Knot Guilty

by Betty Hechtman

  I stopped for a moment as the TV droned on and Kimberly’s report continued. I saw that she was on the vendor floor. I strained, trying to see if she was going to pass our booth, but she just went along the front area. The little gray dog had come in to join me and jumped on the bed.

  “That sounds like a way for someone to have opportunity, but who?” Mason said.

  “Just knowing who wouldn’t be enough. I’d have to have some real evidence, too.”

  Kimberly’s segment ended at the banquet. Of course, she mentioned the drama with the silver knitting needles and that Thea had been detained. But the big focus was on Kimberly getting her award, and then the weather report came on with all their charts and pictures of storm clouds.

  “But I have every confidence you will find the guilty party and the evidence. I have so much faith in you that I’m going to go ahead and book the reservations. Audrey’s not going to be at the show tomorrow. Sorry I can’t go into details why.”

  He didn’t have to. I could figure it out. Any worries about charges against her had evaporated when the real value of the needles came out.

  “And another thing,” Mason said. “I think it is time to update your phone. That BlackBerry is practically an antique. I sent you a bunch of text messages while I was babysitting my client and I never got a response from you.”

  “Huh?” I said, taking out the squarish smartphone. I found the text messages he’d sent hidden somewhere and apologized. I stared at the phone a little longer as Mason told me to go finish my bath.

  The idea of taking off on an impromptu trip with Mason sounded romantic and exciting. I went back into the bathroom, but the water had grown cold and I gave up on the bath idea. I would just put on some body cream and call it a night. With the stopper up, the water began to drain from the tub. A paper towel took care of what was left of the puddle I’d made when I got out of the tub. I opened the jar of body cream and began to slather it on my arms. The fragrance stirred a memory, and something Mason had said went through my mind. Felix walked in to see what was going on. I looked down at the scruffy gray dog. “Thanks to you I might just have figured out the whole thing.”

  By morning I had a plan. I thought of calling Dinah and asking for her help as a backup, but it had been a late night for her and she’d done so much for me all weekend. Besides, I was sure that I’d be in and out without being seen. Then I’d let Barry know.

  I rushed through my morning preparations and went to the greenmobile. The dim light due to the low-hanging clouds made it seem even earlier, and the moisture in the air absorbed all the sound. It looked like everybody else was still asleep as I started my trek across the Valley to the hotel. It was way too early for even the vendors, and the parking lot was almost empty. I was relieved to see the delivery truck just pulling up. I’d counted on him as my means of getting into the marketplace before it opened for the vendors.

  I waited until he loaded up a dolly with supplies, and then as he started toward the entrance of the convention center, I followed him. The corridor was deserted, but the lights were on. I watched as someone from the hotel unlocked the door for him and then walked away. So much for the added security they’d promised, but then it was the last day and the auction was done.

  It was no problem for me to slip inside the marketplace. Most of the lights were still off, and I stepped into the shadows, tracking the squeak of the dolly as the delivery guy made his way to the back of the huge room.

  Mason’s words had reminded me of something I’d read in The Average Joe’s Guide to Criminal Investigation. Criminals left evidence of their presence behind, but they also took evidence of the crime scene with them.

  In the dim light, the booths shrouded in tarps looked almost ghostly. My heart was thudding against my chest as I waited for the deliveryman to leave the supplies at the snack bar. I listened as the dolly squeaked its way toward the exit. There was the whoosh of the door opening and closing and then heavy silence. I didn’t really need to be stealth anymore, but I still crept along the front of the aisles. The stage area with its black curtains appeared like a big void.

  I had my fingers crossed that I would be right and the evidence would be there. I stopped at my destination and checked the area again to make sure I was alone. Taking a deep breath, I peeled back the tarp and took out my flashlight.

  In this semidarkness, the dress forms appeared sinister, like torsos that had lost their heads. I flipped on the small flashlight and shined it on each one. I stopped the light when I got to the dress form wearing the long vest. And then my heart fell. It was blue, and I was looking for the gray one.

