Knot on Your Life

by Betty Hechtman

  “What about you?” he said, pointing at PJ.

  “I didn’t really know him. I have a vlog that offers hacks,” she said, holding up her phone as if it was somehow proof. My only connection is that I help make the food she delivers to them.” She pointed to Deani. He turned to stare at her.

  I glanced down at her tote bag, hoping she didn’t have the dog with her. She seemed nervous as she answered. “I have a service that brings in lunch to offices and Reborn are customers.”

  “Don’t you mean were customers?” Iola said. “Didn’t I hear that they canceled you and Tim was the one to do it?” Deani gave her a sour look and the cop did a double take at Iola’s sultry voice.

  Lieutenant Borgnine was looking more upset by the minute, probably realizing what I had—that there were a lot more potential suspects than he’d thought. “What about you?” he said to Iola.

  “I knew Tim like Aileen did. We have an office there, too, and I passed him in the hall.”

  “But when you all saw Tim here, you must have said hello and commented on the fact you had some connection,” Borgnine said.

  Iola spoke first. “Hardly. He and the rest of them had to see Madison every day when they went past the reception counter and yet they looked right through her when they saw her here.” She turned to Madison. “Isn’t that right?”

  Madison looked uncomfortable. “Yes, I was upset about that, but I didn’t realize one of them was going to die. It seems kind of unimportant now.”

  They had given up enough of their workshop time and I wanted to end his interview. I moved next to him. “They only have a short time to learn how to crochet. It looks like you got the answer to your question,” I said. “No one saw who made the call.” I walked him to the door and he pulled me outside with him.

  “Why didn’t you tell me your people knew the victim?” he demanded.

  “You didn’t ask, so I didn’t tell.” He didn’t seem happy with my answer.

  When I came back into the room, Madison was beside herself. “Why did I say I was in one of the phone booths? It’s like I was making an excuse for being there. Now he probably thinks I’m the person they’re looking for.” She looked at all of us. “It wasn’t me. I didn’t make the nine-one-one call.”

  “But maybe you saw who did,” Iola said.

  “You’ve sure become the Chatty Cathy,” Deani said, glaring at her. “What happened to the wall of silence you always were in our group? I wish you hadn’t mentioned that Tim had canceled my service.”

  “Sorry,” Iola said. “I didn’t know it was a problem.”

  “The cop could think I had a beef with Tim,” Deani said.

  “I don’t think I saw anyone else in the phone booths, but I wasn’t really paying attention,” Madison said. “Maybe I should find the cop and tell him that.”

  “Relax, everybody,” Aileen said. “He said he was just looking to fill in some information. Isn’t that right?” They all looked at me.

  I wasn’t that worried about the threatening note, but I did find it just after seeing Deani hanging around my house. It didn’t seem like a good time to give them inside information, so I stuck with the company line and just repeated what Lieutenant Borgnine had said and reassured them what they’d said was fine.

  It took a while to get them back to crocheting, but when they did, they seemed to calm down. When the workshop ended, they decided to continue on and moved to the lobby of the Sand and Sea building.

  I was released from duty, and after reminding Crystal of the mindful group’s workshop at the yarn shop in the afternoon, I headed for home. But I only got as far as the Lodge. I was surprised to see a black limousine parked in the driveway. It was a no parking zone and strictly enforced, apparently except for now.

  Curious what was going on, I went inside. At this time of day the cavernous room was always quiet as the guests were off doing activities. A tall man in a white linen tunic over matching pants was standing by the registration counter with Kevin St. John. I could tell by his body language that the manager was tense. He was doing a lot of gesturing with his arms, as though indicating the grounds.

  Sky was half hidden in the shadows near the entrance of the café. He was watching the interchange with a reverent expression. I slipped across the room unnoticed and joined the facilitator.

  “Do you know who that is?” he said in a whisper when I reached him. It seemed to be a day for rhetorical questions so I didn’t even try to answer. “Wind Markham,” he said in an awed tone, as if it was supposed to make me swoon.

