Chris picked Heather up for work on Friday morning. When she opened the passenger door and he saw she didn’t have her calico cat with her, he asked, “Leaving Bella home today?”
“Yep.” As Heather climbed into the car, Hunny, who was sitting in the back seat, stuck her nose between the seats to say hello.
“Hi, Hunny,” Heather greeted while leaning over to kiss Hunny’s nose. “You sure look like you’re doing better.” Heather shut the car door and began putting on her seatbelt.
“She is.” Chris drove the car away from the sidewalk in front of Heather’s house and headed to the office.
They discussed Hunny for a few more minutes, and then Heather asked, “Why don’t we go to Vancouver today instead of next week?”
“Why do you want to go today?”
Heather told Chris about her and Brian’s conversation at Marlow House the night before. “We can stop at the brother’s art store. I looked up the address last night.”
“What are you going to say to him?” Chris asked.
“Danielle suggested I stick as close to the truth as possible. I can tell him a friend of mine bought a quilt at a thrift store, and she found out his sister made it. And we wondered if she had any other quilts she wanted to sell. At first, we considered saying something like Danielle wanted to return the quilt to his sister, but it might be a bad idea.”
“Yeah. I can understand not wanting to make an offer to give the quilt away until we have a better idea of what’s going on.”
“Brian keeps saying we should burn it.”
Chris chuckled and then said, “The quilt also has Adam a little shook.”
Heather frowned. “Why?”
Chris told Heather about how he had run into Adam at Crawford’s house and their discussion involving the bookshelf.
Heather scrunched up her nose. “I don’t really see that happening. This thing, whatever it is, likes to throw things and knock on walls. Make chairs rock on their own. I don’t see it moving down the street, through the tunnel, and then, what, reorganizing a bookshelf?”
“I agree. I told Adam it sounds like Mia gave one of the neighbors a key, and that neighbor is borrowing her books and then putting them back in the wrong place.”
“Did Adam say any books were missing? Or new ones added?”
Chris shrugged. “No. But that doesn’t mean some weren’t.”
“If books go missing or a new one shows up, I agree it’s probably someone Mia gave a key to. But I don’t see a neighbor or—what are we calling this thing? Energy?—coming into someone’s home to rearrange book shelves.”
“It could be someone pranking Adam,” Chris suggested.
“And then there are Joe and Kelly…”
Chris glanced briefly at Heather. “What about Joe and Kelly?”
“Brian says Joe’s still convinced this is an elaborate hoax by Walt, but Kelly no longer thinks Walt has anything to do with it. In fact, she told her mother it wasn’t Walt.”
“What did June say about that?”
“In one way, she’s taking it better than Joe, in that she no longer blames Walt. So she’s no longer annoyed at everyone. But she’s also back on her sell your Beach Drive house kick.”
“That’s rich. I wonder what she would do if she learned the property they purchased was probably one of the most haunted pieces of real estate in Frederickport.”
“True, but those spirits have moved on. We just need to get this thing—whatever it is—to move on, too. By the way, Kelly’s helping Ian research paranormal activity, and I guess it’s bugging the hell out of Joe. He’s been ranting about it at work, according to Brian.”
* * *
Chris agreed to drive with Heather to Vancouver on Friday instead of waiting for next week. Before they left, they dropped Hunny off at Marlow House. Once they reached Vancouver, they stopped at the art store first. Hopefully, Betsy’s brother would be at the store. If not, they would stop by again before heading back to Frederickport.
When they walked into the art store, there were several customers milling around, and one employee behind the counter—a woman.
Heather glanced around. “Oh crud, he doesn’t seem to be here.”
“He could be in the back?” Chris suggested.
Heather nudged Chris. “Go ask the girl behind the counter if he’s here.”
* * *
Cindy Murphy had been keeping a close eye on the girls lingering at the bead display. She had to wonder why they weren’t in school, but then remembered some schools were already out for the summer.
She heard the bell to the front door ring and glanced over as a woman walked into the store. The first thought that popped into her head was, I didn’t know Goth was still a thing. But then her gaze shifted to the woman’s companion, and whatever had been in her mind was replaced by something else.
Cindy couldn’t help but stare. She felt ridiculously breathless, like that time she had been a freshman in high school and had gone to her first concert with her friends to see her idol and had made an utter fool of herself, with her jumping up and down, screaming, the tears. Cindy wanted to do that now.
Instead, she took a deep breath and forced a smile as the couple approached the counter. He had to be someone famous. A movie star?
“Hello,” he greeted her.
Cindy told herself to get it together. “Hi. How can I help you?” After she asked, she wanted to suggest some ways she would love to help him. But first, they needed to get rid of his friend. Please let it just be a friend, Cindy prayed.
“I’m looking for Hector Burr?” the yummy man asked her.
