Ink, Red, Dead

by Joanna Campbell Slan

  “Glad to do it. The wedding was lovely, and we were so lucky she scheduled it the same weekend as the Craft and Hobby Extravaganza,” I said.

  “You’ll find her,” Dinah said in a reassuring voice as I looked around. “Carolina has to be around here somewhere. In the meantime, I need a coffee.” She pointed toward a café set up in corner of the hall. “We can watch for her from one of the tables. She’s bound to go by.”

  A few minutes later I set my red-eye on one of the small round tables and pulled up a chair. “Great that they have espresso drinks,” Dinah said, drinking through the foam on her cappuccino. I nodded and took a welcome sip of my coffee with a shot of espresso.

  “There’s Kendra,” Dinah said as our fellow Angeleno went by. I had met Kendra Ballantyne a while back when she came into the bookstore. We had continued the friendship online. It turned out we had a lot in common – we were both surrounded with animals and both seemed to be murder magnets. As soon as Kendra saw me waving, she came over to the table.

  “Have you seen that Pettijohn woman?” I said as Dinah pulled out a chair for Kendra. Her adorable dog Lexie settled under the table. I was pleased to see that Lexie was wearing the cute blue vest I'd made for her last spring. Kendra had told me she was decidedly “uncrafty,” but I saw no reason to let Lexie go without. When Kendra received the vest in the mail, she'd called me first thing to say thanks. I was pretty sure my efforts had sealed our friendship. It's always been my experience that handmade gifts are the best gifts of all.

  Kendra looked over the crowd and shrugged. “I saw her a while ago. I know she’s supposed to be signing books soon. Maybe Kiki Lowenstein knows. I think she was acting as her escort.”

  While I had read about Kiki Lowenstein in the article about amateur sleuths in Mystery! Magazine, I’d never met her or Gerry Porter, Betsy Devonshire, or April Buchert, who had been featured in the story as well. At least, I'd never met them in person. We’d all chatted online. That was another reason I was so excited about traveling with Dinah to St. Louis. This was the perfect opportunity to put real people with online names. And of course, the other women were just as eager to meet me. I’d been mentioned in the article on amateur sleuths, too. We were all a bit proud of our crime solving abilities, and with good reason.

  I recognized the woman in the aqua sweater from the photo that had accompanied the article. After introductions and some mutual admiration, I asked Kiki about the craft queen. Kendra and Dinah expressed their interest, too.

  Kiki seemed distraught. “I don’t know what happened to her. I was taking her around the fair floor and all of sudden she just wasn’t there. I thought she might have gone to the rest room, but she never came back.”

  A plain woman with thick glasses and a disgruntled expression marched past the table. Kiki grabbed the woman's arm to stop her and her tote bag overflowing with samples and brochures swung against the table with a loud thwack. Kiki introduced Rosie Jackson, Carolina’s creative assistant. When I asked Rosie if she knew where her boss was, she muttered something under her breath. I didn’t hear, but Dinah was sure she said something like “in hell where she belongs.” Kendra offered Rosie a chair, but the other woman begged off.

  Rosie started to walk away, then paused, turned and came back to us. “If you really want to find her, I suggest you look in the bar. It’s happy hour, after all.”

  “Oh, doggies,” said Kiki. “That doesn't sound good. Poor Jane Kuhn set up this whole convention. I happen to know Carolina agreed to a book signing later this evening. I hope she's sober enough not to make a mess of things.”

  I nodded. I had a lot of experience with book signings. Drunk authors are not good for business.

  Rosie had barely gone from sight when another woman ran up to our table and interrupted. “Aren’t you Kiki Lowenstein? I recognize your photo from the local paper. I’m Doris Handly. Do you know where Carolina is?”

  “Um, no Doris, I don’t.” Poor Kiki turned red. She didn't want to say we'd heard Carolina was in the bar, and I couldn't blame her. After all, Kiki was friends with the organizer. Still, there was no reason I couldn't plant the seed without making an accusation. “You might check in several places. There's a green room behind the back wall. There's also a bar up by the registration table.”

