Frank left in high spirits. The young mothers went home as well, and Sarah spent another hour looking at the incredible colors and patterns. She was especially attracted to the florals and decided that her next quilt would be a garden in full bloom.
Sarah had such a great time in her class. Walking home, she momentarily thought about telling Andy how excited she was about the class. And then the tears came. She had temporarily forgotten about the tragedy in the Village.
Oh, Andy ... what happened to you?
Chapter 14
As he walked into the precinct, Detective Shields asked, “Did we get the fingerprint report yet?” He had been late every day this week, and from the look on his face, he was in a foul mood.
“Yes, it just came yesterday,” his partner, Detective Gabriel responded. “Nothing useful though. There were lots of prints. The problem is none of them are in the system. There are some small prints, either from a child or maybe a petite woman. And there are prints from a number of other unidentified people. Then there are prints all over the place that are probably Andy’s.”
“What do you mean ‘probably’?” Shields snapped impatiently. “Are they his prints or not?”
“Don’t know. The guy was cremated.”
“So what? We have his prints from the crime scene investigation,” Shields responded. Detective Gabriel hesitated before responding. He knew Shields’s patience was running thin. He was not going to like the answer.
“Well, that’s the problem. They neglected to print the corpse.”
“What? How could that happen?”
“New guy ... first dead body. Lots of confusion that night. Everyone thought someone else had done it. Believe me, there are no fingerprints of the corpse.”
“Well, I’ll be damned. The lieutenant is going to be on my butt for this one.”
“It’s not your fault, Mark. Ease up. The prints that are all over the house have to be Andy’s. He lived there. They’re on the bathtub, the towel rack, the silverware, the freezer door ... everywhere. Besides that, the neighbors and the sister identified the body. It was Andy Burgess.”
Detective Shields slid his lower desk drawer open and removed a silver flask. Gabriel watched him fill his coffee cup. He returned the flask to the desk and downed most of the contents in a single swallow. He closed his eyes for a few moments and then turned to Gabriel and said, “We can handle this.”
“There’s one other thing,” Gabriel added, reluctantly.
Shields looked at him as if he were daring him to speak, but then he demanded, “What is it?”
“There are some places that should have prints, but they don’t. It’s not so much like they’ve been wiped clean, but more like someone was wearing gloves and the existing prints were smeared. I’m thinking there was someone else in that place—maybe looking for something.”
“Well, brilliant,” Mark said sarcastically as he drained the coffee cup. “Of course there was someone else there—the killer!”
At the risk of irritating Shields even more, Gabriel went on to say, “Yes, the killer. But I think the killer was looking for something and knew he could be identified.”
* * * * *
“Hi Sarah, this is Marjory from the Resource Room. I was wondering if you still want to go to the Village Quilt Club meeting. It’s tonight.” Sarah picked up the message in the midafternoon and was feeling a bit overwhelmed. She wondered if the quilt club, the classes, and volunteering were going to take up too much of her time. She still wanted time to spend with Sophie. She felt there must be some way they could help find out what happened to Andy.
But after some thought, she realized that she could always drop some of the quilting activities if they proved to be too much. The volunteer job was a commitment she would need to make if she was going to do it at all.
Ultimately, she called Vicky at the Volunteer Office to say she would begin her volunteer assignment on the first of the month and asked Vicky to set up a meeting for the first Monday at the coffee shop.
Then she called Marjory and said she would love to go to the quilt club meeting.
That night, after returning home from the quilt club, there was a message on her machine. “I’ve been debating whether to mention this, but when I saw Andy at the pool last week he really wasn’t himself. He seemed worried about something. I tried to talk to him about it, but he just brushed me off saying, ‘Oh, I just had a rough night.’ This isn’t much, but do you think I should report it to the police? It’s probably nothing and wouldn’t help them at all. What do you think?” The caller left her name and number. Sarah decided not to call her back this late and to discuss it with Sophie the next day.
Sarah was tired and went right to bed but found she couldn’t sleep. She began thinking about the quilt club and how advanced all the quilters were. “Will I ever be able to make such beautiful quilts?” she asked herself. It had been show-and-tell night, and everyone brought their latest works of art.
There were more people at the club than Sarah had expected. “I had no idea there were this many quilters in the Village,” she whispered to Marjory. Marjory explained that the club was open to the whole community and not restricted just to residents of the Village.
Sarah wished she had her camera with her so she could remember the incredible designs. She took lots of notes but was sure she wouldn’t be able to remember it all. She jotted down the names of some of the patterns and some of the color schemes. One woman had made an incredibly striking Log Cabin quilt in purples and greens and had a second one she was working on that she said was an Ohio Star.
Five or six women lined up to show the quilts they had made at their annual quilt retreat. Their quilts were all the same pattern, the Triple Irish Chain, but amazingly they all looked very different. One was made with blue, rose, and brown on a cream background. Another woman explained she had made hers from her scrap bag, and it had the look of an heirloom, even though she had made it just last month. Sarah was beginning to see the importance of color and fabric choice when planning a quilt.
