Quilt By Association

'I guess I'm feeling guilty, too. She really is annoying, but no one deserves to be abused if that's what's happening.'

'I know I have no right to ask, but would you be willing to help me with one little thing?'

'What do you want me to research?” Lauren asked with a sigh.

'Never mind, I'll do it myself.'

'Sorry, I didn't think you were that sensitive. Can we skip the drama and go straight to what you want?'

Harriet told herself to relax and take a deep breath.

'I got some more information about Neelie, the woman who died.” She related the information Aiden had passed on earlier that morning.

'So, you know her real first name and that she was adopted as a baby or young child.'

'And that she'd be in her mid- to late twenties now.'

'That's not a lot to go on.'

'I'm not sure we can make any assumptions, but she was most recently living in California,” Harriet added, referring to Rodney's information that Neelie had been living in “east bay,” which meant either Oakland, Berkeley or one of the smaller communities on the east side of San Francisco Bay.

'Well, I can try searching adoption databases on the West Coast. If she waited until she was almost thirty to go searching for her African roots, she may have recently left footprints on some of the bulletin boards that adoptees use. The fact we know where she found her cousins should help, too.'

'Anything you find could be helpful, and I understand the usual disclaimers apply.'

'You're learning,” Lauren said as she turned to go. She stopped at the door and, instead of going out, stepped aside and held the door to let Phyllis Johnson in.

'Hi,” Phyllis said and came to where Harriet sat. “I hope I'm not disturbing you.” She held a bundle in her arms.

Harriet looked at her aunt and Mavis, but they seemed as confused as she was by this unexpected visit.

'Hey, Phyl,” Aunt Beth said. “What brings you here this fine morning?'

'This is a little delicate.'

'Well, just spit it out,” Mavis said.

'You know I belong to the Small Stitches quilt group,” she said and paused. “And I'm sure you've noticed that some of our members are…” She paused again. “Well, they're…'

'Just tell us,” Aunt Beth said, “whatever it is.'

'I've seen what the Small Stitches are making for the auction, and frankly, it's embarrassing.'

'Here, sit down,” Mavis said and pointed Phyllis to a chair. “I'm still not sure why you're telling us this.'

Phyllis eased herself into the chair, and the energy seemed to go out of her.

'I'm telling you this because I made a quilt for the auction, by myself.'

'So the others in your group don't know you're doing this?” Aunt Beth asked.

Phyllis dipped her head. “No, they don't. But I couldn't just stand by and do nothing.'

'What do you want from us?” Harriet said. “Did you bring the quilt for me to do the stitching?'

Phyllis had the good grace to blush. “I know you're all busy, especially since Harriet's accident, but I was hoping somehow you could fit it in. I could pay extra for a rush order,” she said.

'I don't think that will be necessary,” Aunt Beth said. “As you can see, Harriet's not on her feet yet, but I'm all caught up, so if you don't want anything too exotic, I should be able to fit it in.'

'I guessed Harriet wouldn't be back to work yet, judging by how she looked in the hospital. Have the police figured out who did this yet?'

'If they have, they haven't told us,” Harriet said.

'I hope they don't think Joseph did it,” Phyllis said. “I know he's been distracted lately, but I can't believe he'd do anything violent.'

'He's not helping his case by running and hiding,” Harriet said.

'Hiding?” Phyllis said. “Do you know he's hiding? Or where he's hiding? Anything about where he is?'

'Sarah claims she saw him this morning at the pet store,” Mavis said.

'I can't imagine why Joseph would have killed either of those two people-or anyone else, for that matter.'

'Everyone has secrets,” Aunt Beth said sagely. “Since we can't figure out what Joseph's are, let's have a look at your little secret.'

Phyllis had competently constructed a pieced quilt using the traditional block patterns. Harriet thought she recognized Jacob's Ladder, Churn Dash and Goose in the Pond, along with some flying geese and simple pinwheels. Most of the blocks shared common elements-squares and half-square triangles and four patches, all done in only one or two size pairings. Her quilt looked complicated, but had probably been relatively easy to cut out and stitch.

Phyllis had used an impressive variety of dog print fabrics and somehow pulled them into a cohesive whole. It was scrappy, but a very well-organized scrappy.

'If you could do an all-over pattern of stitching-a diagonal grid, maybe, or really, whatever you think would look good and that you could get done in time for me to bind it before the show, that would be fine with me. As I said, I'm willing to pay a premium.'

'This looks real nice,” Mavis said as she ran her hand over the surface of the quilt top.

Phyllis pulled a piece of sewn flannel from her cloth bag.

'I pieced the back from a couple of large pieces of flannel and did a little applique around the spot where the label will go.'

She held the backing piece up. She had cut out several of the smaller dog images from some of her fabrics and stitched them in a continuous rectangle so that when the label was in place, they would appear to be running around it, frame style.

'Have any of you spoken to DeAnn lately?” she asked. “With the mess Joseph left us in, I haven't had a chance to follow up with her or her husband. I hope things have settled down.'

'I think things are going better for them now,” Aunt Beth said with a glance at Harriet that told her to keep her mouth shut.

'Why didn't you tell her about DeAnn's daughter not being African?” Harriet asked her aunt when Phyllis was back out in the driveway, getting into her car.

'If Joseph has been playing fast and loose with Phyl's business, she's going to have a stroke, literally. I don't want to get her all wound up until we have a better understanding of what actually happened.

'As we've discussed, it could have been a mix-up on the other end, or a simple mistake, or Joseph may be running a scam of some sort. He's been like a son to her, and it's going to kill her if it turns out he's been embezzling or sabotaging the business or I don't know what else.'

'Unfortunately, his disappearing act is making the last choice the more likely one,” Mavis said.

'I hate this,” sighed Aunt Beth.

'I do, too,” Mavis agreed.

'I'm glad Phyllis made her quilt,” Harriet said. “I was starting to feel guilty about tricking the Stitches into using Sarah's design. At least this way they'll have one respectable entry.'

'I guess that's something,” Aunt Beth agreed. She turned to Mavis. “Shall we go see if your car's ready? I need to check out the sale shelf at Pins and Needles for more fabric to use in the functional dog quilts.'

'How many of those quilts have you made?” Harriet asked.

'I've only done six of them, and they need so many more. We have to go to town to get Mavis's car anyway. She left it at the garage on her way here to have the oil changed. It won't take that long, and Aiden should be coming back shortly, in any case. Do you need anything before we go?'

'I don't suppose you'd consider letting me come with you.'

'Not a chance.'

'Come on, I'm not an invalid. I have a sprained ankle and a sore back, and it's been almost five days.'

'No way, and don't even think about going out on your own while we're gone.'

'We'll call Aiden,” Mavis added. “We'll tell him you're here waiting for him.'

'You guys are mean.'

'Okay,” Beth said, ignoring her protest. “You've got your book and your water. You better be right where we