She found the mayor by the steps outside the lodge. Microphone in hand, he was about to start the draw. Dressed in black-and-yellow-checked trousers and a black sweater, he wore a soft felt, black beret on his head.

“Mayor Gripper, if I could just have a word.”

“Piper, dear, of course.”

He knew that she’d been taken in for questioning because of Mary Howard’s poisoning, like most of the Ryker Falls residents would by now.

“Sorry about that nonsense, dear. We all know you’re innocent.”

“Thanks, that means a lot. But what I wanted to discuss was Ava. She’s been sick, and in hospital, and the doctors said she could run today, but she can’t be paired with anyone looking to do a good time, Mayor Gripper. Any chance you could put her with me?”

“Well now, Piper, you know I can’t do that.” He winked at her. “You have a good run.”

Smiling, she turned to head back to her friends and collided with Zander.

“You running, Piper?”

“Sure, you?”

Zander nodded.

“I’m worried about Ava, though. I don’t think she should be out here.”

“If you promise not to tell anyone, I just spoke with the mayor and asked him to pair Ava and me together. He’ll do it, so you don’t have to worry, I’ll watch over her.”

The relief on his face was genuine, and she thought that maybe she needed to try harder to like him. Piper patted his shoulder and headed back to her friends.

After tapping the microphone several times and making everyone wince as it squealed, Mayor Gripper did the draw, and sure enough Ava was paired with Piper.

“You organized that,” she whispered.

“Me?” Piper tried to look innocent.

Joe was paired with Charlie, Fin with Mickey. Luke with a male tourist called Brody, who looked lean and fit, so they should do a good time. Jack was with Miss Marla, which had him smiling. Mr. Goldhirsh was with a young girl from the lodge staff. Bailey had decided she wasn’t competing this time, and went up to the turn to be a marshal and make sure everyone behaved. Dylan was with Ted from the lodge, and Maggs with Mandy.

“We need to talk.”

“There’s nothing to say, Dylan.”

“I think there is. But before we get into that, Chief Blake knows what’s going on, and he and Cubby Hawker plus two of his men are patrolling up there. So you see anything, you tell one of them or turn back.”

He looked large and vital like he always did, and her heart behaved predictably. Dressed in long shorts, a black zip-up hoody, and trainers, he would be as strong as any of the competitors, Piper was sure.