was the only one who didn't seem happy to see us.
'What's up, Pink?' Her eyes drifted to my tote bag.
'We want to join you. We want to make squares for your charity blanket.'
Adele laughed. 'Since when do you crochet?'
'Ah, I learned a while ago. I just never thought to bring it up . . . until now.' I pulled out the pouch Dinah and I had made together. I had thought it looked pretty good, but now, compared to what they were doing, it suddenly didn't look so hot. The lime green color seemed harsh in the bookstore lights, and maybe the stitches weren't exactly even, and when we'd sewn it together, we'd left a piece of yarn hanging.
'What's it for?' Adele asked, reaching for it. She turned it over in her hand. 'This looks kind of familiar. Have I seen this before?'
I didn't want her to put it together with the kids' kit in her department. It would kind of blow my story. I snatched it back and put it in my bag. 'I don't know why you're beingso fussy. You guys need us.'
'It's very nice of you to offer, dear,' CeeCee said. 'And as the leader of the group, I say welcome.'
'Excuse me, but I'm the leader,' Adele said, her face clouding up.
They immediately went back to a contest of who had helped Sheila more with her tight stitches.
Sheila looked up at the mention of her name. The calm in her face disappeared, and her eyebrows shot up in worry. 'Please don't argue about me. You both helped.' She sniffed the air. 'How come it smells like massage oil in here?'
Even with all the airing out, some of the shower gel fragrancestill lingered. But it was now light enough to be pleasant.
Meredith took a drag of air. 'It's a little different from massage oil. I smell lavender and eucalyptus, but there's something else in it.'
'Rose geranium,' I said, and then told them about the shower gel incident.
Meredith chuckled as she listened, her hands busy puttingthe black border around a square of the same pattern she'd been making before, only this one had the colors reversed.
'I'll agree to let Pink and her friend in, as long as there is no chance Pink ends up the leader.' Adele nodded to the group.
'I don't want to be the leader,' I said.
With that agreed, they let us sit down with them. Dinah and I chose seats near CeeCee and as far away as possible from Adele. The last thing I wanted was her staring at me while I crocheted. She was bound to be critical. CeeCee on the other hand seemed likely to offer help, which we needed immediately. We'd had the directions in front of us the whole time we were working at my house. Now, withoutthem, I didn't know where to start.
'You'll want to make a slipknot,' CeeCee said out of the corner of her mouth. Then she surreptitiously showed us how. I looked down at my selection of crochet hooks, and CeeCee suggested using a J to start with. Dinah and I each took out our Js and then tried the slipknot. We were both nervous and had some trouble, but then got it down. Adele was already back into her own square and didn't notice.
I remembered the part about making a bunch of chain stitches, but had no idea how many to make.
'Why don't you two make a practice swatch to begin with?' CeeCee suggested. Then she said she'd be able to calculate out how many stitches and rows we'd need to do to get the size square they needed.
I listened to what she said, but it didn't process. Dinah seemed as confused as I was. Finally CeeCee said just to crochet ten rows of ten stitches and she'd help us from there.
Sheila put her work down and stretched her arms. 'Those aren't Ellen's hooks, are they?'
The question caught me off guard, and my hook slipped out of my hand and clanged on the table.
'Of course not.' I retrieved my hook. In the meantime the few stitches I had done had come unraveled. I started again. I was clumsy with the hook, but still watched with amazement as the stitches started to accumulate. On one side there was a plain old ball of royal blue yarn, and on the other a row of sweet little single crochets. Not to make a pun, but I was hooked.
Dinah was already frustrated. She kept getting distractedby a nice-looking guy in a warm-up outfit in the reference section.
'It helps if you look at your work,' CeeCee said to her, then, following Dinah's gaze, 'unless there is someone like that to admire.' The man picked up a book, unaware that he had an audience.
Dinah dropped her hook and ten chain stitches on the table. 'I just remembered I need a crossword puzzle dictionary.' She was off before I could stop her.
There was a twinge in my shoulders. I was trying too hard. 'I thought this was supposed to be relaxing,' I said, rolling my neck and stretching my shoulders.
Meredith smiled at me. 'Not so much when you first start. It seems like you're so worried about how you're doing,it's just the opposite of relaxing.' She got up and walked around the table. 'Sorry I don't have my chair, but this ought to help.'
She kneaded my neck and moved down to my shoulders.She had magic fingers. The tension seemed to just melt. 'Wow,' I said, hoping that if I encouraged her, she wouldn't stop. 'I can see why you're so popular.' She took my arms one at a time and worked out the kinks. She moved back to my back and put pressure on various spots on my shoulder blades. 'I mix in a little acupressure,' she said, finishing and going back to her seat. 'I do legs and feet on my regular customers.'
'Your regular and very lucky customers. Thank you.'
'My pleasure. It is very satisfying to provide such a necessary service.'
I rolled my shoulders a few times and picked up my work again.
Just when I was beginning to enjoy the relaxed feeling the massage inspired, I caught sight of a woman in a suit with a familiar knit bag.
'Mrs. Pink,' Detective Heather Gilmore said. 'I was hoping to find you here.'
Oh, no, not again. I put on a pleasant smile, but inside I was groaning.
'That's a magnificent bag,' CeeCee said, touching the sculpted blue yarn stitches of Detective Heather's purse. 'Did you make it?'
Detective Heather nodded with a pleased expression.
'Maybe you'd like to join our crochet group,' CeeCee continued. She explained the squares and the charity sale, and the fact that we were a little behind.
'Sorry I don't crochet. I knit.' There was just a touch of haughtiness to the word
Adele's head shot up, and for once the storm-cloud expressionwasn't directed at me.
'You know, I'm tired of people like you who think knittingis the be-all and end-all of everything. We crocheters are tired of being the poor stepsisters of knitting. We can do things with crochet that you knitters only dream about.'
Detective Heather appeared a little stunned by Adele's barrage, but quickly shrugged it off.
'I came to return your pen,' she said to me. 'How would it look if word got out police detectives were filchingpens from people?' She held out an attractive gold pen.
'It's not mine,' I said, wondering whether it was just an excuse.
'Really,' she said, taking it back. 'Hmm, I wonder whose it is.' She glanced around at the group. 'As long as I'm here, I'd like to ask you all something. Was it common for Ellen to forget her hooks?'
'Not at all,' CeeCee began. 'I was so surprised when Molly told me. It was completely unlike Ellen. She was highly organized and into detail. She couldn't have run her business and managed to lead the crochet group if she hadn't been.'
'Really,' Detective Heather said, taking out her notebookand regular pen. 'So, then you saw the bag of hooks after she left?'
CeeCee shook her head. 'Not me. I left before her. I had a meeting about a project I'm working on. I'm going to be a spokesperson for a new face cream.' She looked toward Adele, Meredith and Sheila. 'You must have seen the bag of hooks?' They all shrugged and shook their heads.
'Hmm, so, Mrs. Pink, you were the only one who actuallysaw the bag?'
This wasn't sounding good. I didn't like the way DetectiveHeather was staring at me. I thought about what I'd said to Dinah about how it wasn't my job to find out who had killed Ellen. I'd just changed my mind.
