“Hi, Meg,” Jo called, walking out to meet her. “Finished work?”
“Uh-huh. Ruthie mostly needs me during the lunchtime rush. I thought I’d pick up a scrapbook on my way home. Talking to Emmy the other day reminded me that I’ve got a bunch of stuff from my old high school days that I never did anything with. It’d be nice to organize it all.” Meg’s cheeks were a touch rosier than they had appeared before, and Jo thought the added color was nice. She had also perked up her hairdo a bit so that it wasn’t falling over her eyes. A definite improvement.
“Good idea. The albums are right over there.” Jo pointed to the scrapbooking section. “See if there’s something you like.”
Meg went over and began to browse. Jo was ready to head back to the stockroom, thinking Meg would need time to decide, but within moments Meg was carrying a floral-covered album up to Jo’s checkout counter.
“Nice one,” Jo commented. Meg also set down some photo adhesive, and Jo began ringing it all up.
“I was at Dr. Barnett’s office yesterday for a small tooth emergency,” Meg said as she dug through her purse for her credit card. Since it was the same large, overfilled bag as the day before, it was taking a while.
“Oh? I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Nothing too bad, just an old filling that fell out. Dr. Barnett was nice enough to come in on his day off to fix it for me. His wife came in too. She told me about what happened when you and Dr. Barnett went to talk to that photographer from the craft festival.”
“She did?”
“Yeah, she was pretty keyed up about it. I guess she knew about me helping you find Pat Weeks, so she figured I’d be interested.”
“That’s right, I did tell her about you calling your friend.” Jo took Meg’s card and swiped it, handing it back along with the slip for her to sign. “Which was very helpful,” Jo added as she watched Meg sign her name.
Meg shrugged but looked pleased. “So this guy, Bill Ewing, came across as pretty suspicious, huh?”
“His reaction to my questioning yesterday sure put him in a negative light,” Jo said, “and we’re digging up other things from his past that show he doesn’t much like being crossed.”
“Are you going to the police with it?”
“No, I want to hold off until I have something more concrete. Right now it’s simply indications, like what we found on Patrick Weeks too.”
“Patrick? You found something on him?” Meg’s eyes widened with curiosity.
“Yes. I don’t want to say exactly what, but it was something that Linda might have used as leverage to gain full custody of their daughter.I think it gives Patrick a stronger motive for killing Linda.”
“Boy, that would be awful, wouldn’t it? I mean, it’d be bad enough if he did it, but really sad for his little girl.”
“You’re not the only one who feels that way.”
Meg stood shaking her head for a moment, then picked up her purchase and pulled the strap of her bulky purse up to her shoulder. “Well, I’d better be going. I want to get started on this.” She patted her new album inside its bag.
Jo wished her good luck and watched her go. Meg’s mention of the dental office reminded Jo that she’d never returned Javonne’s call after being summoned to the hospital by Mark. In her message, Javonne had sounded pretty indignant over Bill Ewing’s actions, and Jo could imagine her ranting about it as poor Meg sat in the dentist’s chair, a captive audience of one with her mouth stuffed with cotton and an aspirator. Jo grinned at the picture. She was glad she’d see her friend tonight. There was plenty to update her about.
Javonne appeared at the shop that evening carrying a small package. As she handed it to Jo, her lips curled to one side. “It’s from Harry,” she said.
Jo took the flat-shaped item, which was protected by a brown paper bag, wondering what in the world Harry would be sending her. She drew out the contents and laughed with surprise. It was a photo of the tobacco barn, taken with Harry’s digital SLR. He had printed it out to an eight-by-ten size and framed it.
“Very nice!”
Javonne grimaced. “I told him I couldn’t imagine why you’d want a souvenir of that awful day, but Harry didn’t see it that way.”
“He’s proud of the photo he took, and rightly so. It’s beautiful.”
The other workshop ladies soon arrived and admired it as well.
“Harry has hidden talents,” Loralee exclaimed. Javonne shrugged but seemed pleased and somewhat mollified over what she’d thought an ill-considered gift. As the group settled about the workshop table, Ina Mae and Dulcie filled her in on their Internet discoveries. Loralee, of course, had already learned all from Dulcie, and she quietly sorted through the clipped magazine pictures she had brought in for her collage project, nodding along with the explanation.
“Well, well, well.” Javonne’s eyes sparkled with interest. “So it looks like you might have the last laugh on Mr. ‘Don’t touch my fancy camera’ Ewing.”
“Don’t forget about Patrick Weeks,” Dulcie said. “He’s always been a strong contender, and that drug use charge we found on him bumped him up a few notches on the suspect list.”
“But that was so long ago,” Loralee said. “Nine years! Surely, from the looks of things, it’s been all put behind him, a foolish, youthful mistake. No judge deciding custody would give it any weight, would they?”
