I waved my hand dismissively, filled my grandmother's teacup and sat down again. 'I also went over to Natalie's place to talk to her.'
Eleanor's mouth dropped open. 'About what?'
'Marc. What else?' I told her what I'd realized about Natalie's baby. Eleanor shook her head and listened. 'So, what's the Jesse-Natalie story? Another love triangle?'
'Heavens, no,' Eleanor said. 'When Jesse moved back to town, his wife had just gotten diagnosed with cancer. She was new to the area, didn't know anyone. Natalie was about her age and they became friends. Good friends, I understand. But Natalie was young and I think she got a bit spooked by the enormity of the illness. I believe she just backed off, stopped returning calls, that sort of thing. It really hurt Jesse's wife. And anything that hurt her hurt Jesse.'
'Still, that's hardly a reason to be so hard on her about Marc.'
Eleanor shook her head. 'You weren't here to see how he loved her. Even in her situation, it was impossible not to envy what they felt for each other.' She smiled a half smile at me.
And even though I knew almost nothing about Jesse and his wife, I did feel a shudder of envy. 'I suppose tragic circumstances make people closer,' I said.
'I don't know. I think they just bring out what you really feel for each other. If you are close, you'll become closer. If you're not, then a difficult time may well pull you apart.' She sipped her tea. 'Did you talk with Ryan this afternoon?'
I shook my head. Eleanor nodded at me, picked up my flowers and examined them again. 'You did a lovely job with these. Did you enjoy making them?'
'Yes. But don't get any ideas.'
'I think quilting is a lot safer than being an amateur detective, Nell,' she said, with a worried tone in her voice that made me feel a bit guilty for running around. 'As much as you want to clear Ryan, you shouldn't interfere anymore. Promise me.'
I nodded. I didn't want to tell her that there was now another reason why I was looking for Marc's killer-a reason I'd only just realized. It was fun. And now that I knew that, I wasn't sure I could stop.
CHAPTER 43
I knew it was better if I appeared to stay out of the investigation for a while, just in case Jesse made good on his threat to arrest me, so for the next week I immersed myself in the renovations at the shop and helping my grandmother. I drove to the mall a few the shop and helping my grandmother. I drove to the mall a few towns over and bought a computer program for finances. By Friday morning I had a newly purchased laptop on the dining room table. Though I wasn't much of a computer wiz and Eleanor was sitting beside me the entire time asking questions about how to copy or delete things, I still managed to put her store's books and inventory onto the program.
'It's a pity they didn't have these years ago,' she said.
'They did have these years ago, Grandma. And now that you have this one, you should update the cash register at the store to one that's computerized. That way you will always be able to keep track of the money and the inventory.'
She eyed me with a flicker of suspicion that quickly disappeared. 'I never lost a penny or so much as a spool of thread. But if you are so convinced this is the right thing, you have a new project to research, ' she said. 'Leave me alone with this thing while I play with it. You can't understand things unless you fiddle around yourself. You learned that with the muffins.'
So I left her in the dining room and headed out for a walk. Nancy was running the shop that had now spilled out from the dining room to the front hallway. Tom was working hard at the store. I knew that Eleanor, Nancy, Maggie and Susanne had finished their parts of the quilt, and only Carrie and Natalie had outstanding blocks. Everything seemed to be moving along quickly. All except for Marc's murder.
I wandered around town for about twenty minutes, passing the police station three times. I hoped to run into Jesse, but I wasn't having any luck, so I headed inside. The young uniformed officer from the day of the accidental break-in was sitting at a desk. He smiled as I walked in.
'How's it going?' he asked. 'The renovation going okay? I hear Tom might be finished before your grandmother and the other ladies are done with the quilt.'
'Maybe.' Everyone in town knew everything and felt everything was their business. I was still getting used to it, but for once maybe it would work to my advantage. 'How's the investigation going?'
'Not good. We're stuck. I'll tell you, absolutely stuck.' He shook his head to emphasize his point.
'There was a note on pink paper. Did you find anything on that?'
He shook his head again. 'It had only smudged fingerprints on it. It's a dead end so far.'
I knew I would be pushing my luck if I kept asking questions, but I had one more. 'Is Jesse, Chief Dewalt around?'
'No. He went out to get some lunch at Marabelle's over by the highway. Want me to give him a message?'
'No. In fact, don't bother telling him I was here.'
Marabelle's was a sandwich shop I'd been to several times in the years I'd been coming to visit my grandmother. When I arrived, I saw Jesse's car parked on the street in front and I pulled in right behind it.
I had rushed over so that I wouldn't miss Jesse, but now I had to make it look casual, so I strolled into the shop and tried not to look around. The place was small, with a few tables near the window, but I kept my eyes on the counter.
'Chicken salad on wheat,' I said to the woman behind the counter. I spoke a little loudly with the hope that Jesse might look up. It worked.
'Nell,' I heard Jesse call out.
I turned and tried to look surprised. 'What are you doing here?'
Jesse pointed to his half-finished sandwich. 'Same thing as you, I guess.'
I picked up my sandwich and joined Jesse without his asking. 'How are things?'
'Good. And you?'
'Good.'
'The fiance?'
'Good, I suppose.'
'Things not going well?'
I sighed. 'So much has happened.'
Jesse leaned back in his seat and nodded. 'It's got to be hard, not being sure.'
I looked into his eyes and for a moment saw a sweetness in them. 'I still love him; I just don't know if I want what he wants anymore, ' I admitted.
'People think that the moment a relationship is over you need to have one good cry and move on,' Jesse said. 'It's not that simple. Sometimes those old feelings linger, even when you start to have new feelings.'
I looked up at him, but he suddenly looked down at his plate. 'I don't know that it's over,' I said. 'I just don't know if I'm ready.'
'You think he might have killed a guy. How do you get past that?' I looked at Jesse a long time without any idea how to answer him. Finally he said, 'So are you going to ask me?'
'About what?'
He shook his head. 'Okay, I'll go back to small talk,' he said. 'This weather is sure turning cold.'
'Okay. How is the investigation going? If you don't mind sharing details of an open investigation with me.'
'I do mind sharing details, but I will tell you that I'm a bit stuck. I've checked with girlfriends, gambling buddies, anyone I can think of. It's gone nowhere.'
'So where does that leave you?' Jesse took a sip of his Coke. I waited for an answer, then realized none was coming. 'It leads you back to the quilt shop,' I said.
'So what have you come up with?' he asked. I was surprised by the question, and it must have shown. 'You're
