A Crafter Knits a Clue

by Holly Quinn

  “You really need to learn how to mind your business,” Gary spat. “Always sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong. When are you going to learn? I guess I’m going to have to teach you the hard way.” Gary pinched her arm a little tighter, making her squeal out in pain.

  Sammy eyed something along the path that might help her escape. Abruptly, she pulled her body sharply to the right, practically pulling her own arm out of its socket. Her plan worked. Gary tripped over a tree root that jutted above ground from a large maple, and for just a moment, he lost his grasp on Sammy.

  Sammy’s adrenaline kicked into overdrive. She leaped over the tree root with an athletic ease she didn’t know she had and took off running in the opposite direction of the expansive woods. Branches slapped her face and tore at her flesh as she fought to retrace the path back to the edge of the forest and the open field of grass. She ran as fast as her five-foot legs could carry her. But Gary had caught his balance and was chasing her, making considerable progress. There was no way her short legs could ever outrun his long ones. Her heart was beating like a speeding freight train from the exertion, and she thought she might collapse and suffer a heart attack. He was gaining on her, and just when she thought he might be able to reach her, Sammy found herself running right into the arms of Liam Nash.

  Detective Liam Nash must have seen the alarm on Sammy’s face because he looked at her with deep concern before shoving her aside to chase after Gary. “Stop! Police!” he yelled. But that was not going to stop Gary Dixon. Gary’s fear of capture sent him fast and furious in the other direction as he galloped for the thick pine woods at full speed.

  Sammy felt she could cry or heave at a moment’s notice. She wasn’t sure which would come first, the tears or her partially digested coffee. She leaned forward, bent at the waist, and rested her hands on her knees as she tried desperately to catch her breath. When she finally stood upright, she noticed her cousin’s boyfriend had appeared from the other direction. Gary, cornered between Tim and Detective Nash, threw up his hands in defeat. She watched as Tim tackled Gary to the ground. Tim’s solid frame covered the perpetrator as he cuffed his hands behind his back and instantly lifted him back on his feet with such ease it made Gary look like a ragdoll.

  Sammy followed the officers to the front yard and maneuvered her way through the rummage sale tables and the newly formed rubber-necking crowd to stand alone on the sidewalk by the police car’s flashing lights.

  Innocent bystanders dropped their items for purchase and followed the offender with their eyes as Tim briskly escorted Gary to the squad car. Many stood with their mouths agape as the arrest of one of the townspeople unfolded right in front of them.

  Detective Liam Nash stood beside Sammy on the sidewalk. She reached for the detective’s hand and laced her fingers through his. His face lit in surprise from the sudden intimacy. But she didn’t care.

  Sammy led the detective away, to the safety of his parked Honda. Before they crossed the street and reached his car, she dropped his hand and turned to face him. “How did you know I was here?”

  “Brady Street. I knew you wouldn’t let that go.” He winked. “Tim was on patrol, so I sent him over to check on you. He saw your friend with the Chevy Malibu and ran the full license plate. There’s a warrant for his arrest in Illinois, for not sticking to his probation rules—we had him picked up already.”

  Sammy noticed Gary’s parents gathering with Greta on the front lawn, where they were watching the events unfold with deep sadness. The Dixon family’s lives were about to change forever. Sammy breathed in the fresh air, knowing Gary wouldn’t be breathing it for a very long time.

  Before Tim had a chance to place the perpetrator into the backseat of the police car, Gary’s eyes searched out Sammy and lasered in on her. “Samantha Kane,” he yelled. “I know you think Kate’s death was an accident. It wasn’t!” he spat before Tim put his hand atop the man’s head and encouraged him, with a shove, to get inside the vehicle.

  Sammy glared at the squad car. “Did you hear what he said?” She flung an irritated hand in Gary’s direction. “He said that Kate’s death was no accident!” Sammy’s sadness for the Dixon family instantly shifted into hot anger.

  Detective Liam Nash turned Sammy to face him. He rubbed up and down her arms gently to encourage her. “Don’t listen to him. Perps say this kind of garbage all the time to get people riled up. Don’t let him. Don’t let him under your skin. Don’t let him steal your power.” He leaned her back a step to affirm she had heard and understood his words and then pulled her close in an embrace. Her head rested safely on his chest as they watched the blazing lights of the squad car pull away.

