“I’m sure you’re right,” Zak said. “But that doesn’t explain how you figured out that it was Blair.” He turned to the rest of the group. “Casey has a rep around town as a crack amateur sleuth.”
He laughed when he saw my surprise and explained that he’d gotten the 411 on my exploits when he’d gone out for a beer on that first night.
I considered explaining that the amateur part wasn’t exactly correct and that while I hadn’t been paid to do it, I had successfully tracked down a number of killers. But then he had said “crack,” so instead I just answered his question. “It was really all because of the Baller-rinas’ performance,” I began. I went back to Blair/Barbara’s early arrival and how I’d barely noticed a mark on her wrist. “It didn’t register as familiar when I saw it,” I said, and reminded them of how I’d suddenly started throwing to the wrong person during the rumble. “My way of knowing who to throw to was by noticing something distinctive about their hands. Courtney has red nail polish, so when it came time to throw the ball, that’s what I looked for. But then I started throwing to the wrong person and I couldn’t understand why until I remembered what Elizabeth had said at the beginning—that we might not think we remembered the steps but our bodies did. It turned out that my body remembered who I threw to in the gym class and it came back to me that I’d known who to throw to by a birthmark on her wrist.
“I didn’t realize it meant anything until I found out why Blair didn’t get the tote bag I left for her. She’d never checked in, at least not as Blair Hansen. And then at our performance I saw a woman who’d checked in at the same time as Barbara Henderson, which pinged my memory. I recalled that the woman had showed off a tattoo of a rose on her wrist and talked to Barbara about getting a tattoo to cover the birthmark on her wrist. That’s when it all came together and I suspected that Barbara and Blair were the same person.” I went on about getting into Barbara/Blair’s room and what I’d found.
I turned to Zak. “By the way, you were right about the scarves you’re all making being like nets.” And then I told them how I’d gotten the gun away and they all sucked in their breath. Lucinda rolled her eyes and shook her head in amazement.
“I wish I could have seen that,” Zak said.
“What will happen to Blair?” Elizabeth asked.
“She’ll probably be charged with first-degree murder and something for calling in a bomb threat. Maybe they’ll throw in something for threatening me. But any way you look at it, her political career is over and she’s probably going to be spending a long time in prison,” I said.
“I’ll visit her,” Lauren offered. “I’m sure she’s remorseful for what she did. Maybe I can convince her to use her leadership qualities to help the other prisoners.”
They all had seconds on coffee, but their food had been forgotten. We all sat there until the dining hall was empty.
Now that the whole story was out, I didn’t have to convince them to come to the workshop. They needed the comfort of the repetitive motion of knitting and we walked as a group to our meeting room. Crystal had gotten there early and was waiting for us.
Before she started with the group, she pulled me aside. “I told my mother about Madeleine wanting to help Cory,” she began. “It got to her and she changed her mind about going directly to the sisters with the DNA info that proves she’s their niece.” Crystal let out a breath. “She wondered if you could put the meeting together and be there as sort of a moderator.”
“I started it all, so it’s the least I can do.” We agreed to talk about it more after the retreat ended. It was then that Crystal noticed that Blair was missing and I told her what had happened. She was stunned.
“What a weekend,” she said, shaking her head.
My group were already busy working on finishing up their scarves, which were now long and covering the table.
“What happened this weekend has made me think things over,” Courtney said. She stopped knitting and addressed the group. “I wasn’t exactly honest with you. The story about me being the woman who has it all was just that, a story. Actually, I’m divorced and he has custody of the kids. I always had a hard time transitioning from attorney to mom. My ex said I talked to the kids like they were on the witness stand.” She let out a sigh. “I’m pretty sure I can save my job, but it’s more important that I fix my relationship with my kids.”
Lauren put her arm around Courtney’s shoulder to comfort her and offered to help, reminding her that was the kind of thing social workers did.
Elizabeth seemed to have something on her mind. “What do you think about me starting things up with Michael again?”
“Vanessa’s body is barely cold,” Courtney said, shaking her head.
“I didn’t mean right away exactly. I mean, I did already talk to him about it. He wants to wait and see what his situation is.”
Lauren looked skyward. “Don’t do it. You’re better than that. You have to get past this idea that just being a man is enough for someone to qualify. You need to find the right man.” I held my breath wondering if Elizabeth was going to bring up Kevin St. John as another option, but Zak added his opinion.
“Speaking from the other side, desperation is a turnoff. Relax and you’ll meet someone. By the way, that thing about waiting to see what his situation is sounds like a brush-off to me.”
“You’re right. I’m better than that,” Elizabeth said, holding her head up proudly. “I wonder what Michael will do now.”
My first thought was that he wouldn’t be suing Vista Del Mar.
“I bet he gets Vanessa’s job and becomes the son Mr. Peyton always wanted,” Courtney said.
“I’ll check it out,” Lauren said. “Maybe I can talk Mr. Peyton into leaving the apartment buildings as they are.”
“Why don’t you suggest that if they want to expand the dealership that they build up instead of out,” Courtney said. “Better yet, I’ll go with you and tell him myself. ” We all gave her a thumbs-up.
