A Crafter Knits a Clue

by Holly Quinn

  Sammy hurried down the hallway when she heard the song of an old-fashioned doorbell. “I’ll get it!” she hollered in the expansive hallway so that Ellie and Heidi would be sure to hear.

  After skipping quickly down the stairs, she threw open the wooden front door.

  Detective Liam Nash and Officer Tim Maxwell were standing on the front stoop. Tim was waving his hand to rid himself of mosquitos. “Darn humidity after the storms the other day brought the bugs out already. Seems early in the season to me,” he said, obviously annoyed. “Hurry up and let us in.”

  Sammy opened the screen door and the two entered.

  “Didn’t I specifically tell you to call me if you were coming over here?” Detective Nash eyed Sammy while he crossed his arms over his chest.

  “We didn’t ask you guys over here for a scolding. If that’s what you’re after, you both can just go and I’ll call another officer of the law.”

  “Where’re the other two troublemakers?” Tim asked.

  Sammy pointed toward the stairs.

  “I wish you two would kiss and get it over with,” Tim said as he shoved his way past them, made his way to the staircase, and started climbing.

  Sammy’s face instantly flushed, and the detective stood in stunned silence. The two stood close, eyes locked. When her feet no longer felt like she was standing in concrete, Sammy pushed past the detective and shadowed Tim up the staircase. She could hear Nash following close behind her.

  After they had all piled into Ingrid’s master bedroom, Detective Nash moved to the closet to assess the situation. “You’re absolutely sure this was all closed up when you left?” He turned from the closet and rested his eyes on Sammy.

  “Positive.”

  “Officer Maxwell, call in the Crime Scene Unit. We’re going to have to dust for prints and take some photos. Please tell me you three didn’t touch anything.”

  “Only the first time we were here. We didn’t touch anything in here today.” Sammy confirmed.

  Tim leaned into the radio on his shoulder and called it in. In the small town of Heartsford, the Crime Scene Unit consisted of two additional deputies from the station. They weren’t a large enough operation for a separate unit and van.

  The detective ushered all of them out of the room with his hands. “Don’t touch anything else. This is now an official crime scene. You ladies have no choice except to go home at this point.”

  Sammy threw up her hands in defeat, and none of them moved.

  “I’ll give you a ride home. I realize your car is still at the service station. Tim, would you mind waiting here for the Crime Scene Unit?” he asked Officer Maxwell.

  Tim placed his hand on his holster and leaned on one hip. “No problem.”

  “That’s okay, Detective. My sister or my cousin can give me a ride.”

  Ellie signaled Heidi with her eyes before regarding her sister. “Why don’t you let the nice detective take you home. I’ve had a long day away from the family,” she faked a yawn. “I’m sure Randy and Ty are anxious for me to get home right away. Heidi, didn’t you say you have an errand to run before going home?”

  “Yeah, can you have Nash take you home?” Heidi gave Ellie gave a thumbs-up behind her back.

  “Fine.”

  “It’s always an adventure with you! Get some sleep tonight, okay?” Ellie kissed her sister on the cheek. “Good night all,” she said before heading down the hallway.

  Heidi reached for Tim’s hand, pulled him close, and kissed him quickly on the lips. “I’m going to say good night as well. I have an early shift tomorrow morning. Maybe we can meet in the morning for a coffee?”

  “You bet, babe.” Tim released Heidi, who waved to everyone before heading out the door.

  “I’m going downstairs to wait for the unit.” Tim left, leaving Sammy and the detective alone in the master bedroom.

  For a few moments, the room was silent. The detective broke the quiet by asking, “What brought you out here so late at night? It must have been something good. I guess you weren’t out here to pack Ingrid’s things.”

  “Very perceptive of you.”

  “Well? Are you going to tell me?”

  “I found out today that Ingrid may have been in possession of some very rare antique knitting needles. I guess I wanted to know if it was true.”

  “Knitting needles?”

  “Yeah. Pure ivory. Extremely rare and priceless.”

  “So, you are looking for another motive?” his eyes narrowed, and he moved uncomfortably close.

  “I guess I am.” Sammy held her ground. Even though he was unnervingly close to her, she refused to adjust her stance.

  He stared her down for a moment and then turned toward the door and gestured. “Whenever you are ready, I can give you a ride home.”

  Sammy moved toward the door and stepped out into the hallway. She turned to the detective for a moment before walking farther. “Do you have another suspect you’re closing in on to make an arrest?”

  The detective just laughed and directed her forward.

  Sammy play-punched Tim on the arm on the way out the front door of Ingrid’s house.

  “Hey, Sam, good night!” Tim’s words followed her: “Thanks for keeping my job interesting.”

  “No problem.” Sammy waved a backward hand as she walked out into the indigo night.

  The detective moved to the passenger door of his silver Honda Civic and opened it for Sammy. She slipped into the seat, and he closed the door behind her. I bet he can’t wait until I’m out of his hair, she thought.

  When Detective Liam Nash started the engine, he turned to her and gave an innocent reminder. “Click it or ticket.”

