Gone with the Wool

by Betty Hechtman

  Dane would have had a fit if he saw what his sister had chosen as ball attire. She had on a dress so short that it literally just covered her butt. It was stretchy material, so I guessed it would stay in place. It certainly showed off the tattoo and her orange hair, which she had done into a bun on the side of her head. She’d gone with heavy eye makeup and then some pale lipstick. Her earrings were so long they brushed her shoulders.

  She gave my dress the once-over and seemed about to say something, maybe a compliment, but Sammy caught up with me. “Case, you forgot your corsage.” He went to put it on my wrist, but the red tote bag was in the way. I had wanted to leave it on the bus, but apparently they couldn’t guarantee the same bus would pick us up.

  “Let me get rid of this.” I saw that the museum doors were open, and there was a big sign pointing toward the restrooms. I went into the entrance hall and glanced around for a spot to stow the bag. The doorway to the butterfly room was blocked off with chairs, and the room was dark. The door to the multipurpose room and kitchen was simply closed. On the other side of the small hall, the doorway that led to the main exhibit areas had chairs blocking it as well. Nobody would even know if I stuck the bag in there. I moved the chairs aside and went into the dark room. I automatically looked around the large space. It wasn’t completely dark, due to the emergency light on the wall, which filled the big room with creepy shadows and gave off just enough light so I could make out all the cases filled with stuffed animals. The giant bear seemed even more menacing in the almost-darkness. It had been posed so that the upper paws were outstretched, as though it were about to take a step and attack. I deposited the bag against the wall and slipped back out of the room.

  When I got back to the entrance to the tent, Sammy was gone, probably off looking for his parents. I went inside to look for my group. The interior of the tent was decorated with lanterns and giant silk butterflies fluttering in the breeze. A floor had been added over the ground. Several princesses were manning a table with drinks and snacks, and a DJ was just starting up, trying to get everyone on the dance floor. As I had hoped, he said partners were optional. An upbeat song began, and the crowd divided into dancers and those standing around watching. I made my way through the crowd. It seemed like everyone was there, though I had to do a couple of double takes to recognize people in their fancy clothes.

  Coach Gary had left the butterfly wings home and was dressed like a normal person in slacks and a dress shirt. He and Maggie were in the middle of the dancers. It was hard to miss her in her red long dress. Kevin St. John was hanging around in the background, and I almost wanted to pull him out on the dance floor just to see what he would do. Liz Buckley had found a post to lean against, and she looked like her mind was somewhere else.

  The music changed to a slow dance, and the “partners optional” portion seemed to end. A bunch of my retreaters left the dance floor and hung out on the edge. I saw Kory ask his grandmother to dance. Gwen always wore what I called sensible attire at the store, but she’d gone all out and wore a long skirt and white shirt covered with a blue mohair wrap. I thought she was even wearing makeup.

  I almost didn’t recognize Larry the pharmacist without the white jacket. He swooped in and asked Crystal to dance. As usual, her clothes were full of color and her earrings didn’t match.

  “I bet he wouldn’t give her any trouble if she brought back an item that wasn’t on the receipt,” I said, half to myself. Lucinda had come up next to me and only caught part of what I’d said. She responded with a “Huh?”

  I quickly told her about the fuss he’d made about a return and how he could tell it was the wrong receipt because there was so much information on it. We both watched the way Larry seemed to have pulled Crystal closer. “I see what you mean,” Lucinda said with a smile. “He does look smitten.”

  I didn’t say anything, but I was thinking it would be better if Crystal didn’t get too attached, since Larry might be a murderer.

  I saw Tag come in and make a beeline for Lucinda. He linked arms with her, and I heard him say that they needed to talk. They stepped away, and I couldn’t hear their conversation, but judging by the pleading look on his face, he was trying to make amends. My friend seemed to be holding her ground, but apparently they settled things quickly, as I saw them go out on the dance floor.

  I glanced over the crowd. Wanda was there with her husband. I almost laughed out loud. They were about the same height and both stood in the teapot pose as they considered buying some raffle tickets from Wanda’s sister. The slow song ended and the dancers left the floor.

  Several couples headed to the refreshment table. I saw that Sammy and his parents were helping themselves to punch. His parents looked like they didn’t want to be there but were making the best of it.

  Some people moved, and I saw Dane huddled with a bunch of teenage boys, who I figured were the ones who hung out at his place. He seemed to be telling them something, and they fanned out and began asking lone women to dance, including some of my retreaters.

  One of the boys was Kory, and he asked me to dance.

  “It’s very nice of you,” I said, “but you don’t have to. I don’t mind standing around. I know Dane told you to do it.” He took my hand anyway and led me onto the floor.

  “Dane is always telling us to do nice stuff,” Kory said. I was trying not to step on his toes.

  “You mean like buying up all the muffins?” He answered with a nod. I still didn’t know how I felt about what he’d done. It made me smile to think how he had wanted to fix things for me, but it really hadn’t solved the problem. My thoughts moved to what my mother had said about only the two players’ chili being tainted.

