A Frothy Fiasco: A Cozy Mystery (Sweet Home Mystery Series Book 3) by Constance Barker Page A
Authors: Constance Barker
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squatted in front of the cabinets below the back bar. He opened the door and pulled something out.
“Did the ponytail look like this?”
He put on a brand new cap with the roller-skating pig on the front—and a long, fake ponytail sewn on the back.
“Let me see that.”
He handed over the cap with a light-brown tail, and I examined it. “How chic.”
“But I don’t think anybody’s wearing them yet. We just got them a couple days ago.”
“How much?”
“Eighteen dollars.”
I looked at him, at first in shock, and then batted my eyes a little hoping for a “hot chick” discount.” No such luck. Schooner just shrugged.
“Hey, it’s real horsehair. I’d give you a deal if I could.”
“That’s fine. I’ll take it. Just add it to my bill.”
Schooner walked to the POS screen to put it on our bill, doing a drum riff in the air and bouncing his head as he went. That’s when I noticed that the other end of the cord to his ear bud was just hanging there, not connected to anything.
“Schooner…why are you wearing an ear bud that’s not hooked up to any music?”
“Aw, someone poached my mp3 player the other day when I was here working. I haven’t been without it for a couple of years or so, so I’m kinda lost without my music. It helps a little to have something in my ear. Kinda crazy, I know.”
That’s odd…but then maybe not. People steal all the time. Just strange that two small towns were being hit at once with small time criminals.
We enjoyed our sandwiches and chatted about everyone and everything. It was really great to spend some uninterrupted time with my best friend.
“Well, I gotta get up at 5:00 so I can get coffee brewing for the Campfire girls, Jules. Can I get you another glass of wine?”
She shook her head, and took a big gulp of her water. “You know,” she said, crunching a cube of ice, “these small bar ice cubes really would be a lot easier to work with. I can crush them easily with my teeth. You wouldn’t have to spend half an hour banging a bag of those big cubes against the wall every morning.”
I looked enviously at the shiny stainless steel Ice King behind the bar. “Yeah, that would sure be nice. Let’s get outta here. Thumbs up or down on Schooner? Big tip or small?”
“Thumbs way up, Lily. A little weird, and not the kind of guy I would ever date. But great service, he knew his drink and food specials, and a lot of fun too.”
“I agree.” I plunked down three 20s for the meals, the drinks, and the cap, which I put on my head as we got up to leave. “Thanks, Schooner!”
He waved from the other end of the bar and thanked us as we headed for the door.
I opened the door to leave just as a woman was coming in. She was barely five feet tall, if that, and stunningly pretty with dark hair and blue and white checkered blouse tied below her ample curves. The patrons seemed to know her.
“Cindy Lou! How do you do?” one of the bikers hollered.
She looked at me like she recognized me, or maybe she just recognized my cap. “Jules…”
“I’m way ahead of you.”
We went out the door and started walking close to all the motorcycles to find the warm one that she just pulled up on. There was just one Harley that had been recently ridden, and it was hot, not warm.
“This one has been ridden for a long ways, probably at highway speeds,” I said. “You memorize the first four number on the license plate, and I’ll memorize that last part, Jules.”
The drive back to Sweet Home was leisurely and pleasant.
“Well, Jules, maybe this trip was a whole lotta nothing, as far as the theft investigation goes…”
“I don’t think so, Lily. I just have this feeling that we learned a few things that are going to help us unlock this mystery. There was a small theft here too – Schooner’s mp3 player. And if they just got the caps, maybe we can figure out who the man with the ponytail is.”
“And if the ponytail is phony, maybe the moustache is
“Did the ponytail look like this?”
He put on a brand new cap with the roller-skating pig on the front—and a long, fake ponytail sewn on the back.
“Let me see that.”
He handed over the cap with a light-brown tail, and I examined it. “How chic.”
“But I don’t think anybody’s wearing them yet. We just got them a couple days ago.”
“How much?”
“Eighteen dollars.”
I looked at him, at first in shock, and then batted my eyes a little hoping for a “hot chick” discount.” No such luck. Schooner just shrugged.
“Hey, it’s real horsehair. I’d give you a deal if I could.”
“That’s fine. I’ll take it. Just add it to my bill.”
Schooner walked to the POS screen to put it on our bill, doing a drum riff in the air and bouncing his head as he went. That’s when I noticed that the other end of the cord to his ear bud was just hanging there, not connected to anything.
“Schooner…why are you wearing an ear bud that’s not hooked up to any music?”
“Aw, someone poached my mp3 player the other day when I was here working. I haven’t been without it for a couple of years or so, so I’m kinda lost without my music. It helps a little to have something in my ear. Kinda crazy, I know.”
That’s odd…but then maybe not. People steal all the time. Just strange that two small towns were being hit at once with small time criminals.
We enjoyed our sandwiches and chatted about everyone and everything. It was really great to spend some uninterrupted time with my best friend.
“Well, I gotta get up at 5:00 so I can get coffee brewing for the Campfire girls, Jules. Can I get you another glass of wine?”
She shook her head, and took a big gulp of her water. “You know,” she said, crunching a cube of ice, “these small bar ice cubes really would be a lot easier to work with. I can crush them easily with my teeth. You wouldn’t have to spend half an hour banging a bag of those big cubes against the wall every morning.”
I looked enviously at the shiny stainless steel Ice King behind the bar. “Yeah, that would sure be nice. Let’s get outta here. Thumbs up or down on Schooner? Big tip or small?”
“Thumbs way up, Lily. A little weird, and not the kind of guy I would ever date. But great service, he knew his drink and food specials, and a lot of fun too.”
“I agree.” I plunked down three 20s for the meals, the drinks, and the cap, which I put on my head as we got up to leave. “Thanks, Schooner!”
He waved from the other end of the bar and thanked us as we headed for the door.
I opened the door to leave just as a woman was coming in. She was barely five feet tall, if that, and stunningly pretty with dark hair and blue and white checkered blouse tied below her ample curves. The patrons seemed to know her.
“Cindy Lou! How do you do?” one of the bikers hollered.
She looked at me like she recognized me, or maybe she just recognized my cap. “Jules…”
“I’m way ahead of you.”
We went out the door and started walking close to all the motorcycles to find the warm one that she just pulled up on. There was just one Harley that had been recently ridden, and it was hot, not warm.
“This one has been ridden for a long ways, probably at highway speeds,” I said. “You memorize the first four number on the license plate, and I’ll memorize that last part, Jules.”
The drive back to Sweet Home was leisurely and pleasant.
“Well, Jules, maybe this trip was a whole lotta nothing, as far as the theft investigation goes…”
“I don’t think so, Lily. I just have this feeling that we learned a few things that are going to help us unlock this mystery. There was a small theft here too – Schooner’s mp3 player. And if they just got the caps, maybe we can figure out who the man with the ponytail is.”
“And if the ponytail is phony, maybe the moustache is
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