Knot Guilty

by Betty Hechtman

  “I have a question for you,” I said. I saw his eyes roll back and forth.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “Do you know how many champagne glasses the waiter left?” Barry took out his notebook and started flipping through it.

  “I seemed to have missed that,” he said, his mouth twisting in annoyance. “But I’m guessing you know.”

  “There were two,” I said. “And how many were at the crime scene?” He didn’t bother with the notebook but just looked me in the eye.

  “Obviously you know there was just one.” He blew out his breath. “Could we not play twenty questions? Just tell me what you know.”

  “If I do, you have to promise not to snap on the cuffs and arrest me for investigating,” I said.

  “It’s all about making deals with you now. First I had to promise not to arrest Adele and now not to arrest you.” He seemed to be mulling over my offer, but I was pretty sure it was all for show. “Okay, I won’t arrest you, so go ahead and tell me everything,” he said finally.

  I told him about Ruby Cline and the champagne glass, but it fell apart when he said it was probably wiped clean of prints by now and useless as evidence if she even still had it. I brought up how both Audrey Stewart and Thea Scott both had motives connected with the silver needles.

  “Nice try,” he said. “They all had motives, but where’s the evidence? We need something like a crochet hook at the murder scene.”

  I headed back to my seat just as Delvin returned to the microphone and began making announcements about the next day’s schedule. As I got closer, something seemed off. Then I realized there was an empty seat beside mine. Where was Adele? I looked around the whole room and didn’t see her. If the black curtain hadn’t fluttered I would have missed her altogether. She and her suitcase were practically lost in the dark folds. She was moving toward the front of the huge room. And then I saw her destination. The red exit sign was almost hidden by the impromptu stage. Barry was right. She was going to take off.

  I was much closer and quickly followed her. I was sure Barry had seen her empty chair, too. I didn’t look back but figured he was probably somewhere behind me planning to nab her and then gloat. I’d almost caught up with her and reached out to grab on to her, but all I got was a handful of her tunic. I tugged hard and she fell backward into her suitcase, which in turn fell into me, and we went over like three dominos just as Barry got there.

  “So where were you going, Brazil, Switzerland, someplace else far away?” I said, trying to crawl away from the suitcase.

  Adele rolled over and sat up. “What are you talking about?” I pointed to the suitcase. For the first time Barry’s presence registered to her. “What’s he doing here?”

  Barry crouched down to untangle us. “Is there something you want to tell me, Adele?” Barry said in his understanding cop voice.

  Adele looked at me. “All I did was stand up for crochet. They only offered a few classes and they let us give free crochet lessons, but that was going to be it, unless I did something.”

  I began to get an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach. Was Adele about to confess? Just at that moment Mason joined our little group. He’d heard the tail end of what Adele was saying. “You might not want to say anything more,” he said, ever acting as a lawyer.

  And Adele being Adele didn’t take his advice.

  “I did what I had to do. I told them I would single-handedly do a crochet fashion show.” She unzipped the suitcase, and inside it was packed with items she’d made. Now the black clothes made sense. They were just a backdrop.

  Mason chuckled and shook his head with amused disbelief as he helped me up. He took over damage control and spoke to the roomful of people who were all staring in our direction. “Just a little accident over here. But it looks like everyone is fine.”

  Barry tried to help Adele up, but she insisted on doing it herself. I thought he might leave after that, but he went back to his position by the door. He still didn’t believe her.

  Delvin seemed a little discombobulated when after a slight delay with some explaining, Adele handed him a CD and told him to play it. “Okay, then, we have another fashion show,” he said. “From the Tarzana Hookers.”

  Once I understood what was really going on, I’d told the rest of our table and everyone had volunteered to model one of the pieces Adele had brought. Even Eduardo picked out a granny square scarf, which made an interesting look with his leather tuxedo.

  When the evening finally broke up, quite a few people came by our table and made assorted comments including how they never realized how nice crochet was, how we seemed like a really lively bunch and how we had added a little excitement to the evening.

  Adele took all the items and put them back in the suitcase. I couldn’t quite tell, but it did seem like there were some other clothes items underneath. I didn’t get much of a chance to see what they were, because Adele zipped up the suitcase and, in an annoyed huff, left. When I looked at the door, Barry was gone, too.

  “You don’t really think she was planning to take off and she made up that whole thing about the fashion show?” Dinah said as we all walked outside.

  “No, it couldn’t be,” I said. “At least I don’t think so.”

  * * *

  I was on my way to the greenmobile when Mason caught up with me. He had lost his work look, taken off his tie and put on a warm smile.

  “Audrey went home,” he said with a discreet sigh of relief. “I still can’t talk, but I thought maybe we could spend some time together.” His dark eyes were warm. “After all the almosts we’ve had, I guess I’d like to make sure it was real this time.” He stayed by my car as I opened the door. Around us the parking lot was emptying, and I saw his black Mercedes sedan was parked nearby.

  “I’m pretty exhausted,” I said. He tried to hide it, but I saw his expression fall. “But some company would be nice,” I added quickly.

  “Great, I’ll follow you home,” he said, back to his upbeat self. He waited until I got in and headed for his car.

