Read Online A Killer Stitch by Maggie Sefton - Free Book Online

did she get the gun? Kelly knitted another row of stitches, but her thoughts didn’t slow down. Where was Burt anyway? The last she saw him, he was flirting with Mimi over the yarn bins. Where was he when she needed him?
    â€œGood, I was hoping I’d find you here alone.” Burt’s voice startled her as he walked up from behind. Pulling up a chair beside her, he sat down, hands clasped between his knees in what Kelly recognized as his “talking pose.”
    She released an audible sigh. “Burt, I must have summoned you telepathically. I swear my curiosity won’t let me alone about this Derek Cooper murder.”
    â€œI figured,” Burt said with a grin.
    â€œSo, tell me. How was Derek Cooper killed? The newspapers aren’t giving any details except that it was a homicide.”
    â€œWell, they were told to wait until the next of kin is notified. It seems Derek’s mother and father were on a cruise in the Caribbean, so it took a while to reach them. They’ll be coming later this week to take his body back to California for burial.”
    â€œWas he shot?”
    â€œNope. He died from a severe blow to the head, which led to fatal bleeding inside the brain. The weapon was an old shovel found on the barn floor, still bloody. No good fingerprints, unfortunately.”
    â€œA shovel?”
    Burt nodded. “He died within minutes, apparently. Too bad there was no snow on the ground. They could have gotten some footprints. As it was, there was nothing found near his body except the shovel and a lot of cash lying around.”
    â€œThey found money?”
    â€œYep. Lots of dollar bills scattered around. Derek’s wallet was empty, too, so they figured it was his money.”
    Kelly tried to picture womanizing Derek Cooper, lying dead in a pile of his own cash. “That’s strange, don’t you think?”
    â€œWell, it’s different, I’ll say that,” Burt admitted with a smile.
    â€œIt couldn’t be a robbery gone bad,” Kelly mused out loud. “Otherwise, the killer would have taken the cash. And I can’t imagine a killer carrying around a shovel as a weapon, can you?”
    â€œIt would be a little awkward.”
    Kelly pondered another minute. “Sounds to me like a crime of passion, Burt. I mean, shovels are naturally found in barns. Derek and the killer are having an argument or a fight, and the killer reaches out for whatever is handy. Wham! Derek’s dead.”
    Burt’s careworn face crinkled into a grin. “Right as usual, Kelly. That’s exactly what the investigators are thinking. There’s certainly no way this was accidental. You have to hit someone really hard to kill them. Exam showed that Derek was hit on the right side of the head. Death was quick.”
    â€œIf Derek was hit on the side of his head, he was probably turning away or walking away from the killer.”
    â€œMost likely.”
    Kelly pondered for another minute. “There’s no way Derek Cooper would turn his back on a menacing stranger, certainly not if they were having a heated argument. That means the killer was not a stranger. It was someone Derek knew. Someone he felt safe walking away from.”
    Burt chuckled. “Sharp eye, Kelly. The investigators are looking at everyone, though. They can’t afford to rule out any possibility, even the intruder theory. They’re interviewing Derek’s friends and business acquaintances right now.”
    Remembering that Jennifer’s friend Diane had lied to the police, Kelly deliberately kept quiet. The detectives would find out soon enough about Diane. She didn’t need to point them in that direction. “Keep me posted, will you?”
    â€œYou bet,” he said as he stood up. “Right now, I’m going to spin some of those fleeces that have piled up in the storage room. See you later, Kelly.”
    â€œThanks, Burt,” Kelly said as he