A Dark and Stormy Knit (Black Sheep Knitting Mystery) (30 page)

Suzanne waved her hand. “I’m sure they taste great. What a menu! . . . What’s for dessert?”

“Red velvet cake, of course. Lucy was in charge of that.”

“Got it covered. I just put it in the fridge,” Lucy reported as she walked in from the kitchen to join them.

“You’ve planned a great dinner. Not to mention these fabulous decorations.” Maggie added, glancing around. There were garlands of paper hearts crisscrossing the apartment, and the table was set with a red cloth and white dishes, along with tall candles and a vase with pink roses.

“Your place looks great, Phoebe. You must have worked on this all day. You shouldn’t have gone to so much trouble just for us,” Lucy said, gazing around.

“Are you kidding? Valentine’s Day isn’t just for some stupid boyfriend you might not even want to see again. It’s a day to show people you really love how much you care. And who do I love more than you guys?” she said, glancing around at the circle of friends. “Except maybe Van Gogh.”

The gray cat sat between Dana and Suzanne on the red love seat. Phoebe had stuck a very un-tomcat pink bow on his collar, but he didn’t seem to mind. He craned his neck and
looked around, aware, it seemed, that he was being talked about.

“Did Van Gogh get his valentine from you yet?” Dana petted the cat, who curled his head into her hand.

“We shared a bagel and lox for breakfast.”

“I bet I know who ate the bagel and who ate the lox.” Lucy laughed. “Now that Charlotte’s returned, will you keep him? Or does she want him back?”

Maggie had been wondering the same thing but had been too worried about the answer to ask. Charlotte had finally returned, about two days after Gena Healey’s arrest. The police claimed that they had been very close to finding her. But Maggie believed the clever young lady had outwitted them all and had only come out of hiding when she was good and ready.

Phoebe had seen her once so far and had not shared much about that meeting. Maggie knew it had been difficult for her. Phoebe’s expression darkened a bit at the mention of her friend’s name, as she set a platter of dip and crusty bread bits on the table.

“Charlotte didn’t mind that I had him. She was pretty relieved that one cat at least had been taken in. Her life is really unsettled now. She’s found homes for a few of them. And may bring a few to a shelter.”

“Okay, we’ve got the cats covered. But what’s going to happen to Charlotte?” Suzanne asked bluntly. “Isn’t she being charged for that stock trading scheme, along with Healey?”

Dana was just about to taste the dip but paused a moment. “Her lawyer worked out a deal. Most of the charges were dropped in exchange for her cooperation. She took only a very tiny portion of all that money and came back on her own. That
all worked in her favor. She claims she had no part in using the information illegally—that was all Healey’s idea. The police believe her. She does have to pay back the thousand dollars she took from the backpack and a hefty fine. And she’ll be on probation for years.”

“Poor girl. What a difficult way to start off your life. But she is young. In a few years, she’ll put this all behind her.” Maggie shook her head. “She really didn’t do anything wrong. But she should have gone straight to the police once she knew that Alex Healey had used the information she gave him.”

“I guess that’s the way the police and the Securities and Exchange Commission feel about it,” Suzanne chimed in. “I feel sorry for her, too, though. She was definitely exploited.”

“She tried to turn Professor Healey in,” Phoebe said quietly. “But she told me it was just too hard to tell on him. She could never go through with it. She’d broken off their relationship. But she still had feelings for him. And she was afraid she’d be in trouble because of what he’d done. That’s one reason she ran away.”

“What will happen to Healey now? Does anyone know?” Lucy looked around curiously.

“He pleaded guilty to the stock manipulation and bargained a reduced sentence,” Dana told the others. “He has to serve some jail time, about a year or less, and then has to do a lot of community service. Probably teach in a prison or something like that.”

“At least he’ll be around for his children eventually. Gena Healey will probably be in jail a very long time. Even though she confessed and tried to use some sort of insanity defense. Temporarily unhinged due to jealous rage over her husband’s
betrayal,” Maggie recalled. “Her planning seemed so detailed and premeditated—the glove, the boots, and planting the yarn in his studio—I don’t see how she can say she was temporarily crazy.”

“Love makes people crazy. It’s a known fact,” Dana said with a laugh. “Didn’t Aristotle say love is a kind of sickness?”

“Maybe . . . but what a topic of conversation for a Valentine’s Day party,” Lucy said with a laugh.