  Dinah complimented Doris on her knit shawl and asked to have a closer look. The woman brightened at the compliment and lifted her hair off the collar of her turtleneck and turned model fashion so Dinah could take in the whole thing.

  I was still worried about catching up with Carolina. In fact, I was getting more worried each time I looked at my watch.

  “Maybe Sondra Echols knows where Carolina is,” Kiki said gesturing toward a woman passing by. “Sondra? Sondra?”

  At first the woman seemed to ignore Kiki, but finally, she turned around and came over to the table. Kiki introduced Sondra and explained that she was a customer at her scrapbooking store. Sondra wasn’t any more help than the others. She appeared to have done a lot of shopping at the fair. Her tote bag bulged and Carolina’s book was sticking out of the top. “Consider yourself lucky for not running into her,” Sondra said, looking at me. “I spent my afternoon doing a collage rather than run into her again. That woman was a real you-know-what. By the way, do either of you know where the lost and found is?”

  Kiki explained that one of the volunteers at the registration table would probably know. “What did you lose?”

  “A pin,” said Sondra. “It was a gift from my knitting club, and I hate to think it’s gone. Speaking of which,” Sondra pulled one of Carolina’s books out of her tote bag and dropped it into the trash. “I don’t know why I’m lugging this around. It's just garbage.”

  “Gee,” said Kiki, reaching in and retrieving the book after Sondra left. “Do any of you want it? If not, I'm going to grab it and recycle it. I could take the book back to the store and turn it into a piece of altered art.”

  Kendra laughed. “Sounds like exactly what a lot of people would like to do with Carolina!”

  At that moment, Jane Kuhn raced up to our table. I’d talked to her earlier when Dinah and I registered. Jane had looked strained then, but nothing compared to now. No doubt being the organizer of this event had gotten to her. She apologized to Dinah, then pulled Kendra, Kiki and me aside. “Ladies, I have a problem and I need your help.”

  The urgent tone in her voice kept us from asking more questions on the spot. Instead, we followed her to the edge of the vendor area. A group of woman were standing near a door marked Staff Only. When Kendra, Kiki and I got closer, I recognized the rest of our group from the photo in the amateur sleuth article. How nice to finally meet Gerry Porter, Betsy Devonshire, Rocky Winchester and April Buchert!

  “This is great,” I said. “Dinah and I were hoping all of us could have dinner together. I’ll go get her.”

  “Please,” said Jane. “Please, you can't go anywhere. Not yet. You have to help me!”

  “With what?” asked Kiki. “Can't it wait until after dinner?”

  That's when Jane begged us to practice our considerable skills as amateur sleuths!

  Part VII:

  Conclusion to the Murder of Carolina Pettijohn,

  submitted by Kiki Lowenstein, Gerry Porter, Betsy Devonshire,

  Kendra Ballantyne, Rocky Winchester,

  April Buchert and Molly Pink.

  “So, that's it?” said Jane. “That's your big revelation?”

  “Not entirely,” said Molly. Jane was being very rude, but that was to be expected. The first ever Craft and Hobby Extravaganza was about to be the last ever Craft and Hobby Extravaganza. Craft diva Carolina Pettijohn's body was lying behind a curtain. The police would have to be called. They would close the event down. Jane would lose all her investment in the affair, and even if she was exonerated, she'd lose her chance at running the upcoming Embroiderer's Guild of America show as well.

  “I have more, but first, there's one thing we haven't done. We haven't re
ally examined the scene of the crime.”

  “Do you think we can do that without contaminating the evidence?” asked Kiki Lowenstein. “I mean, we're not getting anywhere. I think it's time to call my friend, Detective Detweiler. He'll listen to us, and at least we'll have one law enforcement official on our side.”

  Of course, what she meant was we'd have one law enforcement official who might not immediately throw Rocky or Jane in jail. But none of us said that. Instead, we stood up and walked over to Carolina's corpse.

  “Anyone have a better source of light?” asked Betsy.

  “You might as well go ahead and call your friend,” said Molly. “We should have all the information he’ll need in a few minutes.”

