Inherit the Wool

by Betty Hechtman

  The smile she’d put on didn’t do much to soften her face. Courtney was neither pretty nor even cute. Mostly I’d describe her as distinctive-looking and formidable. Her squarish jaw gave the impression she was determined, and then there was her prominent nose. Prominent was a nice way of saying big. The only touch of softness were the pearl studs in her ears. I hated to admit it, but I’d always felt a little intimidated by her and had kept my distance.

  She was one of those focused people who seemed to always know where she was headed. She’d never dithered about her major or the direction of her life. Now I remembered that from the first day I’d met her in that gym class, she’d said she was going to be an attorney.

  I gave her my password and she logged on. “This must be an important case,” I said.

  “I’m sure you realize I can’t really talk about it,” she said as she continued to scroll through the screen without looking up. “A big client of the law firm is being sued and the other side suddenly is interested in settling. Some new information came to light.” I thought she was going to leave it at that, but she stopped her scrolling and turned to face me. “I might as well level with you. I work for the attorney who is running the case. That means I’m doing all the grunt work. He expects me to be available all the time. If I flop at this, I’ll never move up. So you see I have a lot on the line.” Even when she explained, her voice never softened. I wondered if that was the way she talked to her kids. I mean, how could you read a bedtime story in that kind of tone?

  I left her to her work and went to the counter next to the sink and began taking out the ingredients for the pan cookies. After a few minutes of a frantic exchange of emails, she looked up. “So you like to bake,” she said, sounding mystified. “My motto is that bakeries are there for a reason.”

  I gave her a brief explanation of how baking was creative and it was my way of bringing pleasure to people. But this was the first opportunity I’d had to talk to her alone. I brought up Vanessa.

  “I just can’t believe she’s gone,” I said as an opener. “I hope that meditation interlude helped you.”

  “It was wasted on me. All that stuff about empty your thoughts.” She shook her head with disbelief. “I have too much on my mind.” Something pinged on her computer and she read whatever it was and nodded as if it was good news. “I’m sure Theo was just trying to break the ice when he brought up Vanessa, but it made me a little wary. I just gave him the basics, like how I knew her and that we’d mostly lost touch after graduation. I certainly wasn’t going to give him any dirt.”

  “Dirt?” I repeated. “What do you mean?”

  “I guess you didn’t know, but then you stayed on the fringe of the group and never needed anything from her.”

  “Needed anything? Like what?” I asked, trying not to sound as interested as I was. I was surprised by her comment but realized it was really correct. I’d hung out with them, but I’d never really gotten immersed in their lives. Now I wanted to find out what I’d missed.

  Courtney appeared uncomfortable. “It’s probably best if most of it goes to the grave with her.” The way she hesitated at the end made me believe that she both wanted to talk and thought she shouldn’t at the same time. I decided the best approach was to say nothing and see what happened. The silence only lasted for a few moments and then Courtney continued without any prompting.

  “It was the way Vanessa operated,” Courtney began and then seemed frustrated. “It’s pointless to talk in generalities.” She took a deep breath. “You must remember that Vanessa made the dean’s list her senior year.”

  “She made a huge deal out of it as I recall. Her parents put on a fancy party. Didn’t her father give some kind of speech?”

  “He did, but most of it was about his hopes that she’d find Mr. Right. He really underestimated women in general and her specifically. Vanessa was clever if not traditionally book smart.”

  “If she wasn’t book smart how’d she manage to make the dean’s list?” I asked. At the time I hadn’t paid much attention, but now I wanted to know.

  Courtney looked down at the screen on her computer and pursed her lips as she read something and then typed in a response before she answered me. “Let’s just say she didn’t get there on her own.”

  Trying to appear casual about the conversation, I continued measuring the flour and sugar while I let the butter soften. “What do you mean?” I asked, hoping to draw her out.

