Quilt By Association

Harriet picked up her phone and dialed the non-emergency number for the Foggy Point police. As soon as she was connected to Detective Morse and had told her Joseph had come calling the detective told her to sit tight and she'd be right there.

'I'm not sure where she thought I was going to go, but I told her we'd be waiting here,” she said to Aiden when she'd pressed the end-call button.

He pulled one of the rolling chairs next to her and reached over and took her hand in his.

'You did the right thing,” he said. He held her hand while they finished their donuts.

Chapter 36

Aunt Beth and Mavis returned just as Harriet was finishing her first run-through of what had transpired while they were in town. Jane Morse listened silently until Harriet had finished her account.

'Very curious,” she said. “Why do you think he believes you can help him?'

'I have no idea. I really can't imagine why he would come here.'

'I'm going to increase the patrols on your hill for the time being,” Morse said.

'I'm going to do better than that,” Aunt Beth interrupted. “I'm taking Harriet and Fred to my house out on the strait.'

'Who's Fred?” Morse asked.

At the repeated mention of his name, Fred jumped into Harriet's lap, one of his feet landing in her tea cup, splashing tea onto the leg of her jeans. Morse raised her eyebrows in understanding.

'Do I get a say in this?” Harriet asked, dabbing her leg with a napkin. “I think I should stay here in case he comes back.'

'That's exactly why you shouldn't be here,” Beth countered.

'We could try planting a decoy here and see if he tries to make contact.'

Harriet looked at Aiden, who was now pacing back and forth across her workroom.

'I think your aunt's right,” he said. “If you were at full strength, I might think otherwise, but you'd be a sitting duck if he came back.'

'Fine, I'm too tired to argue.'

She went through the sequence of events three more times, but she couldn't add anything to her original account of Joseph's visit, so the detective thanked her for calling and left.

'I'll go get your overnight bag,” Aunt Beth said.

'Haven't we already done this once?” Harriet asked. “Remember when I went and stayed with Mavis for safekeeping? That didn't work out so well, did it?'

'That was different,” Aunt Beth said as she went into the kitchen. Mavis followed her after announcing she would gather Fred's things.

'How is it different from when I went to stay at Mavis's cottage when Aiden's uncle…” She trailed off, not really sure how to continue, since the cause of her having to leave her house in the spring had been Aiden's murderous Uncle Bertie. “I'm sorry,” she muttered and reached out for his hand. He came back and sat on the arm of her chair.

'I know your aunt and Mavis are being overprotective,” he said, diverting the discussion away from his family. “But what can it hurt? You can't really work until they take the cast off your foot, so why not let them spoil you a little bit? And you can look out over the strait. You might find it calming.'

'When did you get so Zen?'

'Maybe when I realized there was no point in fighting my mother, your aunt or Mavis when they had their mind set on something-which, by the way, happened when I was about ten.'

'Fine,” Harriet said. “Like you said, it's not like I'm getting any work done anyway.'

He leaned toward her and put his arm around her shoulders.

'Things are completely different this time,” Aunt Beth said as she and Harriet picked up their argument again in the car. “I talked to Jane while I was packing your stuff, and she agreed with your idea of having a female officer stay at your house as a decoy to see if Joseph will come back here.'

'Well, at least that's something. I guess that's why you insisted on coming around and picking me up in the garage.'

'Yes, and that's why I need you to lay your seat back far enough your head isn't visible in the window.'

Harriet did as she asked.

'This seems a little silly,” she said. “Joseph took off down the hill. I'd be surprised if he came back this soon.'

'You're assuming he's working alone. Whatever made him murder Neelie and Rodney could be big. He could have accomplices.'

'I suppose anything is possible.'

'I brought along some handwork for you,” Aunt Beth said, nimbly switching topics. “We need labels sewn on the quilts that are finished. And I have several of the kennel quilts that need their bindings sewn on.'

'Can't you just machine-sew the bindings for those.'

'If I was willing to give away a functional quilt that had a jagged-looking stitching line around the border, yes, I could just machine the stitching on, but I think even a dog deserves a nice-looking quilt.'

'You could use clear nylon thread in the bobbin or do a wide zigzag stitch,” Harriet pressed, describing two of the common remedies for the problem everyone had when applying binding to a quilt by machine. When encasing an edge in fabric, only the side of the casing you're looking at as you stitch can be seen, leaving the condition of the bottom, or blind side, up to chance.

'I'm well aware of the methods people use, and if you are that opposed to hand-stitching a few little quilts then I'll just do them myself after I finish Phyl's quilt.'

'You aren't going to go to my house and work on Phyllis's quilt, are you? It's not safe.'

'It's not safe for you, but Joseph didn't hit me and he's not looking for me. Besides, there will be an undercover officer dressed like you and using crutches just in case he shows up.'

'I don't understand why Joseph would be after me,” Harriet said. “Why wouldn't he be after you, too? I mean, you know everything I do.'

'Yes, but I wasn't found snooping in his windows. And I haven't uncovered any murderers this year, either.'

'Still, we're missing something. A big something, if you ask me.'

At the bottom of the hill, Aunt Beth went straight through the intersection instead of turning left, which would have been the most direct way to approach her house on the strait.

'Where are we going?” Harriet asked.

'Jorge prepared food for your recovery and wanted me to come by and pick it up. I tell you, that man is like a mother hen trying to protect his chicks. He's called me three times a day since you got hurt.'

'Did you ever think it's just an excuse to get to talk to you?'

'Not a chance,” she said. “And don't you even be thinking like that.'

She took her eyes off the road to glare at Harriet, but Harriet looked out the window, her slight smile reflecting off the glass.

'I'm afraid you're going to have to hide again,” Aunt Beth said as they got close to town.

With only a little more cloak-and-dagger action, Harriet and Beth finally arrived at the little house on the Strait of Juan de Fuca Beth had moved into.

'I figured you could sleep in the TV room,” Beth said, referring to the downstairs bedroom she used as an office and which was also furnished with a large television and a convertible sofa sleeper. Her own bedroom was upstairs and had French doors that led to a small balcony overlooking the strait.

'That sounds fine,” Harriet said and started for the front door. Her aunt followed her with two shopping bags full of food from Tico's Tacos.

Aunt Beth's phone was ringing as they came into the house, and she answered it, talking to her caller for several minutes.