  I answered with a shrug. “I don’t believe you don’t know who he is,” Sky said, incredulous. “How about he is like the guru to the gurus. He’s the author of You Are the One, A Glorious Life Is Your Birthright, The Magic of Silence and a bunch of others.” He gazed at the man again. “I can’t believe he’s here.”

  “Speaking of that, what is the super guru doing here?”

  Sky’s topknot bobbed with excitement. “He wants to do a retreat in the area and he’s considering Vista Del Mar. I think he’s going to spend some time here, seeing what the facilities are like.” Sky almost swooned. “Mr. St. John could hire me to be a facilitator again. It would be a much bigger retreat. Do you have any idea how many followers Wind has?”

  I laughed to myself. Now I understood Kevin St. John’s comment to my group about saying good things about the place. He was thinking about Wind Markham. I rolled my eyes, wondering what his real name was.

  Just then I got in Kevin St. John’s line of sight. His expression froze and he tried to surreptitiously wave me away.

  I slipped out the side door. Kevin St. John had his work cut out for him trying to impress a big-shot guru when Vista Del Mar was in the middle of a murder investigation.

  Chapter 24

  “Too bad you weren’t here for lunch,” Cloris said. She was behind the registration counter wearing her blazer uniform. I noticed she had a tag now that said Assistant to the Manager. “Mr. St. John really put on a show for the man in the white outfit. Mr. Markham has a lot of, uh, needs,” she said. “We had to cordon off a table so that he wouldn’t be bothered by the other guests. The lunch menu had to be scrapped at the last minute and we had to make sure it was all plant-based. If he does the retreat here, that’s how it would have to be for the whole place for the weekend. He insists there be no fumes of cooking hamburgers.”

  “It sounds like quite a show. I’m sorry I missed it, but the lure of a nap won out.” I yawned. “Burning the candle at both ends yesterday.” She nodded with understanding. “Now it’s back to work. Once I see my retreaters off for their afternoon adventure, I’ll gather up the Silicon Valley bunch for their workshop.” I glanced around the Lodge for any signs of the manager and the guru. “What’s Kevin St. John up to with him now?” I asked.

  “He’s escorting him on a tour of the area,” she said. She dropped her voice, which was really unnecessary since there was no one else around. “I think he wanted to get him off the grounds before Lieutenant Borgnine came back to investigate some more.” She leaned a little closer. “Mr. St. John really, really wants the retreat. Just a heads-up, he’s acting a little crazy about looking for anybody not following the rules.”

  What was new about that? All I cared about was that Kevin St. John was off the grounds and I didn’t have to worry that he’d see me dealing with his retreat group.

  I was waiting in the driveway next to the Lodge when my group showed up. At their request I’d arranged a winery tour for them. I wasn’t going along, but knew that they’d be leaving all the cloudy skies behind. It was like going from a black-and-white movie to color when you traveled into the Carmel Valley. The sunshine, blue skies and green grass-covered mountains were a feast for the eyes. There would be treats for their taste buds as well. The tour ended with a wine and cheese tasting.

  So that there would be no issue with drinking and driving, I’d arranged for a van to drive them to and from. Deani had the pink tote with her
and I asked about Fifi after Cloris had said that Kevin St. John was on the hunt for anyone breaking the rules. She opened the tote bag and Fifi popped her head out and let out a few yips.

  “I hope I get some hacks about wine,” PJ said. “The winery must have Wi-Fi. I’ll put it up while I’m there.” I almost didn’t notice Iola standing next to her. She’d gone back to being quiet and her plain looks made it easy for her to blend into the background.

  “I don’t care about hacks,” Madison said. “Just bring on the wine, lots of it. I’m not even going to call home,” she said. “I don’t want to know what else my mother-in-law has done while I’m gone.”

  “Where’s Aileen?” I asked as the van arrived.

  “Maybe she’s in her room,” Deani said. “She said something about taking a nap.”

