Knot Guilty

by Betty Hechtman

  “You wore the shawl,” I said, seeing the gray shawl I’d gotten for her draped around the back of her chair.

  “Thank you again,” she said. “It looks like it’s going to be in the knit fashion show. Rain came by and asked if I’d model it.”

  Commander looked over the other tables, which were filling up with mostly women. His face brightened when he saw Paxton Cline. “Good, another man.” Paxton was sitting with his grandmother. She seemed very contemporary, wearing a black jacket with an aqua triangle shawl artfully arranged into a scarf. I recognized the yarn as a silk blend from their collection and thought it served as a nice advertisement for Cline Yarn International. I wondered why she looked tense. Paxton had worn a sports jacket and slacks, probably the closest thing to formal he had.

  “Hi, everybody,” Rhoda said when she arrived at the table. “You finally get to meet Hal.” The man with her gave a wave to us as she introduced each of us. He looked like he belonged with her. They were even dressed alike in plain dark suits. She sat down, but he went over to a long table set up below the stage that had the auction items on display.

  “Hal works in the jewelry business,” she said to everyone at the table. “When I told him about those fancy needles, he said maybe he could make up some hooks like them.”

  Elise was the next arrival with her husband in tow. There was still a trace of the sparkly stuff he’d had on his face when he was dressed as Anthony. Elise was bubbling about all the vampire kits she’d sold.

  “There’s Sheila,” Dinah said. “And look who she’s with.”

  “You’re right,” I said, standing up and waving to get their attention. We’d all known that Sheila had been interested in her boss practically from the day she started working in the lifestyle store near the bookstore. But this was the first time they’d gone anywhere together. Nicholas had a self-effacing charm, and no one ever guessed he was the author of the Anthony books.

  Sheila was beaming but was so nervous when she reached the table, she knocked over her wineglass when she went to sit down. Luckily it was empty and no damage done. Nicholas knew some of us and introduced himself to the rest. We quickly found out that it wasn’t exactly a date. He’d come to see the fashion show with the idea of acquiring some one-of-a-kind pieces for his store.

  Eduardo’s arrival caused quite a stir. He was tall, incredibly good-looking and wearing a black leather tuxedo. His girlfriend was nothing like I expected. It was pretty clear that he had all the plumage in their relationship.

  “Where’s Adele?” Rhoda asked, scanning the room.

  “She’ll be here,” I said.

  Meanwhile the reserved table was filling up. CeeCee waved to us as she stopped at the special table. She’d come alone and was perfectly dressed in a stylish maize-colored silk suit. She was waving to the crowd as well, and several people came up and took photos with her. CeeCee never complained about those kinds of interruptions. She liked the attention. Delvin took one of the seats near her. His version of a tuxedo was priceless—tails over black jeans and a white T-shirt. And his hat, a top hat, of course. Kimberly Wang Diaz came in and grabbed a chair where she could see the crowd. Since she was getting an award, she’d dressed to the nines. It had been a smart move on K.D.’s part to give an award to the newscaster. It was a way to guarantee the event would make the late news.

  Lacey Kirby created a stir when she reached the reserved table. All the smiles faded for a moment as she received supportive pats from her tablemates. I could only assume that they were making comments about her mother and how sad it was that she wasn’t there.

  Audrey Stewart made her way through the room to the front. She’d gone for simple elegance. Mason was a few steps behind. I watched him scanning the crowd until he saw me. His whole face lit up and I felt myself smile. They sat down at the reserved table as well.

  Commander seemed relieved that there were even more men in attendance now, though I was noticing that it seemed like only our group had brought dates.

  Thea Scott stopped at the reserved table, but I saw Delvin shaking his head and pointing off toward the rest of the tables. I guessed being the manager of the Knit Style Studio wasn’t enough to garner a seat there. If Mother Humphries was in the crowd, she was certainly staying far away from us.

  “Can I talk to you for a minute?” Paxton came up behind me, leaning close and speaking in a low voice. I nodded and got up. Our table was on the edge of the front row, next to the dark curtain that had been pulled along the side wall. Paxton led me to the back corner of the room.

  His bland looks were gathered up in worry. “What is it? Is something wrong?” I said.

  “Gran is upset with me,” he began. “I didn’t mean to, but I ended up telling her that you’d gone with me to get the thread. I kind of mentioned that you have investigated some murders and solved some cases for the cops. She got all upset when she realized you’d seen the photographs in her office. There wasn’t any bad feeling between Gran and K.D. Kirby. They’d been talking a lot recently. Gran said that K.D. even invited her up for a glass of champagne.”

  “So your grandmother did go up to K.D.’s suite,” I said.

  He looked horrified when he realized he’d just made things worse, and he struggled to fix what he’d done. “She was just up there for a few minutes. She didn’t even finish the champagne. She brought the glass back to the booth with her. My grandmother would never kill somebody. She’s a nice person.”

  Something Barry had said once echoed in my head. Nice people could be killers given the right circumstances. Like maybe having married your boyfriend.

  Paxton pleaded with me not to mention the photographs or the champagne to the cops. “I saw that detective hanging around outside.”

