Quilt By Association

get another hour or two in while we wait for Jane to call.'

'I'm coming, too,” Harriet said.

'No, you're not,” chorused Mavis, Beth and Aiden.

'You still have to rest,” Aunt Beth said. “You don't need to be moving home in the middle of the night.'

'Eight o'clock. That's the middle of the night?'

Aunt Beth picked up her bag and left, ending Harriet's protests.

'I better get going, too.” Lauren said, and stood up. “By the way, I didn't get anywhere with Neelie Obote.'

'Oh, I almost forgot,” Harriet said. “I have a better name for her.'

'Oh, great-and you were going to tell me when?'

'Hey, we just found out this afternoon.'

'Things like that I need to know right away. That could have saved me hours of searching.'

'I'm sorry. Do you want to know her name or not?'

'Fine,” Lauren said then listened in relative silence as Mavis and Harriet related the information they'd learned about Nancy Lou Freeman.

'Let me see what I can do with this,” she said. “Thanks for dinner.'

'How are the dogs doing?” Harriet asked Aiden when they were alone in the living room.

'I think we're finally turning the corner on most of them-physically, anyway. Now we begin the process of trying to figure out who is mentally well enough to be adopted and who will need socialization.'

He was describing the process he went through trying to decide if a rescue dog was ready to be adopted when the doorbell sounded. Aiden got up and opened the door, letting Detective Jane Morse in.

'I hope you don't mind my coming by,” she said. “I know I said I would call, but I had to come right by here on my way home, so I thought I'd stop.'

'Would you care for some tea or coffee?” Mavis asked from the kitchen door.

'Tea sounds good,” said Detective Morse. Her medium-length brown hair was swept back from her face and probably had covered her ears at the start of her day. Now, one ear poked out between drooping strands, dark smudges shadowed her eyes and her lipstick had worn off. It was clear she had put in a long, hard day.

Aiden's cell phone rang. He spoke in low tones for a moment then ended the call.

'I'm sorry, but I have to go. That was one of the techs at the clinic. One of my patients chewed her stitches out. I need to go sew her back up.'

'Harriet will be going to bed early,” Mavis said as she brought a plate of ginger cookies from the kitchen and set them in front of the detective.

Aiden looked at Harriet, and they both smiled.

'I'll pick you up tomorrow around ten,” he said.

Mavis raised her eyebrows at Harriet as Aiden turned and left.

'I know you and my aunt think my sprained ankle and bruised kidney rendered me mentally incompetent, and I do appreciate everything you're doing for me, but I made arrangements to go to breakfast with Aiden in the morning.'

'No one said you couldn't,” Mavis said and returned to the kitchen.

'I don't mean to sound like a broken record,” Morse said, “but can you think of any reason why Joseph Marston would be so determined to talk to you?'

'I'm sorry,” Harriet said. “I've given it a lot of thought, and I keep coming up empty. I barely know the man. I did go to his house, but I didn't see anything, I didn't hear anything. I'd never been there before the night I was attacked.'

'Maybe you saw something and don't realize it,” she suggested.

'I can't imagine what it could be.'

'Anything could be significant,” Morse said, “even if it doesn't seem like it right now.'

'What did Joseph say when he was arrested?” Harriet asked.

Jane Morse paused while Mavis brought her a cup of tea on a saucer that held two sugar cubes and a teaspoon as well as the cup.

'Joseph isn't saying anything,” she said.

'That says something in itself, doesn't it?” Mavis asked.

'No, I mean he isn't saying anything-not asking for a lawyer, not proclaiming his innocence, not asking to use the bathroom. He's being evaluated, but I think he's had some sort of breakdown.'

'Is there any chance we have it backwards?” Harriet asked.

'What do you mean?” Morse asked.

'What if Rodney is the bad guy here? Maybe he came to collect Neelie, and she didn't want to go, so he killed her. Neelie might have turned to Joseph for help when she realized Rodney had followed her to town. Rodney saw her talking to Joseph and decided he had to eliminate him, too. Maybe he went to Joseph's to kill him, and Joseph somehow got the upper hand and killed Rodney instead. Then he freaked out and ran.'

'That's a nice theory, but do you have real evidence to support it?” Morse asked.

'A week ago Friday, we had a shower for our friend DeAnn. Neelie was staying at Aiden's house at that point. She left during the shower, supposedly to buy baby formula. I later learned she was seen during that time having lunch with a guy who matched Joseph's description. I don't know what they were talking about, but it proves they knew each other.'

'We also know Rodney was probably Neelie's pimp,” Mavis added.

'You ladies have certainly been busy,” Detective Morse said. “What else have you learned about the players in this case that you haven't told me?'

Harriet and Mavis gave her a quick rundown of the call from Jasmine and their visit with Neelie's foster mother.

'Even if Neelie and Joseph knew each other, it's still a big leap to him trying to help her escape Rodney Miller and killing him in the process.'

'In any case, it should be safe for me to go back to my house, shouldn't it?” Harriet asked.

'I wish I could say an unqualified yes, but until we can interview Marston, I'm afraid we just don't know. I'd feel better if we knew why he was so desperate to talk to you.'

'We may never know that, though, right?” Harriet persisted.

'Unfortunately, that is a real possibility, given the state of things. With Neelie Obote and Rodney Miller both dead and Joseph Marston unwilling or unable to speak, we don't have a lot to go on. Of course, we'll question everyone who knew them again and see if we can uncover anything new, but for now we wait to see if Joseph comes back from wherever he's gone.'

'Can we do anything to help?” Mavis asked.

'I can't think of anything,” Morse said. “We don't know why Marston would have attacked Harriet, but we don't have any evidence that anyone else was involved, and with him in custody, it would seem the immediate threat is over.'

'Hopefully, life can return to normal around here,” Mavis said. “We have a dog adoption fundraiser to put on.'

'I heard about that. Do you have any more of the quilts here?'

'The ones we have are at my studio,” Harriet said. “You're welcome to drop by and see them if you want. I should have them all by Monday afternoon. We have to hang them at the community center so the judges can decide which one will be chosen to be the raffle quilt. We'll sell tickets on that one for the next six months or so, but the rest will be auctioned next Saturday at the benefit dinner.'

'I'll try to get over there,” Morse said. “And thanks for cooperating.” She drained the remains of her tea and stood up.

'Here, I'll take your cup.” Mavis did so then escorted her to the front door. “So, you were playing nice,” she said to Harriet when the detective was gone.

'I'm always nice. Especially when I want to be sure we get the latest information from the police.'

'I'll take you to the doctor Monday morning for your follow-up,” Mavis said. “Beth wanted to be sure she had the extra time for Phyl's quilt if she needs it.'