“Hector?” Cindy didn’t consider for a moment not telling this beautiful man where he could find Hector. “Hector’s next door at the coffee shop.” Cindy immediately regretted telling him that. Not that she felt bad about telling him where to find Hector, even though Hector would prefer she simply take the man’s name and number and get back with him when and if he wanted to. Cindy cursed herself for not asking for that contact info, not because it was what Hector would prefer, but then she would have the yummy man’s name and phone number.
“Thank you,” the man said. Cindy groaned as she watched the handsome stranger turn and walk away with his companion.
* * *
When Heather and Chris walked into the coffee shop next door, they had a pretty good idea which customer was Hector Burr. They guessed it was the man sitting alone at one table, wearing a colorful shirt just like the one worn by the woman behind the counter at the art store.
They walked to the man’s table, and Heather said, “Hector Burr?”
The man looked up from the newspaper he was reading. “Yes?”
“Sorry to bother you,” Heather said. “My name is Heather Donovan, and this is Chris Johnson. We were wondering if we could have five minutes of your time? We need to ask you a question about your sister.”
Hector frowned at Heather. “Betsy?”
Heather nodded. “Yes.”
“We’re from Frederickport,” Chris added, in hopes Hector might be more inclined to talk to them since Betsy had once lived in Frederickport.
Hector took a deep breath and said, “Sure.” He pointed to the empty chairs.
“If you don’t mind, I’m going to grab Heather and me some coffee and a roll. We just drove in from Frederickport, and after we talk to you, we have a number of errands to run.”
Hector nodded.
“Can I get you anything?” Chris offered.
Hector shook his head. “Umm, no. I’m fine.”
Heather sat down while Chris went to get them some coffee. “As Chris explained, we live in Frederickport. After I told a friend of mine that we were coming to Vancouver today, she asked me if I would stop at your art store and ask you a question for her.”
Hector’s frown deepened. “You said this was about my sister?”
“It is. You see, someone gave my friend a quilt. It was from an estate sale. My friend loves it, and she wondered if the person who made it had any other quilts they wanted to sell. Your sister was the one who made the quilt.”
Hector leaned back in the chair. “What does this quilt look like?”
“Umm…it’s a baby quilt.”
“What’s the pattern? The theme? Ducks? Teddy bears? Rainbows?”
“Twins.”
Hector silently stared at Heather for a moment. Finally, he said, “I wondered what happened to that quilt.”
“What did your sister say happened to it?” Heather asked.
Before he could answer the question, Chris returned to the table, carrying two coffees and an assortment of muffins and donuts, which he set in the center of the table and told Hector and Heather to help themselves.
Hector thanked Chris for the offer and looked back at Heather. “As for your question, I have been estranged from my sister for years. I have no idea where she is.”
“Oh. But you’re familiar with the quilt?”
Hector nodded. “Betsy always liked to sew. She started making baby quilts in high school, and she’d sell them. It’s possible your friend could stumble across another quilt she made. But I don’t know where. That was a long time ago. The quilt your friend has was the only one Betsy made for herself. I always wondered what happened to it. I asked Karen and Jillian about it once, but they don’t remember seeing it. Dan probably got rid of it. Can’t say I blame him.”
“Your nieces?” Heather asked.
“Yes. Twins. I remember when Betsy made it. She seemed so excited about her pregnancy, but she ended up being just like our mother. She didn’t stick around to raise her kids. Of course, I should probably give Mom a little more credit. She stuck around until I was five and Betsy was four. Betsy didn’t even stick around until her girls had their first birthday.”
“Postpartum depression?” Heather asked.
Hector scoffed. “No. Mom didn’t have postpartum depression. She took off with another man, started a new family. I guess she liked them better than us, considering she raised the kids she had with him.”
“That’s what Betsy did? She didn’t leave from postpartum depression?” Heather asked.
Hector shook his head. “No. According to Dan, she seemed perfectly fine after the babies were born. She didn’t act depressed. He said she seemed happy. Dan didn’t realize she was probably happy to no longer be pregnant so she could hook up with her boyfriend, just like our mother.”
“I guess you weren’t very close to your sister?” Heather asked.
“We were once.”
“Do you see your nieces?” Heather asked.
“If you’re suggesting your friend give the quilt to my nieces so they can have something from their mom, don’t. It would only hurt them.”
“You have a relationship with them?” Heather asked.
Chris sat quietly and listened as Heather kept asking one question after another, and Hector kept answering them. He expected the man to tell Heather it was none of her business, but it was obvious Hector had a lot of pent-up anger toward his sister, and talking to a stranger about her seemed to be what he needed.
“Somewhat. I hadn’t seen them for years. Dan contacted me after Betsy took off. I suspected he hoped I would know where she was. I saw the girls a couple of times over the next few years, but after he married Gemma, I couldn’t deal with it. Gemma was a bitch. I never liked her.”
“From what my friend told me, Gemma was the one who told her who made the quilt. Gemma claimed she and your sister were good friends.”
Hector nodded. “Yes. She and Gemma grew up together. They were best friends since preschool.”