“Maybe, maybe not,” Ina Mae said. “The important thing is did Patrick Weeks think it would have mattered?” She turned to Jo. “But we should probably get started on our collages. I’ve got my pictures, and I see you’ve provided the poster board. What’s our first step?”
“You’re right,” Jo said. “We’d better get started. We can talk more later. The first thing to do, ladies, is to lay out your pictures on the poster board and play with them a little, moving them around until you’re happy with the arrangement. You can trim your pictures in interesting ways with your scissors, or even tear the edges for a different effect. Then, when you’re satisfied with the overall look, you’re ready to start gluing.”
Jo could see from the look on Ina Mae’s face that this project was much more to her taste than origami. She had brought in several pictures from National Geographic magazines as well as sections of old road maps, which Jo thought would make a very interesting travel-themed collage.
Loralee, on the other hand, had cut out pictures of fuzzy baby animals, which she planned to arrange into a collage for her little granddaughter. Dulcie, Jo noticed, hadn’t yet cut out any pictures but was leafing through old gardening catalogues, checking the pictures for possibilities.
Jo looked to the table area in front of the fourth member of the group, but Javonne seemed too intent on solving the murder mystery, or rather, too intent on pinning it on Bill Ewing who had so infuriated her, to settle down yet. Loralee, however, changed the subject by asking after Russ, and Javonne’s look of righteous anger immediately softened.
“He’s doing pretty well,” Jo assured them, “all things considered. Carrie popped over to see him this afternoon and called with a good report. I plan to go tonight.”
“Give him all our love,” Loralee said. “Tell him I’ve been freezing a few good, nutritious meals to take him when he comes home.”
“Which we hope won’t be before he’s 100 percent ready,” Ina Mae said. She was trimming a picture of Blarney Castle to fit between one of the Great Wall of China and the Acropolis. Places she had been, Jo wondered, or places she hoped to see?
As the ladies worked busily, Jo pulled out a project of her own, something she’d had an idea for and wanted to try out. Dulcie looked up at one point and said, “Oh, that’s cute! Will we do that next?”
“If you like. But not tonight. I’m still figuring out the steps as I go along, but I think it’s turning out pretty well.”
“What are you doing?” Loralee asked. “Decorating boxes?”
“Yes, gift boxes. I thought it’d be fun to decoupage gift boxes with scrapbo
oking paper—inside and out.”
“I like the effect of the printed paper on the outside, but solid color on the inside.” Dulcie said.
“And”—Jo held up a cellophane-wrapped scrapbooking sticker of a dragonfly—“this is going to be glued to the inside of the lid.”
“Ooh! So you see it when you open it up!” Dulcie cried. “What a nice surprise that will be. Maybe you could use it for a gift for Lieutenant Morgan.”
Jo smiled. “Well, Russ might prefer something a bit more masculine. I doubt pastel-colored dragonflies are quite his thing.”
Ina Mae smiled as well. “Possibly not decorated gift boxes either. That looks like something the giftee might enjoy saving to keep special things in, which I’d say is more a feminine thing. I can see one of my daughters using it to store all her little scented candles.”
The others agreed and were coming up with other uses for Jo’s decorated boxes when the Craft Corner’s bell jingled. Involved in their conversation as well as their own projects, most didn’t notice, but Jo, whose ear was alert to the sound, immediately looked over. She was surprised to see Meg Boyer coming in.
Jo called out, “Hi, Meg,” which caught the others’ attention, and they added their greetings to hers. “Need something more for your scrapbook project?” Jo asked.
But Meg, instead of heading for the scrapbooking area, came straight back to the workshop table. She had the look of a woman on a mission.
“I was talking to Kevin tonight,” she said, and Jo assumed she referred to her husband. “He was away for a couple of days on a sales trip, so I didn’t get a chance before tonight to tell him about that photographer, Bill Ewing. You’re not going to believe this,” she said, “but Kevin knows him.”
“He does?” It seemed to Jo as if all five of them had cried out at once.
“From the army,” Meg explained. “They were both stationed at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri for a while. Kevin worked as a clerk, but Bill Ewing—Sergeant Ewing, he was then—was doing photographic work for the army.”
“Did he know him very well?” Ina Mae asked.
“They weren’t good friends or anything, but Kevin is pretty sure Ewing will remember him if he calls and invites him out to lunch.”
“Oooh,” Javonne said, obviously interested in the possibilities.
“How does Kevin feel about doing that?’ Jo asked, thinking that Meg’s husband, from what she understood, preferred to make all the decisions in their household.
“Oh, he’s up for it!” Meg said. “I’ve explained all about how you want to find Linda’s killer. Kevin says Bill Ewing always seemed like a powder keg ready to blow up. He feels if Ewing murdered someone, he needs to be brought to justice.”
“Amen,” Ina Mae said. “But how does he think he can do that by meeting with the man?”
“Well,” Dulcie said, jumping in, “Kevin’s in sales, right? So he must know how to draw people out. And they have their military years in common to put Ewing at ease. He should be able to get the man relaxed and talking, maybe after a couple of beers?”