  “I don't know how you can be so sure about this,” said Jane as she scurried to grab a lamp from the other side of the green room and bring it over. She handed it to Kiki.

  “I have this,” said Gerry Porter, as she withdrew a magnifying glass from a pocket. “It might help.”

  Betsy took the magnifying glass and leaned carefully over the corpse. “Anyone have an ink pen?”

  Jane pulled one from the pocket of her apron. Betsy used the pen to carefully move Carolina's hair to one side. “Could you shine that light on her ear? I hope none of you get sick at the sight of blood.”

  Kiki maneuvered the lamp. “My gosh. I see it. Something silver sticking out!”

  Kendra bent over, took a look, and nodded. “That's right. Someone must have jammed a long knitting needle into Carolina's ear. That would have taken quite a bit of strength.”

  “Not too much,” said Betsy. “It's a pretty slender needle.”

  Rocky sighed and turned her hands palms up. “That let's me out. I'm strictly a rubber stamp type of girl.”

  “The knitting needle in the ear explains her black eyes. They are common with a skull injury,” said Kiki. “Unfortunately, I know that from personal experience.”

  Molly nodded. “Gerry, you have the evidence in your pocket, don't you?”

  “I think so.” Gerry showed us a small crumpled piece of gold. “This is Sondra Echols’ pin, isn't it? The one she lost?”

  “That's right,” said Kiki. “I’ve seen her wear it!”

  Betsy nodded. “Godwin and I saw on her, too. We even talked about tracking down the manufacturer and selling them at the store.”

  “Is that all you have?” asked Jane.

  “No,” said Molly. “Sondra told us she spent the afternoon doing the collage, remember?”

  Kendra and Kiki nodded. Kiki added, “But she didn't have any glue on her hands. Have Rocky and April, have either of you ever done collage and not gotten glue on you? Or ink? I haven't.”

  “Hey, wait a minute.” Kendra ran over to where Kiki had set her shoulder bag in the corner. “Do you mind?” she asked the scrapbooker.

  “Of course not,” said Kiki.

  Kendra took a baggy for picking up dog poop out of her pocket. Using it as a glove, she pulled out the copy of A Diva's Guide to Crafting that Kiki had retrieved from the trash. “Look,” said the attorney as she pointed to a crimson stain on the pages. “I bet that's Carolina's blood. Maybe Sondra used it to smack Carolina up the side of the head and knock her out first. That's why Sondra was so eager to dump this in the trash.”

  With that, Kiki excused herself and made another call, back to her store where her friend Clancy was working late. “Clancy, could you go to our customer files? Look up Sondra Echols, please. What's her address?”

  By the time Detective Chad Detweiler walked through the door, we had all the facts down for him and on paper. While the detective and Kiki acted like they were just friends, one glance told us all that the man was totally in love with the scrapbooker. As for Kiki, well, her face took on a special glow the minute the detective arrived. The seven of us stood in a tight clump and explained who killed Carolina and why. “You can't leave, you know,” said the hunky detective. “Not until my team is done here.”

  “We weren't leaving the convention center,” said Kiki. “We just wanted to get some dinner. My daughter just texted me that she and Maddie—that's Gerry's granddaughter—already ate. My mother-in-law is on her way to pick them up and take them to a movie, like Gerry and I planned. You will let us go to the bar, won't you, Detweiler? I am so hungry!”

  “As long as you don't leave the premises, that's fine by me. It'll take a while for the crime scene techs to finish here. One of the patrol cars is on its way to Mrs. Echols' house right now.” Then Detective Detweiler grinned at us. His green eyes flashed with humor. “You don't suppose I could impose on you ladies and ask you to get me a hot dog? Better yet, how about a bratwurst?”

  “We'll do that,” said Kendra, gathering Lexie's leash in one hand. “As long as your police department buys. As legal representative for this crew, I think that's the least you can manage.”

  “Sold,” said Detective Detweiler. “I'll get these guys started with the crime scene analysis and come join you.”

  We were eating our hotdogs when the long-legged detective pulled up a chair next to Kiki and joined our table. “Ladies, that was a fine piece of crime investigation. I put a call into my boss. Seeing as how most of you are from out-of-town, he suggested I thank you with a little St. Louis hospitality. You saved us hours of police work.”

