Crumbling Up Crooks

by Emmie Lyn

  After a big show of finishing my cocoa and wiping crumbs from my lips, I stood up. “Thank you, Penny.” I wasn’t sure what to say to Marion—see you around, or don’t leave town, or your father’s got some explaining to do? Nothing seemed appropriate, so I just nodded and walked out with Kelly and Pip following.

  Once we were outside and the door was closed behind us, I enjoyed a deep cleansing breath of winter air. I stuck the cookie wrapped in a napkin in my pocket only to discover the mitten. I’d forgotten to ask Penny about it.

  Instead of returning inside and risking another cookie offering, I decided on an alternate plan. “I’m going to make a quick visit next door to talk to Sadie. Want to come with me, or do you have other plans?”

  Kelly said, “I’ve had about as much small talk as I can take for one morning. I’m going to visit AJ and see how he’s holding up.”

  “Okay. Let him know that I’ll stop in as soon as I can. I hope I’ll have some information to share.”

  Kelly walked toward the Little Dog Diner where her car was parked, and I headed up the walk to Sadie’s front door. A racket of various decibels of different yips and yaps came from the other side of the door. Pip had her ears perked at attention when she looked at me.

  “What do you think? Are they telling us to come on in or warning us to stay away?”

  Pip scratched on the door.

  “I’m glad one of us speaks dog,” I said as I knocked.

  I heard Sadie’s voice commanding her pack of watchdogs. “Shush… quiet down… back up!”

  What a surprise when she opened the door and five silent Chihuahuas sat and stared at Pip and me with their eyes bugging out.

  Sadie held the door open. “Come on in. Their all bark and no bite.”

  Pip dashed in first with her stubby tail wagging happily as she sniffed each dog in turn.

  “They’re all so polite,” I said. “These are the dogs that Penny complains about?”

  Sadie took my arm in one of hers and kicked the door closed behind me. “Penny is a control freak and she can’t stand the fact that she has no say over other people or their animals. I’ve learned to live with it by ignoring her petty complaints.” She led me into a toasty room filled with baskets of beautifully colored yarns and piles of knitted items.

  “Oh, my goodness,” was all I could manage to say at the rainbow of colors that filled the room. I picked up a pair of mittens, rubbing the softness against my cheek and inhaling the lanolin odor that lingered on the wool. “And matching hats? What do you do with all this?”

  Sadie laughed a deep comforting sound. “I didn’t knit all of these.” She waved her arm over the piles of hard work. “There are many women, and a couple of men, too, who knit every year for the mitten/hat tree at the library. Every child who needs new, warm mittens or a hat can choose what they want on Christmas Eve. No questions asked. The tree is already decorated, and these are the extras.”

  “I’ve seen that mitten tree, but I never knew where everything came from. Doesn’t it say from the North Pole on each tag?”

  “Of course.” Sadie chose a dark blue hat with reds, greens, and yellow flecks of color and pulled it over my auburn mess of curls. “You’re exactly right, Danielle. No one is supposed to know where the mittens and hats come from since we like to keep a little of the holiday spirit alive for the kids.”

  “Amazing.” I took the hat off and handed it back to Sadie.

  “Oh, no. I want you to have that one. It’s perfect for you and when I find a perfect match for one of my own creations, there’s nothing more satisfying than to see it with its new person.”

  I was stunned and stood looking at Sadie not knowing what to do or say with the hat warming my hand. Penny had just gifted me a beautiful hat at the open house. I absolutely loved this one, too, but shouldn’t I pay for it?

  “I know what you’re thinking, Danielle. If it makes you feel better, make a donation to the children’s library, from Santa. Isn’t that clever of me? But, that’s how I encourage donations to the library, which funds so many of the new books in the children’s section.”

  “Okay. And, I’ll spread the word. I think I know someone who will match those donations dollar for dollar.” Of course, I was thinking of Rose, who could never resist a good cause.

  Sadie clapped her hands together. “Alice told me you’re one of the true gems here in Misty Harbor.”