“It’s great how you manage to do everything. You’re going to try to help those people not lose their apartments and you keep it going with your family. You really have your life together,” Courtney said to Lauren. Lauren’s cute face broke into a smile and she appeared as if she was going to agree, and then her face clouded.
“I can’t lie. I know I talk a big game about saving the world, but sometimes I just want to save me. Back in college I envied Vanessa and all her spa treatments. She took me along for a weekend once. We had all different kinds of massages, facials and luxury. I’m ashamed to admit that I loved it and longed for more.” Lauren stopped and let out a sigh. “It hardly goes with my image—then or now. My family doesn’t even know that Vanessa kept treating me to pricey treatments over the years. I’ve missed work and family things to be wrapped in a fluffy robe and treated like a princess. But Vanessa being Vanessa knew I didn’t want it to come out and she used it as leverage. It was nothing compared with what she had on Blair, but she got me to shut down a protest at those buildings she’d bought. I had no idea what her real plan was for that land.” She hung her head in shame. “And there’s more,” she said, kicking off her shoe and showing off the blue polish on her toenails. Her big toe featured a glittery decal.
“While you were looking at grapes and wine vats, I was getting a massage and a pedicure. I used my birthday money that I’d said I was going to put toward a new composter. I’m decadent and terrible.”
“How can you feel guilty about that?” Lucinda said. “We all have our secret pleasures. What’s wrong with having pretty toenails?” Courtney and Elizabeth stepped in to comfort Lauren.
By now they’d all finished their scarves and Crystal showed them how to bind off and offered help for starting any new projects with the yarn they’d bought at Cadbury Yarn the day before.
Elizabeth pulled out a skein of yarn and a pattern and Crystal showed her how to start it.
“Zak, you’ve been pretty quiet,” Courtney said. “Anything you wa
nt to tell us?”
Zak sat up straight. “You mean like confess that I’m unhappy that I don’t have a family and a normal life?” He got sort of a faraway look. “I’m not saying it never crossed my mind, but I’m a gypsy at heart and I don’t think it would have worked out. I’ll talk to WNN about the Blair and Vanessa story, but they may think I’m too close to the story. In the meantime I do have an assignment. I’m going up to San Francisco to cover some muscleman who’s going to try to break Jack Lalanne’s record of swimming from Alcatraz towing boats.” He looked around the table. “And then who knows?” He seemed to want to be out of the spotlight and turned to me. “Don’t you think you ought to fess up?”
Lucinda nodded in agreement and I finally told them about my double life, at least most of it. I left out being a magician’s assistant since it was more of a favor than a career. Lucinda added how popular the desserts and muffins were.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Elizabeth asked. I shrugged and simply told them the truth—that their lives seemed so together and mine was cobbled together like a crazy quilt.
“Really? After all that we just said?” Courtney asked with a sigh. After that, we promised we’d stay in touch, really in touch, unlike before. They wanted me to put together another retreat.
When the workshop time ended, they packed up their finished scarves and thanked Crystal for all her help. It was their last group activity. There was just lunch and then they’d go to the airport and Lucinda would go back to Tag.
I hugged everyone and said my goodbyes there. I always felt an emotional tug when a retreat ended, but this was different because of everything that had happened and because they were all friends. I didn’t want to be there when they got in the shuttle. Honestly, I was afraid I would cry. So as they went to lunch, I went back across the street, considering the retreat over.
The phone was ringing when I went inside. “Frank!” I said in surprise. “You called me on a Sunday. Is something wrong?”
I heard the squawk of his chair. “Naw, Feldstein. I just wondered—did you get things locked up?”
I chuckled to myself. For all his tough guy talk, he really did care about my investigating. I threw him a bone and told him that he was right. By the sudden squeak of the chair, I gathered he must have sat up in surprise.
“I’m right,” he repeated. “Tell me more.”
He was a little disappointed when I told him what he was right about was that my friends’ lives weren’t as perfect as I’d imagined. “So, did you find out who pumped the rich girl with air?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said with a certain amount of pride and then gave him all the details.
“What about Mr. Kiss in the Moonlight?”
I repeated that it was Mr. Kiss in the Rain and then told him there was nothing to tell. “He’s going off to San Francisco to do a story and I’m staying here.”
“Probably for the best,” he said, then I could tell he was getting ready to end the call.
“You know, if you have any spare cookies lying around, you could send them to me,” he said. I laughed and told him a box would be in the mail in a couple of days and he signed off.
Chapter Twenty-seven
I looked at the clock and figured that my friends had finished their lunch and were piling into the shuttle. As for me, it was time to get ready for Sammy’s big show. I made a few adjustments to the spangles on the romper before I put it on and put a trench coat on over it. Sammy was bubbling with a combination of preshow jitters and excitement when he came to pick me up. He was wearing his performance tuxedo and viewed the trench coat with concern until I flashed it open. “Case, thanks for being such a good sport,” he said when he saw that I was wearing the romper.
We spent the whole ride to the Inn going over what we were going to say. It wasn’t a hard-and-fast script and there was plenty of room for improv. The end of the private room had been curtained off, and as the guests enjoyed their buffet, Sammy set everything up and then it was showtime.
