Hounds of the Basket Stitch

by Anne Canadeo

  “I understand.” Maggie gripped her prize and started down the stairs, struggling to hide a smile.

  His door slammed shut, and she heard him continue the phone call. She paused and strained to hear his side of the conversation.

  “Yeah, well . . . I just need a little longer than expected. A day or so . . .”

  He moved away from the door, and she couldn’t make out any more words. But his tone seemed serious and urgent, and even fearful, she thought.

  She was tempted to sneak back up a step or two and listen more. But if he opened the door and found her there, she didn’t even want to guess what his reaction would be.

  She turned and softly tread the rest of the way down the staircase, through the garage, and outside to her friends.

  Rose had settled the dogs. They had sounded like a pack of one hundred from upstairs, but there were fewer than ten.

  “Did you get the keys?” Lucy’s tone was hushed as she rushed to meet Maggie.

  Maggie dangled the ring. “I described my car mishap so well, he nearly wouldn’t hand them over. But the dog tactic worked like a charm. And I promised that one of you would move it.”

  “Great. Let’s move his car. Don’t look at his window. He’s probably watching,” Dana said.

  Maggie handed the keys to Dana. “Oh, he definitely is. Count on that. An important phone call came through in the nick of time. That helped to keep him there, too. He’s up to something. I can feel it. Maybe we can find out what it is.”

  “How are we going to read what’s in that envelope without him knowing?” Lucy said. “He can probably see everything we’re doing from the window.”

  “I was worried about that, too. Then I noticed most of the garage is empty. Holly has only her tractor in there. Dana can park his car in the garage, open the envelope, and read the documents. Even take photos if she needs to. Then I’ll take the keys back up. Easy as . . .” Maggie was going to say, “Pie,” but she recalled Phoebe’s objection to the motto. “As toast.”

  Lucy caught her gaze and smiled. “Brilliant. Even the evil Toby can’t see through walls.”

  Dana gave Maggie a quick thumbs-up. “We hope. And we hope he doesn’t finish his call and come down to investigate before we’re done, either.”

  Dana got into Toby’s car and started the engine. Maggie and Lucy walked over to the garage, and each took hold of one of the old-fashioned doors. The type that slid open, Maggie noticed. Or should have. As Dana drove the car into position to pull inside the garage, they tugged on the doors. But couldn’t make them budge.

  “Are they nailed shut or something?” Lucy examined the doorframe.

  Maggie did, too. “I don’t think so.”

  “Maybe glued? There’s a reason most of this garage is empty,” Lucy said.

  “I think they’re just stuck. We can’t give up that easily,” Maggie whispered back. She walked into the garage and scanned a workbench. In the headlights of Toby’s car, she spotted a can of WD-40 and sighed with relief. She knew there would be one here. No one who owned machinery would be without the stuff.

  She ran back to the doors with the can of lubricant spray and quickly coated the metal rail above each one. “Let’s try it now. I’ll help you.”

  They both grabbed hold of Lucy’s door and pulled. It wouldn’t move at first, then suddenly slid open in jerking starts and stops.

  “One down, one to go,” Lucy said.

  They ran to Maggie’s door and did the same. Then stepped aside right before Dana pulled Toby’s car into the space.

  Maggie followed Lucy out to the drive. “While Dana’s checking the envelope, let’s stand near my car and pretend to be waiting for help.”

  “Good idea. If he’s still watching, a little more acting won’t hurt.”

  They walked down the grassy slope to the Subaru, and Maggie checked the front wheels, which had sunk even farther into the soft ground.

  “Hate to say it, but I think I really do need a tow truck. I’ll either have to give Charles the ditzy woman driver story, too, or tell him the truth. I’m not sure which choice would be worse.”

  Maggie’s attempts to help clear Suzanne’s name when she was accused of murdering her office rival had been a serious point of contention between her and Charles. They had even broken up over it for a time. Charles had been the lead detective on the investigation, and she had certainly understood his objections to what he called her meddling.