  As I drove home, I started to feel nervous anticipation. So far it had just been phone calls and stolen looks over the weekend. This would be the first time we would be up close and personal.

  But it was Mason, I reminded myself. Mason who’d rescued me a number of times, helped me solve some murders. Supportive, fun Mason. No pressure to be anything but a casual couple. No strings or titles to our relationship. Not like Barry, who had been pushing for us to get married. It was what I’d always said I wanted. Then I had a dark feeling. Just like I kept saying I wanted to try flying solo and live alone. A warning bell went off in my head. The definition of anything with Mason was probably best defined as “whatever.” Friends with benefits, casual hookups and then we’d go our separate ways. Sure, Mason had said love you at the end of our calls, but it could just be an automatic way of saying good-bye to whichever woman he was involved with.

  I thought about Dinah and Commander Blaine. They did a lot of things together and still had their space. But underneath it all was an understanding, a commitment of sorts.

  “I don’t want just some kind of arrangement,” I said out loud. “What have I gotten myself into?” My shoulders slumped as I realized I should have thought this all out before.

  I pulled into my driveway, still deep in thought. Mason’s black Mercedes pulled up right behind me. He was out of his car and walking up to me before I’d even cut the motor.

  As soon as I unlocked the door, he opened it with a flourish and showed me a bottle of champagne. “I’ve been carrying this around in my car since I got back.”

  We walked across the backyard together. We’d both fallen silent, and was it my imagination or did he seem a little hesitant, too? When we got to the back door, we both stopped and faced each other at the same time.

  “There’s something I need to ta
lk to you about,” Mason said in a serious tone.

  “Funny, I was going to say the same thing to you.” I was holding my key. Whatever warmth there had been during the day was gone, and there was a brittle, sharp feeling to the cold. The sweatshirt I’d found in my car and put on over my black dress offered little warmth and I shivered. “We can talk about it inside.”

  I opened the door and expected the usual greeting committee of Cosmo and the cats and was surprised to see someone else in the mix. A little gray scruffy-looking terrier mix was with them. He pushed through to the front and put his paws on my knee like he was welcoming a long-lost friend.

  “Who are you?” I said, looking past him into my kitchen. The lights were on and I heard voices. Mason shut the door behind him and then took the lead as if to protect me from whoever was there. I found it hard to believe someone was robbing my house and had brought the cute little dog along.

  I caught up with Mason and we both peeked out of the kitchen into the living room. The first thing I noticed was the pile of boxes and assorted stuff in the entrance hall. My two sons were in the living room talking, well, maybe it was more like arguing. Seeing it wasn’t really an intruder, Mason slipped behind me and I walked into the large, high-ceilinged room.

  “Who’s going to explain?” I asked, gesturing toward the boxes, not to mention the little gray dog who’d become my shadow.

  Peter, my dark-haired older son, who was an ambitious television agent, spoke first. “Is it true that someone died at that yarn show you went to?” I nodded and my son shook his head with disapproval. “What is it with you and murder?”

  “That’s beside the point right now. What’s going on?”

  “I helped Samuel move his things, but I didn’t think he should come back here.” Peter had been trying to get me to sell the house and downsize since Charlie died, and having his brother living here complicated matters.

  I looked at my younger son. His sandy hair was pulled back into a small ponytail. When he looked up, I could see the heartbreak in his eyes. “Nell and I broke up.”

  Peter was out of Samuel’s line of sight, and his eyes went skyward with disbelief. Judging from his expression, I was guessing Nell broke up with Samuel. The gray dog moved in even closer until he was almost sitting on my foot.

  “That’s Felix,” Samuel said. “Nell and I found him in the street. She made me take him with me.” It was then that it registered that I wasn’t alone. Not that it was a problem. They both liked Mason. Peter had actually been the one who introduced us and had been pushing for him all along. Samuel liked him, too. Samuel worked as barista at a coffee joint, but his real dream was to be a musician. Mason had helped him get a number of gigs and had the ability to be supportive without being bossy or overstepping.

  “What’s going on?” Peter looked from me to Mason and took in that we were both dressed up and it was late. It was easy to make a lot of assumptions. I didn’t answer but led Mason back into the kitchen.

  “We need to talk before I say anything to them,” I said.

  “Right,” he said, and we went to the farthest part of the kitchen. Mason was still holding the champagne bottle but now put it down, saying he’d planned to bean a robber with it. We both let out a nervous titter of laughter.

  “There’s something I need to say,” he began. A feeling of doom hit my stomach. What kind of bomb was he going to drop? Give me the parameters to our casual relationship? Or maybe he was going to make it clear I shouldn’t expect to make any claim on him. He’d taken my hand and actually looked nervous. He began to speak without looking at me.

  “I know what I said before. No strings, casual relationship, no expectations, no road to anything but a good time. And I understand that is what you want.” He paused and looked at the floor. He was usually so self-assured, this seemed very strange.

  “I know that’s what you want,” he said. “But I just can’t do it.”

  I started to pull away, realizing he’d reconsidered now that he’d had time to think. “I get it. The timing is just off. You snooze you lose,” I said, trying to lighten the moment.