  Courtney paused for a moment and seemed to be having an inner debate. “It probably doesn’t matter anymore anyway, but even so you have to keep it to yourself. You know how Vanessa always lorded her wealth over everyone. I heard that someone didn’t have the money for a tuition payment and was up against a wall. They would have had to drop out in the middle of the semester.” Courtney’s eyes narrowed and she seemed to be having second thoughts about what she was saying. “This can’t go any further. Okay?”

  I had begun to put the butter into the mixing bowl. “Sure. Consider my lips sealed,” I said.

  “Vanessa loaned them the money. She came up with it right away and their semester was saved. Vanessa was paid back. But the thing with her was that there was no free lunch. Instead of charging interest on the money, Vanessa had gotten the person to agree to write a bunch of papers for her and take some tests in her place. The security in those days was pretty lax and anybody probably could have walked in and flashed an ID card. And nobody questioned how she’d gone from being a C student to getting a bunch of As.” She seemed concerned. “But with social media, old news like that could come out and mess up the person’s reputation.”

  I thought about what she said and realized something she had missed. “But why would either side want to talk about it? It would look bad for both of them.”

  Courtney brightened. “You’re right. Vanessa wouldn’t have wanted her father to know the truth.”

  I was pretty sure that the someone was Courtney. Would she have killed Vanessa to cover up the fact that she’d done Vanessa’s homework? I didn’t think so, but something she said stuck in my mind. She’d said something about it being best if most of it went to the grave with Vanessa. What else was there?

  But for now there was nothing to do but go back to my baking. Courtney was already lost in her work.

  I turned on the mixer to cream the softened butter. When I looked in the cabinet for the chocolate chips, I realized I’d left the bag of groceries with them in my car.

  I turned off the mixer and told Courtney I’d be right back. I could hear Julius banging against the bathroom door and I felt bad about keeping him in there. I’d noticed something strange about Courtney. She’d only sneezed the one time when she first saw Julius. If she were truly allergic, even with him out of the room she’d be sneezing her head off. I bet that saying she was allergic was more acceptable than the truth that she was afraid of cats.

  The sun had melted the cloud cover and the warm rays lit up everything. I was always astounded by the change when the sun made a rare appearance. Suddenly there were shadows and light glinting off of leaves. I was taking my time retrieving the chocolate chips, enjoying the change of scenery, when I saw a cruiser go by and then stop. Dane popped out of the car and came up my driveway.

  “I got a call there was an unusual sight in your driveway,” he said with a smile as he looked up at the blue sky and pointed up at the sun. “I have a break coming.” He glanced toward my house.

  I shook my head and told him about my company. “I’d rather be spending the time with you,” I said. “She’s kind of prickly.” I decided not to tell him what Courtney had said. I didn’t know what it meant, and while he occasionally fed me information it was better for his career if he wasn’t involved in my investigations. I did tell him about the pan cookies I was making and showed him the chocolate chips. “I could leave some at your door.”

  A voice began to crackle on his radio and I heard something about jaywalkers clogging traffic on Grant Street. “Duty calls
,” he said, giving me a quick hug. “How about I collect the cookies later?” He jogged down the driveway to his car with a backward wave.

  Courtney looked up when I came in. “Your landline rang and I answered it. It was Blair returning your call.”

  “I left her a message asking her for a good time to reach her. I didn’t want to break the news about Vanessa in a voice mail.”

  “You don’t have to worry about it anymore. I told her.” Courtney let out her breath.

  “How’d she take it?” I asked.

  “She was stunned and shocked like the rest of us. I tried to talk her out of it, but she’s insisting on coming here to be with the group.”

  I realized I’d have to make the arrangements since I’d given Blair’s room to Lucinda, and I went back to mixing up the cookie batter.

  When the cookie bars were packed in a tin, I broke the news to Courtney that it was time to go. “But you’ll get some more WiFi time,” I said. I had expected that the group might find Vista Del Mar too confining, so I’d planned an outing to downtown Cadbury with a stop at Cadbury Yarn. It seemed like a fantasy now, but I’d thought they might be so excited about knitting that they’d want to make plans for other projects and buy some yarn. I showed her the schedule and said that Cadbury Yarn had free WiFi, after I put her outside and let Julius out.

