Prime Crime Holiday Bundle

by Cleo Coyle; Emily Brightwell; Kenneth Blanchard

  “You need more coffee, Kelly?” Jennifer asked as she gathered empty dishes off the table.

  “When don’t I need more coffee?” Kelly joked. “How come you’re still waitressing? Aren’t you going to the real estate office this afternoon?”

  “No need. Everyone has gone into holiday mode. Clients aren’t calling, either, so I thought I’d help out Pete. The café is in holiday crush like the shop.” She looked around the table. “Anyone else need something?”

  Various knitters called out to Jennifer. Even Claudia asked for something, Kelly noticed. Surrounded by two of Lambspun’s friendliest regulars, Claudia seemed almost like her old self—talking with the others, smiling occasionally. Talk around the table concentrated on the holidays and all things related. Safe territory. Kelly was glad to see Claudia included once again. Everyone was in a jovial holiday mood.

  Everyone except Lizzie, that is. Kelly noticed Lizzie was not her usual bubbly, talkative self this afternoon. She joined in occasionally but mostly sat and knitted quietly. Kelly sensed there was something bothering Lizzie, but there was no way she could ask at the crowded table. Everyone else would be privy to the conversation.

  Carl let out a loud sigh as he lay at her feet. Another loud sigh. He’d been sulking and sighing for nearly two hours while Kelly knitted with the others. He’d been the picture of obedience. Staying in his down, despite the constant provocation that continued to trot around the shop, sniffing yarns, nibbling at loose fibers, causing all manner of oohs and aahs and “Isn’t she cute?” and other adoring comments. All to the rhythm of regular bleats and “baas.” Annie, the Celebrity Lamb.

  Kelly reached down and stroked her dog’s shiny black head. Annie was, once again, holding court in the central yarn room, posing for pictures with customers. “Good dog, Carl. You’re a sweet boy, yes, you are,” Kelly crooned. “And so patient, too. You’re a saint. Saint Carl.”

  Carl collapsed his head on the floor between his paws again with an even louder sigh.

  Suddenly a familiar laugh sounded from the foyer, floating over all the hubbub. Jayleen.

  “Lord a’mighty! Has Mimi turned Lambspun into a petting zoo? Hey, Shelly, I take it this little rascal is one of yours.”

  Kelly waved and watched Jayleen chat with Annie’s owner for a minute before approaching the knitting table. “Hey, Jayleen. Wanta knit a hat? Lambspun needs hats. They’re all out.”

  Jayleen chuckled as she grabbed a chair beside Kelly and straddled it backwards in her usual style. “No, thanks, Kelly. I knitted a bunch for the homeless shelter earlier this month. I’m knitted out right now. I’ve got my hands full just getting ready for the holidays.”

  “Don’t tell me you volunteered to run another kids’ party.”

  “No, someone else has the pleasure this year. I’m heading out to the shops to buy presents. I’ve been so busy, I haven’t bought a thing.”

  “That sounds like Marty. Megan had to take him shopping last night.”

  Claudia’s head turned swiftly at the sound of her attorney’s name. “Are you talking about my Marty?”

  Kelly gestured. “Claudia, meet Jayleen. Like Marty, she’s been too busy to do her Christmas shopping until today. Megan took Marty out for the first time last night.”

  Claudia gave a little smile as she returned to her knitting. “That’s because Marty’s working so hard to help me. He’s so smart, and he’s taking such good care of me.”

  Jayleen shot Kelly a look and lowered her voice. “That’s the gal, huh? Mimi told me she’s facing a passel of trouble. Damn shame. She looks like a nice gal.”

  Kelly waited until the conversation rose in volume before leaning closer to Jayleen. “Yeah, she is, and things aren’t looking too good right now. But Claudia is still convinced that Marty’s going to ‘save’ her.” Kelly shook her head.

  Jayleen arched a brow. “Damn. At her age, she oughta know better than that. The only person who can save you is you.”

  Kelly gave her a rueful smile. “I guess Claudia hasn’t discovered that yet. Apparently she’s always depended on her husbands or other men to take care of her. This must be the first time she’s ever had to stand alone. And she’s not doing too well. We’re all afraid she’s going to break down completely if she ever has to go to jail.”