  Chapter Thirty

  Sammy slid across her favorite red leather seat in the corner booth at the Sweet Tooth. The smell of sweet sugary treats tantalized her senses. Marilyn rushed to the table balancing a work of culinary art—a layer cake covered in creamy white frosting with thick curls of rich dark chocolate and one enormous fresh strawberry to top it off.

  “For you, darlin’! Let me tell you! This latest masterpiece has four chocolate mousse cookie crumb layers underneath that top layer of icing. I think you’re really going to like it!” she placed chubby swollen fingers, on which a silver ring looked like it was being suffocated, to her overflowing bosom.

  “Oh, no doubt I will! Looks delicious.” Sammy licked her lips in anticipation. “Thanks for hosting the gathering for us.” She waved a one-handed hello toward her sister and cousin, who had just entered the bakery. Then she directed her attention back to the head baker. “It’s very kind of you, Marilyn. You are sweeter than the cakes you serve.”

  “Sweetheart, you three deserve it.” Marilyn slapped her hands on her apron, sending a cloud of powdered sugar into the air. “You gals restored our community and brought it back to order. Why, if it weren’t for you, your sister, and cousin, we’d all still be on edge!” She shook her head in disbelief. “I think the police department should hire you three as consultants, that’s what I think.” She turned the cake so the strawberry faced Samantha, as an act of appreciation. “I’d better get back to the kitchen. We’re going to have a full house tonight, and I want to be prepared!” She blew a quick kiss to Sammy and turned on her heel, heading back in the direction of the kitchen.

  “That doesn’t look like it will fit in with my diet.” Ellie approached the table and looked at the cake with eyes filled with longing. If Sammy didn’t know any better, she thought her sister might shed a tear.

  Heidi followed behind her. “Screw the diet. Tonight, we celebrate!” Heidi encouraged Ellie to slide into the booth, and she scooted in behind her. “What a gorgeous cake. Almost looks too good to eat. Almost.” Heidi’s smile widened.

  “Marilyn’s an amazing baker, that’s for sure.”

  Sammy snuck a dollop of frosting with her index finger and shoved it in her mouth, hoping the other two hadn’t noticed. Ellie caught her, though, and tried to slap her sister on the hand, but she was too late. Sammy retracted her hand and smiled.

  “Who’s coming to celebrate with us?” Ellie asked.

  “Carter, Mayor Allen, and Connie. Coach is going to try and come. Annabelle, Miles, and some of the girls from the knitting club, Deborah, and her husband. Randy, Tim, and maybe … a few others from the police department … it’s all very informal. If people want to stop by they can.”

  Heidi smiled. “I know Tim will be here soon and so will Detective Nash.” She elbowed Ellie next to her in the booth as they both waited for Sammy’s reaction.

  “I’m warming up to the guy,” Sammy smirked and kicked Heidi lightly under the table. “I kind of figured he’d come. I know for a fact he has a serious addiction to Marilyn’s cakes! If he keeps at it, he’ll soon be joining overeaters anonymous.” The three laughed in unison.

  “Okay, Sammy, you have to fill us in on everything we missed in the investigation.” Heidi leaned her elbows on the table and clasped her hands together.

&nbs
p; “What do you want to know?”

  “What details did we get wrong? What did us three S.H.E.s miss?” Ellie nodded and leaned in closer.

  “After many hours of interrogation, Gary made a full confession to police. You want to know the funny thing? He had no idea knitting needles came in a pair. He had watched Greta crochet with one needle and assumed knitting was the same! He thought just tossing it in with her pile of craft stuff was a good plan. If he hadn’t been so dumb we might never have caught him.”

  “What an idiot!” Heidi exclaimed.

  Gary gave up more details too. His friend from court-appointed rehab, Dustin, was his co-conspirator. Rehab didn’t stick with either one of them. Dustin was also Gary’s drug dealer and Gary owed him a lot of money. When Gary tried to appease Dustin by telling him Ingrid was cashing an IRA for him and he’d be able to pay-up soon, Dustin dialed up the heat and kept pretty close tabs. Unfortunately, it sounds like both their addiction to drugs and money won out.”