  “Sorry for being so difficult,” Courtney said as we went back across the street. “I was able to get some things straightened out. Some more WiFi time will let me get ahead of things.” I reminded her we’d be leaving in a few minutes as I went off to the meeting room to drop off the cookie bars.

  When I got back to the Lodge, the whole group was waiting outside. I’d arranged for a small van to take us to downtown Cadbury. You’d think they were getting out a jail by the way they rushed into it when it arrived a few minutes later. Lucinda got in last and I sat next to the driver.

  As soon as we got under way, I told them about Blair.

  “It seems kind of wasteful. It’s a long way to travel and she’ll barely have any time here,” Lauren said. Then she turned to Lucinda to explain who Blair was. “She’s the mayor of a Chicago suburb for now. She’s on the primary ballot for Congress.” Lauren squeezed her shoulders with excitement. “And who knows what after that.”

  “You seem pretty political,” Lucinda said. “I suppose you’ve given her your two cents.”

  Lauren shook her head. “Hillston’s too rich for us. But you better believe that if she becomes our representative, she’ll be hearing from me.”

  Elizabeth made a face. “Just like she heard from you when she was student body president. I’m sure she can’t wait.” Elizabeth addressed me. “Lauren has always been the agitator.”

  Lauren gave her dirty look. “It’s better than being complacent.”

  “I could pitch WNN a story that follows Blair on her campaign. Women running for office is very newsworthy,” Zak said. He had his phone out. “I better talk to her first.” He glanced around at the rest of us. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about you guys. If any of you have an idea for a story, I’m all ears.”

  I traded looks with Lucinda. If only he knew there was a story right under his nose. It had all the elements. Female tycoon killed at moody resort. Tycoon might be a bit of a stretch, but it sounded more exciting that car dealership executive. The audience would eat up the setup of the fake bomb and how she died from being pumped with air.

  I didn’t notice at first that the conversation had ended and they were all staring at their phones. Even Lucinda had hers to her ear.

  By then the van had pulled onto Grand Street. Whatever traffic jam the jaywalkers had created seemed to be gone and we cruised into one of the angular parking spots.

  “We’re here,” I said loudly when the van was parked and no one had made a move to get out. I had to repeat it a few more times before I got their attention. They all looked around, seeming surprised at their surroundings. Finally, they all piled out and I told the driver when to pick us up. Lucinda stood with me for a moment, but I saw her looking down the street in the direction of the Blue Door.

  “Go on,” I said. “You know you want to see Tag.”

  Lucinda smiled. “You don’t mind if I leave you alone with all of them?” I shook my head and she seemed relieved. “I just talked to Tag and even though I’ve assured him I’m fine, I know he’d feel better if he saw me in person.” She looked at me with a guilty smile. “I know I complain about him and say how much I want to get a change, but then I’m always glad to see him. Go figure.” I wished her well and she went off down the street.

  In the meantime, Lauren, Elizabeth and Courtney were glued to their phones again. Only Zak was actually looking around. He took some photos of downtown Cadbury while I gave him the chamber of commerce’s pitch on the charm of the town.

  I pointed out that there were no ye olde stores or cutesy shops. “Cadbury is known for being authentic. If a building looks Victorian, it really is,” I said, pointing out the large yellow house on a corner. “It was originally a residence, but now it’s a B and B called the Butterfly Inn.” He noticed some bland-looking buildings. “Those were probably considered the height of modern design in the 1950s.” I offered to show him the post office with its Spanish-style white stucco and terra-cotta roof, but he gave it a pass.

  He caught my eye. “I’m surprised to find you in a small town, no matter how authentic, running yarn retreats.” He left an opening for me to respond, but I just shrugged it off and kept to the story I’d given them. I knew it made me sound pretty dull, but so what. I wasn’t trying to impress him.

