Knitting With the Dead

by Nancy McGovern

  Nora sat with her arm around Grace, reveling in the silence now that the music and laughter had ceased. Like Hazel, Nora loved a certain amount of socializing. But then she needed to retreat into her own cave to recharge. Grace and Harvey on the other hand, only grew more energetic when surrounded by people, and too much alone time would leave them mopey and snappy.

  “So have you told anyone yet?” Hazel asked Grace suddenly, patting her stomach. “You know? About the baby?”

  “You, too?!” Grace yelped. “Mom guessed almost immediately! How did you?”

  “It’s a party, and you kept drinking juice.” Hazel rolled her eyes. “You might as well have been walking around with a sign on your forehead.”

  “Oh, go away. I’m not that obvious,” Grace grumbled. “And nobody knows except Jacob. We want to keep it quiet for a while.”

  “Understandable,” Hazel agreed. “Though, I wouldn’t underestimate Milburn. If I’ve guessed, half the town probably has, too.”

  “Hazel!” Grace looked positively alarmed.

  “Aunt Tina was giving you looks all night,” Hazel said. “And she was making sure your plate was always full.”

  “Oh, no. If Aunt Tina knows, all of Milburn knows it,” Grace worried. “Or soon will.”

  “Be nice,” Nora said.

  “Ah, come on, Mom. You know it’s true.” Hazel smiled. “We love Aunt Tina but she’s the town gossip.”

  “Well, she doesn’t know everything.” Grace grinned. “Like she doesn’t know that her husband’s planning a surprise for her.”

  “Sam’s planning a surprise for Tina?” Nora asked.

  “Sure. He told me that, since they couldn’t buy the car she wanted, he’s taking her down to test-drive a Ferrari. Apparently there’s a car dealership that lets you rent one out by the hour.”

  “Ooh. Lucky!” Hazel said. “She’s going to be over the moon.”

  “Speaking of surprises, how did you like your cake?” Grace asked. “Mom outdid herself this time.”

  “The whole party was amazing. Even Austin had fun - and he never has fun.”

  “Everyone was talking about Maybelle Abelard’s death.” Grace added. “I can’t believe it. I went to school with her, you know.”

  “Yes, you did!” Nora sat up suddenly. “You knew all of them, didn’t you? That whole gang.”

  Grace gave her a quizzical look. “Tyler, Jess, Natalie and Maybelle? Sure.”

  “Of course. Brooke came along much later,” Nora considered. “You wouldn’t know her.”

  “Ok, Mom.” Grace grinned. “What’s the question you’re dying to ask me?”

  “James Walter,” Nora said. “Was he in love with Maybelle?”

  Grace didn’t even have to think about it. “For sure. He always got all shy and flustered around her. But, if you ask me, that group was weird. Tyler, James and May had a little love-triangle going on, and then Jess, May and James had another one of their own. It was like something out of an Archie comic.”

  “Ah, high school romances,” Hazel said. “I’m so glad those are over with. Poor Kaylee, on the other hand, still has to suffer through it.”

  “Rubbish. My Kaylee’s just a baby. No romances for her till she’s 50.” Grace gave Kaylee a protective squeeze.

  “Jess, Natalie and James had a love triangle?” Nora asked.

  Grace grinned. “Sure. Jess and James dated briefly, then broke up, then got back together, then broke up. I always thought they’d end up together forever one day.”

  “But they didn’t.”

  “No. And I think May felt responsible for that. She and James dated very briefly, but she must have cast a spell on him, because he never got over her. You know, come to think of it, I bumped into her last year and we even talked about it.”

  “You talked to May about James?” Nora raised an eyebrow.

  “Well, not exactly. She was asking me if my town had any cute single guys because she wanted to set up Natalie with someone. She loved playing matchmaker. Then we talked about all our high school crushes and I asked how Tyler and James and Jess were doing. May said that it’s a shame how people can sometimes obsess over a first love instead of getting over it and moving on.”

  “She did?”

  “Yeah. She said...” Grace squinted, trying to remember. “What were her exact words…let’s see…something like, ‘…It’s hard to let go, but it has to be done, especially if it’s obvious that you’re not a good match, you know what I mean? It’s the only way you can grow in life.’”

