Despite the strengthening feeling that Savannah hadn’t been behind either of the calls made to the flower counter at the grocery store, the reason for the first call continued to stump her. If the same person (presumably the murderer) had made both calls, what was the point of the first? They could have simply had a second order of flowers delivered to the store Monday evening to get Savannah to return. Why cancel her regular order as well? It felt like—Amie winced—overkill.
She was still thinking about it as she and David arrived at the fall festival that evening. The outing had been David’s suggestion.
“Really?” Amie had asked, amused. “I feel like you’re not really a festival guy.”
“Not a big fan of fall, either,” David admitted. “I like pumpkin spice as much as the next guy, but too much of a good thing is too much of a good thing. But we should still go. Trying new things. Doing something for yourself. All that.”
Amie knew he was just trying to take her mind off of Ziya (though he still didn’t know exactly what had happened). And she found it difficult to resist the allure of an apple cider donut once the idea was presented to her.
“It just feels like I’m missing something,” Amie said. They walked past a couple sticking their heads through a painted board that made them look like two scarecrows in a cornfield. “Why the initial cancellation of the flowers? The person who did it must have known Savannah would go to the store to complain as soon as she realized the flowers wouldn’t be delivered. What was the reasoning?”
“Maybe they wanted Savannah out of the bookstore,” David suggested.
“Hm.” Amie’s mind raced as she tried to make sense of that. “If it had been Benny, maybe he wanted her gone so he could look for those photos. I still don’t know what he was doing in my apartment. But like we’ve said, it seems overly complicated for Benny.”
“Sometimes overcomplication can indicate a lack of logic.” David ducked to avoid getting whacked in the face with a balloon as a child ran by. “But you also believe Benny had an alibi.”
“Yeah.” Amie crossed her arms as a breeze made its way under her cardigan. “For when Savannah was murdered, at least. He could’ve gone to the store earlier that day to look for the photos. Do you think it’s possible that two people sabotaged Savannah’s flower order for unrelated reasons?”
David shrugged. “It’s possible. But if he was back there searching for the photos on Wednesday, that means something went wrong with his plan on Monday. Maybe he was interrupted.”
“I wonder if Grayson saw someone,” Amie mused.
“Who?”
“He works at the bookshop. I talked to him on Wednesday. He was pretty eager to talk, so I feel like he would have mentioned it if he caught Benny sneaking into the back room that day.”
Why else would someone want Savannah out of the store?
They passed the Eons Cafébooth, where more people were lining up for hot drinks to fight off the dropping temperature as the sun set behind the Ferris wheel. Jess was taking orders at the front of the line, flashing Amie a quick smile as they made eye contact.
A thought struck Amie as they continued past. “Madeline said Savannah had signed the paperwork selling the store right before she died,” she said slowly. “But what if it wasn’t Savannah who signed it? What if Madeline snuck into the store to forge her signature and send it off to the lawyer?”
David scratched the back of his head, eyebrows scrunched together with doubt. “You think Savannah was never going to sell?”
“Well, no, because she told Oakland she was. But, I don’t know, maybe she was getting cold feet or something.” Amie began speaking faster as her excitement mounted. “Maybe Madeline canceled the order so Savannah would go to the grocery store, giving her the chance to sneak into the back of the bookshop and sign the contract. Then she killed Savannah before Savannah could find out.”
Amie’s eyes widened as she stopped short. “Maybe that’s why Andrew attacked her. Maybe he knew something that we don’t.”
“That’s a lot of maybes,” David said, pulling her out of the flow of flannel-clad pedestrian traffic. “Do you have any time loop knowledge about Madeline? Anything that could solidify this theory?”
“No. I didn’t see her at all on Monday. But that doesn’t mean she wasn’t around. And her caféis right next door to the bookshop; she could’ve easily known about Savannah’s regular flower delivery.”
Amie bounced on the balls of her feet, looking around. “I need to find Grayson and ask if he saw Madeline that day. He’s gotta be here.”
Sighing, David said, “Look, I know by now that it’s no use trying to deter you from this. How about we walk around some more, get some apple cider donuts, try to enjoy the festival, and if you see the guy, great. Interrogate away. If not, you’ll still have a nice night, and you can talk to him tomorrow.”
Amie tried to hide her disappointment. She’d been about to suggest they comb every inch of Willows Park until they found the guy. But she knew David was just worried about her, so …
… she’d send him off for donuts while she searched for Grayson herself.
“It’ll be faster if we split up,” she said. “You get the donuts, I’ll get us hot chocolates.”
“Okay,” David said, seeming reassured by Amie’s embracing of the fall festival spirit. “We’ll meet back here. See you soon.”
Amie headed back to the Eons booth, then veered off between two tents toward the carnival games. She weaved through the crowd, craning her neck as she searched for Grayson’s auburn curls.
Unfortunately, her search required her to look a lot of people in the face, which is how she ended up locking eyes with Benny. He was walking away from a ring toss game, shoulder to shoulder with the woman from the infamous blackmail photos.
