While My Pretty One Knits (5 page)

“There wasn’t any reason to put it off after that,” she added. “And I needed something to keep me going.”

Detective Reyes answered with another sympathetic nod. Detective Walsh made a note in his book. Neither of them said very much, Lucy noticed. They just let Maggie do the talking. She was probably giving too much information now, more than the police wanted to know.

“Did you know Ms. Goran before you started your business?” Detective Walsh asked.

“Oh…I don’t know. I guess so,” Maggie said vaguely. “I knew who she was. I used to buy most of my yarn back then from catalogues or ordered online. I did go into the Knitting Nest once in a while, in an emergency. But it always seemed very drab and dingy to me.”

“But after you opened your own shop, you got to know her better?” he persisted.

“I wouldn’t go that far. I really didn’t know her at all,” Maggie clarified. “Only at a distance. Which was enough for me,” she added tartly.

The detective stared at Maggie a moment, then looked down at his pad again. “Let’s get back to her grievances. You said there were quite a few. What else besides opening this store?”

“It all boiled down to one thing, Detective. My shop was more successful than hers. She was jealous. Extremely jealous. She considered herself above me, in her knowledge of knitting and even in teaching the craft. Maybe she was, who can say? All I know is I was better at running a business. My shop is in a better location, and it’s more comfortable and attractive to customers. It’s just more fun to come in here,” she said bluntly, as if he’d been arguing with her. “But I never set out to steal her customers or put her out of business. Is that what you’ve heard?” she asked. “Because if you have, it just isn’t true. If anything, it was completely the opposite. She always tried to make problems for me. Big ones.”

“Really? How so?” His eyebrows quirked up with interest. Detective Reyes crossed her arms over her chest, listening to Maggie with a serious expression.

Lucy exchanged worried glances with Dana. Was it time to stuff a few skeins of yarn into Maggie’s mouth? Clearly Maggie felt she had nothing to hide, Lucy reminded herself. It was probably better if she answered all these questions now, so the police could cross her off their list.

Maggie took a deep breath. She stared straight ahead, looking uncomfortable and self-conscious. “Well, I remember when I was open about a month or so, Amanda spread rumors that I was cheating customers, changing the labels on ordinary yarn to pass it off as organic, so I could charge more. Or that when I set up classes, I tricked students into buying a lot of expensive yarn and needles from the shop. That sort of thing. But none of it was true.”

“I see.” He nodded, though it was impossible from his expression to tell if he believed her or not.

“Did you ever confront Ms. Goran about this?” Detective Reyes asked.

Dana shot Lucy a look. Lucy could tell what her friend was thinking. This part of the story didn’t show Maggie in her best light. Was there some way they could interrupt? Spill coffee? Call Maggie over for a knitting emergency? Too late. Maggie was already answering.

“I did try to speak to her about all the misinformation she was spreading around. Though I’m not sure I’d call it a confrontation.” Maggie’s voice shook a bit, sounding a little nervous now.

“How did you resolve it?” Detective Reyes asked politely.

Maggie nervously played with some bangle bracelets on her wrist. “First, I tried to call her, but she wouldn’t speak to me. She kept hanging up.” Maggie spoke slowly, her tone markedly more careful. “So I tried to talk to her face-to-face. I went to her shop. Well, she denied the entire thing. She acted as if I was imagining it, which of course, I was not. Not one bit,” Maggie assured him.

Lucy felt a twinge. Amanda had been the obsessive one, that was for sure, but in telling the story, Maggie sounded like the nutjob. It was ironic and unfortunate now for Maggie.

Detective Walsh scribbled a note. “Were there any customers there at the time?”

Maggie shrugged. “A few. She never had that many customers there at one time.”

“So you spoke with her. Told her to stop spreading rumors. She denied she was and then you left,” Detective Reyes repeated the story as Maggie had told it. Then she paused, her tone becoming more personal, even a bit coaxing. “Is that how it went? There was no argument or confrontation, Ms. Messina?”

