Poisoned Prose (A Books by the Bay Mystery)

binoculars and scanned the boardwalk. “We’ve never had this many spectators before.”
    Haviland made a sniffing noise and Olivia glanced at him. “Do you want to find her, Captain?”
    The poodle barked once and trotted off through the crowd. Olivia and Laurel sat in their canvas chairs and exchanged theories as to which boat would win the juvenile division.
    “I’m rooting for the French fries,” Laurel said. “You?”
    “The hot dog. How could I pick anything else? The captain is dressed as a ketchup bottle, and the first mate is the mustard.” Olivia shook her head. “Those guys must be boiling inside those costumes.”
    Laurel laughed. “That’s why they’re going to lose. How are they going to row in those getups?”
    In the end, the ballet slipper won. Its long, delicate prow crossed the finish line seconds ahead of a giant banana. The triumphant shrieks of the female crew carried over the water. “Look! They’re wearing tutus and tiaras!” Laurel exclaimed, peering at them through her own binoculars.
    “They should’ve ditched the tutus and worn something unexpected. Camo maybe,” Millay said, settling into the chair next to Olivia as if she’d been there all along. “Thanks for sending Haviland. I had no clue where to go. Harris e-mailed a picture of this spot at like seven this morning, but it looks totally different now. What gives with all these people, anyway? Is this what passes for culture in this town?”
    Laurel handed her a Thermos. “Have some lemonade. You seem a little crabby.”
    Millay shrugged. “Harris and I got into it last night. I swear—all we do lately is fight. And then I had to go to work all pissed off while he went to sleep. The second I get off work he seems to want to talk about all kinds of heavy crap. I have to mute my phone just so I can get a few hours of shut-eye. The boy is either stupid or has a serious death wish.”
    “You’ll figure it out,” Laurel assured her, but Olivia wasn’t as certain. Millay was showing all the signs of a woman who was ready for a change, and Olivia suspected Harris was one of the things she wanted a break from. It wouldn’t be easy to do, especially since Millay and Harris would continue to see each other at the weekly meetings of the Bayside Book Writers. Still, Olivia knew Millay was capable of walling off her emotions. It was a skill the two women shared; one they’d both tried to stop using every time they got close to another person.
    “I don’t see Harris,” Olivia said. “Millay, do you know what his boat looks like?”
    “He told me it was a surprise,” she said. “Something we’d all immediately recognize.”
    Laurel and Olivia swept their binoculars over the line of bobbing boats.
    “They’ve gotten so elaborate.” Laurel pointed at the center of the largest group. “There’s a dragon with smoke coming out of its mouth. And a Viking longship. Look! The crewmen are wearing blond wigs and horned helmets.” She continued to describe the vessels. A shark baring several rows of serrated teeth, a dolphin with a bubbling blowhole, a tugboat, a fire truck, a fighter jet, a pirate ship flying the Jolly Roger, a listing ferry, a yellow duck, a Loch Ness monster, and a spotted cow.
    Olivia passed her binoculars to Millay. “You’ve got to see the church.”
    Millay located the boat with the steeple. The front half of the building was white and bore a sign saying “Sunday.” Stained glass windows had been painted on the cardboard. The rear of the building was black and had a neon sign reading, “Saturday.” In a painted window another sign read, “Bar Open.” The captain was dressed as the devil and his crewmember was an angel.
    “Awesome,” Millay said with a grin. “Now that’s original.”
    “But not nearly as cool as the boat coming out from behind that fishing trawler,” Laurel said. “Hey! It’s Harris!”
    Olivia waited for Millay to hand over the binoculars, and when she met Olivia’s gaze, her face was unreadable. Olivia peered out to the harbor and gasped. Harris had brought a scene from Millay’s novel to life. Her heroine, Tessa, was a gryphon warrior and during the book’s climax, she and her beast battled a fierce wyvern and its rider. Harris had carved the two beasts out of cardboard. Their necks were intertwined, and their green and golden eyes were glimmering with rage and bloodlust as they fought to the death. The gryphon’s feathers had been painted a metallic gold