  “What on earth might that be?” asked Betsy Devonshire, patting her hair into place. We'd picked up Godwin and Dinah along the way. All of us were enjoying our food.

  The tall detective said, “I figure you've been here all day. That means you haven't seen much of our city.”

  “No,” said Gerry. “And I haven't even had the chance to buy any souvenirs.”

  “Well, that's just not right,” said Detective Detweiler. “Especially when you put in such a good day's work. I can't take the time to show you the sights, but I can introduce you to a few specialities of the town.” With that, he motioned to a waitress,

  “Miss? Please bring four platters of toasted ravioli and a round of Budweiser for my friends!”

  “You know,” said Rocky with a grin on her face. “This amateur sleuth business suddenly got a lot more promising!”

  —The End—

  Note: Special thanks to Gus Castellanos for his help with the medical aspects of this story.

  ~ Meet Our Sleuths ~

  Kiki Lowenstein

  Kiki Lowenstein’s comfortable world turned upside when her husband was found dead in a hotel room. After taking a job at a scrapbook store in St. Louis, the young mom discovered talents she never knew she had, including an uncanny ability to get involved with murder. With the help of her woman friends and the hunky Detective Chad Detweiler, Kiki’s life is now picture-perfect…um, not! Make, Take, Murder is the newest book in the series.

  http://www.amazon.com/Make-Murder-Lowenstein-Scrap-N-Craft-Mystery/dp/0738720666/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319900349&sr=8-1

  Excerpt is available at the same link above.

  Author: Joanna Campbell Slan

  Sign up here to receive Joanna’s newsletter link. You’ll get special offers, access to bonus content, and news of the latest releases: http://www.JoannaSlan.com

  **

  Gerry Porter

  Now that Geraldine Porter is retired, she’s got more time to devote to her lifelong hobby: dollhouses and miniatures. You’d think the world of shoe-box-size scenes and mini Victorians would be trouble free, but when murders hit her small California town, Gerry and her ten-year-old granddaughter, Maddie, are on the case, sniffing out clues and dealing justice. Mix-Up in Miniature is Gerry’s next adventure, and it will be released April 7, 2012.

  http://www.amazon.com/Mix-Up-Miniature-Mystery-Margaret-Grace/dp/1564745104/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319900535&sr=1-1

  Author: Margaret Grace

  **

  Betsy Devonshire

  After an angry divorce, Betsy flees from San Diego to the little town of Excelsior, Minnesota, to live with her sister Margot. Thinking she has
found a refuge, she is shocked when her sister is found murdered in her needlework shop, Crewel World. Because she is broke and has nowhere else to go, Betsy decides to try to keep the shop open. She becomes convinced the murder was not a burglary gone wrong, and manages to prove it was a premeditated killing. This is the start of a new part-time career as an amateur sleuth. The current, fourteenth book in this series, is Threadbare, to be released December, 2011.

  http://www.amazon.com/Threadbare-Needlecraft-Mystery-Monica-Ferris/dp/0425243583/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319900641&sr=1-1

  Author: Monica Ferris

  **

  Kendra Ballantyne

  After being wrongly accused of an ethics violation, Kendra Ballantyne, formerly a high-powered Los Angeles attorney, began pet-sitting to feed herself and her dog Lexie, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel, until her innocence was proved. Kendra enjoyed pet-sitting so much that she has continued it while starting a new law career. Only problem is that she has also become a murder magnet. How many times can she and her friends be accused of committing murders? Lots, it seems. Kendra’s newest book is The More the Terrier.

  http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_11?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=the+more+the+terrier+by+linda+o.+johnston&sprefix=The+More+th

  Author: Linda O. Johnston

  **

  April Buchert

  April Buchert returned to her hometown of Aldenville, PA, broke and friendless. Through her best friend, Deana, she found the Stamping Sisters group. What she didn't count on was finding a skull. That skull has sent her on the path of more bodies and mysteries to solve. In the latest installment, False Impressions, another old murder comes home to roost.