  Of course, Rain had switched out the sample, which only reconfirmed that I was right. I glanced around the small space. Obviously, she must have realized what had suddenly hit me the night before.

  It’s a funny thing about our sense of smell. It’s so connected to memory. Who can smell suntan lotion and not think back to a day at the beach? That’s what happened when I caught a whiff of my body cream the night before. The heavy scent of coconut suddenly evoked memories, though not as nice as a day at the beach.

  I hadn’t noticed the tropical scent when I’d found K.D., but then the shock of seeing her in the tub must have masked it, to my conscious mind, at least. But when I smelled the body cream the scene had immediately flashed in my mind. Then came the image of Rain as she picked up the dress form she’d left in front of our booth. I’d had trouble remembering her name, and something made me think of the beach and I had called her Sand. But now I knew it was that tropical scent heavy with coconut clinging to the long gray vest she was wearing. And I was sure I knew how it got there.

  When I’d seen the puddle next to my own tub, I’d been reminded that I’d seen water on the floor in K.D.’s suite. It must have splashed out when the hair dryer went in. And it also must have splashed on the killer’s clothes, leaving them with a souvenir just the way the gray dog’s hair had gone home on Mason’s pant leg.

  I was saying “killer” in my mind, but I knew it was Rain. I had never even considered her a suspect. She’d offered up an alibi without even being asked. The waiter had seen her leave the room when he was on the way in to deliver the champagne. And Delvin had heard from K.D. after that about changing Rain’s booth around. So it had seemed that K.D. was alive and well for quite a while after Rain had left the suite.

  Only after Mason had brought up sending me texts at the show had I realized something. I had been thinking all along that K.D. had talked to Delvin about changing the booth, and then I remembered someone had mentioned text messages. Anybody could have been anywhere when they sent a text message from K.D.’s phone, and then thrown the phone in the tub with her.

  And it occurred to me that Rain could have lifted one of the hotel keys during her first visit and then used it to come and go at will. The service elevator would have made it simple to do without being seen.

  But all my figuring was worthless unless I could give some real evidence to Barry, like the vest so they could match up the residue of bath oil on it to the special blend that K.D. used. Obviously, Rain had figured out that I’d noticed the scent on the vest and stopped using it as a sample. But what had she done with it? I glanced around at the racks of knitted items. She wouldn’t have put it there because the scent would still be evident.

  The table at the back had a heavy covering that went down to the floor, and I remembered her stowing her belongings back there when I’d stopped by her booth. Could she have stowed something else as well?

  I was almost afraid to look. Afraid that I would find nothing. Images of Adele being arrested for real floated through my mind. I was certain a jury would never find her guilty, but then who knew for sure. I took a deep breath and got ready to bite the bullet and look. The covering was heavy and it slipped from my hand the first time. The second time I held it tight and leaned down, training the flashlight in the dar
k space. All I saw was the dark carpet. I was about to admit defeat and leave but ran the flashlight over the carpet one last time. I saw a smidge of yellow piping.

  I got down on my knees and reached all the way to the back. My hand felt something cool and plastic. When I pulled it out, I saw the yellow piping was on an opaque garment bag. I stood up and set it down on the table and began to lower the zipper. I’d barely gotten it halfway down when the scent of the tropics laden with coconut blasted my senses.

  The last thing I wanted to do was move the evidence. I reached for my phone to call Barry. The stress of the search and the excitement of the find had made me lose touch with my surroundings, and I barely noticed that something had brushed against my hair. When the something touched my neck, it got my attention and I instinctively reached for it. Why was there a double strand of yarn around my neck? My instinct was to tug it loose, but when I tried, it only got tighter.

  “Drop the phone,” Rain said from behind me.

  I hesitated and the yarn tightened even more. I felt it cut into my skin, and I coughed in response before I dropped my phone.