  “Did the boys ask for their chili that way?” It was a bit of a non sequitur, and it took a moment for Kory to catch up to what I was talking about. “I was thinking maybe it was something with the cheese.”

  “I don’t think so, but you could ask them. They both helped that night.” He moved our hands in the direction of a couple dancing nearby. I almost choked when I saw Liz Buckley dancing with Hank Hardcastle. He was whispering something to her, and she practically had her head on his shoulder. The song ended, and Kory released me. He’d been a good sport and managed to ignore the times I trampled on his toes. Hank and Liz walked into the crowd, and I lost them. So, Hank Hardcastle was at the chili dinner.

  Another slow song started, and I walked to the side. Dane was looking my way from across the room, and our eyes met. I shook my head, thinking of the muffin business.

  He, on the other hand, looked over my outfit and nodded in approval. He mimed dancing with a partner and then pointed at the crowd moving around the floor.

  “You should have warned Kory about my dancing skills,” I said when he reached me. Dane laughed and said something about how dodging my feet was probably good practice for football. He took my hand and led me into the middle of the dancers. “I know what you did about the muffins,” I said as we assumed slow dance position.

  “Who told?” He glanced over the crowd. Then he smiled. “It was Kory, wasn’t it?”

  “It doesn’t matter. Thank you, but you’ll go broke if you keep it up, and all the seagulls will get potbellies.” Dane laughed at the image of tubby seagulls.

  “The only answer is for me to show that the muffins weren’t involved with the football players getting sick,” I said.

  “You’re doing better in the dancing department,” he said, looking down at our feet. “I don’t think you’ve stepped on my feet once.”

  “That’s because we’re barely moving since there are so many people.”

  “Lieutenant Borgnine and his better half at twelve o’clock,” Dane said, turning me so I could look.

  “He’s wearing a suit and it’s not wrinkled,” I said, watching as the gruff-looking man walked along the edge of the room.

  “Don’t let the outfit fool you. He’s
never really off duty, and I know he’s keeping an eye on Chloe.” Dane turned me again, and I saw that Chloe was selling raffle tickets near the cop. I wanted to get a good look at his wife. So far all I could tell was she was short and had dark hair. When I saw her face, I was surprised at her dainty features. I guessed opposites really did attract.

  I was about to thank Dane for getting my people dance partners when I felt a tap on my shoulder. When I turned, Bernard was giving Dane a dirty look and cut in.

  He held me at a polite distance and shuffled his feet in time to the music. “Estelle said I should dance with you,” he said. Dancing with Bernard was pretty close to a chore for both of us. My mind started to wander, and random thoughts started popping in my head. I kept thinking about the chili and the players who had gotten the loaded bowls. I had assumed it was special treatment, but what if it was a way to mark the bowls of chili meant for them?

  I was beginning to think the song was endless as Bernard and I moved around. I glanced up at his face to see his expression. I was surprised to see that he was greeting someone nearby. Who did Bernard know here? Then the earlier fuss came back to me. He’d talked about somebody he’d met playing cards who was from Cadbury. I followed Bernard’s gaze and almost tripped over his feet when I saw who he was looking at. It couldn’t be him.

  I needed a moment to process everything and went outside to think as soon as the song was over. I thought over the last week and things I’d heard. And then it was like when you see an anagram and the word hidden in it jumps out at you. All of a sudden I knew who had killed Rosalie.

  27

  I went into the entrance hall of the museum. Several women were exiting the bathroom and passed me as they headed back outside to the dance. As I was passing the men’s room, I heard the door opening. Anxious not to be seen, I moved quickly into the multipurpose room, letting the door close behind me. I walked through the large empty room to the kitchen.

  I’d seen something before that hadn’t seemed to mean anything, but now I wanted to have another look. The kitchen looked untouched, and Rosalie’s things were still sitting on the counter where I had seen them before. I began to unload the big pots that were nested together. Before, when I’d found the strip of paper stuck between two of them, I had assumed it had gotten there by mistake. But now I was sure it had been a plan.

  I pulled the top pot off, and there was nothing there. The same was true with the second one. But when I took the third one out, I saw the strip of white stuck to the bottom of it. The first time I’d found it, I’d only given it a cursory look, and once I saw it was a receipt, I had just put it back in with the pans. This time I read it over carefully and was stunned to see what it was for: three boxes of chocolate-flavored laxatives. The pills would have dissolved in the chili and the flavor gone unnoticed. Marking the bowls by making them loaded would have made it easy to ensure specific people got them. It came back to me that Kory had mentioned who had been the one to serve him and the players next to him.

  I thought back to what I’d heard Sunday night, when I’d been in line at the dining hall, trying to get my food ahead of the people there for a special event for Butterfly Week. Now it made sense. Rosalie had said she’d found something that explained what happened. She must have meant explained what happened to make the players sick. Then a man had asked her what she wanted. I had thought he was talking about her choice for dinner, but he was talking about what it would take to keep her quiet.

  I shuddered when I thought of her answer. She’d said she would have to think about it. I knew what she’d tried to do to the Hardcastle tenants when she thought she’d had them trapped. I could only imagine what she would have wanted to remain silent.

