by Holly Quinn
“Where do we go from here?” Ellie laid her hand against her face.
“I found out another possible motive for murder.”
“Seriously? Nooo.” Ellie put her other hand on her face, so now both cheeks were covered.
Sammy looked at her sister and laughed, “You look like the kid from Home Alone.”
Ellie dropped her hands sheepishly and laughed along with her sister. “Okay, don’t hold back. Tell me the new motive. This just gets more interesting by the minute.” She shook her head in disbelief.
Sammy became increasingly encouraged that her sister was no longer backing away from the idea of talking about the crime. “Antique pure ivory knitting needles. Could be just a rumor. Or Ingrid’s way of trying to impress the tightly knit knitters. Because according to Annabelle, nobody in the group has seen them. So, I guess it’s our job to find out if they truly exist and, if so, if they were in her possession before her death.”
“Holy cow. I wonder what something like that is worth?”
“Priceless to the right bidder, for sure. You can’t buy them anywhere. It’s like finding something from the Titanic … Truly unique.”
“I can’t believe it. That woman had more secrets than the tooth fairy.” Ellie sat on the edge of the office desk, bent her elbow, and rested her chin on her fist.
“Tooth fairy? You are definitely spending too much time in toddler mode.” Sammy laughed and then changed the subject. “I think we should call Heidi. Don’t you think another S.H.E. meeting might be in order? What do you say?” Sammy reached for the phone and pulled it closer. “Since Tyler has a play date maybe Randy can take over for a little while after that? Plus, I don’t have a car. I’m going to need a ride anyway. Please don’t make me beg.” Sammy held up the phone, waiting for the formal approval before dialing. “We have to go back to Ingrid’s house. Tonight. After the knitting club disbands.”
Ellie smiled and reached her arm out in front of her with a closed fist. The non-verbal sign for their childhood club, S.H.E., presented front and center.
Before Ellie changed her mind, Sammy dialed Heidi’s phone number.
Sammy pressed the speaker button, and Ellie said, “Hey, Heidi, don’t make plans for tonight. We have another S.H.E. mission.” Her lips curled upward in a smile.
Chapter Twenty-Six
After dropping Bara home, Ellie and Sammy headed to the restaurant to retrieve their late dinner. Ellie parked the car while Sammy ran into the Corner Grill to pick up the takeout order. They decided they would eat their burgers on the ride to Ingrid’s house, where Heidi would meet up with them to further investigate the antique knitting needles motive. As Sammy turned from the counter with a full paper bag of food in her hands, she knocked right into none other than Larry Bergeson, the Heartsford School Board President.
“Excuse me,” Larry said. His blond hair was disheveled, as if he’d just woken up from a nap. “Oh, it’s you. Samantha Kane from Community Craft.” He ruffled his hair with one hand, which only led to an even worse appearance. “How are you?”
“Oh, hey, Larry.” Sammy was standing close to the man, eyeing his height to see if it was possible he was indeed the green-faced villain. She couldn’t be sure as he was leaning on the pickup counter waiting for his order of food. If only he would stand up straight!
Larry turned from the counter, leaned his arm to brace himself, and eyed her with the bag of food, obviously suspicious of why she was still standing there. After a few moments, he asked, “Do you sell gift certificates for classes at your shop? My wife’s birthday is coming up soon, and I thought a gift certificate for a craft class to get her out of the house might be a good gift idea.”
Sammy was listening carefully to the sound of his voice. If only she could get him to talk with helium. Then maybe she might be able to distinguish if it was really him who had warned her. And that disheveled hair, would all of that fit in that pointy purple hat?
“Well, do you? Sell gift certificates?”
“Oh, sure. We can do that. Just stop in and ask whoever is working the counter. We have a new employee at Community Craft. She volunteers at the school. Deborah is her name. You may actually know her…” Sammy was desperately trying to keep the conversation going and was completely running out of things to say to the man. Her brain was on overdrive. She wished she could just hook him up to a lie detector and be done with it already.
“I don’t volunteer at the school. I’m on the board,” he corrected.