  Jayleen stared across the table. “That’s too bad.”

  Suddenly, Annie trotted right up beside Jayleen and bleated.

  “Well, hey there, you little cutie,” Jayleen said, stroking Annie’s head.

  Unfortunately, Annie’s butt was right in Carl’s face. Insult to injury. It was clearly more than he could bear. Carl rose to his feet and shoved his face beside Jayleen’s free hand.

  “Whoa . . . hey, Carl. How’re you doing?” Jayleen said, chuckling as she rubbed both animals’ heads. Annie continued to bleat while Carl glared.

  “Does anyone have a camera?” Kelly called around the table. “This is too cute.”

  “I do,” one of the knitters said, pulling it from her bag. “This is a precious shot.” She scrambled around the table and clicked away.

  “Good boy, Carl. I think that’s about all you can tolerate for today, right? Come on, I’ll take you home,” Kelly said as she gathered his leash. “Jayleen, make sure you and Curt come to the shop party next week.”

  “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

  “Oh, and if you want a double dose of Yuletide spirit, drop by Saint Mark’s and see if Jennifer and I were able to corral those teenagers into line for the Christmas family service.” Turning to leave, she added, “Save my seat, Lizzie, I’ll be right back. Carl, heel.”

  Lizzie quickly rose from her chair and followed after her. “It’ll be safe, dear. I’ll walk with you to the door.”

  Kelly figured her instincts were correct. Lizzie had something on her mind and didn’t want to share it in public. Kelly headed for the front door and outside, Lizzie right behind her. They paused in the driveway, where no one was around.

  “What’s up, Lizzie? I can tell something’s on your mind.”

  Lizzie glanced toward the golf course for a few seconds before speaking. “I’ve been worrying ever since this morning, Kelly, and I need to tell someone. But I’m not sure who to tell.”

  “What is it, Lizzie? What’s the matter? Did something happen to you?” Kelly peered at the elderly knitter with concern.

  Lizzie shook her head. “No, not to me. It’s . . . it’s Claudia. I . . . I heard something this morning at the senior center which has turned everything upside down. I . . . I don’t know what to think anymore.”

  “What did you hear?”

  Lizzie stared at the ground for a few seconds then spoke in a soft voice. “I was talking with one of my friends, Marjorie. We’ve known each other for years. Well, I was sharing with her how upset I was that everyone was treating Claudia differently. Like she’d caused Juliet’s death. Well, Marjorie looked at me strangely and said that she believed Claudia was guilty, too. That surprised me, so I rushed to Claudia’s defense again, saying she didn’t even know Juliet Renfrow.”

  She looked up into Kelly’s eyes. “That’s when Marjorie told me that Claudia had asked her about Jeremy’s librarian girlfriend over a month ago. Marjorie said she told Claudia all about Juliet. How Jeremy and Juliet had been dating for several months. And Marjorie even pointed Juliet out to Claudia one day at the senior center when Juliet came to pick up library books.”

  Kelly stared back at Lizzie and saw the shock and betrayal in her pale blue eyes. Claudia had lied. She did know who Juliet Renfrow was. She’d lied to Lizzie. She’d lied to Marty and to the police. She’d lied to them all.

  Had Claudia been deliberately misleading them all this time? Were her “emotional breakdowns” simply good acting? Had the Merry Widow played them all for fools, trying to gain sympathy so everyone would feel sorry for her? Manipulated them into helping her?

  “I’m so sorry to hear that, Lizzie,” Kelly said, reaching out to gi
ve Lizzie’s arm a squeeze. “That’s a shock to hear, for all of us. We really like Claudia, but . . . but this does change things, and you know it.”

  “Oh, my, yes.” Lizzie gave a big sigh.

  “You’re going to have to tell Burt. Do you want to come over to my cottage for some privacy? I’ll see if I can snatch Burt away from the shop for a few minutes.”

  “Thank you, Kelly, that would be better. I . . . I just don’t feel like going back to the shop just yet.”

  “And don’t worry about taking Claudia to her motel tonight,” Kelly said as she signaled Carl to heel again. “I have a feeling Marty will want to speak with Claudia.”

  Seventeen

  Kelly sipped her coffee as she leaned over the café table. “Did Marty call you after he spoke with Claudia last night?”

