didn’t seem to understand. She turned back to me. “So, Pink, what’s up with your investigating?”
“I don’t think I should tell you about it since you’re stepping down. I wouldn’t want to get you in trouble with Eric.” Adele fell for it and begged me to tell her what was up. Finally I told her what I’d found out about North Adams, and my dilemma.
“No problem for moi,” she said pointing at herself in a theatrical manner. “I don’t have any connection to North to mess up.” She knit her brows and jiggled her head as if she was having an inner conversation. “I don’t care what Eric said. I have to take over—in the name of justice.”
I was hoping she’d say something like that. “All you’d have to do is question him, but make it seem like you’re just talking to him,” I said.
“I know what to do, Pink. I have my ways to get a man to talk.” She waved her hands in a way I think was meant to demonstrate a flirtatious move, but it came off like she was doing some kind of weird hand dance. I rolled my eyes. What choice did I have?
Dinah had taken out some soft pink organic cotton yarn. Despite Adele’s efforts to get everyone to make cowls for the sale, Dinah was sticking to washcloths and making them in all different patterns. In the end, she was going to wrap each one around a small bar of scented soap and tie it with a lavender flower.
I had brought out the off-white cowl I kept there and started to work on it.
Adele was happily working on her cowl now and I had to nudge her to get her to tell me her plan.
“I don’t know why you want to talk to him. Why not take some kind of action?” she said.
“All you have to do is ask him if it’s true that he and Kelly had an affair. If he says no, you tell him you have it on good authority that they did and then ask him why he’s not admitting he knows her,” I said.
Adele snorted. “I don’t need you to tell me what to say, or do. They’re doing a night shoot tomorrow. I’ll just go hang out with Eric and then say I want to watch. He doesn’t mind because, unlike some people, I’ve never made a scene. Then when there’s a break in shooting, I’ll move in on North.” The plan was, as soon as she talked to North, she’d come to Dinah’s and fill us in, and we’d decide how to proceed.
Her last words were, “So I should stay out of the crime fighting business, huh? I don’t think so.” She picked up her things and went to the children’s department.
“I never thought I’d be grateful for Adele’s help,” I said to Dinah.
“Maybe you better wait until it’s mission accomplished before you speak,” Dinah said, giving me a knowing nod.
CHAPTER 25
Before Adele could do her detective work, we had to take care of some Hookers’ stuff. CeeCee had called a meeting at her house the next evening. The plan was we’d all look over what we’d accumulated for the street fair. “This way, if everyone can see what we have, then I don’t have to be the bad guy all the time, telling the rest of you we don’t have enough things,” CeeCee told everybody when she gave them the details. Due to everybody’s busy schedules the only time we could meet was at dinner hour. And Dinah and I, nice folks that we are, had volunteered to bring dinner for everyone. At CeeCee’s request, I’d promised to bring a pan of my “Mac, Cheese and More.”
Dinah helped me shop and cook, and after leaving the extra mac and cheese for Barry and Jeffrey, we headed over to CeeCee’s. She hailed our arrival with great excitement. CeeCee might not cook, but she loved to eat. She sniffed the casserole dish of macaroni and cheese as I carried it in the kitchen. I popped the pan in the oven while I poured the dressing on the salad I’d brought, too. It hadn’t inspired the same excitement from CeeCee.
“Thank heavens,” Rhoda said. She held up a glass of water. “This was all CeeCee could manage.”
Sheila nodded with approval at the food scents and said something about being so busy at Luxe she hadn’t had lunch. She put down the cowl she was working on and started to