Died in the Wool

by Mary Kruger

  Hands in pockets, he turned. “Interesting,” he said, indicating the sweater with his chin.

  “Isn’t it? Summer designed it.”

  “You’ve got two good employees working for you.”

  “Yes, they’re both talented. Summer’s a little older and a little steadier, though. She’s working her way through UMass Dartmouth. But come into the back room.” She lowered her voice. “I’ve got something to tell you.”

  Six pairs of eyes followed their progress across the shop. “Is there any special reason you’re here?” she asked as they came into the back room.

  Josh sat at the battered table and nodded when Ari held up a can of Coke from the small refrigerator. “Just came by to see how you are. Busy, I see.”

  “Oh, I’ve caused another sensation. It’ll die down.” She winced. “Bad choice of words.”

  “Yeah.” He leaned forward. “Is everything okay?”

  “Yes. Oh, but I have something to tell you. Herb Perry just called.”

  His attention sharpened. “What did he want?”

  “Josh, he told me Edith had a key.”

  “What? To the shop?”

  “Yes, because she was going to buy the building.”

  He frowned. “That doesn’t seem right.”

  “No, it doesn’t, does it? I’ll have to ask my landlord about that.”

  “We didn’t look at her keys.”

  “Remember, I gave you my original key, so you can just compare it to what Edith had.”

  “Fine.” He sounded grim. “This changes things.”

  “I think so, too. All the keys I had floating around—that doesn’t matter now, does it?”

  “Don’t know that yet, but it’s something to look into.”

  “It rattled me,” she said frankly, popping some aspirin in her mouth and washing them down with Diet Coke. “Good heavens, I’ve been through all this because of Edith!” Her brow wrinkled. “Could Herb have done it?”

  “Killed Edith? We looked into it.”

  “And arrested Joe instead.”

  “He seemed the most likely.”

  “But Herb had access to a key.” She leaned forward. “He had a motive, since he inherits her property. Except for the Robeson farm, of course. He had opportunity, and maybe the means. And you know he could have attacked me.”

  “I know.” He looked troubled. “We ruled him out because we had no reason to think he had access to a key. Now, I don’t know.”

  “He seems just as strong a suspect to me as Joe.”

  “Except why here, Ari? Answer me that.”

  “Maybe to look the building over before they bought it. I wouldn’t have put that past Edith. Eric could have gotten the key, too!”

  “That’s reaching. How would he know his mother had it?”

  “Ask him. You might be surprised.”

  “Maybe.” He sounded skeptical. “But Herb, now…”

  “Is it enough to reopen the investigation?”

  “Maybe. I don’t know. The D.A. seems pretty certain Joe’s our man.”

  “But would he stick to that if we told him about this new evidence?”

  “We?”

  “All right, you. Would he?”

  He paused. “Maybe. I think he might have doubts, since you were attacked.”

  She leaned forward again. “Josh, do you think Herb has a copy of the new key to the shop?”

  “I’ll check with your landlord, but I doubt it, after what happened.”

  “Then who attacked me? Herb says he found me, but…”

  “I know. He could have been your attacker. We searched his house for the weapon you described—”

  “When was this?” she asked in surprise.

  “You were still in the hospital. We didn’t have to get a search warrant, he just let us in.”

  “And?”

  “Nothing.”

  “He said it looked like a baseball bat.”

  “I don’t think so, not after what you said. And…”

  “What?” she said, when he didn’t go on.

  “Look, don’t tell anyone this.”

  “What?”

  “Edith was hit with something similar.”

  “What!” she exclaimed. “Do you mean the murderer—”

  “Keep it down.” He glanced toward the door leading into the shop, though no one could have heard them, and then back to her, looking harassed. “We’ve got to keep this quiet.”

  “I know, but…” She frowned. “Edith would have noticed if Herb had brought something like that with him.”

