Yarn Over Murder

by Maggie Sefton

  “That’s so sad. The Saturday of the fire, it was clear even to strangers Connie was deluding herself about their relationship.”

  “Personally, I think Connie should have been in individual counseling. That would be the only way for her to learn the reasons for her actions. She’s always been jealous of Jim. Really possessive.”

  “Mimi said Jim developed a wandering eye after a few years of their marriage. That’s enough to set off alarms for a jealous woman.”

  Rosa nodded. “I’m sure that’s it. I’ve heard her talk about how women at parties always come up to talk to Jim. If she’d had some counseling maybe she could have learned to deal with that without blowing up.”

  “Wise advice, Rosa. Lisa told me she also suggested counseling to Connie years ago. I wish Connie had listened to you both, then maybe all of this wouldn’t be happening.”

  Rosa gave a dismissive wave. “Oh, Connie doesn’t listen to anybody when it comes to personal things. She’s stubborn as the day is long.”

  Kelly smiled. She hadn’t heard that old saying since her aunt Helen was alive. “The days are summer-long now, that’s for sure. The summer solstice has just passed.”

  The sound of the shop phone ringing from up front sounded then. “Talk to you later, Kelly. Gotta get that,” Rosa said as she left the room.

  Time for coffee, Kelly decided, and grabbed her mug, then headed for the café, where she settled at the table beside the windows. Kelly had wanted to talk to Mimi about her sweater project, but that would have to wait for Mimi to return. Meanwhile, accounts beckoned. Kelly popped open her laptop and prepared to disappear into the numbers as Julie refilled her coffee mug.

  • • •

  Immersed in her clients’ accounting spreadsheets, Kelly almost jumped when her cell phone rang. She hoped it was Burt returning her call, but Jayleen’s name and number flashed instead. “Hey, there, Jayleen. Have you heard yet when you and the other Belleveue canyon residents can return to your homes?”

  “Yes, we have. At last! We’ve all been pestering the authorities every time we see them at those meetings, and they finally gave us the word. Bellevue Canyon Road will be opened at five p.m. tonight. Thank the Lord.”

  “Oh, Jayleen, I’m so happy for you! Please let us know tomorrow how it looks. You’ll be too busy tonight.”

  “I sure will, Kelly. Right now, I’m itching to get up there.”

  “Keep picturing your ranch, Jayleen. See yourself driving up the gravel road with the ranch house up ahead. As a matter of fact, I’ve been doing it, too.” Kelly took a deep sip of her hot coffee. Inside the air-conditioning, she could tolerate the heat.

  “Lordy, Kelly-girl, you and Curt are a pair.” She chuckled.

  “What’s Curt up to? Still helping build his neighbors’ fences?”

  “He’s gone over to the Ranch shelter to see if they need supplies. I’m packing up some stuff in case we want to stay up in the canyon.”

  “You might not want to, right away. I’ve heard stories of food spoiling in freezers and dripping through onto the floors.”

  “I know. I’m planning on taking up more cleaning supplies. I’m gonna get started on it right away.”

  “Well, give us a call, and we’ll bring a cleaning crew.”

  “You folks are unbelievable, you know that?”

  “We’re all trying to help out any way we can. Heck, I’m even knitting a sweater for Mimi’s charity evacuee project.”

  Jayleen let out her rowdy guffaw. It was good to hear her laugh. Kelly hadn’t had much to laugh about ever since the High Park wildfire started nearly two weeks ago.

  “Good Lord, girl! I can’t believe you’re knitting wool in this heat.”

  “I almost said the same thing when Mimi suggested it. But she reminded me that when winter comes, the evacuees will need winter clothing of all kinds. So many of them lost their homes, especially in those Glacier View and Whale Rock subdivisions. Fire authorities said that most of the homes were burned to the ground. They’re uninhabitable.”

  Jayleen’s voice became somber. “Poor folks. My heart goes out to them. I imagine lots of us will be contributing things they can wear. That reminds me. Tell Mimi I’ll be glad to donate a big bag of wool fleece for sweaters if she finds the knitters.”