“A cautionary tale,” Maggie agreed with a grin. “Mainly for middle-aged husbands with beautiful young mistresses,” she added. Then felt a little insensitive, knowing Phoebe was still friends with Charlotte.

Though they could never be as close again as they once were. Charlotte had betrayed Phoebe, too, in a way. Though maybe she couldn’t help it, believing that her secrets were the only way to protect herself.

“Yeah, Charlotte fell for Professor Healey big-time. I’m not sure it was a sickness. But it wasn’t a wellness,” Phoebe had to agree. “Too bad she didn’t see what a phony he was until it was too late. She never wanted to go along with his stupid plan to run off to Italy and all that.” Phoebe made a face and shook her head. “She was scared of Quentin, too. Another reason to put distance between herself and Plum Harbor.”

Suzanne nodded. “I totally get it. After Charlotte heard about Beth Shelton, murdered by mistake . . . well, that was another reason to run away and hide. A good one, if you ask me.”

“At least she came back and took the heat. I can’t believe that with all their high-tech gadgets the police couldn’t find her. That was pretty cool,” Phoebe added with admiration. “But I feel like a dummy. I should have guessed it right off.”

“Really? How?” Lucy asked curiously. “Where was she anyway? I never heard that part.”

“She was at her grandmother’s house, on a farm. Out in the Pennsylvania Dutch country,” Maggie explained.

“That piece in the gallery,
Granny’s Parlor
. Remember?” Phoebe asked her friends.

“Oh, right . . . I remember that one.” Suzanne nodded as she took another forkful of beet salad. “Why didn’t the police look for her there? Didn’t they realize she had a grandmother?”

“They checked in with all her relatives when Charlotte first went missing. But Charlotte’s granny is very old, and a bit senile,” Dana explained. “Between the time the police called and the time Charlotte showed up, Granny forgot about the instructions to get in touch if she saw her granddaughter. Charlotte was easily able to keep that part of the situation under control. And police in that area, who were told to watch the farm, didn’t do a very good job,” Dana added. “Charlotte was able to stay there over a week without anyone seeing her.”

“They would have spotted her sooner or later,” Lucy said. “Or the FBI would have figured it out. I guess that’s why she just came back.”

“Part of the reason,” Phoebe cut in. “She said she’d been following the local news around here online and felt really bad that I was getting into so much trouble . . . and bad about Professor Healey, too. She didn’t believe he’d killed Beth by mistake, either. But I don’t think she suspected his wife,” Phoebe added.

“None of us did . . . except you,” Maggie pointed out, giving her full credit. “I suppose we all should have. Including Reyes and Mossbacher. It does seem like an obvious choice
now. But there were a lot of distractions. The Knit Kats, first and foremost. What’s become of Professor Finch? I read in the newspaper that she stepped down voluntarily from her position at Whitaker.”

“I guess the choice was walk away in semidignity or get dragged out by campus security . . . and she didn’t want to be in the news again,” Phoebe decided. “I heard she’s moving to Florida, to join the missing Knit Kat. Some literature professor who used to teach at Tufts and lives in . . . New Smyrna Beach? Did I get the name right? Is there such a place?” Phoebe asked her friends.

“Yes, that’s right. New Smyrna Beach.” Suzanne nodded. “Makes me think of a beach resort where Smurfs go on vacation. But I’ve heard it’s really pretty and a cool place. Good real-estate values.”

“Well, I hope she’s happy there. A strange woman, but I felt sorry for her,” Maggie admitted. “Detective Reyes told me that Sonya Finch admitted to making that prank call to the shop. She just wanted to rattle my cage a bit. And she had some vague thought of recruiting me for her cause. Can you believe that?” Maggie shook her head and took out her knitting.

“She’ll have to hunt for new recruits in Florida,” Lucy pointed out. “Maybe they’ll start up a new chapter. The Sun and Sand Kats. No, wait . . . the Smyrna Kats?”

Phoebe stood up and signaled time-out while the rest of her friends laughed at Lucy’s silly joke.

“Hey, you guys, get a grip. The pasta isn’t done yet. How about we show off our Valentine’s Day projects?”

Dana started digging in her knitting bag. “Good idea . . . I have a few. Two teddy bears and two pairs of socks for the shelter.
And the ear warmers for Jack. If he’s embarrassed by the hearts he can just use them to keep the dust off his clubs in the winter.”

Maggie had a strong feeling Jack would choose the latter. But he would surely be touched by Dana’s thoughtful effort.