  “Huh,” Nora said, biting her lip. “I’m not sure what that means. But thanks for telling me, Grace.”

  Grace looked at her. “Mom, you’re getting involved in things you shouldn’t be getting involved in again, aren’t you?”

  “Well...” Nora sighed. “It’s just that-”

  “Oh, Mom!” Hazel got up and sat up straight. “Are you telling us you don’t think Tyler did it? Even Austin’s convinced he’s guilty now. And Austin was Tyler’s biggest fan.”

  “I know,” Nora said. “And Austin is a good judge of character. I trust that young man.”

  Grace rolled her eyes. “You know what I think? I think you can’t leave things alone sometimes. Sometimes a man gets into a rage and stabs his wife. Toss him in prison, throw away the key. That’s the end of that.”

  “Not with a knitting needle,” Nora said. “A man wouldn’t think to use a knitting needle as a weapon if he’s in a rage.”

  “That’s just old-fashioned of you, Mom.” Hazel said. “Men are different now.”

  “It’s the truth, though,” Nora said. “I can picture Tyler throwing a punch in anger, maybe even stabbing someone with a knife. But a knitting needle? I just don’t see it.”

  “Mom...” Grace huffed. “You remember that one time when Dad was building that IKEA wardrobe with sliding drawers?”

  “Do I ever.” Nora rolled her eyes. “He was a maniac about it. Cursing and spitting like the wardrobe was his mortal enemy.”

  “Right. He took ten hours assembling it and then he figured out that one essential piece was missing, so the whole thing was useless,” Grace explained. “Remember what he did next?”

  “He…grabbed a fork and stabbed the manual.” Nora laughed. “I gave him such a scolding about it.” She narrowed her eyes at Grace. “Are you trying to tell me something?”

  “If Dad, the manliest of manly men, can grab a fork and stab away when he’s angry, I think Tyler can grab a knitting needle. Difference is, Dad kept his anger aimed at the inanimate wardrobe and the IKEA manual. He didn’t go about stabbing you. Don’t overthink this, okay?”

  Nora considered this. “Yes. I suppose you’re right. I’ve been trying to tell myself to forget all about it. And yet. And yet.”

  “And yet?”

  “And yet so many things confuse me,” Nora said. “There are threads of stories everywhere, and I can’t quite weave them into a coherent pattern.”

  “Maybe you should tell us about it,” Hazel suggested. Teasingly, she added, “As my mother always says, sometimes just sounding it out can help.”

  “Cheeky.” Nora laughed and threw a pillow at Hazel, who caught it lazily.

  “She’s right,” Grace said. “Tell us all about it.”

  “Alright.” Nora took a deep breath. “Here’s what I know, so far. First, there’s Jess. Jess and Maybelle were apparently feuding about the knitting club. But what they were really feuding about was Maybelle making a promise to lend Jess money and then reneging on it. At least, I think that’s what they were really fighting about. I also know that, despite the feud, Maybelle was clearly fond of Jess, because she was trying to set Jess up with James. Jess, however, well…she wrote a diary entry about how much she hated Maybelle. So it seems that things were somehow sour between them.”

  “Mmm hmm.” Grace nodded.

  “Then there’s Brooke. Maybelle knew something about her - what, I don’t know yet. May was pressuring Brooke, and Brooke
felt miserable about it.” Nora stroked her chin. “Miserable enough to kill Maybelle? I don’t know. I do know that she seemed rather relieved that Tyler was behind bars, and that she didn’t want me asking too many questions. In fact, she even told Natalie and Jess not to talk to me, using the thinnest of pretenses.”

  “Sounds shady,” Hazel said.

  “It does.” Nora nodded. “Well, there’s Tyler, of course. He’d even said out loud that he’d like to kill her. People witnessed it.”

  “There you go,” Grace said. “Open and shut.”

  “But now, there’s James,” Nora said. “I don’t know…ever since I overheard that conversation between him and Natalie…I’ve had a gut feeling that something was very wrong. That I’m missing something. But, what it is, I couldn’t tell you. Plus, I now know that he was possibly in love with Maybelle. I also noticed that fresh new bruise on his face tonight. He tried to play it off, but something tells me there’s more to the story.”