  Sammy shifted in her seat and rested her arms in front of her on the table. “We did get a few minor details wrong. Liam said that during the police interrogation Gary shared a lot of details. Ingrid wasn’t an alcoholic, but his own birth mother Olivia Dunn was the heavy drinker. Addiction seems to run in the family genes. Apparently, Ingrid wore her deceased friend’s pin to try and meet with Gary at the biker bar. She wanted to win him over by pretending she too had addiction problems. It was her way of getting to know Gary, to see if he was still struggling with drugs. The money from the IRA did belong to Gary’s biological mother. Ingrid kept it in a trust all these years to give to Olivia’s son one day, and boy did the money accumulate! I think Ingrid had thrown in a few thousand of her own—out of guilt for the accident. She wanted to find Gary earlier, but it was a closed adoption and it took her a while to track him down. After seeing Charlotte and Gary together one day on Main Street, Ingrid put two and two together, did some digging, and found out Gary was indeed Olivia’s son. When she realized he was an addict though, she wouldn’t give him the cash as he requested. She found it strange that he wanted the IRA in cash and not transferred into his name. That tipped her off that he wanted to use the money for something untraceable. Ingrid was afraid he had plans to shoot-up all the money. But it was too late. Gary found out that she had already cashed the IRA one day when he watched her leave the bank, so he knew she had it in her possession. He felt entitled to it. It was messy.”

  “Wow.” Heidi and Ellie echoed in amazement as they took in the added information.

  “And I can’t help but notice that you’re now referring to the detective by his first name. That’s a bit less formal, isn’t it?” Heidi and Ellie shared a look of amusement. “What about the aunt? The woman who owned the locket … right? Why didn’t she adopt Gary and keep the money safe for him all these years? I would have thought a family member would have taken care of those things after Olivia’s death,” Ellie questioned.

  “Well, that’s where it gets interesting. There was a scandal in the family. Olivia’s sister Charlotte was involved with a man in the military. On one of his military leaves, he had an affair with Olivia. Apparently, news of the affair was the talk of the town at the time. Charlotte found out when she overheard someone at the restaurant where she worked gossiping about it. After the betrayal, she felt nothing but disdain for Olivia and the baby.”

  Sammy paused a moment before continuing.

  “Gary’s aunt Charlotte met with him only recently to discuss why she hadn’t taken a greater role in his life and to explain his past. When she was younger, she’d had a tough time seeing him, knowing his connection to her ex-fiancé … and the affair that had taken place with her sister. But now, aging rapidly and close to the end of her life, she wanted to meet her nephew and make peace.”

  “Wow. So, they really are related. You were right!” Ellie said.

  “Unbelievable,” Heidi finally added.

  “So why did Greta have the locket? Where did she get it? And how did it end up at Community Craft?” Ellie asked.

  “She found it in the glove compartment of Gary’s car. I assume his Aunt Charlotte must have dropped it in Gary’s car during one of their recent visits together. The clasp was broken. Gary just shoved it in his glove compartment to return later. Greta found it though and thought he had stolen it to pawn off for drug money. She was hoping to get it back to the rightful owner, so he wouldn’t get in any more trouble. But before she could take it to the pawn shop to see if anyone had been looking for it, Greta accidentally dropped it in the craft room when she was digging through her quilt bag. When Charlotte saw it in the lost and found box, she must have assumed she dropped it herself at the store. What she didn’t know was that it was found in the craft room, where she’d never been. That’s what tipped me off, to be honest…”

  The three sat silently for a few moments, taking it all in.

  “Dustin was the one who saw me walking to The Yarn Barn as he and Gary screeched out of the parking lot after the murder. He also overheard Greta tell her parents I was digging into her brother’s business by asking about the locket. And he assumed I was nosing around the investigation. He was the one who was following me via the GPS tracker on my car. I guess I was next in line to be killed if I didn’t back off.”

  Heidi and Ellie shook their heads and held hands to their hearts like mirror images of each other. “You could have been murdered!” Ellie finally said as she reached across the table for Sammy’s hand.