  I heard him chuckle, and when I looked at him, he was grinning and his eyes were warm. “I’m not doing a very good job of explaining. What I’m trying to say is I don’t want that kind of relationship. I want something more. I want strings.”

  I froze and our eyes met. “You should see yourself,” he said, still holding on to my hand. “You have that deer in the headlights sort of look. I don’t know exactly how far this is going to go. I guess what I’m trying to say is I think we need to belong to each other.” He let out a big sigh of relief. “There, I said it. If it doesn’t work for you, we can part as friends.”

  I started to laugh. It was relief, exhaustion and too much time spent thinking about murder. “You should only know what I was going to say,” I began. “It was pretty much the same thing.” I mentioned how I had claimed to want the house to myself, and the whole trying my own wings thing. “And when I finally got it, I hated it. I realized the whole thing about a casual relationship, two ships passing in the night, wasn’t really what I wanted after all. What you described sounds perfect.”

  We hugged each other and it evolved into a kiss, which was short-lived because I realized the little gray dog had just peed on my foot.

  When Mason saw why I’d let go, he started to laugh. “Oh, how I’ve missed all this.” He glanced toward the living room and the sounds of my sons arguing. “It doesn’t seem like the time to tell them about us. It sounds like you’re needed in there. Can I call you later?”

  I nodded and we lingered by the door prolonging the moment, then Mason opened the door to go. “Love you, Sunshine.”

  “Me, too.”

  Well, at least I didn’t think it was just his way of saying good-bye anymore.

  It was back to reality now. I went into the living room. Peter wasn’t happy with Samuel’s decision, but I appreciated that he helped his brother move anyway. My older son was getting ready to leave when I came back into the room. I walked him to the door as he gave me a laundry list of what I should do, which started with only letting Samuel crash there for a defined amount of time.

  Samuel was slumped on the soft leather couch. Whoever thinks it is only girls who are upset over breakups is wrong. I sat down next to Samuel. “Do you want to talk about it?” I said.

  He shook his head and then let it hang. I asked him if he was hungry, but all he was interested in was a cup of tea.

  I think it was less the tea and more the sympathy that went with it. I made us a couple of cups of gold rush tea I’d gotten for the holidays. It had a wonderful fruity aroma, not that Samuel noticed. I wanted to say something to make him feel better, but I didn’t think those words existed.

  “Thank you,” he said at last. He didn’t elaborate, but I knew it was for being there. He grabbed one of the boxes and went to his old room.

  I was sorry about his breakup, but I was so glad to have all this life back in the house. Even the little gray dog.

  I took Felix to the back door and let him out in the yard, hoping to discourage him from having another accident, then I headed across the house for a nice hot bath.

  I poured in some bath salts and started to fill the tub. I had just gotten in when the phone rang. I got out, leaving a puddle on the floor.

  “Is everything under control?” Mason asked. When he heard he’d gotten me out of the tub he apologized, though I barely heard it thanks to a flurry of barking coming through the phone.

  “What’s with Spike?” I said, picturing the toy fox terrier pestering Mason.

  Mason’s tone lightened. “It seems I came home with a souvenir of the little gray dog’s hair on my pant leg and Spike is indignant. It doesn’t help that he’s been alone too much this weekend.” Spike’s barking evolved into some kind of happy whimpering as Mason talked to the
dog and probably gave him a bunch of affection.

  “Now that there’s peace again, let me get to the real reason I called. I had a thought,” he said. “What if we both take a couple of days off and drive down around to Coronado. Now that Samuel is staying at your place, he can hold the fort down and we could just leave on the spur of the moment when the yarn show is over. No baggage, except of course Spike. We’d buy what we need on the road?”

  I had to admit that it sounded wonderful. “But I can’t leave until things are settled for Adele. Unless something happens, Barry is going to arrest her on Monday.”

  “I’m betting you make something happen before then,” Mason said.

  “It’s not so easy. Barry is sure it’s Adele, and I’d have to have real evidence to point at someone else.”

  “I’m sorry I can’t help you, but . . .” He let his voice trail off. Then he seemed to reconsider. “I suppose if you didn’t ask me anything about her and I didn’t mention my client, we could talk about it.” I heard him let out his breath. “That doesn’t sound like it would be much help. I’m sorry to have let you down.”

  “That’s okay. I think I’d feel a lot worse if you broke your trust with your client and told me a bunch of stuff.”

  The TV was on in the background, and a familiar voice got my attention. “Turn on Channel 3,” I said. “This is too weird.” When I looked at the screen there was Kimberly Wang Diaz doing a feature story that had shots from the whole weekend, starting with an interview with K.D. I could see it had been done in the suite. They were sitting in the living room with the coffee table between them. I looked for Adele’s hook, but it wasn’t there. Nor was the champagne. All I really saw were two hotel keys on the coffee table.

  “That’s odd,” I said before telling him about my conversation with the room service waiter. “He said there was one key on the table when he delivered the champagne.” The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. “Think about this: There were two keys to start with. Someone must have come to the room and taken one of the keys with them. And then let themselves back in while she was in the tub. It wasn’t a big secret about her ritual. Even I knew.”