twinkle in her eye. “Why don’t we make it tomorrow?”
Dinah nudged me and held up a paper napkin. It took me a moment to figure out she was trying to remind me of the hanky. Dinah pointed her head toward CeeCee and nodded. Of course, CeeCee with all her crochet knowledge might be able to help me figure out where the hanky came from.
We agreed on a time and then went our separate ways. Dinah had errands and a class. CeeCee had a production meeting about the upcoming season of her show. And I had to get back to the bookstore. But before I did I decided to make a side trip to the Cottage Shoppe.
The bell tinkled over the door as always, but inside everything was in flux. Kevin was dreaming if he thought it was going to be business as usual. Dorothy looked around at the confusion and appeared overwhelmed.
“What’s going on?” I asked, approaching her.
“A mess if you ask me, but Mr. Kevin won’t listen to anyone.” She gestured around the place. “I mean, would you want to browse around here now?”
I could see her point. Having everything pushed together took away the charm. Plus there were loud and annoying workmen sounds coming from the kitchen area.
I followed her through the living room into the alcove that had held the children’s things. There was a box sitting on the floor with odds and ends sticking out. I pulled out something round with nobs on it.
“Those are some new things someone brought in yesterday.” She sighed. “At least they priced the things themselves, though I don’t know where we’re going to put them.”
I asked her what I was holding, and she smiled. “It’s called a yarn swift.”
The name didn’t help, and then she explained that when you had a hank of yarn that needed to be rolled into a ball, you hung it around the swift and wound the ball. “It kind of takes the place of a friend’s hands,” she said, holding hers out to demonstrate how the friend version worked. I looked farther into the box and noted quite a bit of yarn and some other supplies and asked her who had brought the things in.
“Sorry, but I’m not allowed to tell. With our handicraft items it’s usually not a problem, but the people that bring in antiques or things from their houses, well, they don’t necessarily want their neighbors to know they’re selling things.”
Of course. I got it. Selling things implied you were hard up, and nobody wanted to admit that. I was impressed by her knowledge about the yarn swift. “You have to know about a lot of different stuff.”
She smiled. “I’ve picked up information along the way, but we rely on the sellers to explain what they’ve brought in.” She took something else out of the box. “I would have thought this was just a lamp, but the seller explained it was originally a kerosene lamp that had been electrified and the glass shade had actually come from another lamp and is a Tiffany.” Then Dorothy showed me the price tag on it. I swallowed. It was pricier than I expected.
“So, you just take the seller’s word it’s a Tiffany shade?”
Dorothy shrugged off the question. “Personally, I’d call it Tiffany style since there aren’t any markings to authenticate it.”
Kevin walked through then and seemed glad to see a customer. It was odd how he had the same even features as his brother, but on him the smile was pleasant whereas on Drew it had appeared contemptuous. “I’m glad to see somebody realized we’re still open,” he said in a friendly voice.
The back door was propped open and obviously the alarm had been disengaged. The man I’d seen from across the street came inside and pointed at the stack of boxes near the door. “Are these for the Dumpster or the storage container?” he asked.
Kevin leaned over and thumbed through what looked like files. “Put them in the storage unit for now. Eventually, we’ll probably shred them.” He turned back to me. “My aunt was certainly a copious record keeper.” Then, changing the subject, he asked, “Did you come in for soup?”
He led me into the dining room. The furniture was piled against the wall, but there were big metal pans on the heating device on the bar. “We only have a limited selection for now,” he said, lifting the lid on one and letting the savory fragrance fill the air.
He seemed a little agitated as he glanced toward the door. Although he didn’t say it, he was obviously worried about business. He wanted me to taste the soup and suggested I might mention how good it was to the bookstore customers.
Finally I couldn’t hold back anymore. He seemed too collected for someone who’d just lost his brother and in such a sudden, violent way. “You’re certainly holding up well, under the circumstances,” I said, trying hard to hide my sarcasm.
He flashed me an angry look. “I’m sorry about my brother, but he brought on what happened himself. And that’s exactly what I told that lady detective.” A bus rolled by on Ventura Boulevard, shaking the whole place. Kevin faced me directly. “My brother was a bully. We had equal ownership, but like always, he took over. I didn’t agree about cutting the two clerks’ salaries and taking a bigger cut from our consignment people, but he did it anyway. I want everyone to know all that is over with now. I told that to the detective, too.”
“And the remodel plans?”
Kevin grimaced. “The detective asked about that, too. Drew was against them, okay? More than against them—he just said no. The day before he died he told me we were doing an Internet store that was going to bring in a bunch of money.”
When I asked him for details, Kevin gave me an odd look. “Why do you want to know?”
“It might have something to do with who killed him,” I said.
Kevin seemed uncomfortable with my remark. “Did you come in for something in particular?”
“Well, actually I did,” I said, realizing he’d just offered me the perfect opening to find out about the handkerchief. I gave him the same story I had given Dorothy and Trina at the bookstore about looking for a certain kind of hanky for a gift and then described the one I’d found, all the while watching for his reaction.
Either he was an Academy Award-caliber actor or he really had no idea what I was talking about. I was going with the latter.
Adele was hiding in the children’s department when I got back to the bookstore. It was a sweet area decorated with carpet depicting cows jumping over moons and furnished with little chairs and tables. She was sitting on one of the child-size chairs as far in the corner as she could get.
As soon as she saw me, she started talking about Eduardo and how wonderful he was and what a great program he’d put on. Her eyes had that dreamy look, and I suspected she thought she’d found Mr. Right. But I also suspected that she hadn’t noticed that he talked to each of us as if we were the only woman in the world who mattered. I wasn’t sure what to say to her. Even with all her barbs, I hated to see her get hurt. But leave it to Adele. In her usual manner she went right for the offensive.
“Okay, Pink, I’m not angry that you almost made a scene with Eduardo. I understand that you were upset it wasn’t your idea and all. I won’t mention it to Mrs. Shedd.”
All I could do was roll my eyes.
CHAPTER 19
I HAD HOPED DINAH WOULD COME WITH ME TO CeeCee’s, but she was planning on confronting her ex, had appointments with the students who’d failed their assignment because they’d written their papers using instant- message shorthand and had an evening class to prepare for and teach.
As promised, I’d made my special cupcakes, and they were sitting on a paper-doily-decorated plate and covered with plastic as I walked to CeeCee’s. Her house was a little far for a walk but too close to justify driving, and anyway I needed the exercise. As soon as I got a couple of blocks from my house, the terrain was different. That was the thing about the area of Tarzana south of Ventura Boulevard. The lay of the land kept changing. My street was on a gentle upward slope, and the lots were wide and level. But just a short distance away there was the steep ridge Patricia’s house was perched on. CeeCee’s house was situated farther back, near the bottom of Corbin Canyon. There was a deep ravine behind it, and the front was like a miniforest, giving the stone cottage-style house a mysterious, very un-sunny Southern California appearance. I expected to see Hansel and Gretel or Cinderella show up any minute.
