Yarn Over Murder (A Knitting Mystery) (18 page)

“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 question 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.

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.”

“Thank God, those firefighters were tellin’ the truth. The ranch house is still there. In one piece.”

Thank God.
Kelly sent a brief prayer above, totally forgetting that she hadn’t prayed in years. “Oh, Jayleen, I’m so happy for you and relieved.” She felt herself relax inside. “I’ve been worried that those firefighters might have been mistaken.”

“You and me both, Kelly-girl. We had to go in with police supervision, so it took longer to get up there. I swear, I felt muscles I didn’t even know I had relax when we turned onto the driveway. I jumped out of Curt’s truck before it even rolled to a stop. I just had to get up close and take a look.” She released a long sigh. “The entire ranch house is intact and so is the garage. The corrals and barn are okay, too. There’s fire damage in the front pasture and below and along the sides. Some of the fences were burned, and that outbuilding in the pasture I used for corrals and storage was completely burned. Of course, there’s that pinkish red fire retardant slurry over everything, but that’s okay. Bless the retardant, I say. That helped keep blowing cinders from igniting. I’ll live with a pink and red ranch. I’m grateful.”

Kelly hadn’t realized how worried she’d become until she’d felt herself relax. Even though it wasn’t her property, Kelly felt like she was halfway invested in it. She was Jayleen’s accountant, she’d overseen the financing, and she’d drawn up a new budget for her. Plus, and more important, she was Jayleen’s friend and didn’t want to see her lose everything she’d spent the last twenty years building for herself.

“I agree, Jayleen. And don’t worry about that fire-fighting retardant. All of us will help you clean it off.”

“Don’t worry about it. It wears off. We’ll have enough to do repairing fences and hauling away burned wood and brush. Most of the ridges on the north and west of the ranch are almost completely burned. So we’ll have plenty to clear out on those hills as well. Then we’ll have to do some restoration work there. Otherwise the monsoon rains will come in July and wash away both hillsides. Dirt, soot, charred soil. Everything in a black slush.”

“Well, we’ll be there. Steve’s been champing at the bit, wanting to help. Marty and Megan and Greg and Lisa said the same thing. When do you think authorities would allow nonresidents to drive into the canyon?”

“I don’t know, Kelly. We’ll just have to wait and see on that. But I sure am grateful that you folks want to help out. That means the world to me. You know it does.”

“I do, indeed, Jayleen. Watching you building your ranch and alpaca business step-by-step with hard work and smart decisions, well . . . that makes my little CPA heart sing. You’re a role model, you know that?”

Jayleen gave a snort. “Well, I wouldn’t go that far, Kelly. But it’s nice to have your hard work recognized. Thank you for that.”

“It’s the truth.” Kelly walked over to the cottage kitchen counter and poured the last of the coffee in her pot into a large tumbler glass.

“Tell me, what kind of song does a CPA’s heart sing?” Jayleen teased.

Kelly chuckled. “I don’t know, probably that television program theme song ‘Money, money, money . . .’”

Jayleen cackled. “Kelly-girl, you are a hoot and a half. Listen, Curt’s waving me over to the barn. He’s figuring out how we can transport my herd back to the ranch without disturbing you folks like last time.”

“Hey, we wouldn’t mind. There’s no smoke to choke us now.” Kelly grabbed several ice cubes from her freezer bin and dropped them into the glass with her coffee. Iced coffee was becoming a necessity these days.

“And last time there was a murder, so Curt and I both figure it’ll be better if we simply bring them over two at a time. Don’t want to tempt Fate.”

Kelly could tell Jayleen was kidding, trying to hide the fact that she didn’t want to ask all her friends to give up another summer weekend for her. “Whatever you say, Jayleen. I’m gonna text the gang right now and let everyone know the good news.”

“Oh, thank you, Kelly. That would really help me out. I’ve got enough folks to contact myself.”

“No problem, Jayleen. Talk to you later.”

Kelly clicked off and slowly walked to her patio screen door. A warm breeze was blowing through. Carl was snuffling in the flower beds in the backyard, finding faint odors of squirrel feet, no doubt. Elusive, enticing. Brazen Squirrel was nowhere in sight.

She sent a brief text message on her smartphone to her friends, including Mimi and Burt, spreading Jayleen’s good news. Then she checked her phone directory and found Arthur Housemann’s number. His secretary answered.

