Leann looked back at Kelly, gratitude in her eyes. “Thank you, Kelly,” she said softly. “I admit I’ve felt so alone since yesterday. I have no family left. My parents both died a few years ago, and I had no children with my ex-husband. He’s way off somewhere on the East Coast. We haven’t been in touch for years.”
“Well, you can count on your friends, Leann,” Mimi declared, giving a motherly pat to Leann’s other arm.
Leann glanced down into her lap, her hands clasped tightly together. “Thank you, Mimi . . . you, too, Kelly. I can’t tell you how much that means to me.”
Kelly sensed that Leann might want to talk with Mimi alone. After all, they’d known each other for years. Kelly decided to remove herself and allow for some private time between the old friends.
She picked up her almost-finished coffee mug. “I need a refill,” she exaggerated. “I’m sure you two will excuse me. I hope to see you later, Leann.” Leaving her chair, Kelly added, “And don’t be dismayed by that detective’s questions. Burt tells me that everybody is questioned like that. Try not to worry about it.”
“Thanks, Kelly, I’ll . . . try not to worry,” Leann said, not sounding at all positive to Kelly.
Leaving them, Kelly sped through the adjoining yarn rooms and down the hallway to the café. Spotting Jennifer loading breakfast plates onto her tray, Kelly gave her a wave. “Hey, there. I’m taking a coffee break.”
Jennifer lifted the tray expertly to her shoulder and smiled at Kelly. “I thought you were on perpetual coffee break, Kelly.”
“Oh, good one,” Eduardo teased from beside the grill.
Kelly smelled bacon sizzling on the grill and watched Eduardo place a flat iron on top of the hunk of slices to keep them straight. “Just ignore me, Eduardo,” she said, leaning against the counter. “I’m going to stand here and inhale the aromas. I’ll gain less weight that way.”
The grill cook grinned. “You’re fine, Kelly. I swear, you young girls are always worrying about your weight. A little bacon never hurt anybody.”
Words to live by, Kelly thought, inhaling the delectable scent. Jennifer approached then, coffeepot in hand.
“Here you go,” she said, pouring the dark rich brew into Kelly’s mug. “Catch me up while I’ve got a minute. You and Steve went out Saturday night in Denver, right? How was it?”
Kelly took a deep drink and savored. Ahhhh. “It was great. We went to that old private gentlemen’s club that was turned into a restaurant several years ago. They did a beautiful job of refurbishing it. Everything is done in that turn-of-the-century period. Gorgeous woods and brass everywhere. The food was delicious, and so were the wines. Even the jazz group was good.”
“I was hoping you’d say it was a romantic evening. Sounds like you two were discussing architectural details instead of gazing into each other’s eyes,” Jennifer teased.
“Well, it was still romantic.” Kelly played along. “Steve and I love talking about all those things. Hey, one of my clients is a developer, and Steve’s an architect. Plus, he’s been to all those construction conferences lately. He’s gotten all sorts of new ideas about that house he’ll be designing for Sam’s friend.”
“Oh, wow . . .” Jennifer said with a wicked smile. “Pardon me if I yawn. You two are hopeless.”
“Hey, we had a great time,” Kelly replied, then sent her friend a sly smile. “And we still managed to gaze into each other’s eyes once or twice.” She started to walk away.
“Okay, I guess there’s hope for you two yet,” Jennifer said.
Kelly simply raised her mug in salute as she headed for the hallway. Oh, there was hope, all right. Lots and lots of it.
* * *
“Hey, you’ve returned,” Burt greeted Kelly when she walked into the Lambspun foyer. “Mimi said you were here this morning, then you had to run back to your office.” He set a lacquered box on the edge of the foyer table, which held a guest book and flyers describing the shop and available classes.
“That’s about it,” Kelly said. “I was all set to finally finish that little bridesmaid shawl. Then Don Warner called me from Denver and asked that I e-mail some additional reports to him right away. After that, I finished the rest of my client work, so I’m free as a bird until the guys’ last baseball game tonight. Lisa, Megan, and I are going.” She checked her watch. “That gives me a little over an hour.”
“Do you have time for a quick coffee break first?”