  The person who’d bought the laxatives had paid with a credit card, and his name was on the receipt, clear as day. Gary Buckley.

  Why would a coach feed laxatives to his two star players? The answer was obvious, even to me, a non-sports person. He wanted his team to lose the game. As for the why—I was sure it had to do with money.

  Knowing all this would have to be enough for now. There was no way I was going to interrupt the Butterfly Ball. I backtracked to the entrance hall. I didn’t want to keep the receipt with me and thought of the tote bag. Seeing no one, I walked quietly back into the main exhibit hall. I found my tote bag against the wall and slipped in the receipt.

  I stood to go and heard a voice behind me.

  “No one is supposed to be in here.” Coach Gary was standing just inside the doorway.

  “Then I better get out of here,” I said, taking a step toward the doorway. He moved to block me.

  “I heard you telling Dane you wanted to settle what made my players sick once and for all to get the suspicion off your muffins.” He stepped a little closer. “Then I saw you go in the kitchen. Any luck finding an answer?”

  “No,” I said with a hopeless sigh. “I don’t know what I thought I would find anyway. Everything had been scrubbed clean.” I shrugged, as if I was giving up. “Might as well get back to the dance.”

  “Why did you come in here?” he asked. He didn’t sound so friendly now.

  I held out my tiny white cross-body bag. “There isn’t room for anything in this. I came in to get my makeup to do a repair job.” I pointed at my face, trying to sound silly and girlish. It worked about as well as my pseudo attempts at being flirtatious. I made another move toward the door, but Coach Gary’s gaze had stopped on my tote bag. I went to grab it, but he got it first. He picked it up from the bottom, and everything tumbled out, the round looms hitting the floor with a clatter and rolling away. The white receipt fluttered down and settled into the darkness.

  “I better clean up this mess,” I said, still trying to sound light.

  “Let me help you,” he said, coming up behind me. He leaned down and picked up the receipt.

  “That’s okay. I think I’ll get it later.” I made a move toward the door, but he wrapped his arm around me. My impulse was to pull free, but he was stronger than I was.

  “So that is what Rosalie had,” he said. Even in the semidarkness, he had recognized what it was. He muttered something about being careless.

  “It doesn’t prove anything,” I said, trying to reason with him.

  “Stupid Rosalie,” he said in an angry voice. “If she hadn’t said your muffins were to blame, you would have left this alone.”

  “We could just crumple up the receipt and forget about it,” I offered. I was trying to sound calm, but my voice had the squeaking pitch you get during an adrenaline rush.

  “But you still know.” His voice was almost a growl. I made another attempt to pull away, fueled by the surge of energy, but he pushed something hard against my back. I was sure it was a gun.

  He seemed at a loss for what to do as he glanced around the exhibit hall.

  “I’m not trying to make waves in Cadbury. We can just forget all of this happened,” I said, trying to reason with him.

  “Shut up,” he said harshly. He started to drag me around the dark room. He stopped in front of a mannequin holding a spear. “This is a dangerous place to be wandering around in the dark,” he said. “One false step and you could end up on this spear.” He seemed to be taking a moment to figure out the logistics while I searched for a way out.

  There was a sound of voices coming from the entrance hall as some people headed to the bathrooms. I thought of yelling for help, but the gun was stuck against my back, and if I startled him, he might shoot without thinking. The noise would get their attention, but I could be dead in the meantime.

  He took a step back, looking for a shadow to hide in. The grizzly bear with its outstretched paws threw a big pool of darkness on the floor. He pulled us both back toward it, and my foot hit the fallen looms.

  His cell phone began to ring. You know how they say don’t use your phone and drive? The same is true when you’re holding a hosta
ge. His hold loosened, and he was distracted just long enough for me to use my foot to kick the looms away and pull free. He came after me, not realizing there was anything on the ground. He grunted as his feet got trapped in the looms. As he tried to pull free of them, he began to lose his balance and teetered back and forth, reaching out for something to grab on to. The only thing available was the outstretched paw of the grizzly bear, which, as it turned out, wasn’t tethered to the ground very securely. Suddenly the giant bear lurched forward and then fell over, pushing Coach Gary with it and then landing on top of him.

  “What’s going on?” an angry voice said. The lights flipped on in the large room, and Lieutenant Borgnine walked in, drying his hands with a paper towel. “I was coming out of the little boys’ room, and I heard some racket.”

  His gaze went from the grizzly bear sprawled on the floor to me. “Ms. Feldstein, what have you done? I didn’t take you for someone who’d commit vandalism.”

  “Get this off me,” Coach Gary said from beneath the giant stuffed animal. “I can’t breathe.”

  Lieutenant Borgnine’s eyes opened wider. The noise had attracted more people, and I saw Dane and another man come in. Dane and the other man lifted the bear off Coach Gary, and he stood up. I noticed that his hands were empty.

  “Arrest that woman,” he said. “I found her wandering in here, and when I told her this was off limits, she went crazy and attacked me with those.” He pointed at the round looms and yarn scattered on the floor. “And then she pushed the bear on top of me.” I think Lieutenant Borgnine might have been willing to go with that scenario, but Dane shook his head.