A Crafter Knits a Clue

by Holly Quinn

  “I saw. I was there this morning.”

  “You were?” Ellie leaned across the table. “How is it possible you’ve witnessed two tragic scenes in one week?”

  “Call it my kind of luck? I guess…”

  The waitress came and set the wine glasses in front of them. “Sticks will be out in a sec,” she said over her shoulder. Before she rushed from the table, Sammy caught her attention, “You look familiar. Did you just start working here?” The girl’s highlighted hair and freckled nose reminded Sammy of someone she had known back in high school, but she couldn’t place the face.

  “Yes, I’m taking a break from college. Not sure yet exactly what I want to do with the rest of my life. So here I am, back with the parents,” she shrugged.

  “What’s your name?”

  “Rene Gallagher.”

  “You must be Gabe Gallagher’s little sister?”

  Her green eyes widened in surprise. “How did you know that?”

  “We went to school with your older brother.” She pointed to Ellie and then back to herself.”

  Ellie chimed in, “Yes all the girls at school had a crush on your brother, including yours truly,” she admitted easily, her face immediately flushing red.

  Seeing the crowd filling in, the waitress said, “Nice meeting you all. I’ve got to get back to work before I get fired,” she chortled before quickly moving from the table.

  From the corner of her eye, Sammy thought she saw Heidi moving toward them. She turned her head and did a double take. Her normally blonde cousin was now a light brunette. It was a welcomed change.

  Heidi bounced toward them animatedly. “Whatcha think, girls?” She tossed her head from side to side, letting soft waves fall to her shoulders.

  “Stunning,” Sammy said. “Absolutely stunning.”

  “I have to agree,” Ellie nodded. “You look great.” She took a sip of wine.

  Heidi’s confident smile widened. “Thanks.” She glanced at the table and noted only two glasses. “Where’s mine?”

  “You said to start without you,” Ellie interjected. “Here she comes now,” Ellie gave the waitress a wave and pointed to the table. “Can we have one more glass of Pinot?” Rene bobbed her head in acknowledgment and kept moving past them toward another table.

  Sammy grasped her cousin by the arm as soon as Heidi slipped into the seat beside her in the booth. “Were you in the ER this morning?”

  “Yes, and I knew you would ask me about it. I’m assuming you want to know about the coach from the high school basketball team?” Heidi flipped her hair to one side. “Due to patient confidentiality, all I can tell you is the coach will survive. But he’s going to be in a world of hurt for a bit yet. He did get admitted today. He’ll be in the hospital a few days … maybe more.” Her face grimaced and Sammy knew he must not be doing very well.

  “I can’t believe it.” Sammy shook her head.

  “Can you believe she was there. At another major tragic event?” Ellie pointed to her sister, and Heidi turned her attention toward Sammy.

  “You were a witness?” Heidi asked.

  “Not exactly … I was inside the bank when the actual accident occurred. Although I shouldn’t call it an accident. It was intentional.”

  “Oh, I hadn’t heard that,” Ellie leaned in. “You mean someone did this on purpose?”

  “Yes, Ellie, that’s exactly what I mean.”

  The two focused on Heidi when she said, “The new detective was at the hospital this morning talking with Coach, but I’m not sure if he actually knew or saw what hit him. He’s drugged up at the moment, so it’s hard to say. I don’t think the police are looking at Coach as a suspect anymore, especially not after this. At least now the injured man has one thing going for him; he’s no longer blamed for his aunt’s demise.”

  “I’m sure Sammy will find out. She had a date with the detective last night.” Ellie pointed accusingly at her.

  “And here we go again.” Sammy huffed. “It was certainly not a date.” She overemphasized the word, but it was still enough to catch Heidi’s attention.

  “Date, huh? I did get a good look at him for the first time. Kind of cute.” Heidi nudged Sammy’s arm.

  The waitress came and set a plate of steaming mozzarella sticks in front of them.

  “Perfect timing. Girls, please stuff your mouths with melted cheese!” Sammy hoped it would take the focus off her and the detective and whatever it was that had brought them together last night. She really didn’t want to discuss it a minute longer.

