If Hooks Could Kill - By Betty Hechtman Page 0,112

evidence to prove it.

Even the charge that Stone had tried to kill me was in question. He claimed he was only trying to protect his family’s property from being stolen by me.

Barry and Heather both tried to get him to confess, but Stone asked for an attorney before saying a word. And the attorney pointed out that although the plane had stopped in Burbank for two hours, there was nothing to say that Stone had left the airport. No cab company had any record of the trip. There was nothing to say that he was at his sister’s when she was shot. If anything, the attorney tried to point the finger at Kelly for having the stolen coins, lamp and watch.

Detective Heather was still trying to come up with more evidence before the district attorney reviewed the case and decided if there was enough for a trial. In the meantime, Stone was let out on bail. He couldn’t leave town and was staying with one of his surfer buddies until the situation was resolved.

Now I understood the frustration the cops felt when they knew someone was guilty, but there was nothing they could do about it.

* * *

Dan was relieved to be off the hook and I profusely apologized to him. North and the prop guys never realized they’d been on the hook, though they were all glad it was settled. Still, they were sorry to hear it was Stone. Some of them were his fans.

I felt bad for Stone’s father. There was no way he wasn’t going to blame himself. Even if Stone never went to trial, everybody was always going to believe that he’d killed his sister.

CHAPTER 35

“Okay, everybody,” CeeCee Collins said as the Jungle Days Fair got ready to open. “Let’s sell, sell, sell. Remember it will help all the dogs and cats.” The proceeds of our booth were going to help her favorite charity, Hearts and Barks, and Meows, Too.

To say it was hot, was an understatement. Yes, it was dry heat, but with the temperature close to one hundred, the lack of humidity didn’t make a difference. It was like being in an oven.

The cowls were spread across the table like a rainbow along with Dinah’s washclothes wrapped around bars of soap and Eduardo’s bracelets and some other items we’d made. The whole bottom row featured Adele’s version of Kelly’s flower pins. The bullion stitch petals perfectly done.

“Those are lovely,” CeeCee said. “Maybe you can show me how you made them. I’ve never mastered that stitch.”

Adele’s mouth fell open in shock. All her worry had been for nothing. She picked up one of the pins and showed it off to the rest of us. “Maybe I should do a crochet clinic and teach all of you. There’s a little secret that changes everything.”

I noticed that Adele didn’t say it was her secret, she just implied it. Actually it was Kelly’s secret. When I’d really studied the yellow sheets I’d been carrying around, I’d found it. I wondered if Adele would remember that I was the one who had shown her how to overcome her Achilles’ heel of stitches. Probably not. It had been hard enough to get her to admit that she’d put the coins and watch in my bag. But when she understood that Stone had almost killed me because of overhearing her conversation with Eric, she had thrown her arms around me and begged for my forgiveness.

Despite the heat, there was a crowd of people and they all stopped at our booth. The cowls got a lot of oohs and aahs at their colors, but when Adele demonstrated how to wear them, people seemed to start fanning themselves and dropped them back on the table. They were a lot more interested in buying the bottles of Crystal Gazer water Rhoda had brought in from Dan’s store.

“Oh, dear,” CeeCee said as midday approached and we hadn’t sold one cowl. “I knew these were going to be a dud.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Adele hanging her head.

“You people give up too easily,” Rhoda Klein said. “No one wants something hot around their neck in this weather. But they would like something cool.” Rhoda picked up a sunshine yellow cowl and poured some water on it. She squeezed out the excess and slipped it over her head. “Ah, my own personal air-conditioning,” she said loudly. “This cool cowl is really great.”

A few people turned at her voice, which wasn’t a surprise