  She reached around and grabbed the garment bag. She started grumbling that I couldn’t have left well enough alone. “I thought I’d get this out of here now, when nobody’s paying any attention.” I didn’t know if she was talking to me or just mumbling to herself.

  She seemed at a loss for what to do. I took the opportunity to try and squirm away, but every time I moved the yarn got tighter. By now I had figured out that she’d dropped a yarn noose over my head. I could feel that it was already making a mark on my skin. I have been in some tough spots, but this was right up there. One good tug from her and I’d be a goner.

  Stall, I told myself, trying to keep myself from panicking. “Why did you do it?” I said.

  Rain seemed uncomfortable with the question at first. “I don’t have to tell you anything,” she said in an angry voice. Then I heard her let out her breath. “Why not?”

  “How about this. I’ve had a booth in the marketplace since the show started. K.D. appreciated my loyalty and always gave me that prime spot you were in, and gave it to me at a discount. She knew how much I depended on the money I made from my sales at the show. This time it was even worse. I owe the wrong kind of people a lot of money. I have a problem with bingo.” Her voice sounded panicky. She didn’t loosen the noose, but she didn’t tighten it, either. “I needed to sell out everything I brought. You saw what a prime spot does for you. The people come there first before they’ve spent everything somewhere else.”

  She was behind me, and I couldn’t see her expression, which made it impossible to see if her speech was distracting her enough so I could make some kind of move. “I was sure there had to be a mistake when you were in my spot, and then to be given a location way off in the corner where nobody would have seen my things? I was sure there was no way that K.D. had done it deliberately.”

  Now her voice erupted in anger as she continued. “But it wasn’t a mistake. She said everything was different now. No more discounts and the cost for the spaces had actually gone up without any notice. For what I paid, the only spot I could have was that horrible one. And if I wanted her to change my location, I’d have to pay the new full price for it.” Rain stopped for a moment as if she were still having trouble believing it. “I tried to reason with her, but she got all haughty and said she’d done me a favor even letting me stay in the show all these years when all the other vendors only sold yarn and supplies. She criticized me for using a knitting machine to make my pieces. And then she told me to take it or leave it, no negotiating. When I balked, she asked me to leave. She said she was expecting someone.”

  Rain had gotten to the end of her speech, so I prodded her to continue. “So, you swiped the key when you left,” I said. There was silence for a moment, but then she mumbled a yes and explained coming back when K.D. was in the bath. I could tell she wasn’t pulling the yarn as tightly, and it released a tiny bit.

  I heard the sound of the door opening and then some voices, and I looked up. Since it was mostly dark in there, all I could make out was there were three figures.

  “Bob, it was so nice of you to bring more of these Linzer Torte Cookie Bars for our booth. Though I don’t know why you have to pick up the other tin right now,” Adele said. Her diction was strange, as though she was making a point to somebody. Her voice changed, and it sounded like she had turned and was talking to someone behind her. “This isn’t what it seems. I was too distraught to go home, so I stayed in the mini suite we took for the weekend. It wasn’t to rendezvous with Bob. He was just meeting me there so I could bring him down here.” Then she made an annoyed sound. “I don’t know why you’re still following me.”

  Someone flipped on the lights, and Adele, Bob and Barry all froze in surprise when they saw me.

  “Oh, you’re here,” Adele said in surprise. “Pink, tell him to stop following me.” She obviously didn’t realize the predicament I was in. Barry, ever the detective, noted Rain standing behind me and seemed to be trying to size up the situation. His eyes narrowed, and he had a wary expression as he took a step toward me. Rain responded by pulling on the noose, and I coughed again. I tried to raise my hands to the yarn, but she saw them and commanded me to put them down as she gave the yarn another yank.

  “Stay where you are, or she dies right now,” Rain said in a fierce voice.

  Adele and Bob still seemed confused, but Barry’s gaze went right to the band of yarn around my neck, and he immediately understood the risk.