The curtain opened and Sammy did a bunch of campy tricks while I added some jokey asides. He did a few more illusions and then it was time for the grand finale—making me levitate.
He had me lie down on a pad on the floor as he explained to the audience that he was going to hypnotize me and that he was so good at it he could get me to rise off the floor.
We played this part straight. He did all his waving a pendulum in front of me and then he commanded me to lift off the floor. And of course, I did. He demonstrated with a metal ring that there was nothing holding me up and then went to take a bow.
“Uh-oh, I’m awake,” I said in a panicked voice and suddenly I started dropping to the ground. Sammy whipped out the pendulum and appeared to re-hypnotize me and I rose up again. And so it went until I was lowering when he turned to the audience and rising again when he waved the pendulum. Then I started rising and lowering for no reason. Pretending frustration with the whole act, when I was at the highest spot, I finally rolled off, landing on my feet. I did a shimmy, and as I’d planned the spangles tumbled off the romper in a sparkly shower. My final line was “I think we need to rehearse more” and the audience laughed and applauded.
Sammy was flushed with success and I was flushed with embarrassment as we took our bows and I got a look at the audience. I hadn’t noticed before, but the back of the private room had been opened up so that anyone in the hotel could see our act. Elizabeth, Courtney, Lauren, Zak and Lucinda were all in a row, laughing and waving.
They met me outside when Sammy was packing up his stuff.
“I told them about the profession you left out,” Zak said, beaming his charming crooked smile. “I hope you don’t mind.”
“Why didn’t you tell us? As soon as we heard we couldn’t leave without seeing your show,” Courtney said. “You’re sure a person of many talents.”
“And who knew you were funny, too,” Lauren said.
“And not always intentionally,” I quipped.
Elizabeth was the only one who seemed a little bummed. “I was really hoping that you were leading a boring life in a small town. Maybe you can give me some hints about how to be more interesting.”
Lucinda hugged me and admitted to arranging everything. “Including a special dinner for us all at the Blue Door,” she said. She told the others we’d have the place to ourselves since they were usually closed on Sundays. She invited Sammy to join us, but he said something about not wanting to intrude.
I managed to make a pitstop at home and change out of the silly costume. The dinner was a big success. But this time there was no avoiding seeing them off. The airport shuttle was waiting down the street from the Blue Door. There were a lot of hugs and promises, along with a few tears before Elizabeth, Lauren and Courtney climbed in. Zak’s rental car was parked down the street. He was heading up north for his story.
“Well, that’s a wrap,” he said as the shuttle drove away.
“Safe travels,” I said to him. He flashed his famous smile and with a wave walked away. I turned and began to walk back to the restaurant.
“That was too cold of an exit,” Zak said, catching up with me. He took my hand and we faced each other. “I can see now that it was my loss to leave it at just once. There’s no rain, but there’s fog,” he said, gesturing to the veil of silvery moisture that was settling in. He leaned in and kissed me. “We truly are just two ships passing by,” he whispered. “If I was into trying a regular life, you’d be my pick to share it with.” And then he pulled away and went down the street. I could still hear his footsteps as he disappeared into the fog.
• • •
An hour later Lucinda and Tag had left and I had the Blue Door to myself. I put on my favorite soft jazz and started to lay out the ingredients for pound cakes. I had everything for more of the Kernels of Truth muffins in the recycled grocery bags. I had just turned on the oven when I heard someone tapping at the glass part of the door.
Dane was standing on the porch in
the darkness. When I opened the door I was surprised to see his brows furrowed in worry. He was in uniform, which meant he was still on duty. I invited him in and he glanced around the empty restaurant.
“I wasn’t sure you’d be here,” he said.
“Where else would I be on a Sunday night?” I said with a shrug.
“I saw you earlier.” And suddenly I knew why his brow was furrowed. Before I could explain he continued. “Look, I’m just a small-town cop, not a TV reporter. I can’t offer the excitement that he can.”
I started to protest, but he shushed me by putting his finger to my lips. “Don’t go ruining my romantic moment.” He waited to see if I was going to follow his order, and when I stayed quiet he continued. “What I’m trying to say is that what I can offer you is my heart, all of it, and forever.”
I didn’t know what to say. He understood my silence and touched my cheek. “Think about it. You know where to find me.” And then he went back out into the night.
Razzle Dazzle Scarf
Easy to make
Finished dimensions approximately 64" x 7"
Gauge not important
Supplies
1 skein Red Heart Super Saver, black, 7 oz (198g), 364 yds (333m), 100% acrylic, medium weight 4
1 skein Lion Brand Vanna’s Glamour, platinum-150, 1.75 oz (50g), 202 yds (185m), acrylic, fine weight 2
1 skein Lion Brand Fun Fur, black, 1¼ oz (50g), 60 yds (54m), polyester, eyelash
1 pair U.S. 50 (25mm), 14" (35cm) long knitting needles
U.S. I-9/5.50mm crochet hook (to weave in ends)
Inherit the Wool Page 23