  “Back to the coach’s accident…” Ellie said. “I did hear that the assistant, Dave, was vying for his job. These championship games are a big deal. Scouts coming in from the Big Ten schools and all. It’s a huge deal. Kids get scouted at these games, and Dave’s son is quite the player. Coach hasn’t been giving him enough game time either, from what I hear.”

  Sammy took that bit of information in but stayed silent. She didn’t want them to know how invested she was in solving this mystery.

  Heidi stole a mozzarella stick from the plate and dipped it in the nearby marinara sauce before taking a bite, and Sammy joined her. Ellie, on the other hand, sat looking at the plate as if trying to decide.

  “Have one, before they’re gone.” Sammy pushed the plate in her sister’s direction.

  “You guys don’t understand. It’s not as easy for me to keep the weight off. Especially after giving birth. I’m still not back to my normal weight.” Ellie frowned.

  Heidi shook her head from side to side. “The boy’s two years old! Good God, if that’s the case, I’m never having kids.”

  Ellie shrugged resignedly.

  “Do you know how many miles on the treadmill it takes to counteract one of these?” Sammy held up the fried stick of cheese.

  “You two are depressing me.” Heidi rolled her eyes. “I’m hungry, and I’ll eat the entire plate if you guys are suddenly worried about your weight. Sorry. This seems to be a new concept to you two. I’ve never heard such complaining before. We’ve eaten these since we were kids.” She pointed to the plate.

  “That’s because you don’t have to worry about it, Heidi. You never gain weight. It’s disgusting.” Ellie huffed.

  “Maybe it’s because I’m on my feet all day!” she shot back.

  “Are you insinuating I’m not on my feet all day?” Ellie’s eyes bore into her cousins.

  “Girls … Girls!” Sammy, exasperated, took a bite. “White flag!” she tossed her white napkin on the table. “No more weight talk.”

  Ellie folded her arms across her chest and pouted. Sammy wondered if she had crossed her arms to help deter herself from reaching out and devouring the plate of cheese.

  Sammy changed the subject and focused on her cousin. “What has Tim told you about the investigation?”

  Heidi wiped her lips with a napkin to remove the excess sauce that had trickled from the side of her mouth. “I know you guys think my boyfriend is just a big goof. However, he takes his job very seriously and doesn’t really share information with me.”

  Sammy and Ellie exchanged glances. Between the three of them, only one of them saw Tim as professional. They kept their opinions to themselves, but evidently, Heidi knew what they really thought. The sisters often wondered what the couple had in common. But Heidi seemed happy, and that was enough for them.

  “He didn’t say one word to you?” Sammy pressed.

  “He stopped in at the hospital today but didn’t say that much to me about the accident, or whatever it was.” She zipped her lips with her fingers as if she was closing them shut and tossed the key.

  The waitress approached the table, set a glass of wine in front of Heidi and then stood expectantly with a pad and paper. “You ladies know what you want?”

  The three exchanged glances and Ellie spoke up, “We haven’t even looked at the menu yet, but I’ll have a salad with ranch dressing on the side please.”

  “I’ll have a burger with fries, medi
um well please,” Heidi added to the order.

  “Same for me,” Sammy said. “Not the salad … the burger.” She winked at Heidi, and Ellie huffed audibly.

  Heidi snatched the last mozzarella stick off the plate before the waitress removed it from the table. “I’ll be back shortly with your order.”

  “Thanks,” the three said in unison just like they had when they were kids. They all laughed aloud. Sometimes they acted like triplets.

  “We need to do this more often,” Ellie said. “I do miss you guys. Our lives are way too busy. Sitting here with you both brings me back to our childhood.”

  “Yeah, and missy over here is playing S.H.E. again.” Heidi flung a finger in Sammy’s direction.

  “I’m not playing anything. This is serious.” Sammy set down her glass of wine and her eyes darted between the two. “We have a real problem in this town. And we need to get to the bottom of it. A woman was murdered! Right here in little ole Heartsford!”

  “What do we know so far?” Ellie’s eyebrows furrowed, and she leaned in closer.

  “Oh, no. Not you too.” Heidi said. “You guys need to leave this to the professionals. And stop the kids play.”

