CHAPTER 15

Harriet walked up her driveway after her morning run the following Monday, stomping her feet to restore feeling in her frozen toes. Her aunt’s silver Volkswagen Beetle sat next to the garage, and she could see Aunt Beth’s white hair above the cafe curtain in the kitchen window.

“I hope it’s okay we came early,” Beth said as Harriet came into the kitchen from the garage. Mavis and Connie were seated at her kitchen table, mugs of steaming tea in front of them.

Connie took a cellophane-wrapped cookie from a plate in the center of the table.

“The steamer machine at the coffee shop was broken. They gave us free cookies and sent us on our way. Beth figured you wouldn’t mind if we came early.”

“As long as you don’t mind waiting for me to shower.”

Mavis sipped tea and set her mug down.

“You take your time, honey. We’ve got things to talk about, anyway.”

Harriet wondered what that might be. She hadn’t had a chance to talk to any of them about her encounter with Aiden at the tree farm yet. She was tempted to hide just out of sight on the stairs but thought better of it. She was cold and sweaty and would feel foolish if they caught her.

She came back down stairs thirty minutes later wearing a fleece sweatshirt over a long-sleeved plaid shirt and jeans.

“Do we have time for me to have a quick cup of tea before we go?” She shivered. “I got really cold running this morning. It doesn’t seem any colder than it has been, but I’m freezing.”

Beth felt Harriet’s forehead when she sat down at the table.

“You’re not getting sick, are you?”

“No, it just felt really damp, and even though I was running, I got cold. I’ll be fine once I have something warm to drink.”

Connie set a mug of steaming tea in front of her.

“Thanks,” Harriet said and smiled when her aunt slid the honey jar to her.

“Honey’s good for what ails you,” Beth said, and she knew better than to argue when her aunt went into medicine-woman mode.

Mavis handed her one of the wrapped cookies.

“Do you know Sunny Mason?”

Harriet took a bite and chewed thoughtfully before answering,

“You mean the cupcake lady? I know her from ordering cupcakes, but I don’t ‘know her’ know her.”

“Do you know anyone who does?” Connie asked.

“Not really. Why?”

Mavis picked up her cup and sat back in her chair.

“Jenny was in getting cupcakes for her master gardeners meeting yesterday, and she was the only customer in the store. When she came in, Sunny had her back to the counter and had a paper in her hand she was staring at. Jenny could see over her shoulder it was like an old-fashioned ransom note like they have in vintage movies.”

“You know—the kind where someone cuts out the letters of each word from different magazines,” Aunt Beth added.

“Jenny said Sunny folded it up as soon as she realized a customer had come in, but Jenny got a good look.”

“Could she read what it said?” Harriet asked.

Beth picked up the honey dauber and added a little more honey to Harriet’s tea.

“She said with the way the letters were glued at all different angles, she couldn’t read what it said before Sunny folded it.”

Harriet stirred the additional honey into her tea.

“It could be completely unrelated to Daniel’s death—and Valery’s, if it really is Valery who was in the river.”

“What?” Beth and Connie said at the same time.

“We saw Lauren yesterday, and she ran into Morse in the coffee shop. Morse told her they aren’t sure, but evidence indicates it’s him.”

Mavis tapped her spoon rhythmically on the table.

“I don’t like it. All of a sudden, shops in town that have always been thriving are struggling to keep their doors open.”

“But not all shops,” Beth interrupted.

“True,” Mavis continued. “Some shops are suddenly struggling, and now two business owners are dead. I don’t like it.”

Harriet made a face as she sipped her now too-sweet tea.

“It does seem like something might be going on. On the other hand, running a small business can be rough. I think the statistic nationwide is ninety-five percent of all small businesses fail in the first five years. A few months ago, I went into the gallery, and Valery had some visitors who didn’t appear to be customers and were speaking Ukrainian with him. Whatever they were talking about was not making Valery happy.”

“So, what are you saying?” Beth asked.

“Valery might have enemies that have nothing to do with Foggy Point, the businesses might be having business troubles at the same time by coincidence, and Daniel…I don’t know. I also can’t explain the mystery letter Sunny had, but there could be an innocent explanation for that. I mean, back in California, Steve and I went to one of those mystery dinner parties one time, and the invitation was made from cut-out magazine letters.”