  But she couldn’t help it then, and she couldn’t help it now, she realized. She’d been compelled to do all she could for her dear friend Suzanne, and now she was called to lend a hand to Dana and the Piper sisters. How could she turn her back if she could discover who had really attacked Holly and had set the fire Tuesday night? She felt certain it wasn’t Rose, though the police still did not agree.

  “Charles isn’t a detective anymore. Do you think he still feels so strongly about us getting mixed up in these situations?”

  Maggie laughed. “Charles doesn’t think police investigations are mere ‘situations.’ He left the force only a few months ago. Let’s put it this way. You can take the man out of the squad room. But you can’t take the squad room out of the man.”

  “You’re probably right,” Lucy agreed. “I think you should stick with ‘ditzy woman driver.’ ”

  The contentious issue of Maggie’s habit of getting involved in police business had not come up again between them since they’d become engaged and started living together. Maggie didn’t really know what his feelings would be about her attempts to help Dana and the Piper sisters figure out who was behind the brutal actions of Tuesday night, but she didn’t want to take that chance.

  “I think you’re right. For better or worse, even a not so sexist guy like Charles will easily believe that cover.”

  Maggie pulled her phone out and called Charles. He picked up on the first ring. He was concerned to hear about the car and offered to pick up her up and deal with the tow-truck driver tonight or even the next day. She appreciated his concern but didn’t want him to come out so late to fetch her. And she did think there was safety in numbers here this evening, though she didn’t tell him that was another reason she wanted to stay.

  “I’ll be fine. I’ll call a truck tomorrow first thing. I have the road service card, so they’ll come quickly.”

  “All right, if you say so. Call me in the morning and let me know how it goes.”

  A note in his voice caught her attention. She wondered if he was mad at her for spending so much time with her friends. When he’d been working all hours on investigations, it had rarely been an issue. But tonight it seemed more apparent that he had expected her to be home by now and to spend time together on a Friday night, the start of the weekend.

  “Are you upset with me for getting stuck here?”

  “Of course not,” he said quickly. “I just miss you, that’s all.”

  “I miss you, too,” she said sincerely. Tomorrow she’d be in the shop, but she wanted to remind him they would have all day Sunday together. But the truth was she didn’t know what would happen next with Holly and Rose. Dana might need her help more than ever.

  Before she could decide what to say, Charles said good night. She did the same and ended the call.

  “Is everything okay?” Lucy asked.

  Maggie shrugged and flipped up her collar. “He’s fine. A little lonely tonight, I think. He did expect me home for dinner and to spend some time together.” Maggie glanced at her. “I guess I’m still not fully adjusted to being accountable that way. I hate to let him down, but I’m used to doing whatever I want when I want to do it.”

  “I understand.” Lucy nodded. “There is a simple solution.”

  From her expression, Maggie could guess what it was, too.

  “You just won’t get off the dog thing, will you?”

  “Stop fighting it, Mag. I saw you cuddling that puppy. I should have taken a picture and sent it to Charles.”

  Maggie was glad
that she had not, and didn’t want to encourage her with any more repartee on the subject.

  “What’s taking Dana so long? It’s getting cold out here.” Maggie rubbed her hands together and turned to check the garage.

  Dana finally emerged and trotted toward them. “Sorry for the wait. There was a lot to read. Let’s go inside. I’ll tell you what I found.”

  They headed for the back door, and Dana suddenly stopped. “Oh, blast . . . We forgot to return the keys.”

  “That means you don’t want to see Toby . . . and Freud knows, too,” Lucy said. “Let me go. I’m younger, faster and, as you all pointed out a few minutes ago, blonder.”

  “No argument there. You go, girl.” Dana fished the keys from her pocket and passed them to Lucy.

  “Just whistle if you have any trouble,” Maggie whispered.

  “Whistle? I’ll scream my head off,” Lucy promised.

  She jogged back to the garage and slipped into the shadows. Maggie and Dana waited silently. Maggie was dying to hear what Dana had found in the envelope, but Lucy’s quick return was more important at the moment.

  Was Toby dangerous? Had he attacked Holly and set the fire?

  Maggie felt the answer to that last question was still rising, like a message in a fortune-teller’s ball.