  Sammy pulled the seatbelt across her chest and clicked it tight.

  They retreated out the driveway and headed left on Old Lannon Road. Once they were comfortable riding down the street, Liam turned to her and said, “If you have anything else to tell me about this investigation, now would be a perfect time.”

  “I’m not keeping secrets, Detective,” she assured him. “Right now, I can’t think of anything that would be beneficial to your investigation. If I think of something, you’ll be the first one I call. How about that?”

  “I doubt that. I’m sure you’d call your sister and cousin first.” He huffed.

  “Is that jealousy I’m hearing?”

  “No. It’s frustration.” He kept his eyes on the road and didn’t look in her direction.

  “Do you have anything about the investigation that you could share? Maybe I can help you?”

  The detective chuckled. “There might be. Want to hear something interesting? I think Ingrid was under the impression that someone was going to try and steal the money from her.” His eyes left the windshield for a second and looked in Sammy’s direction.

  “What makes you say that?”

  “That safe you found?”

  “Yeah?”

  “There was a handwritten note inside.”

  “A note? What did it say?” Sammy leaned in closer. As close as the seatbelt would allow.

  “‘For the one who tries to steal, all eyes are upon you.’ Can you believe that? She was instituting guilt right from the get-go.”

  “For the one who tries to steal, all eyes are upon you,” Sammy repeated. “For the one who tries to steal, all eyes are upon you.” Her mind instantly recalled something her sister said when she had left the doll room. “Liam. Stop the car! Stop the car!”

  The detective eased to the side of the road. “Are you okay? What’s wrong with you?” His head turned in her direction, and his hand instinctively reached for her.

  “Turn the car around! Turn the car around! We have to go back to Ingrid’s! Right now!”

  “What are you talking about?” He rested his hand on her arm to try and calm her.

  “Just trust me. Would you please turn around?” Sammy’s eyes bore into his.

  The detective huffed a breath. “Like I have another choice.” He turned
the car back in the direction from which they had come. “Do you want to explain?”

  “No. I’ll show you.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  When they were back in Ingrid’s driveway Sammy dashed out of the detective’s car as soon as his foot hit the brake. The detective threw the car in park, slammed the driver’s side door, and chased after her. Tim was standing at the front door and opened it for them. The Crime Scene Unit had arrived just minutes before.

  “What are you two doing back here?” Tim asked as Sammy dashed past him and ran for the stairs.

  “I have no idea.” The detective answered over his shoulder as he tried to keep pace with her.

  Sammy took the stairs two at a time until she reached the top landing where she tripped forward and fell on one knee. She picked herself back up and kept running until she reached the doll room. After a flick of the light switch next to the door, she moved quickly to the tallest dolls on the shelves and began flipping them over and looking underneath their clothing.

  The detective stopped in the doorway and caught his breath. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m looking for the antique knitting needles! Come help me!”

  The detective took a doll in one hand and flipped it over, revealing the underside of a dress. “This is wrong on so many levels.”

  “Just keep looking!”

  “You realize that even if we find something, we’ve contaminated the crime scene.”

  Sammy stopped dead in her tracks for a moment. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

  “I know,” he said in a belittling tone. “That’s the problem with you, Samantha Kane. Although I appreciate your enthusiasm for investigating the crime, you don’t know the law and what’s required to get the job done and bring the perpetrator to justice.”

  Sammy frowned and placed the doll that was in her hand back on the shelf. She backed a foot away and stood like a child placed in time out.

  “Well, you might as well keep looking now,” he encouraged. “We’re already into it. What makes you so sure we’ll find the knitting needles here anyway?”

  “All eyes upon you. Isn’t it creepy coming in this room? All the doll eyes staring in the direction of the door? Ellie couldn’t stand it!”

  “I guess. I don’t know.” He threw up his hands. “I’ve seen a great deal of horror in my line of work. I guess, to me, doll eyes are rather harmless.”

  “Touché. It’s all in the perspective.” Sammy reached forward and pulled the next doll off the shelf. She flipped it over and gasped. Without removing or touching anything underneath, she placed the upside-down doll under the investigator’s nose. “Boo-yah! I think we just found what someone was searching for.”

  Detective Liam Nash plucked a glove from his jacket pocket and placed it on his right hand. He pulled out two antique ivory knitting needles, and his eyes met Sammy’s. “You know what? You are pretty good at this, I must admit. Samantha Kane, you are full of surprises.”

  Sammy smiled and then frowned.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Well, if we found them, I guess it may not be the only motive for murder. The cash in the lockbox must be another motive.”

  “Not necessarily. Someone has been in the house recently. They obviously weren’t as smart as you to find what they were looking for.”

  “True.” Sammy shrugged. “But I wouldn’t have found them had you not shared what Ingrid wrote in the note which was left enclosed in the safe? Funny how that note was meant for a warning, yet it tripped my memory as to what my sister said about the doll room.”

  “I guess that makes us a good team. Don’t you agree, Ms. Kane?” his lips turned upward in a half smile.

