’d know you without it anyway.”

  Her bright blue eyes twinkled. “Hear that, dressmaker? The breastplate better fit over the gown. I’m wearing my sword, sheathed, of course. I’m making a gold girdle for you, Jessie, so you can wear your sword too.”

  The girdle sounded nice. It would be worn on the outside of my gown, around my hips. I wasn’t sure about the sword. I knew Daisy felt naked without a weapon. I was a little less militant.

  My other bridesmaid was Adora. She owned Cupid’s Arrow, a shop that stocked love potions, lingerie, and incense. The two women were my best friends in the Village, but couldn’t have been more different if they’d tried.

  Chase’s groomsmen were Bart, and Phil Ferguson from the Sword Spotte.

  Bart wasn’t there since he was performing his duties as the Queen’s Guard at the castle. Beth grumbled about his absence because he was hard to fit.

  Phil had taught Chase, and me, to use a sword. Beth said his fittings were over days before. He was very punctual about getting things done.

  “I have to go.” I glanced at the sundial-shaped clock on Beth’s wall. “The Main Gate opens soon, and I haven’t met my weaver yet. This is my first exhibit at the museum. Everything is screwed up about it. Wish me luck.”

  “I wish you a lack of dead bodies. That would be nice for a day,” Portia, Beth’s assistant, said in her usual droll way. “I don’t think that would make for a good tapestry exhibit.”

  “Good luck,” Daisy said, and then yelled at one of the women working with her gown. “Oww! Don’t stick pins in me if you know what’s good for you!”

  I was very excited about the grand opening of my museum. A few select visitors had been in the Arts and Crafts Museum earlier, before it had been closed by the police. It was like a soft opening until my weaver could get there. They seemed to enjoy it. I hoped that a thousand or so other visitors would feel the same way about it today.

  That was my number. Everything else was gravy. But for an exhibit to stay open in the Village, a thousand people a day had to pass through its doors. I had my fingers crossed.

  Despite the rain that morning, Village workers had put up the large canvas banner over the front door of the red brick building. It proclaimed the museum to be open, and advertised the tapestry exhibit. We were lucky the crime scene people had finished their work on the front entrance before the museum was scheduled to open.

  I realized as I ran up the steps that I didn’t have a key. I’d given it to Shakespeare the night before. I had a brief moment of panic until Shakespeare opened the back door, and we went inside.

  He was dressed in his usual costume, stiffened and stuffed, as all Elizabethan garb was. His doublet was laced in front, the sleeves laced to the armholes, and the bright gold doublet laced to the hose. His pointed beard was carefully trimmed.

  He put the key into my hand. “I hope that you don’t mind that I made a duplicate key from yours. Best night’s sleep ever. Not a whiff of Wanda. Maybe she’s gone for good.”

  “I hope so. It was the same with me.”

  I invited him to stay for the opening festivities. He declined, saying that he’d neglected his podium in recent days and needed to get back, even if it was raining. “I’m hopeful that the magic stone Madame Lucinda gave me will prove useful in keeping Wanda away.”

  I wished him luck with that, eager to get upstairs.

  “It’s amazing what a good night’s sleep can do for you.” He bowed deeply. “Thank you, Lady Jessie. I am going to write an ode for your wedding. I shall read it myself at the event.”

  I curtsied and thanked him. I hoped there was time for everything everyone in the Village wanted to do for the wedding. In my new spirit of thought, I realized what a great event it was going to be. And if that benefited Adventureland, I was glad.

  I missed Manny as I walked through the museum one last time before our big moment. We’d both worked so hard for this day. I hated that he wasn’t going to be here. He deserved some praise, and to see the project through to the end.

  The old tapestry loom was set in the center of the main room upstairs. It had been difficult—and expensive—to find a loom which was very similar to what would have been used during the Renaissance.

  But it was much harder to find a weaver who could use it. I’d finally located a man in Pennsylvania who was knowledgeable about weaving, and was comfortable talking on the subject in front of a crowd. He also had three days he could dedicate to my opening. The price was right, and the deal was set.

  The front door opened and my master weaver, Oliver Northman, came in, shaking the rain off of his great coat. “It’s a rather gloomy day. I hope you are Jessie Morton.” He introduced himself.

  I shook his hand as two monks from the Monastery Bakery brought in fragrant trays of bread and cinnamon rolls along with clay pots filled with coffee. They would be there for the first few hours of the exhibit to help me welcome our guests. They spread a white linen cloth over the wood table at the back of the room, and set up their food.

  There were antique tapestries on the walls that held beautiful ladies, unicorns subdued by maidens, and colorful flowers.

  Harpist Susan Halifax came in out of the rain with two flute players. We talked for a few minutes and then they set up in another corner of the room.

  The king and queen, with some members of the royal court, were due to grace us with their presence—also some Adventureland board members.

  The Arts and Crafts Museum, along with the antique weapon museum next door, were the first of their kind for the Village. They weren’t games or rides, basically only learning exhibits. Everyone was interested to see how attendance would be. That’s why there was such a big send-off.

  Two news crews from local TV stations were supposed to come for the event. Only one had agreed to come at first. The other came because of the murder—and the ghost stories.

  I didn’t care why they’d agreed to come. I wanted my museum to be popular. I wanted thousands of people to walk through what I’d created and appreciate it.

  I knew if they didn’t, the museum would close, and the red brick manor houses that had sat empty for so many years, would be empty again. That would be a terrible waste of space, as I’d convinced the board in my proposal for the museum.


  There was a ruckus coming from the front door. I knew the king and queen must be there. Because their group of courtiers, nannies, knaves, and fools was always so large, it also made a lot of noise.

  I had dressed to impress that day, wearing a colorfully beaded over-shirt on my white blouse, and full-length brown skirt. I also wore a small veil and head piece on my hair, and some faux antique jewelry that wasn’t expensive, but looked wonderful with my outfit. It was never good to outshine the king and queen.

  I didn’t have to worry about it.

  Queen Olivia was resplendent in a red gown, with white fur trim around the neck and shoulders. She wore a gold girdle about her hips, and her hair was bound back by the same gold filigree.

  King Harold matched her, as they always did when they went out. His shirt was red and gold. He wore a short cape with it. His sword hilt was gold filigree, like the queen’s girdle and head piece.

  Even the baby, Princess Pea, was dressed for success, and to match her royal sires. Two royal nannies attended to her every whim. She was bound to be the most spoiled child in the world as she grew up.

  The rest of the courtiers were dressed nicely, but a step down from the royal couple. They wore lighter colors and less jewelry. Their clothes were still very posh and regal.

  “Lady Jessie.” The queen addressed me, and I dropped into a deep curtsey, head down. “We are pleased to see your success here at the new Renaissance Arts and Craft Museum.”

  Photographers snapped her picture while video cameras caught everything.

  Queen Olivia was always at her best in the spotlight. She loved every moment of it. She was petulant, spoiled, and demanding, but she was our queen and we loved her.

  “Thank you, your majesty,” I responded with a smile. “You are most welcome to our humble museum. I hope you find something that pleases you here.”

  King Harold said a few words on behalf of the Village, but they were more to invite people to come out and join us than about the museum.

  The royal couple passed the entry way, and began strolling through the exhibit. The press followed them, but only until Merlin, in his modern day suit and tie, made his remarks about Adventureland, and Renaissance Faire Village and Marketplace.