“Good morning, this is Kelly. I wonder if Arthur is in. I have some good news to tell him.”

“He’s meeting with an investor right now. I’ll have him give you a call as soon as he finishes.”

“That would be great. Thank you so much.” Kelly clicked off, dropped her phone into her briefcase bag, already filled with her laptop and the day’s account files, and checked Carl’s jumbo water dish to make sure it was still full before heading to the knitting shop.

The moment Kelly stepped into the shop foyer, Mimi looked up from a nearby yarn display and beamed. “Kelly! I just got your text. That’s wonderful news! Oh, I’m so thankful that Jayleen’s ranch is okay. Burt and I were
so
worried.”

“I know. We all were. She said she’d have us all up to the ranch as soon as she was allowed.” Kelly walked into the main room and set her briefcase and iced coffee on the table.

Mimi followed after her. “That news has made my day. That, plus the fact that Connie found something that can help establish her whereabouts that Saturday evening.”

Kelly blinked. “You’re kidding! What was it?”

“Connie’s lawyer told her to check carefully and see if she had any receipts from that Saturday evening that she could use to establish when she’d left the canyon. So Connie dug around in her purse and her car and found a crinkled receipt down between the front car seats. It showed that she’d stopped at that restaurant near the crossroads in Landport at eight forty-five p.m. And she remembers now that she talked to a waitress she knows.” Mimi’s face shone with excitement as she talked. “That proves Connie was in Fort Connor by that time. So she couldn’t have been up Poudre Canyon.” Mimi looked triumphant.

Kelly smiled at her dear friend.
Mother Mimi
. Always looking out for and worrying about others. “That’s definitely good news, Mimi. Let’s hope it’s enough to satisfy the detectives.” She didn’t say anything else. Kelly figured that Detective Dan was already on the trail of another suspect—Jim Carson.

Mimi let out a long sigh. “I declare, I feel like a load of bricks has been lifted off my shoulders, worrying about Connie and Jayleen at the same time.”

Kelly reached over and gave Mimi a hug. “We’re all relieved, Mimi. I felt the same way. Worry sure weighs a lot.”

Mimi hugged her back. “It surely does, Kelly.” Mimi’s distinctive cell phone jingle sounded. She dug it out of her shirt pocket. “Oh, I’ve got to take this, Kelly. It’s that vendor I’ve been calling since yesterday,” she said as she walked toward the shop front.

Kelly was about to settle in for some accounting in the quiet morning when her cell phone rang again.

Arthur Housemann’s name and number flashed on the screen. “Hey, Arthur, I heard some good news from my Bellevue Canyon friend Jayleen Swinson. She was able to go up to her property yesterday afternoon. So, that must mean all of you Poudre Canyon folks ought to be able to see your places this weekend, don’t you think?”

“I sure hope so, Kelly. People have been calling me all morning with that good news. We’ve got a meeting tonight with the authorities, and I pray they’ll give us the green light for tomorrow.”

“I’ll keep my fingers crossed, Arthur.”

“I tell you, all of us are straining at the bit, dying to get up there. Please tell me that Jayleen’s house was spared.”

“Yes, the ranch house, barn, and corrals near the house were okay, but the property was burned all around the pasture edges. Fences were burned and an outbuilding was destroyed. Several trees were gone not far from the house, cut down by firefighters to help make a fire line around the house.”

“I’d say she was damn lucky. Just about everyone up Whale Rock Road got burned out, from what I’ve heard.”

“Be prepared for reddish pink fire retardant slurry. Jayleen said that slurry was all over the ranch house roof and the barn and on the ground around the house. So brace yourself just in case.”

Arthur laughed. “I’ll take it. Slurry wears off. It’s still better than burned.”

“Don’t forget, Dennis told Jayleen that the wildfire didn’t get all the way down to your house or his. So, you may luck out entirely, Arthur.”

Arthur’s voice sobered quickly. “Ah, poor Dennis. Have the police decided to charge him with anything yet?”

“Yes, Burt told me he’d heard they were going to charge Dennis with theft. I have no idea how much jail time is involved with that. Apparently he only withdrew the amount of Andrea’s funeral bill and hospital charges.”

