Skein of the Crime

by Maggie Sefton

  “Guilty, Mimi.” Kelly held up her hand. “I decided it was a good opportunity to show the girls how the wool got into those skeins you have on the shelves. “We’re busted, girls. Better get back to those hats.”

  “Anyone need help?” Mimi offered, strolling around the table, eyeing the beginning projects.

  A couple of hands shot up, and conversation started flowing around the table again as the girls picked up their knitting where they left off. Kelly decided this was as good a time as any for a coffee break. She walked over to Burt’s corner and beckoned.

  “Why don’t we go have some coffee and let Mimi get these kids back on track?”

  “Sounds like a good idea, Kelly,” he said, rising from his wheel. “I could use some coffee before I start drafting again.”

  “You’re a great teacher, Burt,” Kelly said as they wound through the central yarn room toward the hallway that led to the café. “You really had the girls enthralled back there.”

  “Thank you, Kelly. I have to confess I love nothing more than working with a group of youngsters who’re eager to learn.”

  “Well, I think you just planted some spinning seeds today. I wouldn’t be surprised if several of those girls wanted to take classes.” Kelly paused in the entrance to the café. Sunday morning busy. Jennifer and Julie, the other waitress, were loading their trays with plates of yummy breakfast dishes. “Wow, I always forget how crowded the café is on weekends.”

  “Mmmm, smells good,” Burt said as they headed toward the grill. “Makes me want to eat all over again.”

  “Don’t start, Burt. If you weaken, so will I.” She held out her mug to the grill cook. “Hey, Eduardo, could we get a refill, please? Then, I promise we won’t bother you again.”

  “No bother, Kelly,” Eduardo said with his usual grin. “Let me grab a pot. Jen and Julie are busy with customers.”

  “We noticed. Is that Pete busing tables?” Kelly pointed toward the dining room. “You must be shorthanded. Someone didn’t show up for work, right?”

  Eduardo poured a black stream into Kelly’s mug, then Burt’s. “You got it. Saturday-night curse. Late parties and everyone’s hungover Sunday morning.”

  “Thanks, Eduardo,” Burt said as he and Kelly maneuvered their way back toward the knitting shop. Jennifer spotted them and gave a hurried wave as she scurried through the dining room.

  Kelly took a sip of the hot black nectar. “Ahhhh, I needed that,” she said, eyes closed, tasting.

  Burt chuckled. “I don’t know how you can drink it right away as hot as it is.”

  “Practice. Learned how in college. My throat is probably cauterized by now.” She took another sip as they wandered back into the shop, bins of yarns spilling over with tempting tactile creations. Kelly trailed her fingers over several skeins, and another thought came forward. “Have you read the newspaper today? Did you see where a young girl was found dead on the river trail? Sounds like it was on that section of trail near the golf course close to here.”

  Burt’s smile disappeared. “Yeah, I saw it. That’s a damn shame.”

  “Do you think it’s related to those assaults that have been happening these last few months?”

  “I don’t know, Kelly. No one’s ever been killed before. One woman was hit several times when she fought back against her attacker. But they still don’t know if there’s more than one guy who’s attacking women.”

  “Have you talked to your old partner in the department yet?”

  “First thing this morning. I left a message on his cell. I haven’t heard back yet, because I’m sure they’re still trying to sort through what they’ve got. But he’ll give me a call when he can.”

  “Do you think it was a college student, Burt? Someone who hasn’t been here these last few months and read about the stalker?”

  Burt shrugged. “Who knows, Kelly? That’s certainly one possibility.” He stood and sipped his coffee as he stared out the window.

  Kelly glanced at her watch. “Well, I’d better get back to helping Mimi. Steve’s working at his office all day, of course, so I’ll be doing some account work at home. Give me a call whenever you hear something, okay?”

  “Will do, Kelly.”

  Suddenly Kelly remembered something else she wanted to tell Burt. The newspaper’s ugly headlines had swept the good news out of her head temporarily.

  “Hey, Burt, has Megan given you guys a call yet?”

  Burt look puzzled. “Megan? No, why?”