“I finished the Roosevelt mittens. They’re definitely worthy of a titan of history . . . or my husband,” Suzanne told the others. “And they were so easy. I also almost finished a teddy bear for the shelter.”

“Good work, Suzanne. Very generous of you.” Suzanne was usually a slow knitter and Maggie was very impressed.

“I made this cover for Matt’s coffee mug.” Lucy displayed a red mug cover with a pink heart. “And I’m working on some socks for the shelter. I might have at least one pair done by tomorrow,” she added, holding up her needles.

“I made a few things for the shelter, too,” Maggie said finally. “But my favorite is this pillow cover. Which is for a special someone.” Maggie took a knitted pillow cover from her bag. She had used a dark red yarn. There was a heart in the middle and a golden border.

“I hand-stitched the lettering on this side. But I think it came out well,” she added, showing her friends both sides.

“ ‘Good friends are like stars. You can’t always see them. But you know they are always there,’ ” Suzanne read out loud. She smiled at Maggie, her eyes shining. “Aw . . . that’s so sweet . . . and true,” she added quickly.

“I think so. I made it for my good friend . . . Phoebe.” She smiled at their young hostess. “You’ll have to be my valentine this year, Phoebe. As you know, I don’t have a special guy to celebrate with tomorrow.”

“Neither do I. But I have you guys. And that’s plenty.”

Maggie handed her the pillow cover, and Phoebe gave her a hug.

“Hey, I’m all for my women friends. But how is it that two fabulous creatures like you and Phoebe are going dateless in Plum Harbor tomorrow night?” Suzanne peered at Maggie, one of her not-letting-you-off-the-hook looks.

Maggie squirmed. Luckily, Phoebe spoke up first. “I’m taking a break from men. I need to like totally detox my brain, heart, and soul after Josh. And clean all his junk out of my apartment.”

“Good plan, Phoebe,” Dana said with approval.

“Oh, you know me . . .” Maggie shrugged. “I’d rather be alone than go out with just anybody . . . I do have a date for Saturday night. But it’s just a first date and surely doesn’t count for Valentine’s Day.”

All eyes turned to her. She was sorry at first that she’d let the information slip out. But she did enjoy the shocked looks on their faces.

“In your case, anything counts,” Suzanne said bluntly. “And when did this happen? You held out on us, Maggie,” she scolded.

“I’m telling you now, aren’t I?” Maggie stared back at her, feeling her cheeks get red.

“Did you finally try PerfectDate-dot-com?” Dana had been coaxing her for months to try an online dating service that had helped a lot of her clients.

“No, I didn’t,” she said with satisfaction. “I did it the old-fashioned way. Meeting a real live person face-to-face.”

“So who is it? Have we seen this face-to-face anyplace?” Suzanne asked eagerly.

“Yes, you have . . . It’s Charles Mossbacher,” she said quietly, watching for their reactions.

“Detective Mossbacher? Right under my nose!” Phoebe stared at her.

“I can see it.” Dana nodded quickly. “Now that you mention it. When you told us the way he came here and asked you to compare the photos of knitting, I had a feeling something was going on. He didn’t really have to do that.”

“No, I guess not,” Maggie admitted. “But it was interesting. I enjoyed contributing, even a tiny bit, to the investigation. I asked him about that the other day, when he called to ask me out. He said that one of the photos was a sample of Sonya Finch’s knitting, another a sample of Charlotte’s, and the third was the wrapping found on Beth Shelton’s body.”

“And you were right when you told him that none of it matched,” Lucy pointed out. “No wonder he likes you. He can tell you’d be a good intellectual match for him.”

“He is smart. And seems really nice,” Phoebe added in a saner tone. “Even though he’s a policeman.”

“Well, Lucy and I haven’t met him yet.” Suzanne glanced at Lucy. “Can’t you tell us a little more?”

Maggie shrugged. “Not much to tell. He is very smart and seems kind. And we seem to get along . . .” She also liked his eyes and his smile. Which so far had been rare, but she hoped that off duty, she’d see a bit more of it. “Much too soon to know anything more. We’ll see how it goes, I guess.”

Maggie did like him more than she was willing to let on. Especially to Suzanne. It really was too early to tell. Except that something about him made her feel willing to try again.

“So what do you all think? Is there hope for me yet?” she asked the group.

Phoebe patted her heartily on the shoulder. “Absolutely. I hope it works out with Chaaarrrrles . . .” She comically dragged out his name. “But you always have us, your loyal knitting pals.”