Read Online Murder in a Basket (An India Hayes Mystery) by Amanda Flower - Free Book Online
Authors: Amanda Flower
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they hunkered over their intricate work in full pioneer garb, they brought to mind the Wild West version of the three witches of Macbeth. The oldest of the group, a gray-haired lady with a pair of mother-of-pearl reading glasses perched on her pug nose, grunted. “There goes my last piece of jade.”
“ Where’d you drop it?” a second beader, who wasn’t much older than Erin, asked. She had short purple hair peeking out from under her bonnet and a pronounced lisp.
“ In the grass, where do you think? I’ll never find it now,” Beader Number One said.
The third beader, a rail-thin Asian woman with iron-straight black hair, stood and peered at the grass around Number One’s feet.
“Forget it,” Number One snapped. “You’ll never find it. It’s green and the darned grass is green.” She looked up to find me watching them. She gave me a motherly smile. “Sorry about that. I just hate to lose a bead.”
“ I understand.” I returned her smile.
“ I’m Celeste. This is Beth,” she said. “And that’s Jendy.” She pointed at the beader with purple hair.
Beth smiled at me shyly. “You’re Carmen’s sister, right?”
I nodded, steeling myself for another complaint about favoritism.
Jendy glanced up briefly from her pile of Czech glass beads. “You’re the one who found Tess.”
Beth opened a small tube filled with jung le green beads the size of eyeglass screws and poured them on the foam mat in front of her. Using needle-nose pliers, she picked up one of the beads and slid a fine metal chain through it.
“ So what was it like? I mean, finding the body, was there a lot blood? Like on a cop show?” Jendy asked.
“ Jendy, please.” Beth looked like she might be sick. She shot a quick glance at Celeste, who was concentrating on her beads.
“ It’s not exactly like you see on TV,” I said as the image of the back of Tess’s head flashed in my mind.
Jendy’s eyes sparkled. “Who do you think did it?”
“ I have no idea. Did any of you know Tess well?” I asked.
Celeste sniffed. “I know Jerry, known him for years. If you ask me, Tess was all wrong for him. You should have heard them fight. We’re all members of the same crafter co-op. The co-op owns an old farm on Delia Road. Most of the crafters, myself included, have space inside the converted barn. Jerry has his own forge on the property.”
I knew where the co-op was. It was right on the Summit-Portage county line and not far from Kent. The New Day Artists Cooperative was relatively new. It started while I was living in Chicago. I had meant to visit it after moving back to Stripling, but never got around to it.
“ You see,” Celeste said, interrupting my thoughts. She held up a beautiful teal and lavender glass bead. “I’m not just a beader. I make many of my own beads with glass flame work.”
Jendy and Beth rolled their eyes at each other. Apparently, they’d heard about Celeste’s bead -making skills one too many times.
I nodded encouragement.
“Jerry’s the one who taught me how to use a blowtorch.”
“ Oh?” I said.
She nodded. “We are very close. In fact, he told me six months ago he was going to break it off with Tess.”
I sat straighter in my chair. “Break it off how?”
Celeste paled. “I hope I’m not giving you the wrong idea. Jerry would never do anything to hurt Tess. He just wanted a divorce, or so I thought. He never said exactly what he planned to do.”
Beth shook her head. “I still can’t believe someone was murdered. It’s so awful.”
“ Did you see anything out of the ordinary before you left yesterday?” I asked.
Jendy cocked her head. “That’s a weird question. What are you, an undercover cop using face painting as a front?”
I laughed. “Oh, no. I’m just curious. Since I was the one who found Tess, the police have been asking me a lot of questions like that.”
The y shook their heads.
“ On second thought,” Beth said. “I left just before seven, and
“ Where’d you drop it?” a second beader, who wasn’t much older than Erin, asked. She had short purple hair peeking out from under her bonnet and a pronounced lisp.
“ In the grass, where do you think? I’ll never find it now,” Beader Number One said.
The third beader, a rail-thin Asian woman with iron-straight black hair, stood and peered at the grass around Number One’s feet.
“Forget it,” Number One snapped. “You’ll never find it. It’s green and the darned grass is green.” She looked up to find me watching them. She gave me a motherly smile. “Sorry about that. I just hate to lose a bead.”
“ I understand.” I returned her smile.
“ I’m Celeste. This is Beth,” she said. “And that’s Jendy.” She pointed at the beader with purple hair.
Beth smiled at me shyly. “You’re Carmen’s sister, right?”
I nodded, steeling myself for another complaint about favoritism.
Jendy glanced up briefly from her pile of Czech glass beads. “You’re the one who found Tess.”
Beth opened a small tube filled with jung le green beads the size of eyeglass screws and poured them on the foam mat in front of her. Using needle-nose pliers, she picked up one of the beads and slid a fine metal chain through it.
“ So what was it like? I mean, finding the body, was there a lot blood? Like on a cop show?” Jendy asked.
“ Jendy, please.” Beth looked like she might be sick. She shot a quick glance at Celeste, who was concentrating on her beads.
“ It’s not exactly like you see on TV,” I said as the image of the back of Tess’s head flashed in my mind.
Jendy’s eyes sparkled. “Who do you think did it?”
“ I have no idea. Did any of you know Tess well?” I asked.
Celeste sniffed. “I know Jerry, known him for years. If you ask me, Tess was all wrong for him. You should have heard them fight. We’re all members of the same crafter co-op. The co-op owns an old farm on Delia Road. Most of the crafters, myself included, have space inside the converted barn. Jerry has his own forge on the property.”
I knew where the co-op was. It was right on the Summit-Portage county line and not far from Kent. The New Day Artists Cooperative was relatively new. It started while I was living in Chicago. I had meant to visit it after moving back to Stripling, but never got around to it.
“ You see,” Celeste said, interrupting my thoughts. She held up a beautiful teal and lavender glass bead. “I’m not just a beader. I make many of my own beads with glass flame work.”
Jendy and Beth rolled their eyes at each other. Apparently, they’d heard about Celeste’s bead -making skills one too many times.
I nodded encouragement.
“Jerry’s the one who taught me how to use a blowtorch.”
“ Oh?” I said.
She nodded. “We are very close. In fact, he told me six months ago he was going to break it off with Tess.”
I sat straighter in my chair. “Break it off how?”
Celeste paled. “I hope I’m not giving you the wrong idea. Jerry would never do anything to hurt Tess. He just wanted a divorce, or so I thought. He never said exactly what he planned to do.”
Beth shook her head. “I still can’t believe someone was murdered. It’s so awful.”
“ Did you see anything out of the ordinary before you left yesterday?” I asked.
Jendy cocked her head. “That’s a weird question. What are you, an undercover cop using face painting as a front?”
I laughed. “Oh, no. I’m just curious. Since I was the one who found Tess, the police have been asking me a lot of questions like that.”
The y shook their heads.
“ On second thought,” Beth said. “I left just before seven, and
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