Kelly recognized Burt’s serious voice. “I’ll bet you’ve heard from Dan, right?”
“You’ll bet right. C’mon, let’s go over to the café,” Burt said, beckoning Kelly.
Kelly followed Burt past two browsing customers in the central yarn room, past another woman admiring the Mother Loom, then down the hallway to the café. The café would be empty now, since it was late afternoon. No one to overhear their conversation. Burt chose a small table at the rear of the café, one of their favorite spots.
Kelly plopped her bag on an adjoining chair and settled across from Burt. Thank goodness she’d already refilled her coffee at home. New information always required a lot of concentration.
“Okay, Burt, you’ve barely cracked a smile since I came in. That means you heard something that concerned you. What was it?” She took a deep drink of hot brew to fortify herself before he spoke.
Burt let out a deep sigh and leaned forward over the table, folding both of his bear-paw hands. “Dan told me that Leann O’Hara has officially moved onto the suspect list.”
Kelly screwed up her face. “I was afraid that would happen. I guess they finished interviewing all those women in Zoe’s class, right?”
“Oh, yeah,” Burt said with a nod. “And each one of them recalled Leann coming into Zoe’s class that night and angrily accusing Zoe of stealing her design.”
“Did any of them actually say that Zoe acted like she was scared of Leann?”
“I asked Dan that same question myself, and he told me the women all said Zoe looked a ‘little frightened,’ in their words.”
“Did any of them know about Oscar? Or that Zoe had just escaped an abusive husband?”
“Oh, yes.” Burt nodded vigorously. “Dan said all of them made it a point to tell him they knew about Oscar, and that Zoe was filing for divorce. And this is interesting . . . apparently Zoe took a few minutes at the beginning of class to tell everyone about her new situation. So they all knew that Oscar had flown into a rage when Zoe left him.”
“Okay, that’s more like it,” Kelly said, straightening in her chair. “Surely some of those women voiced an opinion about Oscar. I cannot believe they would accuse Leann and ignore Oscar.”
“Well, I don’t think they accused anyone of anything, Kelly.” Burt gave her a fatherly smile. “Dan said each of the women mentioned Leann’s confrontation and Zoe’s comments about Oscar at the beginning of class. Dan also learned that Oscar had barged into one of Zoe’s sewing classes last year. Three of the women were in that class as well, so they saw Oscar at his finest, apparently. Dan said they all reported he obviously had been drinking, because they smelled it on him. He demanded Zoe give him some money, then he left.”
“Well, all right, then. They got to see old Oscar at his best. I’m sure they remembered that scene clearly.”
“They sure did, and they made a point of saying Zoe looked scared when Oscar showed up that night.”
“Okay, at least Dan heard several accounts of how threatening Oscar could be.” Kelly glanced into the empty café. “But we still come back to Leann having the murder weapon. Damn. We can’t get away from that, can we?”
“No, we can’t, I’m sorry to say.” Burt let out a tired sigh. Too many murders in his lifetime.
“I wish some of Mimi’s inventive scenarios were more plausible,” Kelly said with a little smile. “I’d like to believe that someone came into Leann’s house and stole the gun.”
“Well, that’s always possible, but that still leads back to who would have—”
“A reason to kill Zoe,” Kelly finished for him. “The all-important motive. I know. In reality, anybody who might be tempted to steal a gun would probably use it to rob a convenience store, not plot to kill a seamstress.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
Kelly released a breath. “Well, if Dan is suspicious of Leann, I suppose we should be, too. Right?”
“You’re right, Kelly, even though we may not be happy about it.” He glanced at his watch. “I’d better get a move on. There are a few errands left on Mimi’s list.” He pushed back his chair.
Grabbing her mug and knitting bag, Kelly did the same, and joined Burt as he walked slowly down the hallway. “You know, I’m curious what Vera had to say about Zoe and Leann. She probably knows things no one else does. After all, she worked with Zoe in Leann’s shop. She’s known both of them and Oscar for years.”
“I asked him, and Dan said Vera was the second person they questioned after Oscar. He added that Vera was most helpful. I’ll talk to you later, Kelly. Say hi to everyone tonight.” Burt gave her a parting smile and hurried for the shop front door. Errands beckoned.