  Burt shook his head as he traced an invisible pattern on the oak tabletop. “No, he called this morning. He sounded down in the dumps, too. Understandably. The police will now be able to show that Claudia lied to everyone about not knowing Juliet.”

  “That definitely makes it look like Claudia killed her on purpose, doesn’t it?”

  “I’m afraid so.”

  “This is so sad,” Kelly said, running her finger over the edge of her mug. “Claudia is such a great gal, and she had so much going for her. Why did she kill Juliet Renfrow? Did she just flip out? Go over the edge, you think?”

  “Yeah, Kelly, I think that’s exactly what happened with Claudia. I’ve spent a lot of time with her, and she is always a hair trigger between being okay and losing it. I mean, she was usually hanging on to my arm, sobbing, or just about passing out. I swear, I had to hold her up every time she was at the department. She kept collapsing.” He shook his head again.

  “Do you think that was all an act, Burt? I mean, it’s a really effective way to gain everyone’s sympathy and help. It worked with us. All of us. Maybe Claudia was manipulating us all the time.”

  “I don’t know, Kelly. It makes me sad to think that, but maybe Claudia was convinced she could manipulate us into believing her and ignoring the evidence.”

  Kelly sank back into her chair. “You know, there’s still a part of me that finds this whole situation hard to believe, Burt. Claudia kills Juliet to get her out of the way. Did she think Jeremy would come back to her or something? It just doesn’t make sense.”

  Burt gave her a crooked smile. “It doesn’t make sense to you, Kelly, because you’ve got a logical mind. But Claudia, well, logical isn’t the word I’d use to describe her. She is the most emotional woman I’ve ever met. I have yet to see Claudia sit and think about her situation. All I’ve ever seen her do is react emotionally. She reacts, she doesn’t think. At least not when I’ve been around.”

  Kelly pondered Burt’s comment. He seemed to have nailed Claudia’s behavior perfectly. At least her behavior around men.

  Mimi hurried through the café doorway, heading toward the counter, apparently not noticing Burt and Kelly.

  “Hey, Mimi, slow down,” Kelly said. “You’ve still got several days till Christmas.”

  Mimi turned quickly and broke into a smile as she approached their table. “Hey, you two, I didn’t see you there.”

  “You sure look happier than when I saw you a few minutes ago,” Burt said, giving her hand a squeeze. “Did you convince someone to sell a cape?”

  “As a matter of fact, yes. Sheila said she’ll sell her cape to our Michigan customer. Yesterday, she told Rosa she didn’t want to sell, but this morning she called and told me she’d changed her mind. Wasn’t that nice of her?”

  “It sure was. I’ll have to thank Sheila when I see her,” Burt said, before draining his coffee.

  “Well, she’ll have to get her niece another present now. Wonder if she’d like a nice Lambspun hat?” Kelly joked.

  “Who’s that?” Mimi asked.

  “Sheila told Rosa she was giving the cape to her niece for Christmas. So why don’t you sell her a Lambspun hat instead?” Kelly said as she pushed back her chair.

  “That’s funny. I could have sworn Sheila said she was an only child,” Mimi said as she accepted a coffee mug from Eduardo. “I guess I was mistaken. Oh, Burt, can you help me bring up some dyed fleeces? Rosa can’t leave the register.”

  “Will do. See you later, Kelly.”

  Kelly swung her knitting bag over her shoulder and was about to follow Mimi and Burt into the shop, when something kept her in her chair. She wanted to get up, go into the shop, and finish her Lambspun hat. It was nearly done. Still, Kelly found herself sitting where she was.

  What is it? Something about Mimi’s last comment kept nibbling at the back of her brain. What was Mimi talking about? Dyed fleeces, Christmas capes, Sheila’s niece . . .

  The little buzzer inside Kelly’s head went off. She remembered something. Mimi was right. Sheila did imply she was an only child. Kelly remembered it, too. “It was just my father and me,” she’d told them around the knitting table.

  Why then would Sheila tell Rosa she’d bought the cape for her niece? Was that another instance of Sheila lying? Why would she lie about something so innocuous? Just like she’d lied about the phone message from the Sarasota retirement home. Why would Sheila lie about such trivial things?

