"Ivan didn't place at all," Sandy said. "His lager was supposed to be one of the best entries. Everyone knew it. And then it soured." He turned his cup in a slow circle. "If he found out Roy had done that on purpose?—"
"He'd have had more reason than anyone," Declan finished.
“Or Malcolm,” Declan reminded us. “His application had been hexed, so he didn’t even get to enter.”
A beat of quiet settled over the table while the rest of the pub carried on around us. Alvin’s voice rising slightly over a question from the crowd, the clink of glasses, one of the regulars laughing too loudly at something near the bar.
"What about Fletcher?" Az asked. “He wasn’t even on our radar.”
“The Black Feather Brewery succeeding is to his benefit, though. I don’t see any reason he would want Roy dead.”
"I agree," Hazel said, picking her knitting back up. "Seems to me what we have is this. Roy cheated. Someone found out. And someone decided that was worth killing him over." She said it simply, in the same tone she might use to summarize a knitting pattern.
“Or it wasn’t about the hexes at all. It could have been Nadia since she thought it was going to be hers,” Sandy said.
"That's about it," I said.
"It's a logical conclusion," Az said. He tilted his glass, watching the light through the amber. "Whether it's the right one is another question."
Declan tapped his chin. "You think we're missing something."
Az set his glass down. "I think Roy Pruitt had a whole lot going on in a short amount of time. A distribution deal. A property purchase. A stolen recipe. A silent partner. A baby on the way." He spread his hands. "That's a man with a lot of moving pieces."
We all sat there letting that sink in.
Then Sandy reached over and took the last smoked almond off Declan's plate.
"Hey," Declan said. “I was going to eat that.”
"Sorry. I think better when I eat.” Sandy said, entirely unrepentant.
The festival event ended around nine, and the crowd began to thin into something that looked more normal. Leon stopped by the table on his way out.
"Excellent event," he said. "The turnout was very encouraging.” He adjusted his cuffs. "I've also taken the liberty of scheduling two additional programming events for the remainder of the festival week, so if anyone has capacity to assist?—”
“Leon, you can’t just add stuff and not tell me. How am I supposed to publicize them if I don’t know they exist?”
“I’ll email you the details in the morning.”
“Yes.” Declan glared at him. “You do that.”
He nodded at us each in turn, paused at Declan as if he might say something else, then thought better of it and left.
Hazel watched him go. "He means well."
"If you say so," Declan grumbled.
"That doesn't make him less exhausting," Az said.
"No," I agreed. "It really doesn't."
Chapter Nineteen
Whoa… What Just Happened?
Declan
Going to yoga was a terrible idea for reasons that had nothing to do with yoga itself.