Kelly headed for the knitting table and dropped her stuff, then settled into a chair. No one else was at the table. The shop would be closing in an hour. Plenty of time to finish that shawl. She pulled the royal blue bundle from her knitting bag.
Picking up her stitches where she’d left off, Kelly settled into the relaxing rhythm of knitting. Slip, wrap, slide. Slip, wrap, slide. Again and again. Halfway around the top row of the shawl.
“Oh, Kelly, I’m glad you haven’t left yet,” Mimi said, rushing into the room. “I saw you and Burt go into the café. He told you about his conversation with Dan today, right?”
“I’m afraid so, Mimi.” She gave her a wan smile. “It wasn’t good news, but you and I had already talked about it earlier. I wish the facts were different, but they aren’t. Leann is definitely a suspect.”
Mimi sat in a chair beside Kelly and leaned forward. “Kelly, could I ask you a favor?”
Kelly looked up from her knitting. “Sure, Mimi. What do you need?”
Mimi leaned closer. “Could you please help Leann? You’re so good at digging out information, I thought maybe there was something you could find out that would help her.”
Kelly let her knitting drop to her lap. She stared into Mimi’s wide blue gaze, imploring her. Kelly felt her heart squeeze. “Mimi . . . I . . . I don’t think there’s anything I could do. I mean . . . the police have got witnesses and the murder weapon—”
“But no fingerprints!” Mimi whispered after glancing over her shoulder at a browsing customer in an adjoining room.
“That’s true, but that means either the killer wore gloves or wiped off the gun before throwing it into the Dumpster.”
Mimi’s expression turned pleading. “I know that, but I simply cannot believe that Leann could kill Zoe. It has to be Oscar. He’s a drunkard, and he beat Zoe! Maybe there’s someone who knows something but the police don’t know about them. You’re so cleaver at finding clues, I . . . I thought maybe you could discover something that would help Leann prove she’s not guilty.”
Kelly felt Mimi’s desperation to help her friend reach out. How could she refuse? She couldn’t. “All right, Mimi. I promise I’ll ask some questions and see what I can learn. But that’s really all I can do.”
Mimi’s relief was immediate. “Oh, thank you, Kelly! I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. I simply could not sit by and allow circumstances to put Leann directly in the police crosshairs.”
“I’ll do what I can, Mimi,” Kelly promised. “But I’m afraid Leann has already put herself right in the middle of police crosshairs.”
Rosa rushed up to the archway separating the main room from the center of the shop. “Mimi, that California weaver is on the line. You called her earlier, remember?”
“Oh, yes, yes. I’m coming right now,” Mimi said, springing from her chair. Mimi never seemed to sit but merely light on a branch, ready to fly away on a moment’s notice. “Thank you so much, Kelly,” she said as she rushed from the room.
Kelly picked up her shawl again. No wonder she’d taken so long to finish it. She was always interrupting her knitting. Now, however, Kelly allowed herself to ponder Mimi’s request.
Could she find something that the police had not? She’d done it several times before, while sleuthing around previous murders. But this time, there didn’t seem to be any loose ends. Dan was a very thorough detective. She knew that. Kelly doubted he would miss something. But then, Kelly had always managed to find details that the police missed. Ferret out information they didn’t know. And she always started by asking questions. Lots and lots of questions. And those questions always led to more questions. That’s how Kelly found her answers.
She knitted several more stitches. If she was going to start asking questions, where would she start? According to Burt, Dan and the detectives had questioned friends of Zoe’s, customers, Oscar’s drinking buddies at the bar, the bartender, neighbors, and the women in Zoe’s evening class. They’d covered all the bases, it seemed to Kelly.
A hint of something tugged at Kelly’s memory. Something said in conversation not long ago. What was it? Who was talking?
The memory moved closer, clearer, until Kelly remembered. Jayleen. Jayleen had said she had a friend who was taking Zoe’s evening sewing class. And that friend remembered Zoe talking about her husband Oscar.
Once again, Kelly let the shawl drop to her lap. Maybe she could start by asking Jayleen’s friend what she remembered about that evening. It was as good a place to start as any. In fact, it was the only place Kelly could think of to begin.