Maggie sighed as she crossed her arms over her chest. Lucy thought she looked cornered, caught in a lie, though she had no reason to feel guilty about anything.

“The situation deteriorated a bit, I guess. Maybe I raised my voice. I don’t really remember. It was a long time ago. I was angry. She had no right to sabotage my business, just because her shop wasn’t doing well. I needed to make it clear that she wasn’t going to intimidate me. I told her to stop, or I’d take legal action.”

“I see,” Detective Reyes replied. She glanced at her partner, then looked back at Maggie. “How long ago would you say this happened?”

Maggie shrugged. Her cheeks were flushed and she definitely looked flustered now. “Oh, I don’t know. I’d say I was in business about a year or so by then. So maybe it was about two years ago? Maybe more.”

Detective Walsh made another note. “Did you ever follow through on that threat?”

“No, I did not.” Maggie shook her head, her curly brown hair bouncing around her face. “Amanda pulled plenty of other nasty tricks, believe me. But I ignored her. I could see there was no reasoning with her. Frankly, it didn’t matter. My shop did well, no matter what she said.”

Detective Reyes nodded. She seemed to believe Maggie’s side of the story. Walsh was harder to read. He showed little reaction to the information.

“So you ignored her after that point…two years ago, you said,” he added, checking his notes.

“Yes, I did. Mostly,” Maggie hedged. She took a deep breath. “Listen, Detective. I don’t know how far you’ve gotten with your investigation, but there are lots of people around here with far more serious grudges against Amanda Goran than I had, believe me,” Maggie promised. “It didn’t take much to start an argument with her and she didn’t waste any energy keeping her opinions to herself. You must have heard that by now.”

Lucy could tell from her tone that Maggie was starting to lose her patience. Lucy cringed, wondering what was going to come out next.

Detective Reyes tipped her head in interest. Detective Walsh maintained his poker face, not reacting one way or the other.

“Who else do you think had a grudge against Ms. Goran?” Detective Reyes asked.

Maggie considered the question a moment. “Well, let’s see. She had a problem with a coworker at Sally’s Arts and Crafts—that big chain store in the mall,” Maggie clarified.

“I know it well,” Detective Reyes replied. “My girls love that place. They try to drag me there at least once a week.” She shook her head and smiled. “Go on.”

“Amanda took a part-time job there for a while, since the shop wasn’t earning much. I heard she found out a woman she worked with was stealing crafts supplies and selling the goods at flea markets. Amanda turned the woman in, and the woman went to jail for several months. She ended up losing custody of her kids because of it, too. So when this coworker got out, I heard she began to harass the Gorans. Made phone calls and sent threatening notes, that sort of thing. I heard Amanda went to the police. She may have even filed for an order of protection. That wasn’t too long ago,” Maggie pointed out. “Maybe you should look into it.”

Detective Walsh made a note or two, Lucy noticed. But he didn’t look impressed. Or surprised. He probably already knew about that episode since the Gorans had complained to the police.

“Anyone else?” he asked evenly.

“Yes, there was, “Maggie piped up. “I heard she had some friction with a neighbor. Very recently, too. Amanda thought the man was mistreating his dog, leaving the animal out all day in all kinds of weather. Amanda loved dogs. She couldn’t stand to see anything like that.”

“So we’ve heard,” he replied.

“Well, Amanda just walked into the yard next door while the man was at work one day and took the dog. After he’d figured out what had happened, she wouldn’t give the dog back. I think he got physical, tried to force his way into her house. Peter, her husband, may have fought with him. I’m not sure. But I do know the police were called, and they all went to court. It was in the newspaper. I think the neighbor was renting the place and lost his lease over it. He couldn’t have been happy about that.”

“I’m sure he wasn’t,” Detective Walsh agreed mildly.

Detective Reyes didn’t say anything. She looked down a moment and adjusted the strap on her shoulder bag. A subtle gesture but probably a bad sign, Lucy thought.