  “Well, for one,” Sammy started, as she purposely ignored her cousin, “there are several people with motive.”

  “Like who? Spill it. Don’t hold anything back,” Ellie encouraged.

  Heidi just looked at the two of them and shook her head in disgust.

  “It could be Larry. Ingrid was trying to get him kicked off the school board.”

  Ellie waved her off. “That’s weak. It’s not him. Totally old news. Honestly, I don’t think he’d care if he got kicked off. He’d rather be out at the bar anyway.”

  “Gee, I don’t know. Maybe there’s more to the school board thing. What’s a weak motive to you may not be to him? The school board could be really important to Larry. Who knows? Maybe he doesn’t realize the townspeople know he’s a drunk. Being the school board president makes him look important and well received in the community. That’s extremely important to some people.”

  “What else have you got?” Ellie pushed.

  “Harold wanted to open a hardware store, and Ingrid beat his proposal at the bank and opened The Yarn Barn instead.”

  “Now that could be a plausible motive. I always thought that guy had a screw loose,” Heidi cheeped before taking a sip of wine.

  Sammy felt encouraged by her cousin’s addition to the conversation. “Actually, I found out a really interesting tidbit this week about Ingrid too.”

  The three all leaned in as Sammy encouraged them to bring their circle closer. “Did you know Ingrid was in a car accident years ago that caused a fatality?”

  Ellie sucked a breath. “Now that’s big.”

  Heidi nodded in agreement. “That is big. I didn’t know that. How did you find that out?”

  “Purely by accident really. Someone dropped a necklace in the craft room, and I had it in the lost and found…”

  “Go on,” Ellie encouraged, but Sammy noticed the food arriving and leaned back in the booth.

  The waitress set the salad in front of Ellie. “I’ll be right back with your burgers.” Rene said and left them in a hurry once again.

  Ellie set her salad aside to wait for the rest of the food to arrive. “Go on. You might be onto something here.”

  “I can’t believe you’re encouraging her.” Heidi flipped her newly coiffed hair over her shoulder with a finger. “This is dangerous. Two in one family?” she hissed to them in a loud whisper. “It’s not cool.”

  “The woman that came in and claimed the locket, I’ve seen her maybe a handful of times in the store … never in the craft room though,” Sammy continued. “No way she could commit a crime at her age. I just don’t see how she could physically do it.”

  Ellie leaned on the table and rested her chin on a closed fist. “Who else has a motive?”

  “Douglas mentioned the knitting group had issues with her. But I didn’t get much from that today when I was eavesdropping.” Sammy admitted.

  “You need to let this go.” Heidi was adamant. “Whoever is doing this in broad daylight in front of the police station has a set of big ones, if you know what I mean.” Her eyes were wide, and her manicured eyebrows danced up and down.

  Heidi’s reference made them all giggle like teenagers.

  “Big ones?” Ellie laughed. “Really? You’re too funny.” She put her wine glass down for fear she was laughing too hard to take a drink, and it would come out her nose. “Heidi’s right though, Sam, you should back off. It’s dangerous,” she added in a more serious tone.

  “I can’t let it go. I’ve seen too much, and I’m too involved. You guys don’t understand.”

  “So, who is it? Colonel Mustard in the conservatory with a candle stick?” Ellie mocked.

  “Very funny.” Sammy gave her sister a dagger look. She wasn’t laughing—the jokes were officially over.

  Ellie kept at it, “Actually, wasn’t it Professor Plum with a knitting needle? Yikes! Sooo … gross. It couldn’t have been premeditated? If it was, wouldn’t they have used a better weapon?”

  Heidi nodded in agreement. “She’s right about that. If you wanted to kill someone, wouldn’t you be better prepared? Like with a gun or something? A knitting needle? It had to be a last-minute hit.”

  “I can’t believe you guys. A woman has been murdered. And you’re poking fun.” Sammy was incredulous.

  “Did you hear what she just said? Poking fun? As in poking … with a needle. Ha ha!” Heidi’s eyes were watering from laughter. Or maybe the wine was hitting her empty stomach. Either way, Sammy couldn’t believe the goings on at their table.