Kelly dug into her jeans pocket for her phone. Now if only Jayleen had that woman’s phone number. She flipped through her directory and pressed Jayleen’s name and number and listened to the rings. Once, twice, Jayleen was probably outside with the alpaca herd. Fifth ring . . . then a familiar voice sounded. Jayleen’s voice mail.
Eleven
Kelly tabbed through the spreadsheet columns, entering various expenses from Arthur Housemann’s real estate investments. There were more expenses than last month, she noticed, then checked the previous year’s spreadsheet for the same month. Yes, definitely more.
Pausing to take a deep drink from her favorite ceramic mug, Kelly leaned back in her desk chair and looked through the patio door screen. The mild high seventies September temperatures kept summer around longer. That was another thing Kelly liked about Colorado. The weather was constantly a surprise. They could have mild temperatures in the middle of February right after a cold front had brought frigid twenties and teens. Then the next day, it would be in the forties, then rise to the fifties, then sixties. It was hard not to love weather like that. Of course, snowy times and cold fronts did take their turn, but in between the necessary winter temps, balmy weather often held sway.
Carl lay stretched out on the grass, sound asleep in the morning sun. Totally oblivious to Brazen Squirrel’s trespassing. The clever furry creature had leaped from an overhanging cottonwood branch to the chain-link fence rail, then a hop and a squirrelly skip and down to the ground. Dangerous territory when Big Dog was awake.
Ahhhh . . . but Brazen knew enough to let sleeping dogs lie. That’s when Kelly noticed Brazen did some of his best work. Hiding his treasures. Retrieving others. Kelly spied a nut in Brazen’s jaws as he hopped closer to the patio. She glanced at Carl. Out like a rock. No problem.
Brazen had a clear path to the flower beds, one of his favorite hiding places. Kelly had forgiven the brave little squirrel his digging in her gardens. She figured if Brazen had enough guts to breach Big Dog’s Territory to hide his winter cache of food, then it was okay with her.
Suddenly, her cell phone jangled. Kelly grabbed for it across her desk before it rang again. Brazen had frozen in place behind the plants. Carl raised his head briefly but, not hearing another ring, let it flop to the grass again.
Snooze not to be interrupted. Ahhhh, the life of a dog.
Jayleen’s name and number flashed on the smartphone screen. “Hi, Jayleen,” Kelly said in a quiet voice, noticing Carl rouse himself again.
“Hey, Kelly, I’m sorry I didn’t get your message last night. My phone had run down. So I didn’t see your message until now.”
“That’s okay, Jayleen,” Kelly said, moving away from her desk in the sunny corner of her living room. “I knew you’d get back to me when you could. Mimi asked me to poke around a little and ask some questions, so I promised I would.”
Jayleen chuckled. “A little sleuthing, right? That makes sense to me. You’ve got a good track record, Kelly-girl.”
“Well, I remembered you said your friend was one of Zoe’s students in that evening sewing class, and I hoped you had her number. Do you think she’d mind if I gave her a call?”
“Hell, no,” Jayleen declared. “In fact, I already gave my friend a call after I heard your message and told her you wanted to talk with her. She said she didn’t mind at all. Here’s her number. Ready?”
Kelly hurried back to her desk. Carl was up off the ground and stretching. She wondered if Brazen had a chance to bury his treasure. “Ready,” she said and grabbed a pen, scribbling the woman’s number on the side of a Housemann Properties worksheet.
“Her name’s Anna Sibelius, and she keeps children for day care so she’s available all morning to talk. After lunch, she likes to keep it quiet for the kids to sleep.”
“Got it. Thanks, Jayleen.”
“Anytime, Kelly. I hope you learn something important. That Leann sounds like a nice lady. It would be a damn shame if the police suspected her.”
“Well, they already do, so I doubt my efforts will turn up much to change that. The cops have already talked to your friend and the rest of the women at the class. But I promised Mimi I’d do what I could.”
“Don’t count yourself out yet, Kelly. I’ve seen you come up with stuff that everyone else has ignored. Well, I’ve gotta run. Talk to you later.” She clicked off.
Cast On, Kill Off (A Knitting Mystery) Page 12