They had a speaker who did longarm quilting. She laid out samples of her work and invited members to come by her house and see the machine in action. She passed out her cards, and for the first time Sarah realized there was more to making a quilt than just designing and sewing the top. Unless she wanted to learn how to machine quilt or maybe hand quilt, she was going to need a longarm quilter. She tucked the card into her purse.
During the break, Marjory introduced Sarah to some of the other members and told them Sarah was a new quilter. Sarah was immediately impressed with how willing the women were to help her. She added several other numbers to her purse and excitedly began talking about her dream to make a tie quilt using her deceased husband’s ties. Several of the women had made tie quilts in the past and promised to bring them to the next meeting so she could see how they did theirs.
One thing that became very clear at the meeting was that she had lots to learn. She was going to need more classes at Stitches than she had originally anticipated. She was also going to need a lot more ties.
Sarah finally fell asleep and slept soundly until the phone rang the next morning.
Chapter 15
The phone rang while Sarah was still in that twilight state between dreaming and reality, not quite awake and not quite asleep. She stumbled to the phone and saw that it was Sophie. “Sophie. What are you doing up so early? I usually don’t see your shades go up before eight. What time is it anyway?”
“Well, if you’re asking that, then I guess I woke you up. It’s almost six. I just had to call. I couldn’t wait any longer. You were out last night when the police came by.”
“The police? Why were they here?” Sarah asked. She was still a bit blurry eyed but slipped on her robe and went into the kitchen to start the coffee.
“It was that Detective Shields. He has a way about him that makes you want to confess even if you haven’t done a thing.”
“What did he wan
t?”
Sophie sighed deeply and said he had come by around seven the night before. She asked him why he was working so late and he said they were interviewing everyone again. He said they’re beginning to suspect it was an “inside job,” as he so eloquently put it.
“What?” exclaimed Sarah. “An inside job? What does he think this is, a community of hardened criminals disguised as old people? I’m angry with that man all over again.”
“Well, he did explain how he came to this conclusion, and I must admit, it makes some sense,” Sophie said rather reluctantly.
“Makes some sense? How can that possibly ...” Sarah paused. “... wait a minute. Why are we talking about this on the phone at the crack of dawn? Come on over. I’ll put the coffee on.”
A few minutes later, Sophie burst through the door in her hot-pink elephant pajamas and her green trench coat. She slipped her coat off and dropped it across a chair, revealing the tattered purple nightshirt she had pulled on over her pajamas.
“I hope this isn’t what you were wearing when the good detective arrived last night,” Sarah jokingly commented.
“Well, this is exactly what I was wearing, and he can just arrest me for unlawful fashion.” She poured herself a cup of coffee and helped herself to several of the oatmeal cookies Sarah had placed on the table. “I always eat oatmeal for breakfast,” she offered. “It’s very good for you, you know.”
“Okay, Sophie. Swallow that mouthful and tell me what you were talking about earlier.”
“Okay, here’s the thing. The police have reviewed all the tapes for the day that Andy was killed.”
“What tapes?”
“... from the cameras at the gates,” Sophie explained. “The gate has cameras going 24-7. According to Shields, no one entered the Village who didn’t belong here. Two people had visitors, and they had permission to come. Otherwise, there were only residents who came and went. They even checked several days before and after his death just to be sure.”
“Well, that doesn’t mean it was one of us. Isn’t there another way to get in?” Sarah asked.
“Actually, no. You can only get into the Village by the gate. But just in case, Detective Shields told me that they also checked every inch of the fence to make sure there were no breaks. We’re really very well protected here,” Sophie proudly pointed out.
“Not too protected,” Sarah observed. “Andy was murdered here.”
They drank coffee and quietly thought about this new development. Sophie had a few more cookies. Eventually, Sarah spoke up, saying emphatically, “Well, no one from the Village could have done this. No one from here would do that.”
“... and you know everyone from here, I take it?” Sophie asked sarcastically.
“Well, no ...”
“So? Maybe it was someone from here. Maybe we need to broaden our net and talk to more people. Someone must know something.”
“Oh my. I completely forgot something I wanted to tell you,” Sarah stated abruptly. “Someone called me last night. Now, where did I put that piece of paper ...?” She searched around the cabinet by the kitchen phone where she collected papers and bills awaiting action. “Here it is. This lady called and said she wanted my advice about whether to talk to the police.”
“Who was it?” Sophie asked.
“It was a woman named Millie. Millie Lake.”
“I know Millie. We’ve all known Millie and Ralph since we moved here. Did she have some information?” Sophie asked and continued without waiting for an answer. “Maybe we can talk to her before the police. Go call her. We’ll go right over.”
“Slow down, Sophie. First of all, she just said that she thought Andy looked troubled last week. And second of all, look at you. You aren’t dressed to call on anyone. I think I’ll call her and tell her she should contact Detective Shields and report what she knows. Then I’ll ask her if we can stop by later today and talk to her. Okay?” Sophie nodded while reaching for another cookie.
Later that day, the two women arrived at Millie Lake’s house. Millie seemed very shaken and admitted that she hadn’t called Detective Shields as Sarah had suggested. She offered the women tea, and both accepted, thinking it might help Millie calm down if she had something to keep her occupied.