“Yes, of course. You probably don’t know Deborah then.” Sammy shook her head in agreement. “Anyhow. Stop in anytime, and we’ll be happy to help you with your wife’s birthday present. I think it’s a lovely idea. We have so many crafts she could choose to learn. Great pastime, especially to get through our long Wisconsin winters. Well, we’re coming into spring now. But she could certainly use it for next winter…” Why was she stumbling over her words?
Larry nodded, then turned and directed his attention to his food, which was just arriving at the pick-up counter.
Sammy walked out the door of the eatery disappointed that she hadn’t been able to figure out whether Larry might have been the disguised man. Could it have been him? It was certainly plausible. But she just wasn’t sure. Not only that, but could he capable of killing Ingrid? He sure had a lot to lose … including his reputation if she had pressed charges.
Sammy opened the passenger side of Ellie’s car and handed the food inside. She slipped into the passenger seat, and Ellie pulled away from the curb while she clicked on the seatbelt.
“Well, that was interesting.” Sammy plucked the bag of takeout from her sister’s lap.
“Did they not have the food ready? It sure took you awhile. I figured since we were so late picking it up they gave up on us and had to throw new burgers on the grill.”
“No, it wasn’t that. I just ran into School Board Larry.”
“Oh, boy. How’d that go? Did you ask him if he was at the parade? Did you bring up the incident?”
“No, I wouldn’t dare, especially not knowing how he might react? You know, I was trying to figure out if he could have been the man in the costume that day. Maybe I should have asked him directly about the parade.” Sammy pulled a burger from the paper bag, removed the paper covering and handed it to her sister while she drove.
“It’s all right. Did you come to any conclusions?”
“No. Nothing definitive.” Sammy pulled a French fry from the bag and said, “Sorry it took so long to pick up the food. You may not like these. They’re kind of cold.” She tossed the limp fry back into the bag.
“No problem. I’ll skip the fries and just go for this.” Ellie took a small bite of the burger and balanced it with one hand while she kept the other hand on the steering wheel. “Heidi texted about ten minutes ago while you were in the restaurant. She said she was just leaving the hospital.”
“Good deal,” Sammy said between mouthfuls of food. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was; even the cold burger was filling the need.
The two ate in silence for the rest of the ride to Ingrid’s. When they pulled into the long driveway, they noticed Heidi had already arrived and was waiting in her parked car. Sammy picked up the trash from their meal, shoved it into the paper bag, and wiped a dollop of ketchup from her mouth. She crumpled the bag and dropped the trash by her feet before exiting the vehicle. The sun had dropped in the western sky leaving a haze of pinkish purple across the horizon.
“It’ll be dark soon. We should hurry. Randy’s going to have a fit if I keep you out late every night.” Sammy rushed to Heidi’s car and knocked on the driver’s side window. Heidi was in her own world, texting on her phone. She held up one finger, signaling to wait, without her eyes leaving the glowing screen.
Sammy moved away from Heidi’s car and walked up to the front entrance of the Lannon stone house and opened the wooden door with the key. Ellie followed behind after giving Heidi a “hurry up” cue, banging on Heidi’s car w
indow with her fist.
Heidi met the sisters just inside the doorway. “What did I miss? I guess we’re not here this late in the day just to pack up more of Ingrid’s clothes for donation?”
“You’re right about that. We’re officially on assignment!” Ellie closed the door behind her cousin.
“But before we get into it, how’s Coach?” Sammy regarded her cousin.
“He came out of surgery and is now in recovery. Time will tell. But so far, it sounds like the surgery went well. Hopefully, in a few days, you can visit with him and bring him up to speed on things here. I’d give it a few days, though; he’s pretty heavily medicated.”
“Thanks for the update.”
“What are we looking for?” Heidi flipped on the entryway light before following the sisters into the formal living room.
“Antique knitting needles that are apparently very rare and priceless.” Sammy flipped over the folded afghans stacked on the sofa to see if there was a chance of finding them deep inside the pile.
“You’re not going to find them over there,” Ellie scolded her sister. “I’m sure she didn’t knit with them if they’re that priceless!”
“Interesting,” Heidi moved to the fireplace mantel and looked at the bulky white candles flanking an intricate replica of a tall ship. The off-white mast stood a few feet tall. “I wonder how she got her hands on antique knitting needles.”