“From what Jenny said, whatever Sunny was reading, it wasn’t anything fun,” Mavis said.

Harriet made a face as she drank the last of her tea and carried her mug to the sink.

“Okay,” she said. “Who’s ready to go shop?’

Harriet drove the group to the Walmart out on the highway to get wrapping paper before returning downtown to park in front of the quilt store. Beth and Connie crossed the street to the kitchen store and the outdoor store, while Mavis and Harriet headed to Ruby’s Jewelry store. They agreed to meet in an hour at the quilt store.

Anthony DeMarco met Harriet and Mavis at his door.

“I’m still loving the quilt in the window.”

“Jenny did a wonderful job,” Mavis said with a smile.

Anthony rubbed his hands together.

“What can I help you ladies with?”

Harriet walked over to a display in a glass case near the cash register.

“If it’s possible, I’d like to get my foster son Luke a class ring. He’s a senior this year but hasn’t had the opportunity to get one.”

Mavis joined her.

“And I’m looking for a watch for my son.”

“Okay,” Anthony said and went behind the counter to retrieve a catalog. “Here’s the class jewelry catalog. You can look through it while I show Mavis a few watches. When you’ve looked at all the options, I can show you samples of the styles you like. Does that sound good?”

Harriet and Mavis agreed and immersed themselves in their respective tasks. Mavis chose a watch; Anthony gift-wrapped it for her and then turned to Harriet.

“I’ve picked a couple of styles, but can you tell me which ones are most popular at Foggy Point High School?” she asked him.

Anthony looked at the catalog page she was looking at.

“You’ve found them,” he said. “These are the ones the kids are ordering.”

“I don’t want him to have the most common one, but I don’t want him to have something no one else chooses, either. I’m walking a fine line here.”

“I understand,” Anthony said. He pulled a tray from the glass case and showed her a ring. “This might be the one you’re looking for.”

She slid it on the tip of her finger and held her hand out, turning it from side to side.

“Mavis, what do you think?” she said and held her hand toward her friend.

“It looks good. It’s simple but has all the relevant information.”

Harriet handed the ring back to Anthony.

“How long will it take to get here?”

He glanced at a calendar by the register.

“I can have it here before Christmas.”

“Whew, I was worried you were going to say it would take a month.”

“No, these people are pretty quick. I’ll call you when it’s in.”

“Can I go ahead and pay for it now?” she asked.

“You can wait until it arrives if you want,” he countered.

“No, I’ll just pay now. Once Luke is out on break, it will be harder for me to get away without him knowing where I’m going.”

Anthony pulled out an order pad and handed it to Harriet to fill in.

“Have you heard anything about Valery?” he asked while she wrote. “I’ve been told that lady detective is a quilter.”

Mavis laughed.

“We are friends with her, but she mostly tells us to stay out of police business. Have you heard anything?”

Anthony rubbed a hand over his face, clearly torn.

“I don’t know anything official,” he finally said. “But Valery used to stop in for a cup of coffee when business was slow.” He paused.

“And?” Mavis prompted him.

“The other day he came in, and he seemed troubled.”

Harriet looked up from her form.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s hard to describe. He’s one of those people who usually talks a lot and tells jokes and gossip, and he wasn’t doing any of that. I asked him what was wrong, and at first he tried to brush me off but I persisted. Finally, he told me someone had sent him a blackmail note. He wouldn’t tell me what they were blackmailing him about, but he said they were serious. He asked me if I’d received a note or if any of the other shop owners had said anything about receiving notes. I told him I hadn’t received anything and hadn’t heard anything.”

“Have you told the police?” Harriet asked.

“No. I wasn’t sure if they’d take me seriously. Besides, I don’t really know anything useful. He didn’t show me the note or say who it was from or even what sort of thing they were blackmailing him over.”

Harriet handed him the completed form and her debit card.

“You definitely need to tell the police. If you want, I can text Detective Morse and ask her to stop by here to talk to you.”

Anthony looked relieved.

“Would you?”

Harriet pulled her phone out and sent the text while he completed her transaction. An answering text came almost immediately.

“She’ll be here in a few minutes.”