  “Oh, I think Mimi would love that. I’m in the café now working. I’ll tell her as soon as I see her.”

  “Thanks. That would help me out. It seems I’m on the phone more these last two weeks than at any other time in my life. Have mercy.”

  Kelly had to smile. Listening to Jayleen’s voice somehow helped her bring back memories of her aunt Helen. She was an earthy sort, too. “By the way, Mimi took Connie out to speak with a lawyer this morning. Burt told me Connie is on police radar big-time.”

  “Lord, Lord . . .” Jayleen released a sigh. “This morning is filled with bad news. I got a call from Dennis earlier, and he told me the police are considering charging him with misdemeanor theft. I tell you, Kelly, that has me seriously worried. We all know Dennis acted out of good intentions. He didn’t have money for those bills, but he felt obligated to pay his ex-wife’s hospital and funeral bills. But instead of coming to me or one of his other friends in the canyon, he made a stupid mistake and used Andrea’s money. No one would have caught it if the police didn’t happen to be investigating Andrea’s death right then. Of course, his good intentions don’t change the fact that he used money that wasn’t his. That’s still illegal.”

  “What’s even more worrisome is the police may look at Dennis more closely as a suspect now. He acted out of desperation, that’s for sure. The police may think that drove him to the desperate act of stealing from his ex-wife. And, perhaps . . . something worse.”

  “Oh, Lord . . . that could happen. Police might think Dennis was after Andrea’s money as a way to rescue himself. I remember how crushed he looked when he learned that Andrea was serious about Jim Carson. I’m sure the police learned about that situation, too.”

  Kelly heard the beep on Jayleen’s phone indicating another call was coming in. “I think you’ve got a call, Jayleen. We’ll talk later, okay?”

  “Thanks, Kelly. Keep me posted,” Jayleen said, then clicked off.

  Kelly drained her coffee mug and was debating getting a refill. She would definitely be working in the shop all day today to stay out of the heat. And that meant having one of Eduardo’s wonderful lunches. She was toying between a chicken and walnut salad and a salmon salad when she saw Burt walk into the back door not far from where she sat.

  “Hey, Burt. So glad you came in. I’ve wanted to talk with you about something I learned yesterday.”

  “Sorry I didn’t get back to you, Kelly,” Burt said as he walked over to her table. “I was submerged doing stuff and helping move some evacuees into a house they found to rent. Of course my phone ran out of juice last night, and I didn’t even notice till morning. This afternoon I’ll be over at the Landport evacuee shelter, helping over there. I just talked to Mimi as I drove over and she caught me up on the Connie project, as she calls it.”

  “Wow, Burt, you put all the rest of us to shame. You deserve a super volunteer medal or something.”

  “Simply trying to be useful. That’s the thing about retirement. If you don’t get involved in things that are important to you, you won’t last long. You’ll probably die of boredom.” He gestured to her. “C’mon, let’s grab some iced coffee. I figure you’ve learned something you want to share about Andrea’s investigation, so let’s go outside where there’s some privacy under the trees.”

  “Sounds good. As long as there’s a shady table. That heat is brutal out there even though it’s only late morning.” Kelly rose and followed Burt to the grill counter.

  Waitress Julie was lifting two sandwich orders to her tray. “Hey, you two. What can I get for you?”

  “
Two iced coffees, please, Julie,” Burt said. “We’ll be outside, in the shade hopefully.”

  “Sure, let me get those for you now.” She quickly poured iced coffee into their empty mugs.

  “Listen, if all those shady tables are taken, we may have to beat someone up and grab their table. Jungle law.”

  Julie laughed. “Hurry on out. I gave the check to a couple under the cottonwood tree a minute ago. They should be gone soon.”

  “Ooh, let’s scurry, Burt,” Kelly said, heading for the front door.

  “You scurry, I’ll walk,” he called behind her.

  Kelly rushed through the front door and skipped down the steps. The coveted shady table beneath the cottonwood tree was still empty. She tried to ignore the sun’s heat and escaped into the shade. Unfortunately, even in the shade it was hot. You just couldn’t escape heat this intense. Thank goodness there was really low humidity. Kelly didn’t want to think of these temperatures with high humidity. It would be suffocating.