Sammy looked up to see her cousin eying the contents of the fireplace mantel. “I don’t know, but you may be on to something over there! The knitting needles belonged to a sea captain’s wife at one time; at least that’s what Annabelle mentioned. Any chance they’re in that model of a tall ship? It sure looks big enough to hold a few measly needles.” Sammy rushed to her cousin’s side and examined the replica with her own eyes. The two carefully lifted the ship off the mantel for a closer look. Sammy held it while Heidi craned her neck to view the underbelly of the ship.
“I don’t see anywhere that she could have put them. The bottom is pretty smooth.” Heidi ran her hand along the polished wood.
The two examined every inch of the ship and came up empty. “Good thought though. If I were going to hide something I think I’d put it there. We need to stay on that line of thought.” Sammy tapped her index finger to her temple.
Ellie opened the side drawer of an antique mahogany desk. The appearance of brass hardware gave the impression of heirloom quality, passed down through many generations. Enclosed in the main drawer were other hidden drawers, and Ellie’s excitement escalated. “Maybe they’re in here!” she said as she dug into the new, hidden compartments within the desk. After several minutes of searching though, Ellie too came up empty. “It’s just a bunch of office supplies. Tape, stapler, paper, a rubber band roll full of pens. Very disappointing.” She huffed as she slapped a small spiral notebook back into the desk drawer.
“All right. Let’s put our S.H.E. heads together,” Sammy encouraged. “If you owned something rare and valuable, where would you hide it?”
The three stood in silence and pondered.
Heidi piped up. “I’d put it with the rest of my valuables. Wouldn’t you? A specific place where I kept what’s most important to me.”
“Okay?” Sammy asked. “Where do you keep your valuables?”
“My underwear drawer of course!” Heidi laughed. “I guess I don’t have that much that’s valuable. But my thongs are very important to me.”
Ellie laughed, and Sammy said. “That’s exactly not what I wanted to hear.”
“To be honest, I already packed Ingrid’s underwear drawer when we were here last time. I didn’t find anything of value besides large cotton panties.”
Sammy rolled her eyes. “This isn’t getting us anywhere.”
“Wait a minute.” Ellie held up a finger. “What if the knitting needles were put in the same place where you found the safe? Do you think it’s possible you missed something in the closet?”
Sammy nodded her head. “Sure, anything’s possible. Let’s go double check!”
The three trudged up the now familiar staircase and walked directly into Ingrid’s master bedroom. When Sammy flipped on the light, a gasp caught in her throat, and she threw her hand up to cover her mouth.
“What is it?” Heidi asked.
“I didn’t leave the closet door open!” Sammy eased toward the closet and dropped down to her knees. She crawled to the laundry chute door, which was ajar, which was not the way she had left it. She was one hundred percent positive she had fastened it tight. She then retreated out of the closet to face the others. “Someone else has been here.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The three cousins stood in Ingrid Wilson’s master bedroom unsure quite how to proceed.
“Heidi, you were the last one in Ingrid’s bedroom with me. You remember I closed it, right?” Sammy pointed to the closet door and then dropped her arm to her side.
“Yeah. I think so? I’m not sure, to be honest. If someone has been here though, how did they get in the house? Didn’t you say Coach gave you the only key?” Heidi’s manicured brows came together in a deep frown.
“Yes. That’s exactly what he told me.” Sammy nodded. “He was adamant. He wanted to be sure I didn’t lose his only key.”
“So far we haven’t seen any evidence of a break-in. Are you sure you closed the door on the laundry chute?” Ellie touched her sister’s arm to break her reverie. “Maybe you just forgot?”
“I’m one hundred percent positive I closed both doors. The laundry chute door and the closet door!” Sammy gestured toward the closet and then breathed deeply while placing her hands on her hips.
“Maybe it was the detective? Didn’t Nash say they were coming back to investigate further?” Heidi pulled her cell phone from her back pocket and held it in her hand.
“Yes, but he would have called me for the key. He knew the coach was in surgery and that he would have had to get the key from me. Supposedly I’m the only one to have one.”
“I think we should call Detective Nash right away and verify that. Don’t you think?” Heidi held up the phone, waiting for permission from S and E to call.
“Looks like we have no other choice,” Ellie said in agreement.
