Quilt As You Go

'Dad was murdered?” Ben asked at the same time.

'That would be why they haven't released his body,” James said. “They're running out of things to test for. The only thing they'll say is that Dad received a lethal blow to his heart by object or objects unknown, and that it doesn't appear to be self-inflicted.'

'Do they have any idea who killed him?” Ben asked.

'Ironically, Mom could be at the top of their list. Dad was killed while she was on her way back from babysitting for our dear brother Pete,” James said. “They have no evidence against her-only her lack of alibi. His other wife is in the same boat-no one saw her at the critical time, but there is no evidence to imply she had anything to do with it.'

'If we could figure out why your dad left and then came back, that might help us identify other suspects,” Harriet suggested.

'How are we supposed to do that?” Ben asked. He took an orange from the fruit bowl on the table and started peeling it.

'Follow the money trail,” James said. “Someone set up the account that's paid Mom all this time. Our dad didn't have that kind of money. Or if he did, Mom didn't know about it, so someone else must have been involved.'

'Maybe someone he worked with would know something,” Harriet said. “I can talk to Carlton tomorrow. I've already talked to him about trying to find the father of a guy one of our quilters is dating. He supposedly worked there around the same time.'

'I'd appreciate that,” Gerry said. “ Carlton being my ultimate boss makes it difficult for me to ask too many questions.'

'I think Mom and that woman are planning on having a memorial service whether they get Dad's body or not.” Ben said, changing the topic.

'They might as well, since we're all here,” Harry said.

'Mom said the cousins from the Netherlands are coming,” James said.

'Good,” said Harriet. “Maybe they can tell us something useful.'

'So, did you say earlier you found out something that can help us?'

'Not directly, and I'm not sure it connects to your dad at all.” She explained her concern about Carla's new boyfriend and the resulting surveillance by the Loose Threads. “We ended up at the park on Miller Hill, looking down on Foggy Point Fire Protection.'

'Is this guy some kind of domestic terrorist?” Gerry asked. “Maybe we should be talking to the police.'

'I'm not sure what this guy is, but he claimed he was going to talk to someone. He was definitely doing surveillance. He didn't say anything to indicate he wanted to blow the place up or anything.” Harriet sipped her tea. “He was interested in what the night shift was doing.'

'We don't have a night shift,” Gerry said.

'Somebody does,” Harriet told him. “There were people driving forklifts in and out of the big doors at the end of the building.'

'Oh, that. We rented out warehouse space to another company. Since we're doing zero inventory management, we don't need a lot of storage space anymore. Materials come in daily on trucks and finished products leave at roughly the same pace. Japanese companies call it just-in-time manufacturing.'

'What does the other company make?” Harriet asked.

'I have no idea. We advertised we had X number of square feet of storage space available and someone contacted us and rented it. It's not my area, so I don't really know the details.'

'Would Carlton know?'

'If you'd asked should he, the answer is yes. Whether he does is anyone's guess.'

'You implied there might be a connection between this guy and our dad,” Harry prompted.

'Nothing I can put my finger on,” Harriet said. “The Threads and I were talking, and we think it's a bit of a coincidence that he showed up skulking around town around the time your dad returned and right before Ilsa showed up. We even speculated about whether he was related to Ilsa. But we couldn't come up with a good reason why he would be spying on the factory, if that was the case.'

'Oh, that's good,” Harry said, “I hadn't even thought about the possibility that Dad might have had more kids.” He looked serious for once.

'Don't go off the deep end,” Harriet cautioned. “We were just speculating and trying to make connections. We have no reason to believe your dad has other children.'

'Yeah, but it would make sense,” Ben said. “Dad obviously loved kids, I mean, he had all of us, didn't he? And Mom said his other wife looks younger than her.'

'That's a big leap, from liking kids to having more and younger,” James said. “Dad seemed kind of relieved when we got big enough to drive ourselves.'

'Speak for yourself,” Harry said. “He left before I got my license.'

How sad, Harriet thought. The boys measured their dad's absence by their milestones he'd missed.

'I'll let you know if I learn anything, but your brother's right. We don't have nearly enough information to jump to any conclusions.'

She heard a rhythmic tapping on the outer door to her quilt studio. She went through and let a very tired- looking Aiden in. He was once again dressed in scrubs, and his hair had the flattened ridge that was a result of wearing a scrub cap.

She led him into the kitchen, where he sat beside Gerry at the island.

'Tough night, huh?” Gerry said and clapped him on the back.

'Yeah, something like that.'

'I was just leaving.” Gerry got up and put his empty cup in the sink. “Are you ready?” he asked James.

'Where are you guys going?” Ben asked.

'Relax, tag-along, I'm just dropping James at Mom's-he's sleeping on her couch tonight. And then I'm going home.'

'We could go have a beer on your way home,” Ben suggested.

'I'm tired,” Gerry said. “When you two get married and have real jobs you'll understand. The only thing I'm doing tonight is sleeping.'

'Come on, Ben” Harry said. “Harriet has cable. We can watch old sci-fi movies in her TV room.” He headed for the stairs.

Ben glanced at Aiden and Harriet, and his face turned pink under his freckles.

'Good idea,” he said and followed his brother.

'Rough night?” Harriet asked when she and Aiden were alone.

'Dog fight,” he said. “Multiple victims. I hate seeing young, irresponsible pet owners getting unaltered male pit bulls.'

'Were they purposely fighting them?'

'No, it was actually a group of friends meeting on a street corner. The dogs got into it, and the kids couldn't control them. A couple of the kids ended up in the emergency room with bites, too.'

'That's too bad,” Harriet said. She massaged his neck with her good hand. “Sorry I can't give you a decent massage.'

He turned and pulled her into his arms. She ran her hand through his silky hair, and he tilted his head down and kissed her gently on the lips.

'Can I sleep over?” he asked.

She pulled away.

'No, you can't sleep over,” she said. “We aren't that kind of friends.'

'Yet,” he said. “We aren't that kind of friends yet. Say it.'

'Even if we were that kind of friends, you can't stay over when there are children in the house.'

'Children?” he said loudly, and she hushed him immediately. “They're all older than me,” he finished in a loud whisper.

'I rest my case,” she said.

'You're killing me here,” he said. He pulled her back toward him and wrapped his arms around her again. “They do seem younger, though, don't they.'