  Kelly grinned. “Well, she will be. She and Marty gave us the good news Friday night. They’re engaged. Isn’t that great?”

  Burt’s face broke into an enormous grin. “That’s fantastic news, Kelly! Boy, wait’ll we tell Mimi. Do you want to do it after class?”

  “Perfect. Mother Mimi will be ecstatic.”

  Kelly clicked out of the spreadsheet, then checked her watch. It was nearly six o’clock and Steve hadn’t called yet. She’d left a message earlier that dinner was warming in the oven and beer was in the fridge, so she expected him to pull down the driveway any minute.

  She glanced outside into the gathering dusk, then back to the blinking cursor on her computer screen. Might as well keep working. Kelly was about to open another spreadsheet when her cell phone rang. At last.

  “Hey, you’d better get home soon. That Indian food is driving me crazy warming in the oven,” Kelly said into the phone.

  “Well, I’m afraid Mimi and I aren’t very hungry tonight, but thanks anyway, Kelly,” Burt’s voice sounded. “I thought I’d give you a call because I heard from Dan.”

  “Oh, yeah, what have they learned? Or can you say?” Kelly logged off her computer and shut it down.

  “Well, they’ve been able to establish identity of the young woman. Some of the hospital staff recognized her from last month. It’s Holly Kaiser.”

  Kelly slowly rose from her chair, a chill settling over her. “Oh, no! That can’t be. I just saw Holly the other day at the shop. She . . . she’s been doing so well. What happened? What was she doing on the river trail?”

  “I know, Kelly, I don’t know what possessed her to go there, unless she was drunk or high again.”

  “Don’t tell me she was on drugs again.”

  “They won’t know until the medical examiner takes a look. They were able to identify Holly from the hospital records of her previous admission last month. She was unresponsive and unable to communicate then, so they fingerprinted her to see if she matched any missing persons. Little did they know, they’d be using those same prints to identify her body a few weeks later.”

  “I can’t believe it! It’s bad enough Holly got on drugs again. But then she wandered back to the same trail when that vicious attacker was waiting for his next victim. That’s horrible!” Kelly walked to her living room and back as she talked.

  “We don’t know if Holly’s death is connected to the assaults or not, Kelly. Police don’t know how she died. Dan’s not saying much yet, which tells me they’re not sure. He did say there was a bump on the back of her head, but no mention of a head injury. He also said she wasn’t sexually assaulted.”

  “So, what do you think happened, Burt?”

  “I don’t know, Kelly. And I’m not even going to speculate until I hear from Dan after he’s seen the medical examiner’s report.”

  “This is awful, simply awful. How’s Mimi doing?”

  “Not too good, Kelly. As you know, she lost her son to drugs years ago. And she’d become very close to Holly lately. She’s in the bedroom crying now. It’s hard.”

  “I’m so sorry, Burt. Tell Mimi she’s in my thoughts.”

  “I will, Kelly. I’m sorry to be telling you this tonight, but you asked me to call.”

  “That’s okay, Burt. I’m glad you did.” She paused in front of the patio door, looking out into the darkening sky. Only last month Holly was standing on Kelly’s patio. Stoned out of her mind, but alive.

  Suddenly another image came into Kelly’s mind. �
��Oh, no, Burt . . .” she breathed. “Who’s going to tell Tommy?”

  All Kelly heard was a long sigh on the other end of the phone.

  Four

  “Hey, good to see you,” Kelly said to Lisa as she entered the knitting room. “I’m glad I decided to take a morning break now.” She plopped her bag on the library table and settled into a chair.

  “My therapy schedule keeps getting shifted around,” Lisa said, barely looking up from the fuzzy orange red scarf she was working on her needles.

  “Have you seen Mimi today? How’s she doing?” Kelly asked.

  “She seems okay. Quiet and subdued, but that’s understandable. It sounds like she’d kind of adopted that girl. So, naturally Mimi’s been grieving.”

  Kelly let out a sigh. “And I’m sure all this brings back sad memories of her son’s death, too.”

  “Any news on how Holly died?”

  “Not yet.”