  “He said it was just an overenthusiastic kid,” Hazel said.

  “Yes,” Nora said. “Only, I know he didn’t have practice yesterday. It was a Saturday, after all. He lied about how he got that bruise. I’m sure of it.”

  “Whoa...” Grace whistled. “But why lie?”

  “I don’t know,” Nora said. “It worries me. It also worries me that Tyler came here and talked to us, then ran out in a hurry. The last person to see him was Jess, who said he was carrying something small and dark in his hand. What was he carrying? Why did he drive away, leaving behind all his belongings…” With a gasp, Nora got up and smacked a hand to her forehead. “I’m an idiot. I’m a big, big idiot. Of course!”

  “Mom?” Hazel looked concerned.

  “Just the car. That’s all. Just the car. They didn’t see Tyler in the car. They just saw the car!”

  “You’re scaring me,” Grace said. “You’ll wake up Kaylee.”

  “Sorry.” Nora rushed out of the room, leaving her daughters behind, and grabbed her phone. In a few seconds, she was speaking to Sheriff Ellerton.

  “It wasn’t Tyler driving the car that night! The police just saw the car - not who was inside,” she said in a rush. “Sheriff, you’ve got to send out an alert. Tyler could be in terrible danger. I’m afraid that someone’s-” She was cut off by the sheriff, who sounded ten years older.

  “It’s too late,” he said. “The highway patrol already found his car, Nora. It went off the side of a mountain. Tyler was in it. He’s gone forever now. Tyler’s dead.”

  *****

  Chapter 16

  Eulogy

  “Nobody could have guessed it.” Harvey held Nora tight as she cried onto his shoulder that night.

  “I should have,” Nora said, wiping her tears. “I feel responsible, Harvey. He came to us in his time of need. We should never have let him leave the house alone. We should have stopped him. We should have asked him-”

  “Nora, he was a grown man,” Harvey said gently. “There was no way we could have stopped him, and he made it clear that he wanted to be on his own. He rushed out of here, remember.”

  “But why?” Nora asked.

  It was well past midnight - almost 2am. The house was dark and quiet, except for the single lamp emitting a yellow glow from beside Nora’s bed. Nora was still in the same clothes she’d worn to the party, although Harvey had changed into his flannel pajamas. He hugged her hard and stroked her hair now, trying to comfort her as best as he could.

  “He was Grace’s age. Just a confused, young man with so much potential ahead of him,” Nora burst out. “I keep thinking…why?”

  Harvey took a breath. “I talked to the sheriff. Tyler was found belted into the driver’s seat. So he’s considering the theory that it could have been suicide.”

  “The sheriff doesn’t believe that,” Nora said. “Neither do I.”

  “But,” Harvey shook his head, “that doesn’t make sense. It has to be suicide. Tyler’s car went over the side of a mountain - with no other tracks around. Are you saying the killer did that somehow? That it was murder?”

  Nora nodded. “Definitely. Tyler was already dead when the car went off the mountain. In fact, I think Tyler was killed right here in Milburn. The killer drove to a remote spot with Tyler, strapped him into the driver’s seat, then pushed the car off the mountain.”

  “Well, if the killer drove to the middle of nowhere to get rid of Tyler, how did the killer get back to Milburn, then? There are no buses running that late, and one person can only drive one car at a time.” Harvey considered. “Unless you think more than one killer is involved here?”

  “I’ve got a few ideas in mind,” Nora said. “But, no, I think there’s only one killer. Someone smart…and desperate. I think Tyler ran out of our house the other night to confront this killer and things went bad for him.”

  “You said Jess was the last person to see him. She saw him run out of his house with some sort of black object in his hands. You think he met someone after that?”

  “I do. Sheriff Ellerton told me that, when they found Tyler, his knuckles were scuffed up, like he’d just punched someone,” Nora explained. “His hands were fine when he came to see us yesterday. Which means he went to see someone else before he died. He got into a fight with someone, Harvey.”

  “Well, who could it be?”

  “I don’t know,” Nora admitted. “Not yet. Though I think I can guess who it was.”

  “That bruise on James’s face...” Harvey said, his voice trailing off. “You think it was Tyler who gave it to him?”

  “Somebody sure did,” Nora said. “Who’s to say it wasn’t Tyler?”

