"Did they buy it?"
"Everyone was kind of whispering among themselves, and I couldn't exactly hear what they were saying. I tried to get closer.” Her face started to turn pink.
"Hey, you did great."
"I started to go up to the table, but then Sarah showed up and I didn't want her to figure out what I was up to.” She held up a handful of paper and fabric. “I had to grab another set of stuff so I'd have a reason to be there. Then I made like I was leaving and found that bench."
Sarah caught up with them as they headed back toward the Tree House.
"I'm going to lunch with a friend,” she said, emphasizing the word friend. Harriet presumed she was talking about whoever it was keeping her out late the last few nights. She couldn't help but notice that Sarah had abandoned her usual khaki twill pants and blazer for low-rise black slacks with a wide belt and a silky pink T-shirt that hugged her curves and revealed more cleavage than usual for a student at a quilt school.
She brushed past them and hurried on to the Tree House. Carla looked at Harriet and laughed. Harriet just shook her head.
Mavis and Connie were sitting on the sofa in the great room. Mavis had a sketchpad in her lap. Connie was cutting out images she'd drawn on a piece of freezer paper. She had obviously figured out a design, and it was going to involve applique. The waxy side of the freezer paper could be attached to fabric simply by ironing it on. It stuck well enough that you could cut out images drawn on the paper and then sew them to another piece of fabric; and when you were finished, it peeled off without leaving a residue.
"Tell me something good, chiquita."
"No one's heard of our Patsy,” Harriet said. “Ray Louise said she'd ask around just to be sure, and she said she'd ask Inessa Follansbee, who owns Angel Harbor Quilts, the local fabric store. Do we have a lunch plan?"
"Are you hungry?” Mavis asked. “There are some of those molasses cookies on the counter in the kitchen."
"Thanks, but I was actually wondering if we could go to town for lunch. Les should be helping with the buffet here, and I'd like to go by his apartment and see if Lauren is there."
"Great minds think alike,” Connie said. “Robin went upstairs to get ready while we were waiting for you. She heard about an Italian restaurant that's supposed to be good."
"If it's the one I went to, it's great. And it's perfect. That's where I was when I saw Lauren and Les go up to his apartment."
It was another fifteen minutes before everyone had used the bathroom, gotten her purse and put a coat of some sort on.
"Have you heard from Lauren?” Robin asked.
"No, and I take it you haven't either,” Harriet said. “I don't like this.” She opened the Tree House door. “I'm going to check her brother's apartment while we're at lunch, but I'm not holding out hope."
[Back to Table of Contents]
Chapter Twenty-eight
Tom Bainbridge was sitting at a window table when they entered the restaurant. He nodded at Harriet.
"I guess he likes this place,” she said to Mavis.
The hostess led them to a table at the back of the room and handed out menus. The lunch special was a small pork chop with spaghetti marinara and a side salad with a scoop of spumoni ice cream for dessert. The six-dollar price was too good to pass up. The whole group chose the special, making it easy for their waitress.
"Anyone have any idea how I'm going to combine my less than spectacular hand quilting with half-square rectangles for my memorial block?” Harriet asked as they waited for their food.
"I know it isn't your usual style, but maybe you could piece your half-rectangles out of homespun fabrics and then quilt it with a coarse thread and make it look folk-arty,” Mavis suggested, and in doing so began a lively discussion that lasted through dessert.
"I'd like to go to Les's apartment with Harriet,” Robin said as everyone dug in purse or bag for lunch money. “Angel Harbor Quilts is two streets over and a couple of blocks down. You three can take the car if you want, and Harriet and I can join you there when we're done looking for Lauren.” She held up her keys, and Mavis took them.
"We'll give you thirty minutes, and if you aren't at the quilt store we're coming after you.” Connie said.
"If we find Lauren, we'll call, so turn your cell phones on."
Mavis and Connie were notorious for faithfully carrying their phones but just as religiously not turning them on. Both women dug in their bags and powered their units.
