The place was packed. Casey looked around her ecstatically. The mystery gala was turning out better than she could have ever hoped.
“Casey!” Michael’s voice sounded weak even shouting as he was. The noise level in the store was reaching manic proportions. He squeezed himself over to where Casey busily accepted guesses on the paintings, rang up sales and answered questions.
Borrowing an idea from Carolyn G. Hart and her character’s Death on Demand bookstore, they had hung five paintings on the wall in the mystery area. Each was numbered and each depicted a murder scene from a novel. The customers were given cards as they walked in the door and were asked to guess which book each of the paintings was a scene from. Casey collected the cards from them on the way out and the winners at the end of the day would each receive a brand new copy of the author’s latest book. The contest was proving to be a big hit. She’d given Ms. Hart credit for the game idea and was promoting some of her older titles on as many of the signs as she could.
Thankfully Gail’s good friend, the amateur painter, had been able to do the paintings for them. They were surprisingly good for something that had been completed so quickly.
“Casey.” Michael had finally reached the cash desk. He was breathing heavily from his fight through the throng. He looked back over his shoulder at the wave of humanity closing in. “This place is a madhouse.” He smiled when he said it. Dollar signs popped into his eyes.
Casey smiled knowing Michael was thinking of the small percentage of profits she had promised him to compensate for the incredible amount of work he had done to help prepare for it. “Talk fast, I’m kind of busy.” She handed out change, directed a young girl to the bathroom and re-filled the coffee carafe. All in the time it took Michael to catch his breath.
“We’re about to start the murder mystery game. I thought I’d get it going if you’re ok here?”
“I’m fine, thanks Mike. You’d better get started. Try to keep it close to the back of the store away from any of the other customers.” Casey looked up as the door chimed, three students walked in talking animatedly, still no Gail. “As soon as Gail gets back from her search for more books I’ll have her take care of the coffee shop and customer inquiries.” She answered a couple of questions from customers and rang up another sale. “She’d better get back soon. I won’t be able to handle this on my own for very long.”
“Good luck boss. I’ll see you in a couple of hours.” Michael gave her his trademark thumbs up sign and pushed his way as politely as he could back through the crowd to the children’s reading area. A crowd of people were already there, milling about like a confused herd of cattle as they waited for some direction.
An elderly gentleman leaned over to ask Casey a question about how the quotes game worked. She patiently explained the rules and had turned to accept payment from a young girl with a teddy bear when the she heard the door bell jingle faintly over the noise of the customers. Gail? She looked up hopefully.