  “First, catch me up on what happened at the lawyer’s office. Did Mimi stay with Connie during the appointment? Or did Connie want to be alone?”

  “Connie actually was glad Mimi had come along, I think. Mimi has a calming presence. Mimi said she kept patting Connie’s hand throughout the interview.”

  “Mother Mimi’s reassuring pats,” Kelly said with a smile.

  “You bet. They work, too.”

  “Did Connie feel better after talking with the lawyer?”

  Burt nodded. “She thanked Mimi for taking her, too. At least Connie knows she won’t be alone when she goes to talk with the police again, which might be this afternoon or tomorrow morning, from what Dan said.”

  “Jayleen called and said that Dennis is really worried the police may charge him with theft. Now Jayleen and I are worried. Did Dan let on what he was thinking?”

  “I asked about Dennis, and he said they were considering charging Dennis with theft. Now, tell me what you learned yesterday when you spoke with Arthur Housemann. Your phone message said you’d learned something new about that Saturday.”

  Kelly could feel the sun’s rays beating down even though there was a canopy of thick leaves overhead. The heat shimmered in the air like it had yesterday, so she sought to give Burt the quickest version she could manage so they could escape back into the air-conditioning.

  “Okay, here goes. I’ll talk fast because this heat is bad even under the trees.”

  “You young folk are sissies. You’re spoiled by that air-conditioning. We didn’t have it when I was growing up, and we played outside all the time in the summer.” He gave her a wicked grin.

  “Yeah, and you kids walked through three feet of snow barefoot to school every day, too,” Kelly teased back.

  “What did you learn from Housemann?”

  “Okay, we were talking about that night the fire spread into Poudre Canyon. Arthur said he and the other neighbors were concerned earlier in the day because the smoke was building. His wife drove out that afternoon because she has asthma and the air was getting bad. Arthur stayed and kept watch. When fire crossed the ridge near Poudre Park, volunteer firemen ordered everyone out of the lower canyon. Arthur drove off about eleven thirty that night, he said. Roads were jammed. Some people were hiking out. He saw a guy walking by the road, coughing from the smoke and with no water bottle. So he gave him a ride. The guy said his camping friends headed west out of the canyon toward Walden, so he started walking back to Landport. Arthur said he looked like a nice guy and was wearing a KISS concert tee shirt. Arthur dropped him off in Landport.” Kelly looked Burt in the eyes. “Jim Carson was wearing a KISS concert shirt that Saturday, so naturally I got suspicious.”

  Burt’s good-natured grin was gone, and he looked at Kelly. “The fact that it was the same shirt isn’t enough to make me believe that guy was Jim Carson.”

  “I figured the same thing. So I asked Arthur for more description. Anything he could remember. And he remembered that the guy had dark hair, was slender, and had a tattoo on his left forearm. A dragon. Arthur said he noticed it when the guy got into the car and the light was on.”

  This time, Burt’s eyes narrowed. He’d clearly met Jim Carson many times before while Connie was working for Mimi, so that bit of information was telling. “Well, in that case, you were right to be suspicious. In fact, I’m suspicious now.”

  “Didn’t Jim tell you he left the canyon after the argument, while it was still daylight, and got into Landport about sunset?”

  “Good memory, Sherlock. Yes, he did. So the question now is why would Jim Carson lie about the time he left the canyon?”

  “Unless he was trying to hide something,” Kelly conjectured. “Like, maybe he pushed Andrea in the heat of that argument, and she fell down the stairs. He’d be panic-stricken, of course. If she broke her neck right away, he wouldn’t be able to feel a pulse. So he’d know she was dead. Then he’d be really scared. Maybe he simply reacted out of basic survival instinct. Ran away as fast as he could.”

  Burt gave her a crooked smile. “Nice theorizing, Sherlock. If that scenario was true, then Jim might have decided to lie about the time he left, trying to protect himself. Then he got himself out of the canyon before Andrea’s body was discovered. He sure wouldn’t want to be discovered with her dead body lying there in a heap.” Burt frowned.