“Exactly!” Loralee agreed. “It’s a wonderful idea, Meg.”
Meg beamed, obviously proud of having come up with it.
“Please warn your husband to be careful,” Jo said.
“Yes,” Javonne said firmly. “Tell him to make sure they meet in a very public place, so that if Ewing gets upset, there’ll be plenty of people around for protection.”
“I’ll tell him, but Kevin is pretty good at taking care of himself. Anyway, Jo, I wanted to run that by you, to make sure it wouldn’t interfere with anything else you planned. Then, if it’s okay, I’ll need to know how Kevin can get in touch with him.”
“If Kevin’s willing to give it a try, that’s great, Meg. I can use any help I can get.” Jo gave Meg the name and location of the combination restaurant and motel where Ewing was staying. “He’s probably been eating most of his meals there, so an invitation to go elsewhere should appeal to him.”
Meg tucked away the paper on which she’d written all the information. “I’ll let you all know how it turns out.”
“Come join us for Jo’s next workshop,” Loralee invited. “You’ll love the things she teaches us. And we’re a pretty good group.”
Meg smiled, clearly pleased at the idea. “Maybe I will!”
She took off to the friendly farewells of them all. As the door jingled behind her, Loralee said, “Such a nice young woman. I can see a real difference in her since she’s taken that job at the Abbot’s Kitchen.”
“Does anyone know her husband?” Jo asked, and got four head shakes.
“With him having to travel so much,” Loralee said, “I guess he’s always preferred to keep to himself on his days off.” She hesitated. “Meg has hinted that he somewhat unreasonably expected her to do the same, that is, stay at home most of the time and keep to herself. But apparently that’s changing. Looks like they’re both starting to reach out more to their fellow townspeople. I’m so glad.”
“If he can get something on Bill Ewing that Jo can take to the sheriff, I’ll be even gladder!” Javonne declared. She glanced around the workshop as if seeing the ongoing collage projects for the first time. “What did you say I should do with this poster board, Jo?”
Chapter 22
Jo closed up shop after the ladies took off and headed to the hospital to see Russ. She reflected on the fact that this was perhaps her fourth or fifth trip there, taken with as many different emotions—fear and dread, relief, then back to worry. What emotions rolled through her this time she’d be hard put to pin down and label, but they’d been churning ever since her talk on the phone with Russ’s brother Scott. What she was going to do about them she hadn’t the faintest idea.
She tapped on Russ’s door, which led to the old room he’d been returned to, and pushed it partway open.
“Hi,” she said tentatively, feeling unexpectedly shy, as though the man she had come to see was someone she barely knew. But once Russ turned his head toward her and smiled his familiar smile, all her hesitancy disappeared.
“Feeling up to company?” she asked, stepping in. His eyes were shadowed and somewhat sunken, and she noticed his television wasn’t on.
“Been staying awake just for you,” Russ said as he reached out with his good arm to pull her close. She set down the poster board that she’d brought with her before leaning over to give him a kiss. His lips were dry but, thankfully, nonfeverish. His cheek, she noticed as she rubbed her own against it, was pleasantly smooth.
“You got a shave again,” Jo said.
He grinned. “Gotta find something to keep them busy.”
“Oh, you’ve kept everyone here plenty busy lately. It’s time to let them move on to the other patients.”
“And start doing things for myself? What’s the point of being in the hospital if you can’t be waited on hand and foot?”
“I don’t know anyone less likely to enjoy being waited on. You know you’re itching to get all this over with.”
Russ laughed, and joked, “How little you know me.” The words struck a chord with Jo, but she managed to smile.
“What’s that?” Russ asked, looking at the poster board she had leaned against the bed.
Jo picked it up. “It’s something I made for tonight’s collage demo, but I put it together with you in mind.” She held it where he could see and watched the amusement grow on his face as he looked it over. It was a collage of police-related cartoons that she’d clipped from old New Yorkers and other magazines that Ina Mae had given her.
Russ’s amusement increased to laugh-out-loud.
“I hoped you’d like it.”
“Do I get to keep it?”
“Of course. I can tape it to the wall, there, if you like.”
“That’s good. Then when Mark comes by next time he won’t miss it. That one about the burglar in the rabbit suit will ring a few bells for him.”
“Oh?”
“I’ll
let him tell you about it. It’s a good story.”
“Mark’s been a good friend.” Jo took out the tape she’d brought with her and began fixing her cartoon collage to the wall beneath the television. Several get-well cards had been taped there as well, and Jo noticed one or two new flower arrangements in the room. Carrie’s box of brownies perched on the table beside the bed, its cover ajar.
“Mark’s the best.”
“I also got to talk to your brother Scott while you were in surgery.”
“Yeah, Scott told me. He called this afternoon.”
“He seemed very sorry he couldn’t be here.”
Paper-Thin Alibi Page 17
