Quilt As Desired (24 page)

"My part of the story picks up again Monday. Mavis and I returned from Tacoma with Lauren's quilt. I gave it to Lauren here and then went to look for one of the young women from the Thursday night group. I got to her apartment, and the door was slightly ajar. I pushed it open and that's the last thing I remember clearly until I woke in the hospital. I'm not even sure how I drove my car home."

"She's not mentioning that the girl's apartment was down in the dock area."

Jenny and Connie rolled their eyes.

"I know your aunt taught you better than that,” Connie said.

"The girl lives there,” Harriet countered.

"That doesn't make it a safe place,” Jenny told her.

"Continue,” Sarah interrupted. She was clearly bored with the conversation.

"I went to stay with Mavis when I got out of the hospital. We went to the memorial service and saw all of you. Then I went to my studio to take Sarah's quilt off my machine and re-stitch Lauren's."

"And I found her on the floor, passed out,” Sarah interjected. “If I hadn't come along she'd probably be dead. Not that she thanked me or anything."

Harriet looked at her but couldn't think of an appropriate response.

"I took Harriet back by Beth's place so she could get her cat, and we found Lauren's quilt, or what was left of it, in a pile on the floor,” Mavis said.

Darcy came in and set her nylon stitching bag on the end of the table. She went to the breakroom and came back a moment later with a cup of coffee and two oatmeal raisin cookies.

"Don't stop talking on my account,” she said as she sat down and pulled a quilted square from her bag.

"What are you making?” Robin asked.

Darcy held the nine-inch square up so the group could see it. It was a simple pinwheel variation in sage green and pink. She was sewing a dark-green binding on the block.

"It's a kitchen quilt,” she said. “My sister is remodeling her kitchen, and I'm making her a set that will match her new colors."

"Kitchen quilt” was the group's euphemism for a potholder.

"It's cute,” Jenny said.

"So, what were you guys talking about in here, looking so serious?"

Mavis spoke first. “We were going over Harriet's problems to see if we could make any sense of them. You probably know all about them anyway."

"I'll tell you what I do know—whoever drugged Harriet didn't leave us much to work with. We found the handkerchief that was used to deliver the ether, but it's absolutely ordinary. You can buy them in any variety store. Otherwise, there wasn't anything to work with. Of course, in a studio where fibers are the stock-in-trade of the business, it wasn't likely we were going to find much hair or fiber evidence. So, did you guys come up with anything?"

"We were just starting to work on that when you came in,” Mavis said.

"Let's start with the first incident—the break-in."

Marjory had been listening to the discussion from the kitting room where she was cutting fabric for patterns that would be packaged with the appropriate materials to make a finished quilt top. She came in carrying an easel and flipchart with a couple of marking pens.

"This might help,” she said and went back into the kitting room.

Robin took the green pen and wrote “Harriet's Break In” at the top. “Okay, what do we know?"

"Some quilts were destroyed and some weren't,” said DeAnn.

"Nothing was stolen,” Jenny offered.

"There was no sign of forced entry,” Darcy said.

"I'm not sure how much that means. There are quite a few keys to Beth's studio floating around in the community. Most of us have them,” Mavis pointed out.

"That's a comfort,” Harriet said, and made a mental note to call a locksmith when she got back to Mavis's house.

"What difference was there between the quilts that were damaged and the ones that were passed over?” Sarah asked, initiating a long silence.

"I don't think we know that, do we,” DeAnn stated finally.

"Make a column on your piece of paper,” Connie said. “Let's go around the table. Everyone can say if your quilt was damaged or not. And maybe even say how badly damaged it was."

Each in turn described the quilt they had at the studio and what, if any, damage it suffered. The results didn't yield a ready answer.

"So, what could be gained by destroying the particular quilts that were ruined?” Harriet wondered.

"I'm not naming names, but maybe someone was trying to guarantee a win,” Sarah suggested.

"That doesn't make sense,” Jenny said. “Why would they destroy DeAnn's and leave Connie's and mine alone?"

"Would they even know it was DeAnn's they were destroying?” Harriet asked.

"All the show quilts are labeled, aren't they?” Robin asked.

