the corner. Detective Heather was a knitter, a very good knitter—I’d seen a pair of socks she’d made for Barry. Actually I’d even sold her the yarn. She implied that the real way to a man’s heart was through his feet. As I stopped next to a bin of some new novelty yarn we’d gotten in, I began to wonder about Barry’s feet and what they were wearing. I hadn’t been paying any attention to them other than to notice when his cast came off his left leg. Had she knitted him a whole wardrobe of socks? Were they caressing his feet even as he sat there drinking tea and telling me about his cold cases?
I forced the thought from my mind. Barry and I were done, so what he wore on his feet was no concern of mine. Once he left, I’d never think about it again.
Detective Heather noticed the novelty yarn and picked up a skein that was in various shades of blue. It looked like a flat strip, but when you pulled it open and knitted along the edge you ended up with tiers of ruffles. When I explained what it was, she dropped it like it had cooties. “Ruffles and a revolver just don’t go,” she said.
“So, what do you want to know?” I asked. I just wanted to be done with the questions and get back to the group.
She seemed to deflate a little at my question. It probably caught her off guard. I’m sure she was hoping I’d feel intimidated, but after all the times I’d been questioned by her, I had gotten a bit of a thick skin.
“Just tell me about the other morning at the Donahue house.” Detective Heather had taken out her pad and pen.
I figured why play games? Who knew what Adele had told Eric, who in turn had told Heather. I just gave her the whole story, explaining that Kelly had joined the Hookers, not that there was anything really official about it. All she had to do was give her information to CeeCee for our roster and she was in. Kelly had been all enthusiastic about the group and wanted to make things for our table at the Jungle Days Fair. But then she hadn’t come to the regular gatherings and nobody had seen any real examples of her work.
“We just went over there to see if we could count on her donations,” I said.
“And?” Detective Heather said.
“She gave us some pieces and we left,” I said hoping it would be the end of it. But Detective Heather jumped right into asking about Kelly’s husband Dan. Did I know if he was having money troubles with his store? Did they get along? Did he have an insurance policy on her? Poor guy, I wondered if he knew that Detective Heather was doing her best to close in on him.
After telling her that I didn’t know anything about his finances, other than I wondered if there really was a market for Suckers jam, even if it was only a dollar a jar, I looked her in the eye. “Have you considered he might not be the guy?” I brought up the robbery scenario and Detective Heather glared in response.
“You’re not going to do the amateur sleuth thing again, are you?” She said. When I didn’t answer, she looked even more annoyed. “Let’s see what I can arrest you for. Interfering with a police investigation, tampering with evidence, getting in my way,” she said in a terse voice.
“I have helped you in the past. You’ve even thanked me,” I said, but she stopped me.
“I was just humoring you. Barry said you were going through a tough time since you were getting close to being a half-century old.”
I rolled my eyes. She was only in her late thirties and she knew how to rub it in.
I was relieved when she left and I went back to join the Hookers. Everyone wanted to know what Detective Heather had said and we all started discussing Kelly’s business or what we knew of it.
“I think they were struggling,” Elise said. “Her husband is still just starting out with that dollar store.”
From across the bookstore, kids began filing out of the children’s area and rejoining whoever had brought them. Adele came out at the end and headed across the store toward us.
“I think Adele has outdone herself. Look what she’s wearing,” Rhoda said as we watched Adele approach. As usual, Adele had dressed for story