Page 45 of Pumpkin Patch Peril
The logic was starting to dawn on several faces in the crowd. Ruth leaned forward in her seat, her eyes bright with understanding.
“Which makes me wonder,” Mona continued, her voice gaining strength, “why in the world would you cut yours off the vine and put it in the barn? Wouldn’t you want it to continue growing?”
Brenda’s face went pale. She looked around the tent as if searching for an escape route. “I... I didn’t want anyone to steal it.”
The crowd shifted restlessly in their seats, sensing the weakness in her explanation.
“But Brenda,” Mona said softly, “cutting it off the vine would stop it from growing entirely. Meanwhile, Gertrude’s pumpkin would keep getting bigger and bigger, day by day. You’d be guaranteeing that you’d lose.”
The silence stretched out uncomfortably. Brenda opened her mouth, then closed it again.
“And then I remembered something Doris mentioned.” Mona’s voice was almost conversational now, but every person in that tent was hanging on her words. “She said something very interesting about your nature, Brenda. She said you would rather invent something than lose a contest.”
Brenda’s shoulders began to sag.
“You’re incredibly competitive—everyone knows that. You’ve won the pumpkin contest for years. The thought of losing to Gertrude must have been unbearable.” Mona’s voice remained gentle, almost sympathetic. “So you came up with a plan. If you couldn’t win legitimately, you’d find another way. Create a mystery, hire investigators, make yourself the victim instead of the loser.”
The crowd was completely silent now, absorbing the implications.
Mona took a step closer to Brenda. “You never had a giant pumpkin at all, did you, Brenda? There was nothing to steal because there was nothing there to begin with.”
Brenda looked down at the ground, her hands trembling. The tent was so quiet that her shaky breathing seemed loud.
Finally, she looked up, tears welling in her eyes. “I... I just couldn’t bear to lose. I thought if I hired you, it would make it all seem more legitimate.”
Gertrude’s triumphant expression immediately softened. “Oh, Brenda...”
“It’s in my nature,” Brenda continued, her voice barely above a whisper. “I can’t stand not being the best at something. WhenI saw how big Gertrude’s pumpkin was getting, and I knew mine wasn’t going to measure up... I panicked. I’m sorry, everyone. I’m so sorry.”
The crowd stirred with a mixture of disappointment and sympathy. Judge Patterson cleared his throat awkwardly.
Gertrude walked over to Brenda and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. “Aww, I’m sorry this happened, Brenda. Competition brings out the worst in all of us sometimes. I’m sure you’ll beat me fair and square next year.”
“You’re too kind,” Brenda sniffled. “I don’t deserve it.”
“Everyone makes mistakes,” Gertrude said warmly. “What matters is learning from them.”
As the crowd began to disperse, buzzing with conversation about the dramatic revelation, Mona walked back toward her friends with a satisfied smile.
Ida was beaming. “Mona, that was absolutely brilliant detective work!”
Ruth grabbed Mona’s hand and squeezed it. “The way you laid out all the evidence, step by step—it was like watching a master at work!”
Helen nodded enthusiastically. “I knew something was fishy about that whole story from the beginning, but I never would have figured out what really happened.”
“Team effort,” Mona said modestly, but she was grinning.
Ruth threw her arm around Mona’s shoulders. “You know what this calls for?”
“What?” Ida and Helen asked in unison.
“A celebration at the Cup and Cake!” Ruth announced.
All four women high-fived in succession—first Mona and Ruth, then Ida joining in, then Helen completing the circle.
“Another case closed,” Helen said with satisfaction.
“And we still have never lost one!” Ida added triumphantly.