  I wasn’t sure I agreed with that. I only believed in doing my part to help others. That was just giving back, in my opinion.

  “On a slightly different subject.” I pulled out the mitten Pip found in the snow, “I’m hoping you can help me figure out who this might belong to.”

  Sadie took the mitten and turned it over in her hands. She even turned it inside out. “Ah ha, just as I thought. See this?” She pointed to a thin red strand of yarn woven around the ribbed cuff. “This doesn’t tell me who it belongs to, but it tells me that Penny knitted it. Ever since she started selling her work, she adds this trademark color so she can tell if someone tries to return something that she didn’t make.”

  “That’s terrible. There are people who’d do that?”

  “Honey, there are people who think of every angle to get away with a lie. Anyway, it’s safe to assume that someone bought that mitten and would love to have it back. Such a pity if you never find them. Ask Kelly. She might remember who bought them. The reindeer pattern on the rich dark red makes them very unique and distinctive.”

  “Good idea.” I tucked the mitten back in my pocket. It wasn’t the highest priority to find the owner when there was a murder to solve and get AJ out of jail.

  31

  I wore my new hat, even though it wasn’t particularly cold out, and thanked Sadie for her gift. The Chihuahuas came to see us off, each receiving a pat from me. Pip glanced back before the door closed as if to say, can’t we stay and play?

  “We’ll visit again, Pipster. That’s a promise.”

  It had turned into such a warm December day that I left my car in front of the Blue Moon Inn and decided to walk to the police station. Exercise and fresh air would help clear my head before I sat down for a talk with AJ.

  “Well, well, well, Pip. Look who’s heading in our direction? I guess AJ will have to wait for my visit.”

  “Mr. Glassman?” I stepped in front of Marion’s father so he’d have no choice but to stop and acknowledge my presence. I wasn’t about to waste this unexpected encounter to dig for some information.

  He stopped but said nothing, squinting like he was trying to place me. Before he made a connection that he might not like, I launched into an exaggerated gushing of his glassblowing expertise. His lips made a slight upward tick. It wasn’t much, but I counted it as a win.

  “Would you like to come into the Little Dog Diner for some coffee?”

  “It looks closed.” Apparently, Harry Glassman was a man of few words.

  I looped my arm through his. “It is, but…” leaning close like we were together in some sort of conspiracy, I said, “I’ll share a secret with you. It’s my business and my best friend is inside baking, so I’m sure she’ll share something with us to go along with that coffee.”

  Harry grimaced. “I hope her baking is better than that owner at the Blue Moon Inn. She put out some beautifully decorated cookies but when I took a bite,” he made a gagging noise, “I had to spit it out and take a walk. Your offer sounds…” he paused, “I’ll have coffee.”

  With Pip leading the way, we made it to the front door before he stopped and pulled away from me.

  “Now, I remember. You hosted the open house where my work was sold against my wishes. That thief, Nick North, won even though he’s dead.”

  I gave a gentle tug on Harry’s arm. “That’s exactly what I want to talk to you about—Nick North.” I was careful to keep it a neutral statement so he couldn’t accuse me of misleading him later.

  “Finally. Someone with some sense in this town,” Harry said. I couldn’
t help it if he assumed I was on his side in this matter.

  I pulled the door open and ushered Harry inside before he had another second to rethink that there could be another angle to my conversation.

  “Cozy place,” he said. “Why are you closed? This town could use more eating options.”

  I shrugged out of my parka and hat and moved to the counter. It was the friendliest place to chat. “Well, it’s like this. My fiancé has a blueberry farm and since it’s slow for him and winter is also slow at the diner at this time of year, we planned our wedding for Christmas Eve.”

  “I bet you didn’t count on a murder crashing the party.” Harry laughed and sat next to me.

  “You find it funny that Nick North was murdered?”

  “Not funny, I suppose. What goes around comes around, and Nick got what he deserved is how I feel about that dishonest thief.”

  Lily gave me a quizzical look, and I mimed taking a sip from a cup. She nodded, picked up a coffee carafe and carried that plus a plate filled with a variety of Christmas cookies to us. With great skill, she filled a cup and slid it in front of Harry.