  If the answer was yes, no one here was safe tonight.

  * * *

  Lucy returned, and they quickly went inside the house. “I just handed him the keys at the doorway. He was talking on the phone and barely acknowledged me,” she reported.

  “The less said, the better. Good job.” Maggie entered the kitchen, where Rose was pouring hot water from the kettle into the teapot. She’d set out a plate of cookies on the counter and Maggie brought it to the table, then rubbed her cold hands together, eager for another cup of tea.

  Before they’d gone outside to move the car, Dana had explained to Rose, in the least alarming way possible, that they needed to look at some papers in Toby’s car without him knowing about it.

  Rose had not asked any questions. She was obviously suspicious of her half brother’s sudden appearance, too. Though Maggie couldn’t say if she connected him with Holly’s attack and the fire. She sat next to Maggie with a mug of tea, her three favorite dogs lying peacefully under the table, at her feet.

  Lucy filled her mug and sat across from Dana at the table. “So . . . the envelope, please, as they say. Or just tell us what it was you found in it.”

  “Legal documents, as we expected. There was a simple letter that acknowledged Holly had loaned him fifty thousand dollars and he was going to pay her back over the next forty-eight months, with interest. The payment schedule was all worked out, with a blank line on the bottom for her signature.” Dana frowned, looking puzzled by this discovery. “She did loan him money just a few years after George died. I know that. And I doubt he ever repaid her. She considered it more of an extra gift from the estate, since he’d blown through the sum George had left him.”

  Maggie recalled Dana telling them that the other night.

  “From what I’ve seen of Toby, I’m guessing she kissed that cash good-bye when she gave it to him,” Lucy said.

  “I’d tend to agree. Though I don’t understand why he’s coming up with that letter now, setting terms to repay the debt,” Maggie said. “Unless she asked him to pay her back after all this time?”

  “I don’t think so. She knows that well is dry. But perhaps it fits in somehow with the other documents.” Dana glanced at Rose. “I don’t want you to worry, Rose. I’m just talking about pieces of paper. They don’t change anything.”

  “All right.” Rose nodded, trying to tamp down her distress. But Oreo immediately noticed a change in Rose’s mood. Perhaps by the pitch of her voice or her posture. The lithe border collie leaned close to Rose’s leg and rested her head in her owner’s lap.

  “But what did you see? What is he trying to do?” Rose asked, fear rising in her eyes.

  Maggie could see Dana weighing her words carefully, and also weighing how much Rose should know against how much she could handle.

  “There are forms that would make Toby the medical proxy for you and Holly.”

  “No . . . he can’t do that. It’s not right. Holly won’t let him.”

  “Of course she won’t. I said before, they are only pieces of paper. Now we know what he’s trying to do, and we’re going to stop him. You’ll see.” Dana put her hands on Rose’s shoulders and held her gaze. “You’ll see. I promise.”

  Rose nodded, her chin trembling. Maggie reached over and took her hand.

  “I can’t imagine how he thought he’d pull that off,” Maggie turned to Dana. “You have that position now. How does he think he can take it over?”

  “If Holly signed the forms, he would be named her and Rose’s proxy, and my status would be nullified. He obviously took those forms into the hospital, hoping to persuade—or pressure—Holly into signing them. Which I’m sure she’d never do,” Dana replied.

  “Unless he planned to trick her into signing them?” Maggie offered. Though she wasn’t sure how he’d do that, either.

  “And doesn’t a notary need to witness the signature for an agreement like that to be valid?” Lucy asked.

  “Maybe Toby had a notary tucked in another pocket,” Maggie quipped.

  “Or he knows one willing to cheat on that part?” Lucy glanced at Maggie and Dana. “He’d get the signature by making her think she was signing something else. Like the agreement to pay back his loan. Who would refuse to have fifty thousand dollars paid back in timely installments? He probably has some shady notary lined up, who will stamp it, claiming they had been present and had been a valid witness.”

  “I know that happens,” Dana replied. “It could have been his plan.”

  Maggie took a warming sip of tea. “I guess it was a blessing in disguise that Holly had a setback. It saved her from his visit.” She would have been alone with him, Maggie realized. At his mercy.