"My label didn't show up very well,” DeAnn said. The fabric I used wasn't high enough contrast. It faded into the background. I didn't have time to fix it before the show, though, so I just left it."

"I know at least two of the non-show quilts were ruined, and they didn't have labels because they weren't bound yet,” Harriet added, and tried to remember what other work had been in the studio at the time.

"So, maybe instead of damaging show quilts, they were excluding them.” DeAnn offered. “It's hard to imagine why they would do that."

"Unless it was someone who personally knew how much work had gone into them,” Mavis suggested.

"Then we're back to why,” Harriet said. “There's no reason for someone to damage a random assortment of quilts."

"Let's move on to the next event,” DeAnn said. “Harriet finds Avanell.” She wrote it on the flipchart sheet.

"What can you tell us about that?” Robin asked.

"Not much, I'm afraid. I went to Avanell's to get the entry form for her quilt. The receptionist told me she was in the back, so I went to there and found her. She was dead."

"What can you tell us about finding her?” Robin asked.

"It was really sad,” Harriet said. And something she didn't really want to think about.

To distract herself, she scanned the group, looking for brown-eyed girls. Darcy and Mavis were blue-eyed, and Robin had green eyes. That left Sarah, Jenny, Connie and, if you counted hazel, DeAnn. Harriet should remember the color of Lauren's accusing eyes, but all she recalled was the anger in them.

"How was she killed?” Jenny asked.

"I don't know,” Harriet said. “I saw her on the floor and there was a lot of blood around her head, an amount that it would be hard to do without. I touched her hand, and it was stiff. I called nine-one-one, and that was it. I tried not to look at her face, so I don't know what happened."

"Single gunshot to the head,” Darcy supplied. “I think it's okay to tell you that, but don't ask me anything else, ‘cause I can't tell you."

"What kind of gun?” Sarah asked.

"Sarah,” Robin said, “she just said she can't tell us anything, let her be.” She wrote on the chart “found in the early morning, shot in the head, stiff to touch."

"Was anyone else around?” she asked Harriet.

"Not where I found her, but there was a young woman in the reception area.” Harriet would have to check her eye color, too. At least, if you believed the humming of a disturbed young woman.

"Let's move on,” Mavis said. “It was hard enough on Harriet to find the body. She doesn't need to keep talking about it just to satisfy our morbid curiosity."

"Okay,” Robin said. “What happened next? Harriet took the quilts to Tacoma and then came home. And then what happened?"

Nothing I'm telling this group about, decided Harriet as she mentally reviewed her impromptu dinner with Aiden followed by her proper dinner date with Harold.

"The next big event was getting hit on the head,” she said, and Robin wrote “Harriet attack number one."

"Not much to tell there, either,” Harriet said.

"If you aren't willing to tell us anything we aren't going to be able to help you solve your problems,” Sarah complained.

"Look, if I knew more, you'd be the first to know. I went to find a young woman who hadn't showed up at Marjory's Thursday group. For my effort, I got hit in the head. I woke up in my car. I saw no one, I heard nothing."

"Harriet hit in head down by docks,” Robin wrote. “Related or bad luck?” she added in parenthesis.

"The next thing that happened to me was after I got out of the hospital,” Harriet continued. “As I told you, after the reception, I went to work on Sarah's and then Lauren's quilts. I heard a noise, but I thought it was Sarah. Someone put ether on a handkerchief and drugged me from behind."

"Did you get any sense of how tall the person was?” Jenny asked.

"Not really. I was bent over a table, so I suppose the attacker could have been short."

"Well, this has been a real waste of time,” Sarah said.

"I'm sorry. Next time I'm attacked multiple times within a few days, I'll take notes."

"Clearly, whoever drugged you did it to buy time to destroy Lauren's quilt,” Jenny said, and Robin made a note to that effect. “So the break-in, and the drugging and, for that matter, the attempt to remove Lauren's quilt in Tacoma were all related to the Kitties.” Robin put these notes under a heading labeled “Lauren's Quilt.” She went back to the column marked “Harriet finds Avanell” and underlined it.

"But what about Avanell?” she said. “There has to be some connection between the attacks on Harriet and Lauren's quilt and Avanell's death."

