would make a nice kitty quilt for Fred. He had adopted a green wool-upholstered chair in her bedroom and was leaving a covering of cat fur in his wake. If they were going to be here for a while, it would need some protection. There was a movie rental store at the bottom of the hill, too; her Saturday night was shaping up nicely.
'I'll be back in a few,” she yelled to Fred, who didn't look up from his dish.
She went out into the damp early-evening air, got into her car and drove into downtown Foggy Point.
The bell on the door to Pins and Needles jingled as she crossed the threshold.
'Be right with you,” Marjory called from behind a row of fabric bolts. “Oh, hi, Harriet,” she said as Harriet rounded the end of the display.
Carla Salter stood beside Marjory, studying her tattered canvas shoes.
'Meet my newest employee, Carla Salter. She's going to start working for me a few hours on the weekends.'
'We met the other night,” Harriet said. “How are you doing, Carla?'
Carla mumbled a reply, but Harriet couldn't make out what she'd said.
'I've got the studio pretty much back together, so I thought I'd take a night off and start a hand-piecing project. I saw some cat fabric you were unpacking when I was here on Tuesday. I thought I might make a small quilt for my cat Fred.'
'Carla can show you where we put that,” Marjory said. “You know which fabric she's talking about?'
'The Makower UK cats?'
'Yes,” Harriet said.
'Over here.'
Carla led her two rows over to a section that had several lines of stylized animal fabrics.
'Thanks.” Harriet pulled several bolts off the shelf.
Carla had moved back a few steps but was still in the aisle.
'What do you think of these?” Harriet asked her.
'I like the blue-and-brown one,” she said, so quietly Harriet almost didn't hear her.
'I do, too. What do you think about the orange for accent fabric? Is it too much?'
'Depends on your cat. If it's got a strong personality it probably would like the orange. If it's the kind that sleeps all day the off-white would probably be better.” She spoke a little louder this time.
'Fred is definitely a strong personality, so orange it is.'
'Do you want me to take these to the counter for you?'
'Yes, thanks. I'm going to look around a little more.'
Carla's eyes widened and her cheeks turned red.
'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to rush you.'
'No, it's fine. You are doing fine. By the way, did you ever find your friend the other night?” Harriet asked, trying to distract her from her distress. Doing a customer service job had to be a big stretch for her.
Carla twisted her hands in the hem of her faded blue T-shirt.
'She never showed,” she said then looked up. “I'm getting really worried. I got Jason from work to drive me by her place on Friday, but it doesn't look like she's been there.'
'Does she have family she might be staying with?'
'She doesn't talk to her family.” Carla paused. “She's had problems they can't understand.'
Or maybe they understand all too well, Harriet thought. “What kind of problems?'
Carla was silent, and Harriet was afraid she'd overstepped the boundary of their tenuous relationship. She turned back to the fabric bolts.
'She has problems in her head,” Carla finally said in a soft voice. “That's why I'm so worried about her. She needs to take her medicine. As long as she does it real regular she's fine. Miz Avanell helped her with her medicine. She just got some last week, but I don't think she took it with her when they fired her. It was in her toolbox, and Tony didn't let her take her toolbox when she left. I tried to find it on Friday, and it was gone already.'
'Maybe she got a new prescription from the pharmacy,” Harriet suggested.
'She doesn't have money, and the thing is, when she's late taking her pill she starts getting weird ideas. And she starts thinking she don't need to take any medicine anymore. Then she gets hyper and-I'm just worried about her. She's a good person, really. She can't help the way she is.'
'Well, she's lucky to have a friend like you to worry about her.'
Carla's cheeks turned a deeper red, and she busied herself picking up the bolts of fabric.
'These'll be at the front,” she said, and carried them to the cutting table.
Marjory cut the fabric and sent Harriet on her way with promises to see her the next day at Avanell's. Harriet continued down the block, turned the corner and walked another block to Foggy Point Video.
'DeAnn?'
'Oh, hi, Harriet.'
'Do you work here? Of course you do. Why else would you be behind the counter? I'm sorry.'
'Harriet, it's okay. Why would you know where I work? My family owns this place. I work here part-time.'
'I'm sorry. I must seem like a fool. I'm still getting used to being back in Foggy Point. I'm not used to seeing people I know running every other business I go into.'
'Well, it has its good points and its bad points. Here everyone knows everyone else's business. Most of the time, anyway-and we protect our own,” DeeAnn added.
'What are people saying about Avanell's murder?'
'So far, no one seems to know much. Tony, the supervisor, fired a girl who had worked there for a while a few days ago, and now she's missing along with the contents of the safe. The police are working on that theory, but I haven't heard anything more.'
'So, they think this girl killed Avanell and then robbed the place? Or Avanell caught her in the act? Does that seem possible?'
'It's the only thing they've got, according to my cousin who works in the sheriff's department.'
'It's just so sad. Avanell and my aunt Beth were friends for as long as I can remember.'
'The community is going to miss Avanell, too. She was a generous benefactor for a lot of civic projects around here.'
'Had she donated much lately?” Harriet asked.
'Hmmm. You know, now that you mention it, I don't think she has been involved this year. Of course, we haven't had anything big going on, either. I'm the secretary of the Foggy Point Business Association. Avanell made a substantial donation to the skate park and playground equipment project two years ago. And of course, there are the scholarships, but then I guess she set those up when George died. Why do you ask?'
'I just wondered. My aunt seemed to think she was worried about something, and you know money is always one of those things people worry about.'
'I can't imagine Avanell having to think about money. In our business association meetings she seemed pretty sharp where that was concerned. For our projects, she was always getting suppliers to sell us materials at cost, and she got the skate park ramps donated outright. I can't imagine she would be different in her own business.'
'It must have been something else, then,” Harriet said, deciding she had learned all DeeAnn could tell her. “I'm starting a new hand-piecing project tonight and was hoping to find a good movie to watch while I do. Something light and fluffy.'
She had developed an embarrassing addiction to romance movies. She always cried at the happy endings.
'Follow me.” DeAnn led her in the direction of a sign that read Romantic Comedy.
A half-hour later, Harriet had two comedies and a historical romance in her bag and a week to watch them in.
Dusk had turned into dark while she was in the video store. She knew Foggy Point was safer than Oakland, but she still hurried up the deserted block toward her car.
As she turned the corner she heard a shuffling noise behind her. She sped up, and the sound turned into the distinct rapping of boot heels on pavement. The footsteps sped up as well.
'Hey,” Aiden called. “Wait up.” A strange-looking dog danced around his feet. “Randy, sit,” he said, and the little dog obeyed.
'Aiden,” she said in relief. “You scared me to death.'