  “What happened to Ingrid is tragic. If I took the time to think about the fact that there is a killer on the loose in our small town, I wouldn’t be able to get out of bed in the morning for fear my sweet baby Tyler would be in danger. Cracking jokes … it’s just the way some of us cope.”

  Heidi leaned over and placed her hand on top of Sammy’s. “We understand that this isn’t child’s play. It’s dangerous, and you need to stay out of it. How about that?” she said with firm finality.

  Ellie nodded. “Heidi’s absolutely right, Samantha, and you know it. Let the professionals handle it.”

  Sammy hated when her sister used her formal name, it made her sound like their mother. Sammy sat back in the booth and decided to remain silent. The two sitting next to her were clueless. Someone had to get to the bottom of this investigation. Even if she had to do her undercover work solo. She was going to find out who killed Ingrid Wilson and why.

  Chapter Twelve

  Early Wednesday morning, Sammy still couldn’t erase the murder of Ingrid Wilson from her mind. She decided the walk to work might help clear her head, but it wasn’t long enough. The cloudless morning, a first after many months of gray, caused her to want to extend their walk after reaching Community Craft. After checking her watch, she decided she had time to meander along the river walk that snaked through the downtown area. A volunteer group of master gardeners that met semi-monthly in the craft room of Community Craft handled the landscape along the path that hugged the river. Sammy was extra happy that morning that she had offered the space for their meetings as she noted the bright yellow daffodils with their faces pointed to the sun. The deep purple hyacinths stood proudly beside them for an eye-catching contrast. Soon there would be hanging baskets full of multicolored petunias and ivy along the light posts downtown to prepare for Spring Fling. She would have to compliment the volunteers at their next meeting. They did such an impressive job keeping the town of Heartsford colored with beauty. Sammy tried to focus on the moment and breathe in the serenity around her. Bara seemed to enjoy the extra long walk as he sniffed along the path, taking it all in. It had been a long winter for them both; Sammy even allowed him the slight indulgence of chasing a squirrel. As the leash extended to its farthest point though, she gave a quick jerk of the l
eather strap to remind him of their journey. He turned his head as if to say, Come on … I was so close, but then he acquiesced and sauntered back to the path, his furry hips moving at a comfortable pace.

  As Sammy turned the corner in the direction of the small covered bridge, Mayor Allen jogged toward her. Dressed in full workout gear, he stopped just long enough to take a swig from his water bottle. Despite his advanced years, and full head of silver hair, he was in much better shape than most his age.

  “Good morning, Sunshine Sam,” He gestured toward the sun that had finally made an appearance. “Isn’t it a beautiful morning?” Ever since she and Kate had been friends, Kate’s father had a special nickname that he alone used; he called her Sunshine Sam, and the name had stuck with her into adulthood.

  “It sure is, Mayor Allen,” Sammy grinned and reached for him as he pulled her into his tall frame for a hug.

  “Don’t mind the sweat,” he laughed as he released her. “It’s good to see you.”

  “You as well. I don’t want to interrupt your workout, but I do want to know how Carter has been holding up. He hasn’t been working in the store lately because he’s been so busy with the upcoming big games. I can’t help but feel concerned. Especially after the last few days events.”

  “It’s not an interruption. It’s a pleasure to talk with you. Ever since Kate left us, I feel so lucky that Carter has you in his life. I know you don’t replace his sister, but I don’t know what he would have done without you, Sunshine. Honestly, I don’t know what any of us would have done,” he added sincerely as he gave her shoulder a fatherly squeeze. “Carter’s doing well considering the circumstances. He’s deeply focused on working hard for Assistant Coach Dave. They all want to bring this one home for Coach. You understand.”

  “Yeah. I know.” Sammy nodded in agreement. “I’m going to see if Ellie can come by and take over the store, so I can catch a few of the games too. I promised Carter I would. I’d especially like to come on his birthday.”

  “That would mean so much to our family if you could. Especially Carter. I can’t believe our baby is going to be eighteen on Friday.” Mayor Allen bent down and gave Bara a pat on the head as the puppy begged for attention. “What a sweet dog you have here, Sunshine,” he smiled. “I bet he’s great company.” He took another swig from his water bottle before kneeling to retie a shoelace that had come undone.