  “You’re right. Jim would have wanted to flee the scene immediately.”

  “We’re still not clear why Jim would lie about the time he left the canyon, but it certainly looks like he lied. Arthur’s description is damning. And I’m really suspicious, too. In fact, I think Dan will have the same reaction, so I’m going to call him right now.” Burt pulled out his cell phone. He looked back at Kelly and smiled. “Good job, Sherlock. Once again you’ve found information that police missed. You always find clues no one else turns up.”

  Kelly felt a warm flush of pleasure spread through her. It always made her feel so good whenever she was able to help detectives in their investigations. “Thanks, Burt. It’s my naturally inquisitive nature at work again.”

  “Well, keep it up, Kelly. Lieutenant Morrison would never admit it, but Dan and the other detectives appreciate your help.” He picked up his mug and drained it. “Brother, this heat is brutal.”

  “I really should get back to work. Better come inside as soon as you finish that call. Escape into the cooler air once more. You want me to tell Julie to bring you another iced coffee?”

  Burt was already punching in Dan’s number. “Thanks, Kelly. I’d appreciate that.”

  Kelly didn’t waste another minute getting out of the heat. She practically leaped from the chair and hurried to the café’s back steps.

  • • •

  “Hey, get me some popcorn, would you, please? Gotta take this call,” Kelly said to Steve as she walked toward the Cineplex doors.

  “Okay, we’ll save you a seat. Look for us,” Steve called after her.

  Kelly paused at the door, watching her friends line up for tickets to the latest Hollywood action-adventure movie. “I won’t be able to miss you. Not with Marty’s jumbo-sized tub of popcorn.”

  “Hey, I didn’t have much dinner,” Marty joked to his friends lined up behind Steve.

  Kelly laughed as she clicked on the call. Burt’s name flashed. She’d already put her phone on mute for the theater. “Hey, Burt, I hope you heard from Dan. I admit I’m dying to know.”

  “We were right. Dan became suspicious as soon I told him Arthur’s information. In fact, Dan was annoyed, I could tell. He said that Jim Carson was as unassuming and truthful-sounding as anyone he’d ever interviewed. Now Dan is kicking himself for buying Jim’s story when he first heard it. He took Jim’s story about arguing with Andrea then storming off for truth. Apparently Jim was really convincing, crying and blaming himself and all that.”

  “Is he going to quest
ion Jim again?” Kelly asked, walking away from a group of people approaching the Cineplex.

  “He already did. In fact, he told me that Jim looked a little surprised when Dan showed up at his front door this evening. Dan proceeded to ask Jim what time he left the canyon exactly. And what did he remember about the driver who gave him a lift into Landport. He said Jim appeared more tense this time than previously. He repeated that he left when it was earlier and still daylight. And he didn’t remember much except the guy was older than he was, but really nice. Then Dan asked him again if he was there when Connie returned to Andrea’s ranch. Jim repeated that he wasn’t. But we know that he must have been there. Maybe he was inside the house, not wanting to speak to her. Connie told Dan that she returned to Andrea’s ranch when it was still daylight.”

  “Did Dan try to challenge him on his answers?”

  “Nope. Dan doesn’t work that way. He likes to circle around a suspect and get them to talk, and see if they will twist themselves up in their own lies. Sort of like a spider spinning a web. He just wanted to give Jim a chance to tell the truth, rather than spinning more lies.”

  “So what’s Dan going to do next?”

  “He’ll probably start digging deeper into Jim Carson to see if anything shows up. He’ll let Jim stew for a while, then come back and push harder. That’s when he’ll mention Arthur’s description of his late-night rider.”

  “Okay, let’s see what Spider Dan catches in his web,” Kelly joked. She heard Burt’s deep laughter over the phone.

  Nineteen

  Friday, June 29

  Kelly picked up her cell phone from her desk in the corner of the cottage. Jayleen’s name and number flashed there. “Hey, Jayleen. I’ve been hoping you’d call. What did you see in Bellevue Canyon? Please tell me your ranch house is okay.”