Mystery at the Fair

Draft Chapter 1 - Jean Hayes Makes a Discovery

Jean Hays trudged across the fair grounds. Sweat dripped down her temples. The sun beat down out of a cornflower blue sky while end of the monsoon season thunderheads built up into towering blinding white and ominous portents of future rain. Wish I'd remembered my hat, was her thought. That's what I get. March seemed so pleasant. Who knew September would mimic an oven with misters.

She reached the first of two shipping containers the Hise County Fair used as storage lockers. Rain every year for the fair, she remembered the Exhibits team say as she trudged to the storage container where the plastic tubs of left over ribbons, banners and other fair paraphernalia resided the rest of the year.  She checked the clouds in the sky once more then wiped her face and hoped the units were unlocked. The Fair Board President, Arris Van Horn wasn't answering his phone. I hope Arris came by and unlocked these. He should have them open by now. Jean examined the two part mechanism to open the container. She briefly touched the handles. The face of the doors received full sun all day. They were hot but not hot enough to give a burn. Jean pulled on one lever. Part of the mechanism moved a rod that connected with a top and bottom notch but it didn't allow the door to open. She wiped the sweat from her forehead. I really need to learn to wear a hat.

Jean had moved to Greyson, Arizona in February. It was winter, there was even a bit of snow. Old northeastern habits died hard. She never used to wear a hat. Now though, she wished for her wide brim hiking hat to give her some relief. Must be ninety degrees out here.

She tried the second handle on the door. It lifted another bar. Maybe both of them at the same time? Jean lifted them both. The vertical bars lifted and lowered, freeing the door. She tugged it open. Now I don't have to track Arris down. Arris VanHorn was the fair board president. He had the keys and the combinations to every lock and door on the fair grounds. Jean was totally dependent on his expertise. She hadn't been VP of Exhibits more than four months so she was still learning how things worked in this county.

She swung the container doors open wide. The doorway was a tangled mess of everything the Fair Grounds needed to have stored. Jean pulled a wooden tripod out of the doorway and used it to prop the right hand door open. It looked as though it was a sign post. A lot of other events that were held at the Fair Grounds used these containers. Five feet into the container she wished she'd brought a flashlight. Sweat began dripping in earnest. Smells like mice in here, hope they haven't gotten into the tubs, she thought.

Winding her way past safety cones, stacked tables, buckets of rope, steel cable and broken metal chairs, she stepped over a pile of rebar to reach her stack of tubs. One, two, three, four, she counted, where's the fifth tub? The heat was giving her a headache so she massaged her temples after she wiped her filthy hands on her shorts.  She hauled the bins out to the front of the container. When those were outside she thought, maybe it's farther to the back. The Exhibits team was sure there were five bins. A pile of cardboard boxes labeled, Mud Run, blocked her way. Jean moved the three boxes behind her and stepped over a pile of rusting chain. Wish I'd brought a flashlight, she thought. It's dark back here.

Squinting, she saw a medium blue tub labeled Fair Ribbons four feet away on top of another stack of bins. There you are. She wiped her face again and held her breath. The smell of dead things was over whelming. I hope nothing crawled into my bin. The ribbons will be ruined. She picked her way past boxes, rusting metal things she couldn't identify and a broken ladder. She pulled the tilted bin toward her and the pile of bins it was on fell over. Her bin slid to the floor, taking part of her thumbnail with it and raising a cloud of dust. "Owww," she cried as she jerked her hand away and stuck the injured digit in her mouth. In front of her, the two doors of a metal cabinet against the right hand wall of the container creaked open and a desiccated human body fell in seeming slow motion on top of her bin. She shrieked and scrambled outside.

She stood panting and stared at the gaping mouth of the container. Jean pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed 911. When the operator answered she said, "This is Jean Hays, VP of Exhibits at the Fair Grounds. I just found a dead body in the storage container on the southwest side of the grounds."