  “Harry Glassman, I’d like to introduce you to the best baker in the state of Maine—Lily Lemay.”

  “Welcome to Misty Harbor, Mr. Glassman,” Lily said in her friendly tone.

  “You have to try something from Lily’s plate, or you risk hurting her feelings,” I said, pushing the plate closer to Harry. “I promise, you won’t be disappointed.”

  His hand hovered over the plate, then dropped onto a reindeer-shaped ginger cookie. “I’m partial to reindeer, you know.” He nibbled off one antler. A smile spread across his face as he pointed the cookie at me. “Now, this is what a delicious cookie should taste like.” He popped the rest in his mouth.

  Lily offered cream and sugar. “Please, help yourself to another cookie. I’ve been baking all morning.”

  I studied Harry while he enjoyed his coffee and cookies. In contrast to my previous couple of contacts with him when his manner was gruff and downright rude toward his daughter, now he acted relaxed and pleasant enough. What was it about Marion that annoyed him so much?

  “So, Harry,” I said, “I thought you’d be champing at the bit to get out of town as soon as possible. With Detective Crenshaw locked up, what’s keeping you here?”

  He set his cup down, a little harder than he should have. A bit of coffee sloshed over the edge. “Leave? Without what’s rightfully mine? I told Marion that I would stay here for as long as it took for that detective… what’s her name?”

  “Detective Jane Winter?”

  “Yeah, her. I can’t believe she allowed all those reindeer and Christmas trees to be sold last night. I’m thinking of suing her, not that I’d get my hard work back.”

  “But your daughter gave her permission to sell them. I was there and heard it myself.”

  He swiveled on the stool banging his knees into mine. “I don’t care what that foolish daughter of mine said. She had no right to make that decision. Nick North stole those items right out from under my nose. That’s the crime that I want solved.”

  “Nick North didn’t steal anything, Mr. Glassman. Marion contracted with him to sell your work. And Kelly Crenshaw has an agreement with Nick outlining her arrangement with him to sell the items at her gallery, Creative Designs. The best I can tell is that Nick North let everyone think he’d created the beautiful glass-blown items. That’s not exactly a crime. You need to talk to Marion and get this straightened out.”

  Harry’s mouth hung open as he stared at me, blinking in disbelief.

  “The crime that needs solving is finding who murdered Nick North.” I barreled on before I lost my audience. “And, it’s my understanding that you went out for a walk Sunday morning around the time Nick was murdered.”

  Harry Glassman grabbed hold of my arm so quickly, and with such force, I let out a scream.

  He pulled me close enough that his coffee breath enveloped me when he hissed, “What are you suggesting? Did you trick me into coming in here so you could accuse me of murdering that worthless criminal? You’re no better than that useless daughter of mine.”

  Pip jumped on Harry’s legs. With a good bit of his pant material in her mouth, she twisted her head back and forth, growling and yanking with all her might.

  Harry cursed and dropped the tight hold he had on my arm.

  The sudden release almost sent me flying backward off the stool, but I caught myself, turned, and darted around to the far side of the counter where Lily stood frozen in place. I grabbed her hand.

  Harry, focused on Pip, kicked his leg out. Pip held on even as she went airborne.

  “Pip! Leave it!” I commanded. She’d done her job—distracting him so I could get away.

  Harry turned his angry glare back to me. Sweat beaded under my layers of winter clothes.

  What now?

  32

  I stood with Lily on one side of the counter facing an outraged Harry Glassman after Pip’s assault.

  Pip, her eyes intent on every move Harry made, slowly backed away.

  “Harry,” I said, breaking the standoff, “did you find Nick yesterday morning, argue, and stab him with one of your precious reindeer?”

  Expecting another lunge in my direction, instead, Harry’s face broke into a laugh. “A reindeer killed the thief? Now I’ve heard everything. Apparently, they knew the enemy even if no one else figured it out. I’d call that the ultimate payback.” He grabbed another cookie and walked toward the door.

  What just happened?