“Well, I certainly hope the police go easy on the poor guy. He’s a good man. Rough but good-hearted. He’d go out of his way to help you if he could. He helped me lug a huge old truck engine into my garage once. Even helped me cut down some sucker trees on the outer edge of my property, near his place. I asked him if I could borrow his chain saw, and he volunteered to cut the trees down. Of course, he might have been worried that I’d cut my hand off. Maybe that’s why he offered.” Arthur chuckled.

“That’s probably what was going through his mind. I won’t get near a chain saw. I’d cut down a beautiful plant by accident. I can reduce a forsythia bush to a hassock with long-handled garden clippers.”

This time Arthur laughed out loud. It was good to hear him laugh. She hadn’t heard Jayleen or Arthur laugh loud and deep for the past two weeks.

“Kelly, that image will stay with me forever. I can picture you now trying to make that unruly bush behave. God help the forsythia.”

“Sad, but true. Some of us should never be allowed to prune anything but numbers.”

“I also can’t get poor Dennis out of my mind,” Arthur said. “I can understand the police charging him with the theft, but I certainly hope they’re not serious about charging him with his ex-wife’s death. What have you heard?”

“Well . . . to be honest, it sounds like Dennis is at the top of the suspect list, principally because of his taking Andrea’s money. Detectives learned about his financial problems. He was behind in his mortgage payment—”

“Oh, no.”

“Yes, and the police are thinking he may have had his eyes on Andrea’s money as a way to solve his financial woes. The detective learned Dennis wanted to reconcile with his wife—”

“Oh, no . . .”

“
And
the detective also learned that Dennis was really disappointed that his wife was serious about this other guy. That guy was also there with her in the canyon, so Dennis could see them together. I mean, he’d told Jayleen many times and I’m sure she told the police when she and Curt were questioned.”

“Yes, you’re right. Dennis told me how he wanted to get back with his wife, and I’m only his neighbor.”

“I was there in the canyon helping bring alpacas to Andrea’s ranch. You could tell that those two guys, Dennis and Jim, were like two stags in mating season. They couldn’t wait to tangle antlers. And they did. Jim pushed Dennis and Dennis grabbed Jim by the shirt and yanked him. He was ready to deck Jim, you could tell, until Steve and Greg stepped between them.”

“Oh, brother. That’s not good. No wonder the police have got him on their list.”

“Yeah, and he’s moved higher, now. Thank goodness our friend Connie who works at Lambspun remembers talking to a café waitress she knows that night and has a receipt that shows she was back in Landport the evening of Andrea’s death. That will help her move from the top of the list.”

“And poor Dennis moves up,” Arthur said with a sigh. “I swear, if your friend was able to find a waitress that helped establish her whereabouts, then Dennis ought to be able to find people who can vouch for him. I saw him earlier that evening, at sunset. He told me he was going up to keep watch on the ridge in case the wildfire started moving our way. I know he wasn’t up there alone, because I’ve talked with others since then who said they were up there, too. Maybe I should call one of those guys. Maybe some of them could vouch for Dennis with police. The wildfire crossed over that night, and firefighters and police were driving around evacuating everyone. I don’t see how Dennis could be up on the ridge keeping fire watch and killing his wife at the same time.”

Kelly pondered what Arthur said. “You know, Arthur, that makes sense. I guess I figured that Dennis would have already asked his friends or neighbors to vouch for him. But, then, he may have been embarrassed to admit that police suspected him of involvement in Andrea’s death.”

“I think that’s exactly what went through his mind. Dennis strikes me as a stoic sort, who doesn’t like to ask for help. He’ll offer you help readily, but I wish he’d been more forthcoming with how bad his financial problems were. I’ve helped others in town in similar circumstances. Some people just go through a rough patch and need a little help.”

“You’re a sweetheart, Arthur.”

“Don’t let it get around. I’ve got to protect my hard-driving businessman image.” Arthur chuckled.

“I promise, I’ll never tell. Meanwhile, why don’t you call some of those guys and see if they can vouch for Dennis’s whereabouts that night.”

“I think I will, Kelly. Of course, if they can, that may move your friend Connie back into first place on the police list.”

“There’s someone else who’s shown up on their radar screen now, so I’m hoping he’ll take the police spotlight off Dennis and Connie. And it’s all because of what you told me about that late-night rider. You know, the guy you gave a ride to the night of the wildfire.”