  I didn’t have to be Hercule Poirot to figure out that Ruby Cline had lied to the cops. When I got back to the table, Dinah wanted to know what was going on. She slipped into the empty seat next to me and I filled her in.

  “The thing is Ruby Cline could have motive. Paxton said she has a memory like an elephant and doesn’t let go of things. She could have been carrying a grudge against K.D. for stealing her boyfriend. Maybe something set it off, like K.D. was going to take something else of hers. Ruby had means. Well, anybody who came in the room did. The hair dryer was there all along. And now it appears she had opportunity. If she had a glass of champagne it had to be after the waiter was there.”

  Dinah’s eyes widened as I talked. “Now it makes sense. The waiter mentioned leaving glasses, yet only one glass was there when I found K.D. How convenient that she took the glass with her fingerprints all over it with her. Remember we saw the man in the suit in her booth? I bet he’s a lawyer and she was getting advice from him.” A server came by and started delivering the salads. “I have to talk to Barry and tell him about the champagne glass. Maybe it will get his mind off Adele.”

  “And here she comes,” Dinah said as we both looked toward the back of the room. “What’s going on with the ninja outfit?” Even though I’d seen the black pants and tunic hanging in the room, somehow I’d expected her to add something with color, but she hadn’t. And then I saw she was pulling something, the small black suitcase. She seemed preoccupied as she looked around the room before heading to the side and almost blending in with the dark curtain as she made her way to our table. She left the suitcase in the folds of the curtain and then put on a false smile as she walked up to us.

  I glanced back at the doors and saw that Barry had just come in and taken up a position at the back of the room where he could see everything that was going on. Was it my imagination or was his gaze trained on the suitcase? Then he glanced in my direction, and even at this far distance I could swear he had an I-told-you-so look on his face.

  “Sit next to me,” I said to Adele, as Dinah got up and went back to her seat. I must have sounded a little too animated, because Adele gave me a funny look.
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br />   But her expression changed to one of gratitude as she sat down. “It’s really nice of you, Pink, trying to make it not so obvious that Eric didn’t come.” Something was definitely up. Adele was being too subdued. She seemed almost nervous.

  I was too keyed up to eat. Not that anyone noticed. A bunch of conversations started up at our table, though I barely heard what was going on, other than it seemed all the men were relieved to have one another and not to have to talk about yarn.

  By the time the plates were cleared and the pieces of flourless chocolate cake were being distributed, Delvin had gone up on the stage. He began with some comments about K.D. and how this banquet had always been the high point of the weekend for her. He did a few minutes on what a legend she was and then tried to lift the spirits of the audience by telling them how successful the show had been.

  “While you’re enjoying your dessert and coffee, we’re going to start off the program with our prime fashion show. You will note that this is the crème de la crème of the designs from our attendees.” Rain came by and got Dinah, pointing her toward the dark curtains at the front that marked off the backstage area.

  “And we’re lucky to have Kimberly Wang Diaz to do the commentary for our wonderful knit fashion show.” She joined Delvin on the stage. The microphone was off to the side, leaving the catwalk area clear for the models.

  I expected some kind of angry noises about knitting from Adele, but she was strangely pleasant. She even asked Rhoda’s husband if he thought he really could make something like the silver needles for crochet. Adele’s good behavior was making me very, very nervous. First the plain clothes, which certainly looked like blend-in-the-crowd traveling clothes along with the suitcase, and now this acting out of character. She was up to something. I shuddered to think that maybe Barry was right.

  “About those needles—” Hal started to say, but he was interrupted as the fashion show began with Dinah as the first model. Our whole table applauded, even Adele. While Dinah did the whole twirling and turning model thing, Kimberly Wang Diaz read the description of what Dinah was wearing. As I listened I understood why Rain wanted Dinah to model the shawl. It wasn’t so much a description as a sales pitch, reminding people that there was just one more day to shop her booth.

  I looked over at Rain. She was still dressed in the knitted jacket and slacks she’d worn all day. But then the jacket was the sample of the ones she had for sale. She was on the edge of her seat as the newscaster read the script, and she mouthed the words along with her. She really beamed when she heard the applause.

  As I looked around the room, I noticed something disturbing. Ruby Cline and her grandson had left. I was barely aware of the rest of the fashion show, wondering if there was something I should do about their departure. When I focused on the stage again, Lacey Kirby had joined Kimberly.

  “The auction was one of my mother’s favorite parts of the show. She loved delivering a big check to whatever charity she’d chosen that year,” Lacey said and named the charity her mother had chosen for the current year before encouraging everyone to bid generously in memory of her mother. She called Audrey to the front, whose job was to hold up the auctioned items.

  I saw Mason take out his phone and answer it. He glanced toward the front of the room and apparently thought it was safe to leave his client because he headed to the back and then went outside.

  I was only half paying attention, still thinking about Ruby Cline. However, when Dinah returned to the table, I did zone back in and told her what a great model she was. She showed off the gift of some wooden knitting needles that was her prize for taking part in the fashion show. Adele barely reacted to the enemy tools.

