Vivian Conroy - Grand Prize - Murder!

“Oh, I will. My wife loves your books. Too bad she isn’t here this afternoon. She left for a charity luncheon and then a fundraiser for the old lighthouse. You must have seen the lighthouse on your way into town.”

“Very picturesque,” Bella said. “I’ll be looking out for your wife at the book signing. Now I’d like to go up and see the apartment I might stay in.” Her tone was charming and her smile wide, but just a little impatience rang in her movement as she inched her suitcase closer to the apartment’s door.

“Of course,” the town father said. “Until Saturday then.” And with a bow he vanished into the gift shop, no doubt to dig into his scone.

“Here we are.” From ten feet away Marge waved the key to the apartment. She panted as she came to a halt to unlock the door. “If you need anything special, you just have to shout. Groceries for cooking maybe? I could get you fresh fish from the harbor. Today’s catch.”

“No, I think I’ll eat out. I’m not the best cook.” Bella waved a hand. “I do love fish and by the looks of this place, there is plenty of fish cuisine around here to try.”

“And don’t forget the lobster,” Marge enthused. “With butter and bread from the oven.”

The door creaked open. Marge said, “Let me carry your suitcase up for you. It looks heavy.”

“Thank you.” Bella followed Vicky up the bare stairs, Marge closing the door with the large suitcase in her hand.

To Vicky’s relief the former tenant had left the apartment quite neat and clean. Basic furniture such as a sofa, table and chairs and a bed were all there. The kitchen was a little dated maybe, and the faucet in the bathroom dripped, but Bella twirled in the middle of the living room, lifted her arms to the ceiling and sighed. “Perfect for my needs. Arrange it with the owner, will you?”

She walked over to the window and glanced down into the street. For a moment it seemed she froze and stared at something, then she turned round to Vicky again and said lightly, “I have a present for you two.”

She opened her purse and produced a paper-wrapped parcel and held it out to Marge with a flourish. “I went to the website you write book recommendations for and saw how many times you have written reviews of my series.”

Marge nodded. “I love gushing about my favorite books.”

While Bella handed the gift to Marge, Vicky moved to the window unobtrusively to look down into the street. Tourists had just come off a tour bus and were walking to the diner. In front of the hardware store families watched as one of the Dawson brothers created small wooden animals with his coping saw. A man stood a little apart, looking up at the window behind which Vicky was standing. He had a camera in his hand. But that was nothing new in a tourist town.

Bella was saying to Marge, “You didn’t start when you knew that I’d be coming over here. No, you plugged my books before you knew you’d ever meet me. You’re not…sucking up to me.”

Bella’s tone was angry as if she had experienced that too often. “You really love my books for the stories. Exactly the sort of person I tour for. The fan I want to meet and make happy. So here it is.”

Marge clutched the parcel with both hands, then carefully tore off the tape. She folded the simple brown paper away and looked down on the colorful cover of a hardback book marked ARC.

Vicky read the title upside down: Murder At The Manor , the new installment in the See Britain And Die series.

Bella said, “Nobody has this yet. I pinched one to gift to you and thank you for all your support through the years.”

Marge had already opened the book. “Oh, it starts with a prologue of a man on the moors. Very evocative.” Her eyes moved quickly as she glanced down the page. “You always set the scene so well. I feel like I’m there from the first sentence.”

Vicky said, “I’m glad you like the apartment. That takes care of your lodgings for the duration of your stay. Now about the book signing on Saturday, it’s really just a simple thing…”

She glanced at Marge for support, but her friend was oblivious to the world. Vicky took a deep breath and continued, “We had talked about adding some promotional activity to give it some more pull, but to be honest, we hadn’t quite figured out what yet. Of course we don’t want you to sit there for nothing.”

She already envisioned Bella behind a table with a stack of books on either side of her and not a single soul to come ask for an autograph. That would be a disaster.

But she had no idea what she could come up with on such short notice.

“Oh, don’t worry,” Bella cut across her nervous explanation. “I’ll add my scavenger hunt.”

Vicky stared at her. “The what?”

Bella smiled. “I already did that once in another state and it worked like magic. You give people clues and whoever first solves the mystery, the case as it were, wins the grand prize.”

Vicky hoped that Bella herself would provide that grand prize. Maybe a set of autographed books? Just starting out, the Country Gift Shop didn’t have the cash flow to cover prize money.

Bella continued, “A trip for two to London.”

Now even Marge came back to reality. She looked up from the ARC and gasped, “Did you say London?”

Vicky’s mouth hung open. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Flights aren’t cheap, and if you want to stay in London itself, the hotels charge steep prices.”

“Oh, no. Look, when I planned my New England book tour, I knew I wanted to do the scavenger hunt someplace. Why not here in Glen Cove? People might come in from a wider area. It will boost the town. And I enjoy a bustle. We can kick off during the signing. That’s Saturday, right? Then we can have the scavenger hunt continue during the next few days. I’ll reveal new clues every now and then. People can play along and then on the next Friday I’ll announce the big winner.”

Vicky blinked. “That sounds amazing. The announcement of the winner would coincide with the closing barbecue for the One-Mile Book Market. But… Uh… You will put in this prize? The trip to London?”

“Yes, I have a sponsor.” Bella sounded as if it offended her. “A travel agency that does trips to the UK. They insisted on me giving away a prize like this, to promote them. I accepted because it attracts attention; people buy more books. Win-win situation, my marketing strategist calls it.”

Bella gestured with her delicate hands. “Once Paul is here, you can meet him. Brilliant ideas, but a bit of a…big ego.”

Vicky just nodded. Her mind was not on big egos, but on the easy solution this scavenger hunt idea provided for Marge and her. They need not come up with something fast. And it would really make her contribution the highlight of the One-Mile Book Market. After that, the name Country Gift Shop would be seared into people’s memories. Even the normally slow winter season would be good.

Bella said, “There is one little legal thing. Because your store sponsors my book signing, people associated with the store can’t participate in the scavenger hunt. Not only them, but also their family members. So I’m afraid you two can’t try and win your way to London.”

“That’s a bit of a downer,” Marge agreed. “But it will be amazing publicity for the Country Gift Shop.”

A snazzy tune resounded, and Bella grabbed her purse. She pulled out a sleek silver phone with a pendant studded with colorful gemstones and accepted the call. She listened for a few moments, her fine brows drawing together.

Then Bella said, “Look, I flew out here today, because I wanted to. You people can’t tell me what to do or not. I pay you. You don’t own me.” And she disconnected.