  “First stop is Cadbury Yarn,” I said, waving my hand in front of their screens to get their attention. I got them to follow me, but I still had to look back to make sure I hadn’t lost anyone because their attention was all on their phones.

  Cadbury Yarn was in a converted bungalow-style house on a side street that sloped down toward the ocean. The rainbow-colored windsock flapping on the front porch, stirred by the constant breeze that came off the water, made it stand out from the other buildings on the block.

  Zak helped me corral the three women and get them to go up the stairs onto the porch. I’d had other groups who’d had a hard time giving up their electronics, but nothing compared to this group. I wondered if they realized how addicted they were.

  “Why are we going here?” Elizabeth said. The rest of them chimed in with the same question.

  “Crystal is meeting us and she’s going to show you some other easy projects.” When they still had blank expressions, I put up my hands in capitulation. “I’d hoped you would all be more excited about knitting and want to know about yarn and other easy things you could make.”

  “Well, I am,” Lauren said. “I do volunteer work at a shelter and it might be a nice activity for them.”

  “You volunteer, too? When do you sleep?” Elizabeth said. “You have a job, your kids, foster kids and a husband. When do you even have time to see him?”

  Lauren let out a sigh. “There are some challenges, but somebody has to care about the world.”

  “Here, here,” Zak said. “Spoken like a true do-gooder.” He looked ahead at the store. “I for one am interested in seeing some more knitting things. Maybe I can find a story in it.”

  Crystal was waiting by the door when we came in. “Madeleine is already here.” She pointed through the main room to an area beyond that I guessed had been a dining room at one time. Madeleine was sitting at the oval wood table making something on a set of circular needles.

  Crystal’s mother, Gwen, was behind the counter and she waved a greeting as we went through the main room. She was nothing like her daughter. Her socks always matched and she went for neutrals rather than all the bright colors Crystal favored.

  The two of us led the way as Crystal talked to me in a low tone. “It’s so weird knowing that Madeleine is really family. My mother is sure the sisters would take the news badly, and if we went public it wou
ld upend everything with no benefit.”

  “Madeleine really seems to like you,” I said. “I get the feeling she’d like having some backup with Vista Del Mar.” I gave her a hopeful look, but my helper shook her head.

  “Once my mother heard we’d have to fight to get them to live up to their brother’s will, she wanted to drop the whole thing. The only reason she went as far as she did was because of Cory.” Cory was Crystal’s teenage son.

  Crystal sighed. “My mother always said she didn’t like the Delacortes anyway.” Her gaze stopped on Madeleine. “Maybe if my mother got to know her better she’d change her opinion. Cora still seems pretty stuck-up, but ever since Madeleine started this whole personal remodel, she’s gotten kind of fun.”

  I urged my group to stand around the table and then I let Crystal take over. Madeleine looked up from the ivory-colored scarf she was making and offered them a greeting as Crystal began her pitch. I was relieved when they finally put their phones down.

  “We thought it would be nice if you got a chance to see that not all knitting needles could double for bats.” To illustrate, she held up a pair of the giant red needles and showed the sample of the scarf they were making. To contrast them, she picked up a pair of size 8s and a scarf made with the smaller needles. The group all chuckled. “And we have a selection of yarns here that you’re welcome to try. I realize you’re all beginners so let me know if you need any help.” She moved on to a display of some other easy projects and said they had instructions available.

  Zak was the first one to the table. “I did some research and it appears that fishermen invented knitting to make nets. So men were the first knitters.” He looked over the things on the table and picked up the sample Razzle Dazzle scarf and poked his fingers through the stitches. “It almost looks like a fancy net.” It was hard for him to extricate his fingers when he tried to put it back. Once his hands were free, he went through the container full of needles and took out a pair of wooden ones that looked to be about a size ten, and then he asked Crystal for a suggestion of what kind of yarn to use.