Quilter's Knot

'See you in a few,” she said, and left.

Tom was in the office when she arrived.

'Hey,” he said.

'Hi, I came to pick up a fax from my aunt. Someone brought it here from the UPS Store.'

'Yeah, that was me. I was shipping some stuff, and Bill asked if I'd bring you a fax. I left it with Nancy. She stepped out for a minute, but it should be right here.'

He started ruffling through the papers on Nancy's desk.

The outside door opened, and two men dressed in jeans and plaid flannel shirts entered the reception area. Harriet moved aside to make room for them. The larger one pulled off his leather work gloves and took a business card from his shirt pocket. He reached across the counter and handed it to Tom.

'We're from Angel's Wing Landscaping. The boss said you have some monkshood you need removed.'

'So I've been told,” Tom said. “We've found some in a bouquet of cut flowers in one of the residence buildings. We usually get the flowers from our wildflower meadow, so I assume there must be some there. I don't know what it looks like, so I hoped you could check the meadow and, if you find it, remove it. And while you're here, check the rest of the grounds and see if it's growing anywhere else.'

'I'm going to be surprised if it turns out you have any here. It's not something that usually grows down this low on its own. Someone would have had to plant it.'

'I don't care how it got here,” Tom said, a hard edge creeping into his voice. “Someone used it to kill my mother, and I want it gone-now.'

The man looked down, avoiding Tom's glare. “I'm sorry for your loss,” he said. “Miz Bainbridge was a fine woman.” He nudged his partner toward the door. “We'll get right on it.'

Tom turned his back to Harriet and continued searching Nancy's desk.

'Here it is,” he said and handed it to her. She took the envelope and started for the door. She stopped with her hand on the knob. “Can I ask you something?” she asked.

He looked up. “Sure,” he said. “Anything.'

'Why do you need to hire guys to identify monkshood for you?'

'Because I don't know what it looks like. Why?'

She turned back to face him. “It just seems a little odd that a guy with a degree in botany would need to hire people to identify a plant.'

'What are you talking about?” His voice rose. “Why on earth do you think I have a degree in botany?'

'Patience mentioned it the other day. She said you worked for the forestry department before you came here. I thought she said you had a degree in botany.'

'She was right. I did work for the Department of Forestry. As an architect. I still do work for them. I design buildings that are compatible with the forest. Visitor centers, fire lookout structures, that sort of thing.'

'I was sure Patience said you were a botanist.'

'She probably did. My mom and Patience were obsessed with quilting and this school. I told them a hundred times what I did, and it just went in one ear and out the other. They didn't really listen unless I said something about this school. My own mother couldn't have told you what I did before I came here. I mean, she had a vague knowledge that I graduated from architecture school, but beyond that, not so much.'

'Okay, I guess I'll see you later,'

'Wait a minute.” He came around the counter and stood toe-to-toe with her. “You think I poisoned my mom, don't you?'

Harriet felt heat creep up her neck to her cheeks. “When Patience said you had a degree in botany, it sort of fit. Who better to condense a poisonous plant than a botanist?” She smiled an embarrassed smile.

'If this weren't so ridiculous I'd be insulted.” He clasped her arms just below her shoulders, but before she got to find out what more he was about to say, the door to the office banged open and Aiden appeared.

'Oh, geez, not you again,” Tom growled.

'Stop!” Harriet ordered.

'Get your hands off her.'

'Aiden, stop-he didn't do anything. We're just talking.'

'It doesn't look like ‘just talking’ from here. Your face is red, and he's got his hands on you again.'

Tom dropped his hands and stepped back.

'We just had a misunderstanding,” Harriet explained. “Not that it's any of your business. You're not my bodyguard.'

'Somebody needs to be.'

'Come on, let's not do this again.'

He continued to glare at Tom.

'What I need from both of you is help,” she said. “Lauren's missing.'

'Didn't we already know that?” Aiden asked.

'We knew she was dodging the police, but I think she's really missing now.” She explained her observation of Les, who had obviously expected to find Lauren in the equipment garage, leaving out the part about her and Carla tailing him.

'What do you need from me?” Tom asked.

'I'd like to search the grounds. Not the classrooms but any other outbuildings that might make good hiding spots. I hoped you could identify those places and maybe let us into buildings if they're locked. And if either of you is going into Angel Harbor this afternoon, I'd like to check out Lauren's brother's apartment. She said she'd been staying there but wasn't going to anymore, but I'd still like to check just to be sure.'

'You don't ask for much, do you?” Tom said.

'I know, and I'm sorry for what I said earlier, but I'm really starting to worry about Lauren.'

Tom looked at his watch. “I have to go meet with a guy about security. The soonest I could look for Lauren would be around one o'clock.'

'I have to go, too. I was just stopping by on my way to the hospital. I've got two more hours of surgery when I get back. I can come back after that-probably around two or two-thirty.” Aiden took the key to the rental car from his pocket. “Should I meet you back here?'

'Sure, thanks.” Lauren could be dead by then, but sure, she thought.

'I can check Les's apartment when I go into Angel Harbor,” Tom offered. “I'm not a breaking and entering kind of guy, but I'll knock and see if anyone answers.'

'Okay, I guess that's better than nothing.'

'We could tell Detective Ruiz our concerns and let him search for Lauren,” Tom said. “If you really think she's in danger, that might be the best thing to do.'

'Detective Ruiz believes Lauren killed your mother. Somehow, I don't think he's going to be concerned about her welfare.'

'I just wanted to put it out there,” Tom said with a sigh. “I've got to go. I'll see you later.” He nodded at Aiden and left the office as Nancy came back in.

Aiden walked Harriet back to the Tree House. “I still don't like that guy, but he does have a point about calling the police.'

She stopped in the middle of the path. “Detective Ruiz wants to put Lauren in jail. With her attitude and big mouth, she's liable to resist arrest and end up in jail even though she didn't do anything.'

'Okay, I guess I'll be back for the big search, then.'

Harriet went up the steps to the Tree House without looking back.

Chapter Twenty-seven

Mavis, Connie and Carla were seated at the dining table when Harriet came in. Fat quarters of fabric, the quilters name for a half-yard of material that has been cut in half to make two eighteen-by-twenty-two-inch squares, sat in color-coordinated piles on the table top. Each pile had a swatch of the background fabric they'd been given for the memorial quilts next to it.