Chapter 20
As Cora and Jane settled in, the class had just started. Ryan Anderson, the teacher, oozed the presence of superstar. Cora would bet her life that half the women in the room already crocheted. But a handsome, personable guy who could also crochet? Women swarmed around him at all the craft events. It was almost as bad as Jude Sawyer, the “rock star” broom maker guest teacher during Cora’s first retreat at Kildare House.
Cora eyed the room and recognized some of the crafters. Katy and her group were clustered around their own table. Mathilde, her assistant, and Zooey were gathered around another table with a few others Cora didn’t recognize.
“So yesterday,” Ryan said, “we made these beautiful coasters.”
He held up an example, a coaster shaped like a flattened seashell. How clever, thought Cora.
“Some of you were surprised by how versatile crochet is,” he said. “It’s more than Grandma’s afghans and shawls.”
A little twitter from the crowd.
“Though there’s nothing wrong with that. We love afghans and shawls,” he said. “Today, we’re going to make something more traditional, but still basic. We’re going to make hats.”
His assistant passed out booklets and baskets of yarn.
“While you are situating yourselves, I’d like to tell you a little about crochet,” he said.
Cora reached into her basket and felt the yarn. There was something so soothing about the feel of quality yarn. She could almost feel her heart rate slow and her cloud of worry dissipate. Almost.
Ryan went on. “The word crochet comes from the French croche, meaning ‘hook,’ but it was most likely developed from a Chinese form of needlework called ‘tambouring.’ This technique was similar to modern crochet, except it was worked on a fabric background with fine thread and a fine needle with a hook on one end.”
“How did it move to Europe?” someone asked.
“Well, nobody knows for sure, but the theory is once tambouring reached Europe in the 1700s, someone discovered the thread stitches would hang together without the fabric background, and voilà, crochet was born,” he said.
“Now, while I’m filling you in about the fascinating history of crochet, I want you to choose your color scheme from the basket of yarn we’re passing out. If you don’t like the colors in your basket, feel free to trade,” he said, smiling his million-dollar smile.
“I like him,” Jane mouthed to Cora.
“So,” Ryan went on, “this discovery happened in time to help Ireland during the famine. Can you believe it? Crochet to the rescue!”
Laughter from the crowd.
“It was the 1800s, and the potato blight sent many poor Irish families who depended on the crop for income into poverty. Mademoiselle Riego de la Blanchardiere decided something must be done about the situation. The peasants desperately needed a new trade, something that offered easily accessible materials that could be worked on in less than ideal conditions, and would appeal to the nobles as a treasured commodity. Crochet provided all these requirements, and soon the unique style of Irish crochet lace became coveted worldwide. But most importantly, it gave the people a way to feed their families.”
“I had no idea!” Mathilde said loudly.
“Okay, so maybe it hadn’t occurred to Mademoiselle Riego de la Blanchardiere that Irish lace would be the savior of the country, but she’s the person generally credited with inventing the style. She also wrote the first book of crochet patterns, which was published in 1846,” he said, chuckling.
Cora and Jane traded baskets. Jane hated pink and her basket was full of shades of pink. Cora didn’t mind it. Pink wasn’t her favorite color, but she didn’t despise pink like Jane did. Jane refused to allow anyone to buy pink things for London when she was born.
“Today, of course, crochet is known in many forms. Our pioneering grandmothers, poor from the Great Depression and later World War Two, would save every scrap of yarn and turn them into what are now known as granny squares,” Ryan said. “Of the laces, there is broomstick lace, which was originally worked on the end of a broomstick; and hairpin lace, which is worked over two pins. Tunisian or Afghan crochet almost seeks to combine crocheting and knitting techniques. And even Japan has its own form of crochet known as amigurumi, which is the art of crocheting small stuffed toys.
“And it doesn’t end there. Now creative crafters are incorporating beads, wire, plastic bags, and countless other notions into their work. Every day it seems someone thinks up something new to do with crochet. The possibilities are endless. And many of those possibilities are right here in this room,” he said, beaming.
Jane’s attention was focused on choosing a crochet hook, digging around in the basket.
“I want to tell you about these hats,” Ryan said. “They are from a pattern by my dear friend, Edie. I’m sure many of you have heard of her.”
Murmurs of acknowledgment rumbled from the crowd.
Cora glanced at the pattern booklet and saw Edie smiling and dressed in colorful garb on the cover. Maybe she’d have Edie to Kildare House sometime in the future.
“Let’s jump in, shall we?” he said. “Oh, I see some of you are off to the races.”
Cora’s fingers found a rhythm as she followed the pattern. It was written so well that she didn’t have a hard time following. She was not great with knitting and crocheting, but today, it was like her fingers took over. As she focused on creating the hat, her mind emptied of thoughts about Adrian, Marcy Grimm, and Josh Dupres. Practicing what she preached. There was something about the feel of the yarn, the rhythm of her fingers, that was so soothing.
She hung on to the feeling throughout the rest of the class and even as it finished. She felt renewed.
But when Cora exited the room, she noted her phone alerted her to messages.
One was from Adrian: Went for a walk, came back exhausted. Catch you for dinner?
Another one was from Detective Brodsky: Call me when you can.
Jane peeked over her shoulder at the phone. “Well, he didn’t waste any time, did he?”
“He must have found something,” Cora said.
The two of them escaped to a quiet corner and sat down on overstuffed wicker chairs. Floor-to-ceiling windows provided an excellent view of the beach. A sudden longing to go outside and spread her toes in the sand came over Cora, but instead she dialed Brodsky.
“What do you have for me?” she said once he’d answered.
“Well, here’s the scoop,” he said. Cora could almost see the twinkle in his eyes. “When they found her, they thought it was an allergic reaction to a jellyfish sting. Right?”