  Harvey’s teeth ground together. “We should tell the sheriff.”

  “I already did,” Nora said. “He promised to look into it.”

  “Good. But…James? Our Coach James? How could he possibly kill someone, let alone his best friend?”

  “Love does strange things to people,” Nora said. “It can drive the sanest man mad. I think James was in love with May. I think he never quite got her out of his head. Maybe Tyler figured that out.”

  “Maybe,” Harvey agreed. “But why would he run out so suddenly the way he did? We didn’t he even talk about James with Tyler that night. Did we?”

  “Actually, if you remember, it wasn’t long after I talked about overhearing James and Natalie that Tyler ran out,” Nora said.

  “What about Brooke?” Harvey asked. “She and Peter were out of town all of a sudden. Don’t you think that’s weird?”

  Nora bit her lip. “It could be.”

  “Brooke had the most motive for killing Maybelle,” Harvey said. “It seems that way to me, at least. Plus, if Peter and Brooke are in on it together, he could have followed her in his car and picked her up from the side of the road. Easy.”

  “You think Peter helped her?” Nora’s eyes were wide.

  “Why not?” Harvey asked. “Isn’t it weird that Peter randomly cancelled our golf game to go to on a romantic getaway with Brooke the morning after Tyler disappears? In any case, isn’t it about time we asked her some tough questions? She’s been avoiding you - but she can’t forever.”

  Nora opened her mouth to agree when the doorbell shocked her into silence. Harvey looked at her with wide eyes and then at the clock on the wall. 3am. Who could be at their house at three in the morning?

  “I’ll get it.” Harvey stood up and went to the closet. He pulled out a hammer and walked out of the room.

  “Harvey, I hardly think that’s necessary,” Nora whispered, hurrying to catch up with him.

  “I’m not taking any risks,” he said quietly. “There’s a killer on the loose, Nora.”

  Downstairs, Grace was peeking out of her room as Harvey and Nora walked to the door.

  “Everything ok?” she asked. “I woke up when I heard the doorbell.”

  “Go to sleep, sweetie,” Nora told her.

  The door opened wider, and Jacob stood behind Grace. “I can help if there’s
trouble,” he said. Motioning to Grace that she should go back to sleep, he stepped into the living room. Nora gave him a grateful smile. Having a towering lumberjack like Jacob nearby was always reassuring in times like this.

  Harvey opened the door carefully, stared in surprise at the person outside, then threw the door wide open. Brooke stood on the doorstep, wrapped up in a tan coat, her eyes streaked with tears.

  “This is a surprise,” Harvey said, still not loosening his grip on the hammer. “What brings you here, Brooke? I thought you didn’t want to talk to Nora.”

  “That was when I thought Tyler killed Maybelle,” Brooke said. “Please can I come in? I need to talk to you. I heard what happened to Tyler and I haven’t been able to sleep. I just keep on thinking…oh, Nora you have to help me. I don’t know what to do!”

  Softening, Nora beckoned to Brooke. “Come on inside. We’ll have some coffee and chat a bit. No harm in that.”

  “Nora…” Harvey had a note of warning in his voice. “Just be careful.”

  “Harvey, you and Jacob should go back to sleep now. I guess Brooke will want to talk to me alone.”

  Brooke threw Nora a grateful look. “I’d like that very much.”

  Harvey glowered at Brooke a little, then said, “I’ll be nearby. Don’t try anything.”

  Brooke recoiled. “What? What are you saying?”

  “That anybody and everybody is a suspect now,” Harvey clarified. “But especially you. Where did you disappear to? How come you and Peter ran out of town the morning after Tyler disappeared?”

  “Ran out of…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Oh, yes, you do. The night before, Tyler vanishes. The next morning, Peter emails me that he can’t play golf because you decided to go stay at some bed & breakfast somewhere. Pretty convenient, isn’t it, that you weren’t in town all day, huh?”

  “We went because I needed a break from this craziness!” Brooke exclaimed. “You can accuse me if you want, but don’t drag Peter into this. He’s the most honest man I know.”

  “He’s a lawyer!” Harvey laughed. “If you believe there’s an honest lawyer anywhere in the world, then lady, I got a bridge to sell you.”