  Kelly pulled Steve’s winter hat from her bag and shifted away from the sad topic. “How’re your psychology classes going this semester?”

  “They’re getting harder. In fact, I’m only taking one class this semester because there’s so much reading involved. And we have to write three big papers.” She screwed up her face in displeasure.

  “I know what you mean, Lisa. I used to hate writing those papers, too,” Kelly commiserated as her fingers went through the familiar movements. Slip the needle under the stitch, wrap the yarn, slide the stitch. Slip, wrap, slide. Over and over. Steve’s hat was halfway done. She’d definitely have it finished soon. In plenty of time for the winter cold.

  “And the professor isn’t half as interesting as Dr. Norcross.”

  “Well, that’s about par for grad school, Lisa, you know that. You get winners and losers. Some professors can’t teach their way out of a paper bag. They just stand up there and read from their notes. They might as well post everything online and save people the trouble of going to class.”

  Lisa snickered. “You’re dead-on, Kelly. I had a deadly one like that last semester. I thought I was going to pull out my hair. The only thing that kept my sanity was Dr. Norcross’s class.”

  Lisa’s mentor and advisor. Kelly was about to ask how the class was going when Jennifer sailed into the room.

  “Wonderful. Two for the price of one. Now I can visit with both of you on break.” Jennifer sank into a chair beside Kelly and withdrew the burgundy sweater she was now knitting.

  “You guys busy this morning?” Kelly asked.

  “Not that much, actually. Typical Monday-morning slow.”

  “Have either of you seen Megan or talked to her since we got together Friday night?” Lisa glanced up from her orange yarn.

  Kelly shook her head. “I haven’t seen her. What about you, Jen?”

  “Nope. Which means she hasn’t been in here because she always stops in the café for an Earl Grey to go.”

  “That’s kind of unusual, isn’t it? Megan always comes over here to get away from her crazy clients,” Lisa added.

  “Boy, I’m glad I don’t work in IT. I’ve had to consult with this new client’s IT guy so I could get all the data I needed for this developer’s project. And I swear, it was like pulling teeth. He’s positively anal.”

  Jennifer snickered. “I know the type. They’re usually sitting around the office on the desktop computers doing research and wondering why they don’t have any clients. Clients aren’t on the computer. They’re outside. You’ve gotta go out and get ’em.”

  “Speaking of clients, how’s that going?” Kelly asked.

  “Not well, to be honest. The buyers who’re looking are still browsing, and even if they were ready to buy, most of them nowadays wouldn’t qualify. Like I said the other night, good jobs, good credit, and savings in the banks used to guarantee a loan. Not anymore.”

  “Does that mean I won’t be about to refinance Aunt Helen’s loan on the cottage? It’s been over two years and the penalty clause is no longer in effect. I wanted to lower those payments.”

  Jennifer tilted her head to the side. “Actually, you’re a different case, Kelly. You’ll probably be able to get a loan because you’ve got what they call significant assets. You own all that land in Wyoming and the gas leases. And you’ve got savings in the bank on top of that. Most people have a job and some savings. Maybe a small retirement account, that’s all. That used to be enough, but not anymore.”

  “So, you’re saying I would get the loan, then?” Kelly probed.

  “Yeah, I think so. Do you want me to check with some of the lenders we work with? I can get a feel for what their responses would be and get back to you.”

  “Thanks, Jen, that would be great.”

  Just then a mini-hurricane blew into the shop. Megan charged into the main room with two over-the-shoulder bags. Cheeks flushed, jet-black curls rumpled, Megan looked frazzled.

  “Hey, we were just wondering when we’d see you again,” Lisa said, glancing up from her scarf. “No one’s seen you.”

  “That’s because I’m moving so fast, I don’t show up on anyone’s radar screen.” Megan dropped both bags to the table and sank into a chair beside Lisa.

  “What’s up?” Jennifer asked, shifting her attention from the burgundy yarn.

  “What isn’t up?” Megan said, before taking a sip from her mug.

  “Don’t tell me you’ve started on wedding preparations already?”