“Thank you,” he said. “And thank you for your business, and I’ll call you when the ring is in.”

“Well, that was interesting,” Harriet said to Mavis as they headed for the quilt store. “We think someone is blackmailing Sunny, and now possibly Valery, who appears to be dead.”

Mavis held the shop door open for her.

“And Daniel was killed, plus several of the shops are suddenly not doing as well as they should be. Makes you wonder if they’re being blackmailed, too.”

Beth and Connie were waiting for them. Marjorie was counting the change in the cash register.

“I just heated the kettle if you ladies would like some tea. No one is in either of the classrooms.”

Beth smiled at her.

“Thank you, that sounds real nice.”

Harriet filled her aunt and Connie in on what they’d learned at the jewelry store.

“That’s interesting, but connecting everything is pure speculation,” Beth cautioned.

“I might be able to answer the question about whether the shops doing poorly is connected to the deaths,” Harriet offered.

Mavis sipped her tea and set her mug down.

“What do you have in mind?”

“I’m going to go by Jade’s shop and ask her.”

“Do you think she’ll tell you?” Beth asked.

Harriet thought for a moment.

“I think she will. I’m helping her keep her horse, so hopefully, she’ll offer something up as a reason why she can’t afford to do it herself. I’m going to flat-out ask her how things went so bad so quick.”

“When are you going to do it?” Connie asked.

Harriet took another sip of tea.

“Are you all coming to our Threads session tomorrow?”

Connie, Mavis, and Beth all nodded.

“I’ll stop by on my way to quilting, then,” Harriet told them.

“Do we have time for me to stop at the yarn store before we go home?” Beth asked, changing the subject.

Mavis led the way across the street to the Wool Merchant. They all stopped to admire her quilt in the front window. She had done a wool appliqué quilt featuring a flock of sheep, a shepherd, and the Star of Bethlehem. Millie White, the store owner, had arranged yarn in complementary tones under the quilt, accenting its colors.

“This looks real nice,” Beth said, and the others agreed. She opened the shop door, and they immediately heard loud voices arguing.

“If I’m not here, the problem goes away,” a male voice said.

“I will not negotiate with terrorists,” Millie shot back.

“It’s not negotiating. It’s removing the incentive,” the male voice replied, quieter as the bell on the door signaled the arrival of customers.

Mavis hurried across the shop and stepped up to the counter, where Millie and her male employee, an older man with graying hair and a days growth of beard, were standing.

“Is everything all right?”

The man gave Millie a dark look before spinning on his heel and disappearing into the storeroom. Millie stared at his back before turning to Mavis.

“We’re fine. We’re having a little difference of opinion about how to handle a problem.”

Harriet had caught up to Mavis.

“Are you being blackmailed?” she asked Millie without preamble.

The color drained from the shopkeeper’s face, and Harriet thought she wasn’t going to answer.

“No, nothing like that. Why would you even think that?”

“No reason, really. I just heard something that made me think Foggy Point might have a blackmailer, and I thought…never mind.”

Millie looked past Harriet to Beth.

“Can I help you find something?”

“I’m hoping to find some red worsted,” Beth replied, and Millie came around the counter to lead her to a display of red wools by various vendors.

Mavis gave Harriet a we’ll talk later look and went to the other side of the shop to check out the baby yarn.

Harriet and her friends waited until they were back across the street before saying anything.

“Does anyone else feel like they’ve been dropped into the middle of The Invasion of the Body Snatchers?” Harriet asked. “You know, the one where everyone in town is replaced with a duplicate that looks just like them but doesn’t act like them at all.”

“I don’t know what you’ve been watching on TV,” Beth said. “But it does feel like something is going on below the surface in our town that we know nothing about.”

Mavis folded the top of her bag of baby yarn and tucked it into her tote.

“It’s a good thing Detective Morse is on the case and we don’t have to worry about it.”

Harriet smiled at her.

“Are you trying to tell me you aren’t the least bit curious about that drama we just witnessed?”

Mavis sighed.

“Of course I’m curious. But that isn’t a reason for us to stick our noses into police business.”

A familiar black Bronco drove by on the cross street, and Harriet watched it until it was out of sight.

“You’re right, we’ve got enough drama without borrowing someone else’s.”