Harriet looked at the list again. “This would make more sense if it was Avanell's they were going after. If someone were jealous of Avanell's wins at the quilt show then killing her and destroying her quilt would make sense, in a sick sort of way."

"But Lauren was the one with the most to gain if Avanell's quilt weren't in the show, and she wouldn't destroy her Kitties,” Jenny said. “That would defeat the whole purpose."

"What if it wasn't anyone from your group?” Harriet wondered.

"Would anyone really kill over a quilt?” DeAnn asked no one in particular.

"People kill over pocket change,” Darcy answered.

"I still have to wonder if Avanell's family might be involved,” Harriet said.

"On TV they always say you're most likely to be murdered by a loved one,” Connie said as she tied a knot in the thread she'd just stitched and clipped the end close to the fabric surface.

"Unfortunately, that's a fact,” Darcy said. “Being related is the number one risk factor in murder. It's generally either money or an argument over something stupid. And there are a lot of spouses who think murder is easier than divorce, although that doesn't apply here."

"First, it's hard to believe Avanell's family would hurt her,” Jenny said. “And second, how does destroying the quilt fit into that scenario, assuming Avanell's quilt is the real target.” She looked around the room, but no one had any answers.

"I think I can answer one thing for you,” Marjory said as she came in from the kitting room. “They both chose a red batik for their backing. Avanell used it first, and then Lauren chose it, too. I know that for sure, because Lauren's so sensitive about what Avanell is or isn't doing. I did call Avanell and tell her, but she just laughed and said she wasn't going to start over at that point. If someone only looked from the back and not real close at the stitching, they might look alike."

"We're still missing something,” Harriet said. “It doesn't make sense for someone to kill Avanell and then destroy her quilt. Once she was dead, why would they care?"

"So, we are no closer to figuring this out than we were an hour ago,” Sarah said.

"That's not entirely true,” Robin argued. “If we assume Harriet's attack down by the docks was the result of going into a bad neighborhood alone, then the other two problems were probably about destroying the quilt, whether it was Lauren's or Avanell's that was the target."

"If that's right, then Harriet shouldn't be a target anymore if Lauren's quilt was the thief's goal,” DeAnn said.

"That's a big if,” Mavis pointed out. “If Avanell's quilt is the one, then Harriet won't be safe until the police arrest someone."

"I think you're overlooking the obvious here,” Sarah announced.

"Please,” Jenny said. “Enlighten us."

"We go get Avanell's quilt, and leave it in some easily accessible place. When it's gone, we know Harriet's safe."

"Do we worry about catching this person, who is probably Avanell's killer?” Mavis asked.

"Are we supposed to do everything?” Sarah retorted. “Aren't the police supposed to be catching the killer? Besides, we don't know for sure the same person who is destroying quilts is the person who killed Avanell. It could be two separate incidents."

"Sarah has a point,” Darcy conceded. “First, we can't assume the events are related until we have evidence to link them. And second, it isn't the group's responsibility to solve either crime."

"The police don't seem to be getting anywhere,” Jenny said. She got up and took her cup to the kitchen. They could hear the sound of running water as she rinsed it and set it in the drying rack.

"At least Avanell's quilt is safe for a few more days,” Connie said. She folded the pink-and-orange table runner she'd been binding and put it into her bag. “I took my mother-in-law to the show yesterday, and they had hired additional private security guards. It seemed like we saw a guard every time we turned around."

"If it stays safe, that will tell us something,” Darcy said. “If someone in Avanell's family is behind this, all they have to do is wait until the quilt is returned to them on Sunday. If it's not a family member who wants the quilt, they'll have to make a move in the next two days."

"That's assuming Avanell's is the target,” Harriet said. She finished the last stitches on the baby quilt binding and buried the knot in the batting, clipping the thread end close then pulling the cloth to make the thread withdraw below the surface.

Mavis stood up. “We're going in circles here. Everyone keep your eyes and ears open and call if you hear anything. I'm going to take Harriet back to my place."

Harriet folded the quilt into quarters and took it into the kitting room, where Marjory was now cutting and bagging fabric swatches that would be mailed to her block-of-the-month customers. She held it up for approval.