  “Wait, Mr. Glassman.” I held my hand up, not that he could see it with his back to me. “Let’s assume you aren’t the murderer.”

  He turned around.

  I moved to the other side of the counter, patted my leg, and waited for Pip to sit next to me. “Let’s try to replay yesterday morning, okay?”

  Harry shrugged, but he stayed put.

  “You went out walking yesterday. Did you see any activity near Creative Designs? Any cars… people… anything?”

  He tilted his head toward the ceiling like he was trying to remember. “I didn’t notice anything in particular on my way out but when I headed back, I saw my daughter scurrying like a wounded mouse toward the Blue Moon Inn. I don’t know where she was coming from, but I suspected she’d been out looking for Nick. That made me angry. We’d argued before I took my walk, and she’d promised me that she was going to stay put at the Inn.”

  “What were you and Marion arguing about?”

  Harry waved the cookie through the air like he was swatting away an annoying mosquito. “I suppose it doesn’t matter at this point if I tell you since the police arrested the murderer. Marion told me that she was meeting Nick and promised to get all my work back. Make everything right. Well, that didn’t go how she planned, did it? She can’t do anything right.”

  I glanced at Lily who hadn’t moved a muscle through all this. Without turning her head, her eyes shifted to meet mine. She had to be thinking the same thing that screamed in my brain—did Harry realize that he’d just put his daughter at the scene of the crime?

  “You weren’t fond of Nick North, were you, Mr. Glassman?” I asked.

  Harry moved back toward the counter. I moved to the side to keep space, and Pip, between us. Just in case.

  Pip growled but it was such a low rumble, I wasn’t sure if Harry even heard it. If he did, he gave it no attention.

  He settled on one of the counter stools with a deep sigh. “Nick North. You know, I’d had high hopes for him when he showed up out of the blue. Very high hopes. I said he could observe my techniques. He was talented, a quick learner, but there was something I couldn’t put my finger on that didn’t seem right.”

  He ran his hand over his bristly chin. I noticed for the first time how his eyes had a deep sadness that he’d usually hidden quite well behind his wall of anger.

  “Marion took an immediate liking. Actually, it was more of an infatuation with the handsome
man. That was fine. I wanted Marion to be happy. Find a life of her own. She had this false idea that after her mother died, she had to stay and take care of her ‘old dad.’”

  I sat down a few seats away from him. Pip jumped onto a stool between Harry and me.

  “But, then, Nick’s true colors started to shine.” Harry rested his arms on the counter and his head sagged. Seemingly lost in his own world, I wondered if he’d forgotten that Lily and I were still here with him.

  As quickly as Harry had softened, he snapped his head up and looked at me with the dark piercing stare I was used to.

  Instinctively, I leaned away.

  Harry glanced at Pip almost like he wanted to apologize to her when he said, “Nick barked at Marion if she wasn’t quick enough serving our coffee. Or, he spent hours on his phone talking to someone. From the bits and pieces I overheard, I suspected he was talking to a woman he was involved with. That infuriated me more than anything. I wondered how my daughter could be so blind about this man.”

  “You could have been wrong,” Lily suggested in a quiet voice. She had a good point since Harry only heard one side of the phone conversations and only parts of that at best.

  “There’s more,” he said. “One day when Marion and Nick had gone somewhere, a woman showed up. She was all riled up and told me that she had to talk to Nick. After much drama, she said they were in a relationship and she hoped to marry him when his paid apprenticeship was over. Apprenticeship? I asked her. I had no idea what she was talking about.”

  “Maybe this woman was lying,” I said, giving her the benefit of the doubt even though there was something believable about Harry’s story.

  “Ha. I don’t think so. She said, with a little bit of awe, you’re the famous glassblower, Harry Glassman. I nodded to her, and she said that Nick told her he had the privilege of being chosen by me for a six-month apprenticeship. Well, I was struck dumbfounded by that. I told her she had the wrong information, but she insisted and pulled out a copy of the letter I’d supposedly sent to Nick detailing the terms of this nonexistent apprenticeship.”