Too Dead To Dance by Diane Morlan Page B

at Wes. And Wes just kept away from her. I
don’t think she ever said a word to him in the three months she’s
been dating Bobby. They’re such a cute couple.”
    I stood there, trying to
process that information. I’d never even met Bobby but he might be
trying to protect Sally. Looking at Trudy I thought, “What’s wrong
with this picture?”
    It was too quiet. I didn’t
hear the clicking of bobbins coming from Trudy’s booth. When I paid
attention, I saw her crocheting a charming piece of lace using
thread instead of yarn and a tiny silver hook. “Wow, what are you
making?”
    “A doily. Actually, I
prefer to crochet but people like to watch me make bobbin lace so I
usually do that at craft fairs. Crochet is much more
relaxing.”
    As I watched the thread
whip through her fingers, I became mesmerized. “It looks intense to
me. I crochet, but only with yarn. I’ve made a few afghans but
nothing as elegant as your doily.”
    “You come out to my Lace
Haus and I’ll teach you how to crochet with thread. The stitches
are the same and you’ll get used to working with thread instead of
yarn. Once you get the hang of it, I know you’ll love it,
too.”
    “If you say so. I would
love to learn. I’ll take you up on that if I ever get any free
time.” We talked about when that might be while I pumped her about
what she knew about Bobby, the only member of her husband’s band
that I had not met. I would talk to Sally later when she got back
from her swim class.
    “Trudy, have you heard any
more about Wes’ murder? I mean do they know time and cause of
death?”
    ‘I haven’t heard anything
about when but I sure know how.”
    “What do you mean?” I
asked, puzzled by this remark.
    She reached into a canvas
tote bag and held up a long red knitting needle. “Why, Jennifer,
didn’t you see my other number ten sticking out of his
neck?”
    Confused, I asked inanely,
“You knit, too?”
    “Yah, and I feel sort of
bad about leaving my needles out on in the open.” Trudy said,
ignoring my perplexity. “I was trying to finish a scarf before
closing. I got the last row bound off just as everyone was leaving
and the Fest Meister was waiting to lock up. I tucked the scarf in
my tote bag, but left the needles on the table.”
    I had been so shocked at
seeing a dead body I hadn’t looked at the details. Trudy was much
more observant, but, after all, it was her knitting needle. When
she showed me its twin, I understood how I could have missed it, a
red aluminum needle about a foot long with a pointed end. It seemed
to me this person had not planned to kill Wes or the killer would
have brought a weapon. From what I had heard today, plenty of
people had reason to do away with the scoundrel. Somehow I needed
to figure out who actually followed through.
     
    When Sally returned from
teaching her class, she had barely put down her bag when we had a
rush of customers, so I didn’t get a chance to talk to her. The
booth stayed busy until almost seven o’clock when Sally’s shift
ended. After Sally left, I took a minute to call Megan. We needed
to make a plan.
    I told Megan about Trudy’s
knitting needle being the murder weapon and she agreed that the
murder probably wasn’t planned.
    “You know, Jennifer, you
need to talk to Marty. Edwin won’t be any help there so you also
need to find a way to get to her when Edwin’s not
around.”
    “I’ll think about that. But
I plan to find Sally at the big tent tonight while she’s watching
the Windig Sangers and find out what she knows about Wes. I don’t
even know the time Wes was attacked. I guess we’d better find that
out first or nobody’s alibi will make any sense. How do I do
that?”
    Megan suggested, “Why don’t
you drop in at Maron County Sheriff’s Department and see if Lt.
Jacobs would tell you the details. He probably won’t, but you can’t
receive if you don’t ask.”
    “Good idea. I’ll drop in
when I leave here tonight. What are you doing