  “It saved her this time,” Dana murmured. “We know what he’s up to now, and we know she needs protection.”

  “You have to tell Detective Reyes about all this. The pages we found in that envelope are like a huge neon sign pointing right at Toby,” Lucy told Dana.

  “Don’t worry. I’m on it.” Dana checked her phone. “I’ll call Helen and have her pass on the information to the detective. Otherwise I’ll be stuck explaining how we happened to get our hands on it. Helen is good at fudging the details.”

  She picked up her cell phone and searched for the attorney’s number. “And I’ll call the hospital and check on Holly again. Did you figure out if you really need a tow truck, Maggie?”

  “Looks like I do. But I decided to leave it until tomorrow. I already told Charles. I hope you don’t mind that I invited myself to stay over?”

  “Of course not,” Dana said. “I’m relieved that you’re not going to wait for a tow to get out here. You wouldn’t get home until midnight.”

  “It seemed the wiser course,” Maggie said.

  Lucy took a cookie and dipped the edge of it into her tea. “The only problem now is Suzanne. You both know she’ll never forgive us for having a sleepover party without her.”

  Maggie laughed. “I didn’t think of that, but you’re right. We’d better not tell her.”

  There was still time do some knitting, and Lucy ran outside to fetch their tote bags. Maggie actually craved it and knew it was the perfect way to unwind after their challenging day.

  She exchanged a few text messages with Phoebe, just to check on how store had done during the day. Everything was running smoothly, Phoebe reported. No emergencies. Maggie thanked her for taking over and promised to be in the next morning. She made a confession in her next text message.

  We’ve had a very draining day. We’re going to do a little knitting now. Sorry you’re not with us.

  I am, too. But I bet you’re surrounded by dogs. So it’s sort of okay. I’m knitting here, too, wi
th Van Gogh in my lap. He likes to hide under the sections of sweater.

  Maggie smiled at the picture Phoebe’s words summoned. It all works, then. Have fun. See you tomorrow.

  She found her way to the dog parlor, where Rose and Lucy were already knitting. Rose helped her find a canine-free zone, which was no small task.

  The dogs were at that snoozy stage of the night. Maggie wondered if the barking assignment had worn them out. They dozed on dog beds or curled on couch and chair cushions. There was barely room for the humans, but no one had the heart to disturb any of the sleepy canines.

  “Your dogs have the right idea,” Maggie observed. “The day is done, and it’s time to just be.” It was relaxing to be around them in this state, she had to admit.

  “Dogs know when to work, play, and rest. Except for border collies, like Oreo.” Lucy glanced at Rose.

  “They like to be productive,” Rose said.

  “I can relate.” Maggie pulled a length of yarn from the ball and turned her work over. She had finished the front of Charles’s sweater and was working on the back.

  She glanced at Rose’s work, which had not advanced much the past few days. Was there any wonder about that? Maggie certainly didn’t want to pressure her. That was the complete antithesis of why she’d been asked to teach Rose to knit in the first place.

  Rose seemed to sense Maggie’s thoughts. “I’m only on my second collar, for Wolf. Oreo’s went faster.”

  “Wolf is a bigger dog. His needs more stitches. I think you can go three fingers wide on that one. I try not to judge my progress or compare myself with others. Each project finds its own pace. Knitting is not a race,” she said with a smile.

  Rose smiled. “I know what you mean. I like to just do the stitches. It doesn’t even matter if I even make anything.”

  Maggie lifted her head, pleased by Rose’s insight. “You’ll get far with that attitude. Taking joy in the activity for its own right.”

  Dana came in and took in the peaceful scene. She looked pleased and found a place to sit on one of the love seats by coaxing a long-haired dachshund to one side. “I spoke to a nurse. Holly is doing very well. They’re going to leave the oxygen on tonight, but the nurse is fairly certain she’ll be breathing on her own again tomorrow. She said it was just a coughing spasm, and Holly shouldn’t speak that much, even if she’s able. But she’ll be wide awake, and we can communicate with a pad and pencil.”