They split up at the door, and Harriet led Robin around the building and across the alley to where she'd seen Les and Lauren enter the night she'd had dinner with Tom. The door opened into a small entrance hall. Worn gray indoor-outdoor carpeting covered the floor, and dirty gray handprints dulled the beige paint that had probably looked tired when it was new. A row of metal mailboxes was set into the wall at the base of the stairs. Harriet read the names. “Sawyer” was listed as apartment number four.
The doors to the ground floor apartments were set at the back of the tiny vestibule, behind the stairs. A quick glance verified they were units one and two. Robin started up the stairs, and Harriet followed, trying not to touch the grimy handrail.
"I don't like the feel of this place,” she said.
Robin stopped when she reached the landing at the top of the stairs. Apartment three was to the right with four on the left.
"Uh-oh,” she said.
Harriet looked over her shoulder. The door to apartment four was partially open. She brushed past her and stepped into the doorway. She pulled her sweatshirt sleeve over her hand and pushed on the door.
The apartment had the look that was becoming all too familiar. It had been searched, and none too gently.
"Don't go in,” Robin said. “Lauren!” she called out, but both women knew it wasn't likely there would be an answer.
"What's that on the floor?” A line of dark red drops dotted the linoleum just inside the door.
Robin crouched down and took a closer look. She groaned.
"What?"
"It's blood."
* * * *
As was required for an officer of the court, Robin called Detective Ruiz immediately. She might have been wearing a pastel-and-black yoga outfit, but she commanded Harriet stay out of the apartment with the kind of authority Harriet associated with uniforms.
"Lauren might be in the bedroom,” Harriet protested. “Someone is obviously hurt, it could be her."
"The blood trail is leading from the living room to the door.” Robin studied the floor at her feet. “This carpet is so dirty it's hard to tell, but I think the blood continues out here. Look.” She pointed to a larger dark stain on the landing.
Harriet stiffened as she heard the downstairs door open.
"Why am I not surprised to find you here?” Detective Ruiz said to her as he ascended the stairs. “It's like I was saying the last time we met at a crime scene—you keep inserting your self into my investigation, and I have to keep asking myself why that would be."
"We came here looking for Lauren,” she told him. “She came to Angel Harbor with us. Surely, you can understand why we might be worried about the fact that she's missing."
"We didn't go inside,” Robin said in a business-like tone. “Her brother Les works at the Fiber Arts School; this is his apartment."
"Lauren told me she spent the first night she was missing here, but she claimed she was leaving for parts unknown. Knowing Lauren as we do, we figured she might be back here,” Harriet added, trying to imitate Robin's tone.
"There's something that looks like blood here in the entry.” Robin pointed.
"You two go downstairs and wait outside.” Detective Ruiz motioned Officer Weber, who seemed to be his constant companion, inside the apartment. Weber drew his weapon and entered.
Harriet and Robin did as requested and went outside. Robin called Mavis and reported their situation.
"Someone is clearly looking for something more than your friend,” Detective Rui
z said when he joined them in the alley. “What do you think that might be?"
"I have no idea,” Harriet said immediately. “Lauren's quilt went missing. While we were helping her look for it, we discovered that someone's been making copies of student quilts and selling them. But since she doesn't have her quilt, we've been assuming the copycat was the one who stole it. I don't know why anyone else would be looking for it. Besides, the places that have been torn up aren't the kind of places I'd look for a quilt. We know Lauren doesn't have it, so why would someone look at her brother's place? And Tom's office makes no sense, either."
"We came here to find Lauren and tell her to turn herself in so we can get this cleared up. She didn't do anything to Selestina, even though someone went to some amount of trouble to make it look like she did,” Robin said. “I'm getting worried for her safety."
"I'm starting to get worried about your client myself,” Ruiz said. “Someone searched that apartment, but it also looks like there was a fight of some kind.” He looked away.