  I told them to get in the van and tell the driver there was one more and then I sprinted up the slope to the Sand and Sea building. I had to squeeze around the housekeeping cart and went up to Aileen’s door and gave it a quick knock. There was no answer and I tried again. When I saw one of the housekeepers come out of a room down the hall, I explained my plight. “I’m afraid she might still be asleep and I’ve got a van of people anxious for wine.”

  “I can let you in, I guess,” she said and unlocked the door. The room was empty and the bed still made. Then I saw the laptop open on the table and realized it was Tim’s room. I was careful to avoid bumping the laptop this time, remembering how it had come on.

  “Wrong room,” I said, rushing back in the hall and pointing at the one next door. I didn’t bother trying to knock and had the housekeeper open the door. The room was empty, but when I saw Aileen’s knitting at least I knew I was in the right place.

  I rushed out of the building and back to the van. I was relieved to see Aileen was just about to get in. “Good, you’re here,” I said. I stuck my head in to wish them a nice afternoon and told the driver they were good to go.

  I watched the van drive away and let out a breath of relief. They were all accounted for, and if Deani had the dog in the bag, at least it meant Fifi wasn’t on the Vista Del Mar grounds.

  I’d arranged the same meeting spot for the other group, and as the van pulled away, they began to show up. I was surprised when Audrey Moffat was with them. She smiled at me. “I hope it’s okay. I could use a little mindfulness. I’ll drive on my own. Just tell me where to go.”

  I assured her it was fine with me. I was sure that Crystal still had the tote bag we’d made up for Tim. One of us could show her the ropes and bring her up to where they were. I gave her directions and she went to the small parking area adjacent to the Lodge and beeped open a white Mercedes. The rest of the group went to a black SUV parked nearby. Elex climbed into the driver’s seat. Jackson rode shotgun and Josh got in the back, leaving the doors open for Julie.

  She was standing near me, looking at the ajar door. “Screw that,” she said. “I’ve had more than enough of all of them. Can I ride with you?”

  “Of course,” I said. She started to walk away with me, but then saw that the door was still open and Elex was backing up the vehicle. She walked up to the moving car and pushed the door shut.

  “Did you see that? He probably would have driven all the way there with the door open. Tim was the only one who paid attention to anything.”

  We waited until the SUV passed the stone posts that marked the entrance to Vista Del Mar, and then I took her across the street and pointed to my yellow Mini Cooper.

  “Cute ride,” she said, getting into the small car. As soon as I started the engine, she closed her eyes and leaned back in her seat and sighed with pleasure. “It’s a bitch being the token female. It’s like I’m Wendy and they’re the lost boys.” She chuckled half to herself. “But I think the lost boys listened to Wendy and she didn’t have to wear these depressing clothes.”

  “So I take it they don’t listen to you,” I said as I turned onto the street.

  “It’s beyond not listening to me. They ignore me. I tried to make some suggestions for the produce truck and Elex wouldn’t even let me talk.” She pulled her long wavy hair into a low ponytail.

  “Then the obvious question is why did they hire you?”

  “I found out that Tim said they needed to have a woman in the group. I gather he thought it looked bad to have all guys. Tim’s the one who interviewed me and told me I got the job.” She looked down at the baggy black outfit. “I went to him about this nonsense of wearing black turtlenecks and black pants. I thought he’d understand, since he didn’t go along with it himself, but he refused to do anything. He said I had to be part of the team.”

  I wanted to hear what else she’d have to say and was sorry it was such a short ride into the heart of town, but I milked every minute of it.

  “Since it seems like Tim was your benefactor, I guess it’ll be tough now that he’s gone.”

  “He might have started out as my benefactor, he wasn’t anymore.” She pressed her lips together as if to keep herself from talking and I thought that was going to be the end of it, but she let out a sigh and continued. “Not when he told me he was leaving and taking that moron Josh with him instead of me. I could have helped him with his new venture, whatever it was.” She sounded angry and hurt.

  I asked her how she felt about Audrey coming to the workshop. Julie shrugged. “She’s stuck here until they release Tim’s body so she figured why not join in on some of our activities.”

  “Then you know her from before?” I asked.