Sarah and Sophie sat down at the kitchen table. Sarah brought up the subject while Millie prepared the tea. “Tell me, Millie. Why didn’t you call the detective?”
“I was just too nervous,” Millie admitted. “I was hoping you would do it for me.”
“Well, Millie, I’d be happy to place the call and tell Detective Shields that you have something to tell him, but then you really need to tell your story directly to him.”
Sophie spoke up and asked, “Would it help to tell us first?” Sarah shot her a look, knowing that she was dying of curiosity and wanted to hear the story as soon as possible.
“Yes, it would,” Millie said, somewhat relieved. She put the steeping teapot on the table along with the cups and began talking. She seemed reluctant to talk about it at first but became more animated as she talked. She explained that she and Andy took water aerobics together. The day before he was killed, he seemed different. Usually he was helping people into the pool and showing newcomers the moves. But that day he just stayed to himself. He didn’t work out energetically and seemed very preoccupied. When his cell phone rang, he jumped out of the pool, grabbed the phone, and moved to the far corner of the room. “I wasn’t able to hear what he was saying, but he didn’t get back in the pool. He just left without a word to anyone. In fact, I didn’t even see him dry off. He just pulled his jeans and tee-shirt on and left.”
“How long was that before he was murdered?” Sarah asked.
“A day or two, I guess. Maybe the same day. He was found Thursday, wasn’t he?” Millie asked.
“Yes. Thursday night very late, as I understand it,” Sarah replied. “Sometime before morning. The Village security folks saw the door open and the lights on all night.”
“Well, then it must have been our Thursday class—the day he was killed, I guess,” Millie said with tears welling up in her eyes.
The three women sipped their tea and talked about the fact that the police needed to know this. “It isn’t much,” Sarah said, “but they need to know everything. That phone call could be important, and they have ways to find out who he was calling.”
Before they left, Sarah placed a call to Detective Shields. Millie spoke to him briefly, but she began to sob. Sarah took the phone and explained that Millie was too upset to talk right then, and she went on to tell him the gist of what Millie had said. As she suspected, Shields said he would need to speak to her in person and agreed to come to her house later in the day. Sarah gave him the address and hung up. Millie pleaded with the two women to stay with her until he came, but Sarah said she had other commitments and had to leave. They both assured her she would do fine. “Just tell him exactly what you told us,” Sophie said.
“Why do you think she’s so upset?” Sarah asked Sophie after they left. “She was only reporting that Andy seemed distracted. I don’t understand the intensity of her reaction.”
“I have no idea. She seems scared. I think there’s much more to the story than she’s telling us. Maybe the good detective can beat it out of her,” Sophie suggested. “He can probably even get her to confess to the murder ... and maybe several others,” she added sarcastically.
Sarah ignored Sophie’s sarcasm and said, “Well, she’s very high-strung. Just the thought of talking to the police seems to terrify her. But I don’t have the time to stay there until he shows up.” Besides, something about the woman was bothering her.
After she dropped Sophie off, Sarah went home and pulled out her writing pad. She was beginning to feel overwhelmed and needed to sit down and make a list of what she needed to do. She jotted down the following items: make an appointment with Detective Shields regarding their progress, buy fabrics for the next class, get a dog, solve Andy’s murder, and call Ma
rtha and Jason about coming to dinner. She looked at her list and wondered if she should throw it away. If anyone reads this list, she told herself, they will certainly think I’m losing my sanity.
Chapter 16
The next morning she picked up her list, and her eyes went directly to one item. “Get a dog.” Sarah hadn’t had a dog since she was a child, but once she started thinking about getting one for protection, it caused her to reflect on all the fun she had with Max, her border collie.
Maxine was an energetic dog, and Sarah doubted that she could, at her age, keep up with another one like Max. But she had been Sarah’s very best friend all through school. She would rush home to get Max so they could leave on one of their many adventures through the fields and woods surrounding her childhood home. Maxine always looked at Sarah with such love in her eyes. Jon had often looked at her in that same way.
Feeling she had strayed far afield from the tasks at hand, Sarah returned to her list. Nothing really appealed to her on the list except looking for a dog. Setting the list aside, she decided to go to the pound and just walk through. Not to get a dog today, of course, she told herself emphatically. Just to look around. She thought about inviting Sophie to go with her but decided this was something she should do alone.
Sarah entered the animal shelter hesitantly. The young people at the counter were kidding around and didn’t notice her right away. A young man in a red tee-shirt and jeans suddenly looked up. With a bright smile, he said, “Good morning. I’m Bill, and this is Nancy. What can we do for you today?”
Sarah explained she was just there to look and that she was in the early stages of thinking about adopting a dog. The three talked awhile about what she was looking for. Nancy slid off of her stool and stood, revealing that, although she seemed to be the older of the two, she barely reached to Bill’s shoulder. They both appeared to be about fifteen, but all young adults looked to be about fifteen to Sarah now that she was approaching seventy. She thought about how old she must look to them with her short gray hair, polyester pants, and sensible shoes.
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