  “I’m sure we can work something out,” he said to her in his trained calm voice.

  Rain was having none of it and commanded me to walk toward the door. “Don’t try anything or I give this a tug and it’s lights out for her. This yarn has a wire core and won’t break, either.”

  I had no choice but to walk to the door, trying to match my steps with hers, so she wouldn’t pull the yarn any tighter. I heard the rustle of the garment bag and realized she was taking it with her.

  Even though they hadn’t heard our conversation, Adele picked up that Rain was the one who’d killed K.D. and then tried to frame her. In typical Adele fashion, she brought it up.

  “See, I told you, it wasn’t me,” Adele said to Barry. Then she turned her attention on Rain. “Why did you take my hook?”

  Adele had the ability to annoy people, and her comment seemed to set off Rain. I felt my captor stop walking, and I did, too. “I figured it would be better if I pointed the finger at somebody. And you were such an unpleasant jerk when I asked to leave my dress form in front of your booth, which was supposed to be my spot, I figured you had it coming,” Rain said in an angry tone. I could tell by the sound of Rain’s voice that she had turned to face Adele and for that second was distracted. It was now or never if I was going to make a move.

  One possibility had floated through my mind. I’d only have one chance. Slowly, I started to raise my hands, hoping it wouldn’t register. Then I took my shot.

  “Hey, there,” Rain yelled, seeing me doing something. She went to tug hard on the noose yarn and suddenly went flying backward and landed on her butt with only a handful of yarn.

  Before Barry could make a move, Adele flew at Rain and sat on her. “You ruined everything for me. You stole my hook and made my boyfriend’s mother think I was a murderer and now he’s gone. He was the yin for my yang.”

  I couldn’t wait to tell Dinah that she had saved my life. The pendant with the hidden cutting edges hung on the chain around my neck. In that moment when Rain looked away, I was able to grab it and drag it across my restraint. The yarn with the wire core might not have broken, but it still could be cut, though I’d nicked my neck in the process. But it hardly seemed important, all things considered.

  Barry let Adele handle the situation for the moment as he looked at my neck. “You’re bleeding,” he said in a worried tone
.

  Barry insisted on calling the paramedics, but it was definitely overkill. They let me go after applying a little antiseptic and a small bandage. The place was flooded with cops, which was also overkill. Once Rain was in handcuffs, she didn’t put up a fight. Although Adele didn’t let up on her until she was taken away. It figured, Adele’s fussing had less to do with K.D.’s actual death than her being framed for it.

  “How about you tell me what you know,” Barry said. “I mean everything you know. And all spoken in statements.” He didn’t have to worry. After all I’d just been through I wasn’t up for playing a dueling game of answering each other with questions. I explained the evidence in the garment bag to Barry and what I had figured out. Barry wrote it all down, and when he shut his notebook I expected some kind of comment about how I was in trouble for investigating.

  “Good job,” Barry said half under his breath. “Except you almost got yourself strangled in the process.” He said that part a lot louder.

  Once Rain’s booth had been covered with tarps and surrounded with yellow tape and then blocked off by a series of the curtained partitions, the cops filed out, taking the evidence with them.

  Bob, the barista from the bookstore, stood around taking in the scene. He’d only expected to drop off the tin of Linzer Torte Cookie Bars, pick up the tin from the other day and be on his way. The rest of this was all extra. The way Bob was watching all the details, I knew it was going to end up somewhere in the alien love story screenplay he was working on between handing out shots of espresso. He seemed almost disappointed when Barry took him to get the cookie tin and then walked him to the exit.

  Barry had arrested Rain based on what she’d been trying to do to me. But once they looked over the vest and found that the strong scented residue matched K.D.’s special bath oil, she was charged with second degree murder, since it was hard to prove she’d premeditated it. As for what she’d tried to do to me, she was only charged with some kind of assault because the D.A. had a hard time thinking of yarn as a murder weapon.