"What?” Robin asked.
"Someone lost a lot of blood in the bedroom,” he said somberly. “I've called for the forensic folks, and I also asked our crime scene reconstruction guy to come have a look. He'll be able to give us a better idea of what went on here. I'd like to talk to you again when we're done here.” He looked at his watch. “It's going to take a couple of hours for my guy to do his thing, so shall we say four o'clock? I'll come by the school."
"Why is he being so nice all of a sudden?” Harriet whispered to Robin as the detective went back upstairs.
"He thinks something bad happened to Lauren, which means she's not the bad guy."
Harriet covered her face with her hands. “I've done my share of complaining about Lauren, but I never wanted anything like this to happen to her.” She rubbed her eyes.
Robin called Mavis and Connie again and asked them to come back to the restaurant parking lot to pick them up.
"We might as well go back to the Tree House and try to do our blocks. I'm fresh out of ideas for places to look."
"Tom and Aiden are going to come this afternoon so we can look in the outbuildings at the school."
"I guess it can't hurt. We probably wouldn't be able to concentrate on our blocks anyway. I'll be surprised, though, if it turns out someone who would snatch Lauren would hide her at the school where we might stumble on her."
"I'm learning there are a lot of storage and utility spaces on the grounds, and several of them are hard to find unless you know they're there."
"I guess we can try,” Robin said, and led the way back across the alley.
Mavis drove the minivan into the parking lot and opened the door. “You want to drive?” she asked.
"No, you go ahead,” Robin told her, and collapsed into a middle row seat. Harriet climbed into the back row and put on her seatbelt.
"You two don't look so good,” Connie said. “What happened?"
Harriet explained the details of their attempt to look for Lauren in Les's apartment.
"Tom and Aiden are going to help us search the grounds in a little while. Other than that, we wait and see what the police find out,” she finished.
The group drove back to the Tree House, each lost in her own thoughts. The men were waiting on the porch when they trooped single file from the parking lot.
"Put a little oil on her dry food each morning, and it should help that,” Aiden was saying to Tom when the women joined them.
"Thanks."
You would never have known Aiden had clubbed Tom in the jaw and Tom had knocked Aiden off this same porch not that long ago. They were smiling and talking like old pals.
"We're here for the big search,” Aiden said. “On time, I might add.” He checked his watch and then studied Harriet. “What happened?"
Harriet looked at Mavis. “Could you tell him? I need a few minutes.” She went on into the house.
Mavis explained the latest news and assured him that nothing had happened to Harriet.
"Maybe I should send everyone home,” Tom said.
"That might help,” Mavis agreed. “But I doubt you'd get people to leave before the memorial for your mother. And we can't leave here without Lauren."
"I suppose."
* * * *
"Aiden and I talked this over while we were waiting,” Tom said when Harriet came back down from her room. She'd washed her face, brushed her teeth and refreshed her deodorant. It didn't help solve the Lauren problem, but she did feel a tiny bit better.
"I brought a couple of maps of the property, and we've divided up the keys,” Tom continued.
"Yeah, Harriet and I will be one team, and Robin, Tom and Carla will be the other,” Aiden jumped in. He looked at Mavis. “We thought Connie and Mavis could man the phones so if one of us finds something, we can let them know and they'll contact the others."
"The cell phone reception is spotty up here, as I'm sure you've all noticed, but most of the buildings have phones in them, so call on the house phones if you need to,” Tom finished.
He handed out the maps. He and Aiden had already divided the keys, obviously assuming the women would agree with their plan.
"As you can see from your maps, the property is roughly a rectangle. I thought we could start in opposite corners and work our way toward each other. The northeast corner is undeveloped, so there's nothing to search. The southwest area is where we are now. We don't really need to search here, and in any case we can do this area last. Aiden has the keys to the buildings on the west half of the property, and I kept the east-side keys. Any questions?"