  Kelly signaled the café waitress for more coffee as she pulled out her knitting. She could just as easily finish her Lambspun hat here in the café where it was quiet. There was something else buzzing around the back of her brain. What is it?

  Picking up the knit stitch where she left off, Kelly watched the neat stockinette pattern form on her circular needles. Meanwhile, the annoying little thought kept buzzing. Not close enough to come into her awareness, staying just out of reach. Something about Sheila’s present for her niece. Was she an adopted niece? Childless people often called their friends’ children “nieces” or “nephews.”

  Kelly reminded herself there was a simple way to find out. Claudia would know. After all, Claudia had married Sheila’s father. She’d know if there were stray relatives in the family.

  The irony of calling Claudia to verify something registered on Kelly as she punched in the number. Claudia had been proven to be a liar, too. Good Lord. Claudia lied. Sheila lied. How was Kelly ever to find out the truth?

  Claudia’s voice came on the line after a couple of rings.

  “Hey, Claudia, this is Kelly. How’re you doing?”

  Claudia’s voice immediately started quavering. “Oh, Kelly, I’m not doing very well at all,” she said, sniffling. “I’m afraid to leave my motel room ever since Marty told me about that awful woman at the senior center. Oh, why would she lie about me like that? It’s just terrible! Now everyone thinks I’m guilty. . . .” Tears saturated her voice now as it turned into a wail.

  Kelly decided to hold her tongue and let Claudia cry, hoping she’d stop in a moment. She didn’t. Finally Kelly decided a firmer hand was needed.

  “Claudia, you have to stop that crying, because I can’t hear a word you’re saying.”

  Amazingly, the wailing stopped. Sniffles came over the phone now. “I . . . I’ll try, Kelly.”

  “Good girl,” Kelly found herself saying, almost as if Claudia had executed a Carl-like sit. “I wanted to ask you a question about your late husband’s family. Did he have any other children besides Sheila?”

  There was a pause, then Claudia’s voice came clearly. No sniffles to be heard. “Why, no. Sheila was his only child.”

  “So, he didn’t have any other children from a former marriage either?”

  “Heavens, no. Nathan and his wife Frances were married over forty years.”

  “Did Sheila have anyone she referred to as a niece? Maybe a friend’s child or something like that?”

  “No, I never heard Sheila refer to anyone that way. Sheila was a solitary person. She didn’t really have many friends that I knew of. Why do you ask?”

  Kelly was amazed by the change in Claudia’s voice. Now it was a normal conversational tone.
No wailing, no quavering. Clearly Claudia could turn those emotional tirades on and off in an instant. Like a light switch.

  “Oh, someone said that she’d heard Sheila had a niece. I guess the woman was mistaken,” Kelly lied quickly, surprised how easily it had come. Now she was lying like Claudia and Sheila. Not good. “By the way, don’t be afraid to return to the shop, Claudia. It was good to see you around the table yesterday. Like you used to be. After all, it’s the holidays.”

  “Well, if you think so.” Her voice softened again.

  “Absolutely. Take care, Claudia.”

  Kelly clicked off before the tears started. Flip of a switch.

  “Hi, Kelly, how’s that Lambspun hat going? It looks almost finished,” a familiar voice said nearby.

  “It’s getting there, Connie,” Kelly said to the middle-aged woman who stood in the doorway, arms laden with Christmas yarns. “I haven’t seen you here at the shop much lately. Are you cutting back your work hours for the holidays?”

  Connie shrugged. “Yeah, a little. I’ve been having lots of family visiting this month. It’s really getting hectic.”

  “Hectic holidays, you got that right,” she said, gathering her knitting bag and following Connie into the shop. “I’m amazed you’re able to work and shop and still entertain relatives.”

  “Well, they really entertain themselves,” Connie said as she refilled yarn bins along the wall that opened into the shop. “They’re in the mountains now, skiing. They’ll spend several days up there. Then they’ll spend time in Denver, poking around before they return to Fort Connor and start exploring Old Town.”

  Kelly fingered a skein of variegated blue alpaca wool before Connie tucked it into a bin with the others. “Steve and I are hoping to find some time after the holidays to go skiing. After all the hectic has slowed down to normal.”