  “Not really. Tim didn’t talk about his personal life. The rest of them . . .” She rolled her eyes. “They don’t have a personal life to talk about.”

  It was a little awkward but I asked her if there was something between Elex and Audrey, remembering that they might have been holding hands the night before. She laughed in response. “If there is, it’s all on her. Elex has no game.”

  I turned off of the main thoroughfare onto a side street and pulled the car to the curb in front of Cadbury Yarn. Like the Blue Door, Cadbury Yarn was in a building that had once been a residence. It was bungalow-style and had a porch in the front with a rainbow-colored windsock that blew in the constant breeze. The Mercedes and SUV were both parked nearby, and once Julie and I got out of my car, the rest of the crew got out, too.

  We gathered at the base of the stair, and when I looked over the group they all seemed a little intimidated.

  “You’re not going in there to get a tooth pulled,” I said, trying to loosen them up. “It’s going to be mindful and relaxing.” Elex separated himself from the bunch and took the lead and waved for them to follow.

  Crystal was waiting by the door as we came in. She took the group back to what I surmised was the dining room when someone had lived there. For now the room was used for social knitting. There was a nice oval-shaped wood table and enough chairs for everybody. She directed them to find a spot and was relieved to see that they’d all brought their tote bags with them.

  She handed the leftover tote bag to Audrey. “Why don’t the rest of you have a look around while I give Audrey a quick lesson.” Crystal pointed out a table that had been set up with the easiest of kits.

  I followed along with them as they walked around the yarn shop letting them know I was available to help them. I liked working with this group because I knew how to knit well enough to actually be able to help them.

  It was a typical Saturday afternoon at the shop. Gwen was handling sales and a number of customers were browsing the extensive supply of yarn. I noticed a couple of women had pulled two of the easy chairs together and were knitting and talking.

  Crystal’s son Cory made an appearance, bringing a supply of bags from the back. He was tall and lanky, at the age where his body was still working out its proportions. The front door opened and the Delacorte sisters came in just as Cory gave the bags to his grandmother. Cora was in the lead and seemed agitated. She went right up to Gwen and it was obvious some kind of confrontation was about
to happen. I moved closer to hear what was happening.

  “I thought as long as you people are making a play for our family business, we should claim part of yours,” Cora said in a snippy tone. She was overdressed as usual in a Kelly green knit suit with a boxy jacket. She wore heels and a lot of green eye shadow.

  “What are you doing?” Madeleine said. “You told me you wanted some yarn to make a pair of fingerless gloves.”

  “I had to give you some excuse,” Cora said in a haughty voice. “It doesn’t matter what I said anyway.” She turned back to Gwen. “I bet you don’t like having someone come in and say they’re entitled to part of your business.”

  “Have you lost your mind? Shush, be quiet. Don’t say anything else,” Madeleine said, trying to control her sister. In her boyfriend jeans and white tunic, Madeleine appeared years younger and much cuter than her sister. Instead of the oversprayed helmet hairstyle Cora had, Madeleine wore hers in a swingy bob.

  “You be quiet,” Cora said. “All that denim has gone to your head. If they’re going to claim a piece of Vista Del Mar, I want part of their yarn shop.”

  Gwen seemed stunned. I was too. It sure seemed like Cora had lost her mind. She was the one who was always so concerned about proper behavior and what people thought and here she was coming unglued in a yarn shop.

  As soon as Gwen got her bearings, she saw how confused her grandson looked and sent him to the back, telling him to stay there. Gwen had kept him in the dark about his newfound family even though she was only acknowledging it because of his affection for Vista Del Mar.

  Madeleine seemed wistful as she watched the teen boy leave the scene. She had taken a liking to Cory before she knew he was actually related and now she understood that he reminded her of her brother. She tried to grab her sister’s arm. “We’re leaving,” she said, trying to sound forceful.

  Cora viewed her sister with disdain. “You might be the older sister, but I’m the one who Mother left in charge. I’m the one who has always taken care of everything. And I’m going to take care of this.” She glared at the yarn shop proprietor.