They had all figured out. Mavis got bottles of water out of the refrigerator and handed one to each of the searchers.
"Good luck,” she said. “And call if you find anything."
With a salute to Mavis and Connie, Aiden turned and grabbed Harriet's hand and led her out the door. Harriet shook the map open with her free hand.
"Seems like only yesterday I was in the northwest corner of the property—oh, wait, I was in the northwest corner ... trapped in a basement!” she said.
"It will be different this time,” Aiden said with a smile. “You'll have me. Maybe we can make a new memory to replace the bad ones."
Harriet rolled her eyes.
He stopped as soon as they were out of sight of the Tree House, pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her.
"Hey, we're supposed to be looking for Lauren."
"We are,” he said, but didn't loosen his hug. “There's no reason we can't do both.” He kissed her, but she didn't respond.
"I can't do this right now. Not until we find Lauren. I was worried before, but at Les's apartment, when that detective said he was worried, too, that was more frightening than anything that's happened so far."
"Okay, okay,” He let her go and started down the path again. “We will be totally serious.” He looked back at her with his best attempt at a serious face, but it was so obviously false, Harriet burst out laughing. “I'm glad you find my efforts to be serious so funny."
"This week hasn't turned out like I expected,” Harriet said, catching up with Aiden and walking beside him.
"You mean you didn't expect the head lady to be murdered and one of the Loose Threads to be accused and then to disappear."
"That, and a few other things. And I never even wanted to come here in the first place. I really am more of a homebody. I know my aunt thinks I withdrew from society when Steve died, but she doesn't realize how much I liked spending time in my own home, even when he was alive.
"My parents dragged me all over the world. When I was with them, life happened at an accelerated pace. There were dinners and openings and museums, and if I never see another university science department it will be too soon. I know I was lucky, but I've seen enough. I want to spend time in my studio, with my fabric and my quilting machine. Is that so terrible?"
"Hey, whatever you want to do is fine with me. I'd be happy if you stayed in Foggy Point making quil
ts all day and sleeping in my arms all night."
"But first we have to find Lauren, and prove she didn't kill Selestina."
"Is that all? No problem."
The two landscapers Harriet had seen in the school office were in the meadow, each carrying a large green plastic bucket. They wore thick gloves and were picking plants that had clusters of purple flowers on thin stems. They carefully put the plants into their buckets, tucking the stems carefully below the rims.
"Those are the guys Tom hired to get rid of the poisonous plants,” Harriet said. “It's kind of scary, thinking there were poisonous plants all over the place and any one of us could have accidentally come in contact with them."
"That's the same poison that was used to kill the Pakistani cricket coach at the World Cup a few years ago. At least, an anonymous caller said it was. I thought it grew in the mountains, though."
"I think it does, unless people get plants and put them in their wildflower gardens."
"Tom was telling me about his idea to build a couple of adult foster care homes in this meadow,” Aiden said, changing the subject. “He's put a lot of thought into it. His mom could have lived her life out surrounded by art as her memory slipped away. I don't know if she had dementia or not, but he really does believe she did."
"Either that, or he's a good actor.” She spotted the studio building in the distance. “We've been assuming someone wrecked his office, making him a victim. What if it was all a set-up? He could have trashed his own office, just like he could have run you off the road. When you think about it, he could be the one counterfeiting the student quilts. There's no reason a man can't be a quilter. And we know he does the shipping. Depending on how many he's selling, it could be a nice little income stream, and no one would be the wiser."
"I suppose he could have hired those landscape guys to reinforce the idea he couldn't recognize the poison plants,” Aiden said. “Geez, I was just starting to like the guy, too."
"Do you think Carla and Robin are in danger being with him?"
"No, I don't. He's trying to prove to us that he's an innocent victim in all this. If he's done something to Lauren, he may very well lead them to her. Then again, it may be more effective if he lets us find her."
Quilter's Knot Page 20