The Pint of No Return--A Mystery by Ellie Alexander

Author:Ellie Alexander
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

CHAPTER

FOURTEEN

THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON breezed by. Having an extra set of hands certainly helped. We decided to open early when Garrett noticed a small crowd of tourists congregated outside. They were dressed in German costumes. Red-and-white-checkered shirts, knee-high wool socks, lederhosen, and green felt hats with feathers for the men. The women were dressed in tiny skirts with layers of white ruffles, bodices with plunging necklines, and striped socks. Obviously they were ready to hit the Festhalle, which didn’t open for another two hours.

“Should we let them in?” Garrett asked.

“Why not? Might as well let them get a head start and spend their money here, right?”

He motioned to a growler at the end of the bar that was filled with handheld German flags. “We can get rid of some of those.”

“Let me guess. April brought those?”

“The one and only. Fortunately I got out of the conversation by agreeing to hand out flags.”

“That’s pretty painless.”

“Especially considering that she left me that.” Garrett pointed to a pair of dark brown lederhosen, green suspenders, and a red-and-white-checkered shirt that reminded me of a picnic blanket. “She wanted me to wear that.”

I laughed. “That is so you. You should do it.”

He gave me a challenging look. “Really, you want me to wear it?”

“It would be pretty funny.”

“Tell you what. I’ll wear that if you wear what April left for you.” He walked to the other side of the bar and reached under the countertop. Then he stood and held up a milkmaid’s costume that would barely have covered my derriere. Its frilly lace skirt looked like it would fit a doll, not a grown woman.

“No way.” I held my arms up in surrender. “It’s not going to happen.”

Garrett laughed so hard that he choked. “If you could only see your face, Sloan.”

Kat appeared from the kitchen, carrying a tray of sparkling pint glasses. “That’s so cute!” She set the glasses on the bar and went over to get a better look at the costume. “I’ve always wanted to wear something like this,” she gushed.

Garrett caught my eye and winked.

I nodded.

He handed Kat the costume. “It’s all yours.”

“Really? Are you serious? I can’t wait to try it on. This is perfect. My friends on social media are going to love this. If you want, I can wear it to hand out your flyers. You know, get in the German spirit.”

“In the German spirit, you bet,” Garrett said, with a touch of sarcasm in his voice that was lost on Kat.

She skipped away to put on the costume, and Garrett and I exchanged a laugh. At least someone at Nitro was embracing our Bavarian heritage. April would love it. I opened the doors to our first round of tourists while Garrett began pulling pints. Within the hour, every table was filled. Music pulsed overhead, and beer flowed freely from the taps. Oktoberfest was off to a great start.

“Need anything from the kitchen?” I had to raise my voice to be heard over the crowd.

“Doritos,” Garrett shouted in reply.

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