  “We didn’t find anything that resembled a cane or a bat. Are you sure that’s what it was? Remember, it was dark, and you suffered a trauma. You might not remember correctly.”

  “It was a cane.” She frowned. “Or something like it.”

  “Somehow I can’t picture one of Freeport’s senior citizens going after you.”

  The thought was so ludicrous that she smiled. “Like Ruth Taylor? She used a cane once when she hurt her knee,” she said, and paused, startled.

  “What?”

  “Josh, she might have had a motive.”

  “What?” he asked, looking skeptical.

  “Her grandson. Do you know how proud she is of her grandchildren?”

  He grimaced. “The first time I met her, she showed me pictures. So?”

  “Her grandchildren are always over at her house. I heard Edith complain about it more than once.”

  “Why?”

  “Because they play baseball and street hockey. It’s a dead-end street and it’s safe….”

  “What?” he prompted, when she didn’t go on.

  “I don’t know,” she said, frustrated. “Something was trying to get through then, a memory or something.”

  “Don’t force it. It will come.”

  “I hope so. Anyway, I don’t think Ruth’s grandchildren really bother anyone very much, but there have been some problems.”

  “Broken windows?”

  “One or two.”

  “Edith was her neighbor,” he said thoughtfully.

  “Yes. I think she called the police once or twice.”

  “I don’t know, Ari. It doesn’t seem like a strong enough motive.”

  “Well, no,” Ari admitted. “Ruth has a temper, though.”

  “This was a cold-blooded crime, Ari. There was too much planning involved. Besides, she’s old.”

  “She goes to the YMCA every day to swim.”

  “That’s right. She told me that.” He sat back. “I’ve never seen a town where all the senior citizens are in such good shape. Now that our list of suspects has grown, you have to be more careful.”

  “I don’t understand it, Josh. With someone in jail, shouldn’t the murderer think she’s safe?”

  “She thinks you know something, Ari,” he said, regarding her gravely.

  “But I don’t!”

  “I’m not the one you have to convince.”

  “Then you think she might try again? Or he,” she added hastily. Herb might be a suspect in the attack, but somehow she still thought of the murderer as a woman.

  “It’s possible.”

  Ari shuddered. It was hard to imagine someone wanting to do something like that. “I don’t know who I can trust anymore.”

  “Look, don’t worry. You’ve got protection.”

  “For now.”

  “For as long as I can manage it.”

  She smiled. “Thank you.”

  “But I can’t come by anymore.”

  “Why not?”

  “I’m not supposed to be telling you any of this.”

  “I have the right to know what I’m facing. Anyway, Joe’s in the clear. That’s one thing.”

  “Diane isn’t.”

  “She wouldn’t do it! We’ve been friends for too long.”

  “You never know. Anyway, the official theory is that it was an ordinary break-in.”

  “You know it wasn’t.” It was better
than the theory that Diane had attacked her, though. No matter how matters were between them, she knew Diane wouldn’t hurt her. “Darn it. What are we supposed to do?”

  “You’re not supposed to do anything.”

  “You’re here talking to me, with the door closed, so you can’t really believe that.”

  “Nevertheless, you can’t go snooping after this.”

  “But if I find something out—”

  “You’re not going to keep at it, are you, after what’s happened?” he demanded.

  “Of course I am. Someone attacked me, and we both know it wasn’t random.”

  “Damn it, Ari, you can’t.”

  “I have to. It’s my life now, Josh. I have to do something.”

  “This isn’t a high-school prank.”

  “I know that,” she said impatiently. “I’ll be careful.”

  “It might not be enough. Damn.” He frowned at her. “You’re asking for trouble.”

  “What can I do, Josh? If I sit back, she’ll come after me again. You know that, and you know the patrols won’t be coming by forever. If I don’t help find my attacker now, I’ll be even more vulnerable when you and the police move on to different cases.”

  “Yeah.” He gazed thoughtfully at her. “But maybe there’s something we could do to keep you safe.”