  Sammy returned the smile. “I guess I’d have to agree with that.”

  “I’m going to give these needles to CSU to pack in an evidence bag. I’m not comfortable leaving them here. Especially since someone has obviously been inside the house and they may come back. I’ll have to figure out how the perpetrator got in Ingrid’s house without a key. A quick search before I take you home. I’ll meet you downstairs?”

  “Sure. Hey? Do you think the killer took Ingrid’s keys from The Yarn Barn after he killed her?”

  “He?”

  “Yeah, of course. A woman wouldn’t have been capable of that kind of murder.”

  The detective just smiled and shook his head as he left Sammy in the doll room. She bowed at the waist in front of the dolls, saying, “Well, thank you, ladies!” and then quickly shuffled out of the room, hopefully never to return except to pack the creepy dolls up and ship them out.

  The first few minutes of the car ride home were quiet. Both Sammy and the detective were deep in thought. Finally, Detective Nash broke the silence. “I do appreciate your insight into the investigation. I know your heart’s in the right place.”

  Was he asking her to surrender or urging her to continue to help? Sammy waited for the other shoe to drop.

  “I just wish you weren’t so impulsive.”

  And there it was.

  Sammy didn’t respond. She was emotionally and physically exhausted. Ever since coming across the body of Ingrid Wilson at The Yarn Barn, she had thrown herself into investigative mode. She guessed it was her way of coping, so she wouldn’t have to relive the horror of it all.

  “I’ll try and mind my own business,” Sammy said finally.

  “I’m just trying to protect you. You don’t make it easy. Do you understand that?” He reached for her hand, but she tucked it underneath her thigh, so he wouldn’t have the opportunity. It felt like he was just appeasing her. Didn’t he know she could help him? Sammy didn’t know what else to say. She’d survived all these years without a man protecting her. Why should she stop now?

  “I can stop by in the morning if you need a ride to pick up your car from the service station,” he offered.

  She felt like now he was trying to make nice and she was too tired to argue. “Sure, I would appreciate that. I left a note on the door at Community Craft that I would be opening late due to unforeseen circumstances. Whenever you can come and pick me up in the morning would be great. That’s very kind of you.”

  The detective pulled into her driveway and put the car in park. “I can walk you to the door.”

  “Not necessary. Thanks for the ride.” She slid out of the passenger seat and hauled her weary body to the front steps of her home. She turned and waved before slipping the key into the lock and moving inside.

  Bara at once came and greeted her at the door. It was late, and she felt bad that she hadn’t taken her pup for a walk. Sammy clicked the leash before he barged past her. He was so desperate to get outside, he nearly pulled her arm out of the socket as he tried to push his way out the front door. Immediately, Bara headed to his favorite oak to finally get relief. Out of the corner of her eye, Sammy saw a car’s headlights approach from the rear. The car slowed, and she turned her head and gasped. It was the dark blue car. Her stomach tightened, and her heart hammered in her chest. The window opened, and the driver leaned over to the passenger side. It was the man. The stranger she had seen before. Her mind flashed to him standing watching the coach’s accident and to the time she had secretly followed him when she was on her way to the flower shop. Her eyes darted to the car, so she could get the make and model number. It was a dark blue Chevy Malibu. The car had pulled next to her, so she couldn’t get the plate. The driver motioned for her to come closer, and although her intuition told her to make a run for it and see if she could make it safely to the front door, her curiousity, unfortunately, won the battle. She moved a half-step closer.

  “Can you tell me how to get to Brady Street?”

  Sammy’s heart beat fast. “What? No GPS? No cell phone?”

  The man shook his head no.

  She squinted in an effort to see his face more clearly and pick out any unique features. It was so freakin’ dark outside, making it difficult at best.

  “Your best bet would be to t
urn and head back to Main,” Sammy suggested. “Stop at the gas station on the corner of Sumner. They should be able to tell you.” She backed away from the car and gripped Bara’s leash tight, causing her knuckles to turn white.

  “Pretty young ladies shouldn’t be out with their dogs this late at night,” he warned, before pulling slowly away from the curb.

  Sammy felt a shiver tickle down her back. She wanted to run to the safety of the Cape Cod, but first, her eyes darted to the license plate. Her heart thumped in her chest making it hard to breathe. The back of the car was shadowy, but she made out the first half. Illinois plate GR7. She jerked Bara’s leash. Her eyes followed the car as it drove farther away and the taillights dimmed. She hurried to the front door. After they had made it inside, she closed the door and dead-bolted it. She leaned against the front door and breathed heavily, hand against her throat, while Bara retreated to his dog bed beside the fireplace. Without turning on any indoor lights, Sammy sneaked to the front window and pushed the curtain aside to get a clear view. She scrutinized the road for a long time to be sure the dark blue Chevy Malibu wasn’t going to return. It was obvious to her he wasn’t really looking for directions. He had come as a warning. Despite removing the GPS tracker, the stranger knew where she lived, and he was still following her.