“Yes,” she said. “That’s what I read.”
“But her family insisted she would not be out for a midnight swim—for that very reason,” he said. “She never went in the water because she was deathly afraid of getting stung.”
“Makes sense,” Cora said. Jane watched her intently as several women passed by.
“So that’s why they did a tox report and so on. But at the autopsy, the ME found several needle pricks,” he said.
“Needle pricks?”
“Yes, someone who knew about her allergy injected her with jellyfish venom,” he said.
Cora chilled. “How many people would know that? I mean, it’s not something that would come up in everyday conversation.”
“That’s where your boy Adrian comes in,” he said. “He would have known, right?”
“Yes,” she said. “And he’d texted her, evidently.”
“No wonder he’s a person of interest,” Brodsky said. “You’ve got your hands full.”
“Unless . . .” Cora said.
“What?”
“Well, he wasn’t the only person who was aware of it.”
“Are you talking about her new husband?”
“Of course,” she said.
“Don’t you think if he were going to kill her, he’d wait awhile? I mean, killing her on their wedding night? I don’t know, Cora. It sounds far-fetched, even for you,” he said, and laughed.
But a chill moved through her. Did it matter to a man who’d kill his woman whether it was their wedding night or not?
“Well, what would your theory be, Brodsky?” she asked him.
“I’d say spurned lover.”
Cora’s heart sank. That would be Adrian.
“Okay, how about neither spurned lover nor husband?”
“Drugs? Money?” he said. “Look, I know you want to help Adrian. But I think he’s in good hands. Cashel’s a capable attorney.”
“So you say,” she said. Where was Cashel, anyway? Why hadn’t he been around?
Brodsky laughed, again. “You’re too much. How is the retreat, otherwise?”
“The retreat is fine,” Cora said.
Ruby spotted her and Jane and walked over toward them.
“How’s it going with you?” Cora asked.
“It’s quiet here,” he said. “I’ve got some queries out on your psychic, as well, even though you didn’t ask. I couldn’t resist. I’ll call you later.”
“Okay, thanks so much for calling,” she said.
“What did Brodsky have to say?” Jane asked.
“That was Brodsky?” Ruby said, and rolled her eyes. “What did he want?”
“I asked him to do some checking around for me.”
“About the case?” Ruby said.
She nodded. “I realize Cashel is doing his best, but I wondered what Brodsky could tell us. I’m worried Adrian won’t be able to come home with us on Monday.”
“I’m worried about that, too,” Ruby said, which surprised Cora. She was such a champion of her son’s legal prowess. Did she know something Cora didn’t know? “Cashel said the authorities around here move much slower than he’d like. It’s almost as if we stepped back in time when we came to Sea Glass Island.”
“Well, that’s a good thing when you go on vacation or on a retreat,” Jane said.
“Yes, but not a good thing when there’s a murder,” Cora said. “And when someone you know is accused of it.”
“Well, what did he say?” Jane said.
“Oh, not much. I mean he told me someone gave her a shot of jellyfish venom. That’s how it was done. But he’s still working on the Rue question,” Cora replied.
“Rue?” Ruby asked.
“Yes, she’s Josh’s mother,” Cora explained. “I met her last night. She was at the restaurant with her son.”
“I still think it’s odd that they were out,” Jane said. “I mean when someone close to you dies, you don’t go out to eat. People bring in food.”
“Not so much anymore,” Ruby said. “It’s unfortunate, but true. They probably wanted to grab a bite and didn’t want to cook.”
“Possibly,” Jane said.
“So back to Rue,” Ruby said. “Why are you having her checked out?”
“Evidently, she’s a psychic,” Cora said with more than a note of sarcasm. “She’s helped the authorities out on a previous murder case on a neighboring island.”
Ruby’s face brightened. “Now, that’s the most interesting thing I’ve heard in a long time. Does Cashel know about her?”
“I haven’t seen him. Have you?” Cora said.
“The last I saw him was this morning and he was muttering something about being on an island and having to work,” Ruby said.
“I’ll text him and see where he is,” Cora said.
“If Rue is such a good psychic, she should know Adrian is innocent,” Jane said.
“And if the local police rely on her—” Ruby said.
“Now, hold on a moment,” Cora said, as she texted Cashel and hit SEND. “I don’t hold with that nonsense. So much of the time, it’s smoke and mirrors. Very few real psychics exist in this world.”
“Well, now,” Ruby said. “True enough. But it’s possible she’s for real.”
“Even if she’s not,” Jane said, “we should go and see her.”
“She’ll want money,” Cora said.
“Of course she will. And we’ll give it to her. It’s about exchange for energy and talent,” Ruby said.
“I don’t know about this,” Cora said. “It makes me nervous.”
“She has a track record,” Jane said.
“Yes, but Brodsky is checking in to all that,” Cora said.
“Well, I’m going to see her, maybe after I drop off London. I’ve gotten special permission for her to leave the island and Zora’s sister is coming to get her,” Jane said.
“Good idea,” Cora said.
“If you’d like to come, you’re welcome to. Someone has got to do something. Poor Adrian,” Jane said.
Pangs of guilt shot through Cora. Of course, poor Adrian. But if she was honest with herself, she was a little miffed at him. She still had no idea how well he knew Josh, and why he’d neglected to mention it.
“I’m not sure visiting a psychic will help him,” Cora said.
“It can’t hurt,” Ruby said, with a finality in her voice that Cora knew only too well.
Cora’s phone beeped, alerting her to a text.
“Cashel?” Jane asked.
“No, Mathilde, asking me to fetch you two and come to her office,” Cora said.
“What do you think that’s about?” Jane asked. “I’ve got to go soon.”
“I have no idea, but let’s go and find out,” Cora said.