  “What?”

  “We could start dating.”

  fourteen

  ARI BURST OUT LAUGHING. “I don’t think I’ve ever had such a gracious invitation before.”

  “You know what I mean,” Josh said. “It wouldn’t be real.”

  For some reason that nettled her. “I didn’t think you cared.”

  “Sure I do.”

  “Not that way,” she said, and remembered uneasily what Ted had said about Josh in the hospital.

  “I’m not talking about that way.” He leaned back. “I’m talking about getting together once in a while. Dinner, a movie, like that.”

  “Not late,” she said swiftly, a little annoyed and a little pleased. He was kind of cute. “Not with Megan.”

  “Couldn’t she stay with your mother?”

  This sounded like a lot more than just discussing the facts of a case, she thought. “She’s clingy right now. Having me in the hospital scared her.”

  “Okay, I can see that. Well, I can’t keep you from asking questions. But when do you expect to tell me anything you find out?”

  “By phone,” she said reluctantly.

  “With people in the department listening in? No. Besides, you worry me.”

  “It worries me. But I’m not going to do something stupid. I’m not a heroine in a gothic novel who goes outside investigating strange noises in only her nightgown.”

  “No?” he said, and there was a strange spark in his eyes. Humor, Ari thought, and something else.

  “No. I’m not that stupid.”

  He grinned at her. “Good. The thing is, though, people talk to you. Even if you didn’t ask questions, you’d hear things.”

  “I might not if they think I’m passing them along.”

  “So let’s go to dinner and a movie.”

  Ari looked at him suspiciously, but he seemed sincere. If he had an ulterior motive, there was no sign of it. “Are you really serious about this?”

  “Yup.”

  “You know what people will think.”

  “They’ll think what we want them to. If the murderer thinks we’re seeing each other, maybe she’ll relax.”

  “And your chief, too.”

  His face reddened a bit. “Yeah, that, too. God knows I’d be busted down to checking parking meters if he finds out I’ve involved you.”

  Ari stifled a smile at the image of Josh as a meter maid. “You didn’t involve me. I involved myself.”

  “Doesn’t matter. It works out the same.”

  “I suppose.” She pursed her lips. “So if we’re not really dating, what will we be?”

  “Friends,” he said promptly. “C’mon, Ari. You know what people have thought of us from the beginning. Laura’s even tried to matchmake.”

  “I didn’t think you knew about that,” she said, surprised and mortified.

  “She’s pretty obvious.”

  “True.” Ari looked away. She was tempted. Hadn’t she wondered what it would be like to date again? “I don’t know.”

  “Yeah, you do.” He grinned at her. “You ever have any fun, Ari?”

  “Of course I do.”

  “Like in high school?”

  That silenced her. It seemed like so long ago since she’d been free to be herself. True, she had a business to run now, and a child to raise. And yet…She smiled, slowly. “Okay, then,” she said, suddenly recklessly decisive. “Let’s do it.”

  The shop was quieter when Ari walked out of her office. Josh had left a few minutes earlier. Now Ariadne braced herself for Laura’s questions about Josh’s visit. To her surprise, though, Laura simply came over from where she was straightening out some of the bins of yarn, then smiled.

  “No one’s here?” Ari asked.

  “Not just now,” she said, and went on with what she was doing.

  Ari busied herself at the sales counter, checking the register and a few messages from customers. At last, Laura came over and joined her. “Well?” she said, expectantly.

  “Well, what?”

  “What did Detective Pierce want?”

  Ari sighed. “What took you so long?”

  “Why, what do you mean?”

  “To ask me about him.”

  “I thought I’d be discreet, dear.”

  “Huh.”

  Laura’s eyes were very wide. “I know you don’t want me poking into your business.”

  “That’s never stopped you before.”

  “It’s only because I care.”

  Ari looked at Laura’s expectant face, and gave in. “He asked me to go out tomorrow night,” she said, knowing that that would get on the grapevine soon enough.

