If Hooks Could Kill - By Betty Hechtman Page 0,100
to all the discs with flowers on them. “The bullion stitch was her way of marking the pieces that had gold or silver in them. Even the owl had a few bullion stitches on the front and an expensive watch inside. Which is why I’m sure she never meant for us to sell those pieces at the fair. She shoved the bin on us because she was trying to hide them from the person who came to the door, and sent us out the back way so the person wouldn’t see us.”
“Of course, you’re right. She had hidden the coins and watch in the crochet pieces, but she must have been afraid the person would find them anyway.” There was a moment of silence as Dinah and I looked at each other.
“You’re thinking what I’m thinking, aren’t you? The reason someone shot Kelly was because of the coins and the watch,” I said and Dinah nodded in agreement.
“We keep saying person, but don’t we mean Dan?” Dinah said.
“I’m still going back and forth about whether it’s him. Whoever it was, Kelly mustn’t have realized how desperate they were. Anyone could have overheard Adele in her drama about the stitch and figured out where the pieces with the coins were in the bookstore and used the bookstore event as a distraction to take them.” “I wonder where Kelly got the coins and watch?” Dinah said.
I thought back to her father and his design studio. There had been such an eclectic mix of stuff. I remembered the mounted stamp collection and the collage made out of old jewelry pieces and coins. I suggested they might have come from him. “But what’s the difference anyway,” I said. “None of this information about the coins is the smoking gun evidence Detective Heather needs.”
“I hate to rush you,” Dinah said. “But I have to go.”
I wished Dinah a fun night with Commander as I left. She laughed about the night part. “To the seniors, night is six o’clock.”
As I pulled into my driveway, the first thing I noticed was that Barry’s Tahoe wasn’t there. Nor was there a bike in the backyard as I walked toward the kitchen door. I could see Cosmo inside the glass back door waiting for me. The two cats circled behind him. And Blondie was no doubt sacked out in her chair.
When I opened the locked door, Cosmo greeted me before rushing outside. The cats made a beeline for their bowls, which were empty. The house seemed quiet, too quiet. I heard a key in the front door and a few moments later, Samuel walked in carrying some groceries. “Where are Barry and Jeffrey?” I asked.
“Gone,” he said setting down the bag and beginning to unload it. I walked down the hall toward the room where Barry had been staying. The bed had been stripped. The top of the dresser was empty. Not even a sock on the floor. I went on to the room Jeffrey had used. It wasn’t stripped quite as bare. The bed looked hastily made. The computer was gone from the desk and the closet was empty except for a dress shirt that had fallen off the hanger.
I went back into the kitchen. Samuel was putting some peaches in a bowl. “Were you here when they left?” I asked.
Samuel nodded. “It was all very tense. Jeffrey looked like he was going to cry and Barry seemed upset and in a hurry.”
“Was anybody helping them?” I asked, thinking of Detective Heather.
“Some guy,” Samuel said. “I think he might have been Barry’s partner.”
“Oh,” I said, feeling guilty at my happiness that it wasn’t the attractive blond detective.
“I guess that’s that, then.”
“What happened? Why did they leave so suddenly?” Samuel looked up at me with reproach in his eyes. “That poor kid. I felt sorry for him.”
“I thought you were so upset I’d let them stay here.”
Samuel went back to emptying the grocery bag. “They kind of grew on me.” He took out a jar of almond butter mixed with honey. “I got this for Jeffrey. He really liked it.” Samuel’s brow furrowed as he looked at me. “Did you do something?”
I recounted the whole story and waited to see my son’s reaction.
“So, the guy made a mistake,” Samuel said.
“Now you like Barry?” I said, incredulous. My younger son had always seemed to be upset about him when Barry and I were a couple. Now he was defending him and I was the bad guy.