“Crap.” Sammy threw her hands up in surrender. “Fine.” She plucked her own phone from her pocket and hit the detective’s number on speed dial. After he had suggested that she never dialed his cell, she had programmed his number into her phone.
“Nash.”
“Hey, yeah, hi … This is Samantha Kane calling.”
“Ohhh, so you do have my cell phone number,” he teased. Sammy could tell by his tone he was smiling and she was glad she had caught him in a good mood. “Yes, your car is ready for pickup. Unfortunately, it wasn’t ready before the service station closed because we still had a bit more work to do. Sorry about that. You can pick it up tomorrow when they open. I was just going to call you and let you know there was nothing major found in our investigation of your car other than what you already know—the tracer and cut gas line. I think it could have been a lot worse. We did have some concerns about the emergency brake line. There were minor cuts, as if the perp wanted to cut the line but it was too much effort. It’s fixed, and it should be safe to drive. I’d be happy to give you a ride to the station in the morning if you need it?”
“Believe it or not, my car is not the reason I’m calling.”
“Pardon?”
“Any chance you’ve been over at the Wilson property? Like recently?”
“Ingrid’s house? Nope. Not a chance. The coach said if I needed to get the key I should contact you. We spoke before his surgery. However, you promised you would call me if you were going over there again. I’m guessing you didn’t do a very respectable job of keeping that promise.”
Sammy could hear his annoyance, so she decided to get right to the point, “Never mind that. I think we have a problem.” Her eyes bounced from her sister to Heidi. She clicked t
he phone to speaker. “Ellie and Heidi are with me. Say hello if you want. I just put you on speaker so everyone can hear what you have to say about this.” She held the phone out so everyone could take part in the conversation.
“Good evening, ladies. To what do I owe the honor of the call?”
“We’re here at Ingrid’s, and it looks like someone has been in her bedroom,” Heidi said.
“Besides us,” Ellie added.
“Why? What have you observed to make you think that?”
“The closet door was open, and the door to the laundry chute where I pulled out the safe was open. Both were closed tight when we left last time. I’m positive I shut them.” Sammy nodded.
“I’ll be right over. I might bring Tim with me. I think he’s on duty tonight.”
“He is,” Heidi confirmed.
“Be there in a bit. Don’t touch anything and keep your cell phones close.” He clicked off the call, and as an act of defiance, Sammy tossed her cell phone on the expansive bed.
“Now what?” Ellie asked.
“I think we continue to search while we wait,” Heidi suggested. “Better than just sitting around.”
“Good idea. Ellie, you stay in here but keep out of the closet in case the detective needs to dust for prints or something. Heidi, you check out the craft room, and I’ll search the doll room,” Sammy directed.
Ellie gave an audible sigh of relief. “Yeah, I’ll stay in the master bedroom. I’ll take anything over that creepy doll room! Good luck with that.”
The three fanned out into the various rooms to continue their search for the elusive knitting needles.
As Sammy stepped into the doll room, she began to understand Ellie’s apprehension. A certain creepiness was a nice way of putting it. The way the dolls were displayed on the shelves made it feel as if hundreds of eyes were watching her. All the dolls stood on rows of what appeared to be bleachers rising in multiple levels; there had to be hundreds of them. Some of the dolls were clothed in handmade dresses. Sammy recognized as the work of a local seamstress who sold her creations at Community Craft. It was about the only thing in the room that brought Sammy comfort. She took a deep breath and then stepped forward. The closet on one end of the room caught her attention. She walked over and snapped open the door. Boxes of brand new dolls, still in their packages, stuffed the closet full. Empty boxes, from the dolls that stood on display, were stacked on the left side of the closet. Sammy couldn’t believe her eyes. The woman was an organized hoarder. At that moment, she decided she would talk to the coach about the collection. So many less fortunate children could receive a new doll still in the box for Christmas. She was sure he would agree. This was a complete waste. Sammy dropped to one knee and dug through the closet, but from what she could see, it seemed like it was only filled with doll boxes. Could it be a suitable place to hide the antique needles? She didn’t think anyone had taken the time to empty the closet to look. It was too perfectly packed. She decided to abandon the doll room for the moment and return to the others. Doll eyes followed her as she shuffled quickly out the door.