  Laura plunked down on the rocking chair. “Well! I never thought he’d do it.”

  “Not because you didn’t try.”

  “Well, yes, dear, I do think he’s a nice man.”

  “He is.” She hesitated. “As long as he was involved in investigating Edith’s death, though, he couldn’t very well ask me out.” It was only a little fib, she told herself.

  “I never thought of that. So where are you going?”

  “Dinner and a movie.”

  Laura made a face. “How boring. Are you at least going to Providence?”

  “No, to the Lucky Dragon and the Oxford.”

  “But they show second-run movies.”

  “No, this weekend it’s a foreign film we both want to see. Don’t look like that, Laura. He’s on call tomorrow night, so he can’t go out of town.”

  “I suppose it’s better than nothing.”

  “Sorry to disappoint you.” Ari rose. “Since it’s so quiet, I think I’ll go to the market. Do you mind?”

  “Why, no, of course not.”

  “You can call me if it gets busy,” Ari said. She distrusted the gleam that had come into Laura’s eyes.

  Laura glanced speculatively at the bins of yarn. “I don’t imagine we’ll have a rush of people.”

  “Probably not.” And if not, Laura was likely to go around the shop rearranging things. Ordinarily that would drive Ari wild, but today she didn’t really mind. Laura had done a great deal for her in these past weeks.

  “Thank you, dear. Now, get out and enjoy the day.”

  Enjoy the day. Right, Ari thought a little later, as she went into Shaw’s market. It was as busy as she’d expected, since the store started its weekly sales on Fridays. Grabbing a cart, she headed for the far corner of the store. The store was so large, and laid out so oddly, that she preferred to start at the back. Milk, she thought, reaching for a bottle. Kids’ yogurt for Megan. Peanut butter and bread, of course. Then back she went, picking up what she needed, absently navigat
ing the half aisles and full-length ones and the odd angles that made the store like a maze. It would be good to have this task out of the way.

  At last she reached the produce section at the front of the store. Apples, potatoes, broccoli, and onions. Salad makings, too. She was examining a head of lettuce when a voice spoke next to her. “Why, Ariadne Jorgensen.”

  Ari turned to see a tall, spare lady with graying hair. “Mrs. Mailloux!” she exclaimed, genuinely glad to see her former history teacher. Sarah Mailloux was one of the few teachers graced by the pranks she and Diane had played in high school, such as toilet paper strewn from her bushes and car. She’d retired to Williamsburg, Virginia, a few years ago, having fallen in love with the town when she’d read a series of historical novels based there. “I heard you were here on vacation.”

  “Yes, I’ve been here nearly a month.”

  “My mother’s been wondering why she hasn’t heard from you.”

  “Oh, I’ve been so busy with my grandkids.” She gestured toward three children, two boys, one girl. One of the boys sat in the miniature car attached to the front of her cart, but the other boy, who was about Megan’s age, was inspecting every peach, and the girl was tossing an apple into the air and catching it. “No, Mia, don’t do that,” Sarah called, though the little girl ignored her completely. “I can’t control them,” Sarah confided as she turned back to Ari. “I hate to say it, but they’re spoiled.”

  “By you, or Leslie?”

  “Oh, my daughter, of course.” Sarah’s smile was rueful. “Not Mémère. I’m afraid I can’t talk long.”

  “I understand. Megan gets impatient if I start talking to people, too,” Ari said. “But I’ll bet you’re enjoying every minute.”

  “Oh, yes. We’ve gone all over the place, and I’ve had a marvelous time catching up with friends. I’ve even managed to get some golf in.”

  Another golf nut, Ari thought. Josh was right. Freeport did have more than its share of active, fit senior citizens. “Is Mr. Mailloux here, too?”

  “No, he’s back in Williamsburg, doing some work on the house. He’ll be up next week.” She sighed. “The time has flown.”