Read Online A Stitch in Crime by Betty Hechtman - Free Book Online Page A

campers get here,” I said as the bell began to ring, announcing breakfast.
    “Good morning, ladies,” an all-too-cheerful male voice said from behind us. Dinah stiffened and moved closer to Sheila. As Commander Blaine caught up with us, I began to see Dinah’s point. He was too eager, too cheerful, and his cargo pants too wrinkle-free. He rushed ahead as we walked up the stairs to the dining hall, grabbed the door, and held it open for us. Did he even notice the fog?
    Two women and a man were standing in the entrance, blocking our way as we came inside.
    “Are any of you with the Shedd & Royal creative weekend?” a woman in lavender pants and a white sweatshirt with lavender trim asked.
    Adele gave me a nudge to the front. “She’s the one you want to talk to.”
    The woman said they had arrived late the night before. “It was terrible finding this place in the dark and with the fog coming in.” Then she brightened. “But we’re here now, and we can’t wait for the workshops to begin. Where do we register?”
    Adele nudged me again. “Pink, you better break the news to them.”
    “News?” the other woman said.
    “Have you looked outside?” I mentioned the fog, the messages from the other campers, and finally my plan to postpone the start of the activities until everyone could get there.
    The woman in the lavender pants appeared displeased with what I said. “So the workshop presenters can’t get here?” she said.
    “No, they’re all here,” I said.
    She seemed upset with my answer and turned to the man. “Edward, do something.”
    Edward straightened and cleared his throat. It turned out he was a lawyer, and he gave me some legal mumbo jumbo about implied contracts and we had to perform or we’d be in breach. He threw the word sue around a few times. I knew it was probably just hot air, and that even though Mason didn’t practice that kind of law, he could still probably outlawyer Edward. But did I want three unhappy campers? Three unhappy campers who might spread the word around Tarzana that I had ruined their weekend?
    “Well, of course you’re right.” I explained that I’d made the plan to postpone when I thought no campers had arrived. “But now that I know you’re here, we’ll have some workshops today.” They seemed satisfied and hadn’t picked up on my mention of some workshops. I said I would get them their orientation packets after breakfast and sent them over to tables by the window.
    Izabelle came in on a cloud of floral perfume. Before I could mention the table for our group, Adele had already stepped in and was guiding Izabelle to our corner. I heard a snippet of conversation as Adele moved her head around to show off her earrings. Something about their being made with double picot stitches.
    “We might as well sit down,” I said, stepping in from the entrance.
    “Who are they?” Sheila said. She started to point, then caught herself and gestured with her chin. They were a man and woman at a table in the far corner of the room.
    “That’s the guy I saw in the hall when we first got here. He looked so angry, all I could think of was that if looks could kill, I would have been dead,” I said. Sheila sucked in her breath, and I said I was just trying to be clever. “I don’t think he was angry with me. He just glanced my way. I don’t even know who he is.”
    I hadn’t noticed that Commander had left us until he rejoined us and grabbed my arm.
    “We’ve got a problem,” he said, leading me toward the kitchen. I knew Dinah wanted to stay at the table, but true-blue friend that she is, she followed along.
    When we got to the kitchen, Commander pointed to two women sitting by a counter, leaning on their elbows. Only now did I realize that there had been no food smells when we walked in. One of the women explained they worked cleanup and knew nothing about cooking. They lived nearby and had been able to walk to Asilomar. None of the cook staff could get there.
    “I