and no one would think anything of it. I bet he could think of a way to get that basket out there without being noticed.” Viv narrowed her eyes. “If he could think of a way to get the basket out of the cultural museum, then he might be helping the police figure out how the robber escaped with it. And anyway, why would he do it?” “The money?” Lin cocked her head. “What would the money get him that he doesn’t already have? He must be wealthy. He is a respected craftsman, he’s in huge demand to teach and to speak. He must make plenty of money. He has what money can’t buy, the respect and esteem of others. Why would he risk that?” “Maybe he just wants that antique basket. It’s really one of a kind.” Lin pulled the blanket up around her shoulders and lifted an edge up over her head like a hood. “Like you said, he has everything. He loves the baskets. So maybe he wants the one thing he doesn’t have … the antique basket.” Viv scrunched up her forehead. She realized that Lin’s idea was plausible. “It makes me sad to think he would do such a thing.” A long sigh slipped from her throat. “Who else is a possible suspect?” “Mary Frye?” Lin asked. “Oh! That reminds me.” Viv straightened. “We need to eat. We need to get going. We have the class in less than an hour.” Lin looked puzzled. “Mary Frye’s class. We’re going to it. It’s tonight.” An expression of horror formed on Lin’s face. “Tonight? Can we skip it?” Viv shook her head. “We’re going.” She stood up to head to the kitchen to get the meal out of the oven. “If you think Mary might be a suspect, then this will give you a chance to question her.” “Like you said before, I think she wanted to tell us something when we saw her at the exhibition.” “So while you’re weaving the reeds, you can try and coax her to spill what she knows. If anything.” “I’m not crafty,” Lin moaned. “I’m going to look like a fool.” “You might want to modify that statement.” With a grin, Viv stared at her cousin wrapped up tightly in the blanket with only her pale face sticking out from under the fabric. “I think you’ve already achieved the look.”
* * * L in sat at the end of the long wooden table struggling with trying to weave the cane reeds the way Mary Frye had told her to interlace them. Viv sat across from her chatting amiably with two other women who were working the strips of cane into intricately woven baskets. After one glance at what the others were doing, Lin made sure not to look at their creations again because it would have caused her to run from the old barn in shame. “That’s going well.” Mary Frye leaned down to watch Lin moving the cane between her fingers. “You’ve improved already.” The lovely young woman smiled at Lin and sat down next to her to give more pointers and suggestions. “I’m not very good at this sort of thing.” Lin slid the reed under the first one. “Nonsense. Anyone can master the weaving.” “Are you attending college?” Lin wanted to ask questions to divert Mary’s attention from her fumbling fingers and to get a sense of her and what she might know about the robbery of the antique basket. “I’m working on a master’s degree. I’m studying art history. In the summer, I come back to the island to teach classes and make baskets with my mother. She sells them in her shop in town. And of course, I work in the town museum, too.” Her long dark hair fell forward over her shoulder when she leaned down to help Lin adjust her technique. “What shop does your mother own?” “It’s a couple of blocks from the boat docks. Just a small place. It’s called Oak, Ash, and Hickory.” For a few minutes, Lin chatted with Mary about different things and then asked, “Were you only in the front room of the cultural museum when the basket went missing?” “I was working in the first room like always. Right where we met the day