Quilt By Association

stitching.

'Lots of different charities donate quilts to orphanages,” Harriet mused. “They could have come from anywhere in the world.'

'I suppose,” Aunt Beth said.

'Not to change the subject,” DeAnn said, “but I heard Aiden had a meltdown at the Threads meeting yesterday.'

'That's putting it mildly,” Aunt Beth told her, mouth twitching into a smile.

'We had round two last night,” Harriet admitted.

'Was he any calmer?” Aunt Beth asked.

'By the time he left, he was better, but only a little. The police had come to the clinic to ask him about Neelie.'

'Why are they questioning him?” DeAnn asked. “He wasn't even here.'

'I don't know. He put them off until later today. I'm guessing it has to do with her staying at his house and being found on his property.'

DeAnn picked up her napkin and twisted it like a rope.

'Carla's going to freak out when they question her. Since she's the one who let Neelie stay there, they definitely will question her.'

'Yeah, but we didn't stop her,” Harriet said. She started to run her fingers through her hair then stopped herself when she recognized Aiden's habit.

'She's down for the count,” Mavis announced as she came into the kitchen. The teakettle whistled and she took a mug from a black iron rack on the counter and put a tea bag in it.

'Could you pour mine, too?” Harriet asked.

'I know the agency told you to put her in a crib,” Mavis continued when she'd poured the tea. “but I couldn't hoist her over the rails, so I put her on the bed.'

'Frankly, if she stays asleep, I don't care,” DeAnn admitted. “Joseph suggested the crib, since that's what they had at the orphanage. I guess they don't move to beds until they literally can't fit in the crib.'

'She's worn out,” Mavis said. “Poor little thing.'

'Speaking of worn out,” Aunt Beth said, “we'll get out of your hair so you can get some rest, too.'

'I'm going to go back up and sit in that big rocker you have in Iloai's room,” Mavis said. “I brought my dog applique with me, and there's light enough in her room I can work on it while she sleeps. That way you can get a real nap.'

'Speaking of the dog blocks, we better go call everyone and figure out when we can meet. We need to see where we are,” Aunt Beth said when they'd talked through their block options one more time without coming to any new conclusions.

'Let us know if we can do anything,” Harriet added and stood up. She gathered the used cups from the table and took them to the sink.

'She's going to have a tough few weeks ahead,” Aunt Beth said when they were back in Harriet's car.

'I hope it's only a few weeks,” Harriet said. “Do you have time to preview my dog block before you go home?'

'Oh, honey, I always have time for you.'

'Nothing else going on, huh?'

Beth laughed.

Chapter 18

They continued the discussion about dog quilt possibilities as Harriet drove into her neighborhood. A maroon sedan was sitting at the top of her drive, adjacent to the front door. Harriet parked her car, and as she and Aunt Beth got out, two people, a man and a woman, left the sedan and walked toward them.

The woman opened a leather badge case, displaying both a gold shield and an identification card.

'I'm Detective Morse, and this is Detective Sanders. Are you Harriet Truman?” Detective Morse looked like she was in her mid-to-late forties. She wore navy blue slacks with a blue print cowl-necked blouse. She had pulled on a matching navy blazer as she approached. Detective Sanders wore gray slacks with a white shirt and maroon tie. His sleeves were rolled up to just below his elbows.

'I'm Harriet, and this is my aunt, Beth Carlson. What's this about?'

'We'd like to ask you some questions, if you have a few minutes. Could we go inside?'

Harriet looked at her aunt. Beth nodded, and Harriet led the pair to the studio entrance.

'What's this about?” she asked.

The two detectives looked at each other.

'Did you know a woman named Neelie Obote?” Morse asked.

'I'm not sure I'd say I knew Neelie Obote. I spoke to her, and I visited the house she was staying at a few times.'

'And why was that?” Sanders asked. “Can we sit down?” He gestured toward the two wingback chairs in the receiving area for her quilting clients.

'Is there somewhere private we could go?” Detective Morse asked Aunt Beth.

Harriet looked helplessly at Aunt Beth. She wasn't anxious for them to be separated, but that was clearly the intent.

'It's okay, honey,” Aunt Beth said. “We haven't done anything wrong.” She led the detective to Harriet's kitchen.

'Now,” Sanders said when he was seated. “Why was it you were at the house where Miss Obote was staying?'

'My…friend,” Harriet said, stumbling over the word boyfriend, “Aiden Jalbert lives there. It's his house. And my friend Carla lives there, too.'

'So, this is some sort of boarding house?” the detective asked. “Or commune?'

'No!” she said a little too loud. “No. Nothing like that. Aiden inherited a very large home, and he hired Carla to be his housekeeper. Neelie came looking for Aiden-he was a friend of her sister when he was in Africa. She didn't have a place to stay, and didn't know anyone else in Foggy Point, so Carla let her stay until Aiden came home.” She purposely avoided mentioning Kissa.

'And where was Mr. Jalbert?'

'It's Dr. Jalbert. He's a veterinarian. He had to go to eastern Washington to work on an animal hoarding case. He was gone for a few days.'

'Did Miss Obote say why she was looking for Dr. Jalbert?'

'She said her sister had just passed away and had asked her to bring something back to America for Aiden.'

'Do you know what that something is?'

'Yes.” Harriet gulped.

'You could save us both a lot of time by just telling me what Neelie brought from Africa. You're a horrible liar, and I will find out in the end, and then you'll be on my short list of suspects.'

'A baby,” Harriet said with a sigh. “She brought a baby. She claimed it's Aiden's-Dr. Jalbert's. But it's not.'

'And you know this how?'

'He told me,” she blurted before she could stop herself, realizing too late she'd just put Aiden on the suspect list.

'So, he came back from eastern Washington, and Miss Obote confronted him with a baby?'

'No,” she said and paused to craft her next answer.

The detective let the silence grow.

'To my knowledge, Dr. Jalbert did not meet Neelie. He came back to Foggy Point, but he brought a lot of sick and injured dogs with him, and he's been taking care of them night and day since then.'