A Dark and Stormy Knit by Anne Canadeo

Author:Anne Canadeo
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Gallery Books
Published: 2014-01-14T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

Many hands make light work—that’s what her mother used to say. With so many hands on the job, Phoebe’s apartment was back in order faster than Maggie had expected. It had been generous of her friends to give up prime-time morning hours, Maggie had to grant them all that.

Phoebe was very grateful and promised to make everyone dinner as a thank-you. Sometime after the investigation was over, Maggie guessed. When things settled back to normal.

“Did you have any customers yet today?” Phoebe had stayed up in her apartment after the cleanup, but finally came down around noon

A fair question, considering last night’s dreadful publicity.

“A few.” Maggie kept her gaze on the packets of buttons she’d been sorting. She’d only seen two customers so far. Was that “a few”? Or did the expression mean three or more? When Phoebe didn’t reply, she added, “It’s still early. Maybe we should work on the window again . . .” Maggie heard steps on the porch and paused. “Wait, there’s someone.”

They both looked at the shop door. Maggie felt a sudden lump in her throat. She hoped it wasn’t the police again. Dear God, please . . . no more of that, she silently prayed.

It was not the police, thank goodness. But the visitor did catch her by surprise. It was Sonya Finch, the art professor who had run the reception at the gallery.

“Hello, Phoebe.” Professor Finch strolled in with a smile. “I had to come this way for a lunch date and wanted to see how you’re doing. I got so worried when I saw the news last night. Are you all right?”

“Oh, sure . . . I’m okay.” Phoebe shrugged. She looked embarrassed. She had two classes at school today, one of them in Professor Finch’s studio, but she’d decided to skip both. Understandably, Maggie thought.

“Hello, Professor. Nice of you to stop by,” Maggie said.

“No problem. I couldn’t believe it. Poor Phoebe . . . Did the police really search your apartment?”

“Yeah, they did. Every inch,” Phoebe added.

“It was totally voluntary. Phoebe has nothing to hide,” Maggie quickly added.

“I don’t understand.” Professor Finch tilted her head back. “Why would they bother you? Because you and Charlotte are friends and she’s run away? Seems a slim connection.”

Phoebe didn’t answer for a moment. Maggie wondered what she was going to say. Finally, she shook her head, gazing at the floor.

“No . . . that’s not why. They had some video from a security camera on Main Street. They saw me covering the parking meters last Thursday morning.”

“Covering the parking meters? Oh . . . right. I saw that on the news, too. You mean, with the Knitted Kats?” Dr. Finch looked very surprised. Her green eyes grew wide. “Are you a Knitted Kat, Phoebe?”

“No! Absolutely not.” Phoebe’s tone was emphatic.

“The name is actually Knit Kat,” Maggie quietly corrected. “And she’s not either.”

“But I was dumb enough to think I wanted to be. I made some of the cat faces and covered the meters. As sort of an audition to be in the group.

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