  Megan fixed Kelly with a look. “You don’t want to know. I called my folks on Saturday to tell them the news, and my mother’s gone completely nuts. She must have called me three times on Saturday and four times on Sunday.” She rolled her eyes.

  “That would be a ‘yes’ on the wedding preparations,” Jennifer said with a smile.

  “Your mom’s getting excited, I guess,” Lisa said. “That’s understandable.”

  “Ohhhh, she’s beyond excited. And she’s beginning to drive me crazy. First, she wanted me to have the wedding back home in Minneapolis, but I told her ‘no way.’ I’ve been living in Colorado for six years, and this is my home now. Marty’s a Colorado guy, and all our friends are here. Well, that just made her cry. She said all the aunts and uncles would want to come, and not everyone could fly out to Colorado. Of course, that made me feel awful and selfish, but I absolutely do not want to go back to Minnesota for the wedding. All those relatives can come out here or not come. Marty and I want to have our wedding in Colorado. It took me all day to get her calmed down.”

  “Wow, she sounds ‘high-strung,’ as Jayleen would say,” Kelly joked.

  “Ohhhh, yeah.” Megan nodded vigorously. “You see, my sister Karen eloped with her boyfriend, so my mom didn’t get to plan a wedding for her. So, she’s really hyper about planning this one. And she must have spent Saturday night on the Web because she called me early Sunday morning with a list of potential Colorado wedding ‘venues,’ as she called it.” Megan closed her eyes and let out a sigh. “Woke us up, too.”

  Kelly and her friends laughed softly at Megan’s descriptions. “What’s on her list, Megan? Anything you can live with?” Lisa asked.

  “Several, actually, but they’re totally out of our price range. Like the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, for example.”

  Jennifer laughed out loud. “The Stanley? It’s gorgeous, but it’s also way expensive and booked over a year in advance, too, from what I’ve heard.”

  “Yeah, my mom wasn’t too pleased to hear that.”

  “Plus you could have snow up there in Estes. Didn’t you guys say the wedding would be next fall? Then, we can plan on having snow. Anytime from September on, snow is possible in the high country,” Kelly said.

  “More like probable,” Lisa added.

  “I told her that when she first suggested it, but she didn’t pay attention. Thank goodness the Stanley was already booked for nearly two years out. Whew.”

  “What else is on her list?”

  “Ohhhh, let’s see, places like the Brown Palace in Denver, the
Broadmoor in Colorado Springs . . .”

  Kelly had to join in the laughter that rippled around the table now. “Whoa, those places would cost an arm and a leg to rent. Is your family rich or something, Megan?”

  “No, my dad’s a college professor, and my mom’s an office manager of a supply store. So I guess this is all just wishful thinking and dreaming on Mom’s part.”

  “What’s Marty say to all this?” Jennifer asked.

  “Oh, he just ducks out of the room to laugh whenever my mom calls.” Megan pulled a royal blue vest from her knitting bag and picked up her stitches. “I tell you, I had just begun this vest Saturday morning before my mom called, and look how much I’ve finished.” She held up an almost finished vest. “This is how I kept my sanity on the phone with my mom.”

  “Wow, maybe that’s why my knitting takes longer,” Kelly mused. “I don’t have any crazed relatives calling to nag me.”

  “Where would you and Marty like to have the ceremony?” Lisa asked. “You haven’t said.”

  Megan’s fingers picked up speed. “Actually, we’d love an outdoor ceremony if we could guarantee a beautiful fall day. But this is Colorado. There are no guarantees. Weather changes in a heartbeat. But it would be gorgeous to be standing in some little valley surrounded by pine trees with the snow-capped mountains in the distance.”

  Kelly could picture that. She understood the call of the mountains. Gorgeous, captivating views. Kelly had been captivated herself. So much so, she’d actually bought mountain property to enjoy the views. Unfortunately, that property had a history of conflict attached to it, and Kelly willingly let it go. Now, she shied away when the mountains started singing their siren song.

  She had gotten used to living in town now and was no longer sure she wanted to drive back and forth into the canyon every day and night. Especially on winding, twisting roads. Canyon living was beautiful, but driving could be treacherous, especially in the winter. Kelly had personal experience with that.