  The three sat in silence for a moment, the full danger of the situation sinking in.

  “What about Larry?” Ellie finally broke the silence and removed her hand from her sister’s and placed her hands back in her lap, far away from the tempting cake.

  Sammy shrugged. “He must have missed Spring Fling because he was sleeping off a bender. He definitely got away with something. With Ingrid no longer around, there’s no one to press charges or prove he ever groped her at a bar.”

  “Let’s not ever tell him we thought he might have killed Ingrid,” Heidi said. “Let’s keep it our little secret.”

  The three nodded in agreement.

  “What about the antique knitting needles that you found in the doll room?” Heidi asked. “What will happen with those?”

  Sammy smiled. “Coach is donating them to the Heartsford Historical Society in his Aunt Ingrid’s honor. Isn’t that generous? He could make a mint off them but decided they would be better off staying right here in our community. A lawyer came forward with a copy of Ingrid’s Last Will and Testament. He was on vacation in Aruba at the time of the murder and when he got back home he contacted the coach. Coach inherited all of her estate; he’s now officially a wealthier man!”

  “Wow,” Heidi said. “I guess he felt the community gave to him in his time of need with the brat-fry and he gave it right back … enormously. That’s really something.”

  “Hey, I almost forgot. Did you hear the good news?” Ellie touched Heidi on the arm to get her attention. “Go ahead. Tell her, Sam. Tell her about Annabelle.”

  “Annabelle Larson is taking over The Yarn Barn. Since her pending divorce, she decided she needed to go back to work full-time. She’s working out the deal with Coach to keep the shop open. Isn’t that great?”

  “Wonderful news! I’m sure the knitters and crochet gals will be super happy about it too.” Heidi agreed.

  “Wanna hear even better news than that?” Sammy pointed to the door where her honorary little brother had just stepped inside. Heidi and Ellie turned their heads to see who had just entered the bakery. “Carter was scouted at the basketball game by Wisconsin, a full scholarship and he’ll be playing for their basketball team! Woot! Woot! My alma mater. Isn’t that cool?”

  “Wow! That’s amazing! We’ll have to drive out to Madison and catch a few games,” Ellie said.

  “Boy, we’re starting to sound like the biggest town gossips!” Heidi slapped her hand on the table and threw her head back in laughter.


  “You know what?” Sammy laughed along with her cousin. “Kate was right about one thing. It feels good to be home. Where the small-minded gossips might be big … But the people’s hearts are bigger … In our little ole town of Heartsford.

  Ingrid’s suggested yarns for various purpose: Knit or Crochet

  Always use the most natural fiber you can attain in your price point.

  The YARN BARN specializes in the following NATURAL Fiber Yarns

  Alpaca Yarn: Suri Alpaca and Huacaya Alpaca. Suri is the rarer of the two (Suris have longer hair)

  Warm, yet lightweight

  A lot of drape (great for shawls; not so good for some sweaters because of the stretch factor)

  Soft and not scratchy or prickly like wool

  Stronger than wool

  Resists pilling

  Alpaca/Llama Blend: 80% llama, 20% alpaca fleece

  Splurge yarn $$

  Machine washable on cold-gentle cycle

  Not shedding or pilly

  Naturally hypoallergenic

  Soysilk Yarn: A fiber spun from soy proteins

  Soft, thick texture

  Warm

  Wicks moisture

  100% Hemp: Produces more protein, oil, and fiber than any other plant on earth

  Very strong, long-living fiber

  Cool in summer & warm in the winter

  Corn Yarn: A flat-strand yarn created from the fibers of corn

  Machine wash friendly (washes and dries well)

  Great for summer projects as it’s light

  Bamboo Yarn: Created from the fibers of bamboo (grows very fast)

  Cool and silky to the touch

  Beautiful drape (perfect for sweaters, shawls)

  SeaSilk Yarn: A unique yarn made partially from seaweed (70% silk and 30% SeaCell derived from seaweed)

  Looks like silk

  Can be hand-dyed

  100% Cotton: A cotton yarn spun only from organic cotton (grown without any chemicals)

  Perfect for cable knits