  “I feel kind of funny about it now,” Dinah said. “I hope people don’t think I was pushing them to buy her pieces.” I assured her it didn’t really matter.

  Several items were auctioned off, and then I heard Lacey mention the silver knitting needles with the diamond accents. Maybe it was because those needles were keeping Mason and me apart, but I’d grown to really dislike them.

  “Things with a story always seem to have more value,” Lacey began. “And this complete set of knitting needles has a big one.” She paused as a murmur went through the crowd. “In case any of you haven’t seen them,” Lacey said, giving a nod to Audrey who held them up as the audience strained to look at them. The needles were famous or maybe infamous thanks to all the news coverage they’d gotten. I doubted there was one person who hadn’t gone to look at them.

  “They’re valued at $3,500, but there’s no reason they can’t go for more. Remember, the money is going to charity.” She asked for an opening bid of $50.

  Before the words were out of her mouth, someone had bid and then someone topped it. The bidding was fast and furious and in no time had reached $3,500. Rhoda and her husband seemed to be deep in conversation, then she nudged him, but he shook his head. Rhoda raised her hand.

  “We have $3,600 from the lady at the front table,” Lacey said. Rhoda looked horrified, as did her husband. She stood and put both of her hands up this time.

  “Wait a second,” Rhoda said. “I wasn’t bidding on the needles. There’s something about them. I wasn’t sure if I should bring it up, but I’ll have a guilty conscience if I don’t.” She mentioned that her husband worked in jewelry and had looked at the needles. Then, seeming frustrated, she turned to him. “You tell them, Hal.”

  Hal got up with an uncomfortable smile. He moved to the position just below the bottom of the catwalk, and someone handed him a microphone. “The description of the set of knitting needles says they are sterling silver with diamond accents and gives a value for them. But it’s all incorrect. They aren’t sterling, just silver plate, and the stones on the end—they’re cubic zirconiums.” He paused while the audience reacted. “And the value, it’s more like $500.” He turned to Lacey and apologized. “Right is right and I couldn’t let it slide. Not when I knew.”

  A bunch of conversations had started up, and Audrey looked aghast as she took the microphone from him.

  “Are you kidding? You mean I did all this and they’re fake? All that fuss K.D. made, insisting on pressing charges so I would actually go to jail?”

  Julie jumped up. “Tell me about it. K.D. embarrassed me in front of everybody because I brought some other yarn into her store. And then she accused me of trying to enter the same sweater I entered in the knitting contest last year.”

  I had forgotten all about Julie. She seemed all fired up until the woman next to her made her sit down.

  “I know what you mean,” Audrey said. “If only K.D. Kirby had listened to reason to begin with I never would have—”

  Delvin grabbed the microphone back and got up on the stage. “I’m sure K.D. had no idea the needles were only silver plate. The person who dealt with everything in the store was Thea Scott.”

  Lacey was next to him now, and she pointed her finger accusingly at the store manager, who had gotten up and stepped away from her table. “You had to know the needles were only silver plate and the stones fake.”

  Thea shook her head in annoyance and turned back. “Why couldn’t K.D. have let me handle it from the beginning? I thought we should just accept payment for the stolen needles and drop it.” She glared at Audrey Stewart. “I thought everything was going to be okay when K.D. was out of the picture. But you couldn’t just pay for the needles, could you? You had to put them in the auction.”

  “You knew all along they were silver plate, didn’t you?” Audrey said in an accusing manner. “You were the one who tried to steal them from the auction display.”

  All the while, Thea had begun to step backward. She looked at Lacey. “I just want you to know that your mother wanted the store to be so high-class, but she didn’t pay very well. She insisted that I act like I was on the same level with our customers. But I couldn’t afford their designer jeans and fancy hairstyles
on what she paid me. They had purses that cost thousands of dollars. The first time I sold the silver plate needles it was a mistake, but when nobody noticed I kept on doing it.” By now she’d reached the back of the room, but Barry was standing in front of the exit.

  At that moment, the door opened, pushing Barry to the side as Mason came back into the room. Before anyone could react, Thea had slipped out. But probably not for long. Barry was already on his phone. I guessed a cop would snag her before she left the building.

  Mason seemed surprised to find everyone looking at him. “What’s going on?”

  Under the circumstances, the needles were removed from the auction. But the whole episode acted like some hot sauce to what had been a sleepy affair. There were a lot of questions about the other items and then a lot of heavy bidding. I seemed to be the only one to realize that it sounded like Audrey was pretty close to confessing that she’d killed K.D. Well, maybe not close, exactly, but it could have been the next thing she was going to say when Delvin grabbed the microphone.

  The auction ended and the award ceremony began, though I’m not sure if giving out one award counted as a ceremony. Lacey read something her mother had written about Kimberly Wang Diaz and how for years she had covered the yarn show with a feature story that helped inspire the public to take up knitting. That and the newscaster’s flowery thank-you were all caught by her cameraman. The award was a bronzed ball of yarn with a pair of knitting needles stuck into it. There was a break in the program, and I went back to talk to Barry. First I asked him about Thea, and he confirmed what I’d thought—she was being questioned as we spoke. Then I got down to what I really wanted to talk about.