Walsh hadn’t made any notes about that story, either. He appraised Maggie with a long look. “You seem to know a lot about Ms. Goran. You seem to have taken a real interest in her activities.”

Lucy saw Maggie’s cheeks color. It did sound like that, didn’t it? As if Maggie was practically obsessed with Amanda…not the other way around.

Maggie shrugged. She rearranged some items on the counter, a display of crochet hooks with enamel handles. “It’s a small town. You hear things.”

“I’m sure. Especially if you run a shop like this one,” Detective Walsh replied.

A shop full of women who sat knitting and dishing dirt all day was what he really meant, Lucy thought.

“When was the last time you saw Ms. Goran?” Detective Reyes asked her.

“Thursday night. I was here with my knitting group—Lucy and Dana,” Maggie noted, glancing at them. “And another friend, Suzanne Cavanaugh. Amanda saw the lights on, so she stopped in and said hello. She had signed up for an event I held here on Friday. I think she just wanted a sneak preview.”

“And what sort of event was that?” Detective Reyes continued.

“An author came in for a presentation and a book signing. Cara Newhouse. She grew up in town and was a student of mine. She’s pretty well known now.” A copy of Cara’s book happened to be on the counter and Maggie picked it up to show them.

“Can you describe the conversation with Ms. Goran that night?” Detective Walsh asked. “Was there friction between any of you?”

“No, none at all. She seemed in a remarkably good mood. She was very polite, almost friendly.”

“That surprised you?” he asked.

“It surprised everyone.” Maggie glanced over at Dana and Lucy. They looked at the two police officers and nodded.

“Can you remember anything specific?” Detective Reyes asked. “Anything she said?”

“Oh, I don’t know. We talked for a minute or two. She was sort of nosing around. She asked about some organic wool that’s on display.” Maggie pointed out the yarn in question. “She noticed that it’s a good price and asked if I was trying to put her out of business…in a joking way,” Maggie hurried to add. “I offered to put her in touch with the supplier, but she wasn’t interested. She said she had decided to pull back from her business and was looking for a manager. We were all surprised at that, too,” Maggie told them. “I mean, the Knitting Nest is—was—her life. She was devoted to that shop.”

Detective Walsh made a quick note, then looked up. “Anything else?”

Maggie thought a moment. “She told me that my shop had good stock and nice displays. I think that was the first and only time she ever gave me a compliment. Then she said she was going to get here early for a good seat on Friday. But of course…she never made it.”

Maggie sighed, either swept by a wave of sympathy for her former foe, or tired out by all the questions.

“Okay, let’s talk about Friday morning,” Detective Walsh said. “Can you tell me where you were between, say, seven and nine that morning, Ms. Messina?” He wasn’t looking at his pad anymore, he was staring straight at Maggie.

Lucy sat up straight, suddenly alarmed. This was the kind of question police ask if they suspect a person of having committed the crime…wasn’t it? Maggie didn’t seem to notice that. Maybe because she was so completely innocent?

She paused and took a breath. “Well, let’s see…I got up early to get ready for the event. I had a lot of errands to do. I guess I left my house around seven and went to the bakery to pick up some muffins and cookies I’d ordered. Then I stopped at the florist right on Main Street. And then, I drove over to the supermarket. I needed some fruit,” she explained. “I guess I got back here around…a quarter to nine? Lucy was waiting for me,” Maggie added, glancing over at Lucy again.

As Lucy recalled, it was actually just nine when Maggie finally arrived, but she was not about to correct her.

“I’m pretty sure I saved the store receipts,” Maggie added. “It was all a business expense.”

“You were at the grocery store the entire time, buying fruit?” Detective Walsh asked.

“Not the entire time,” Maggie clarified. “I drove down to the harbor and sat in my car a few minutes. I did some knitting, to settle my nerves. I hate to start the day in a rush, it really sets me off on the wrong foot.”

Lucy knew for a fact that was true: Maggie often knit by the harbor to destress. But Maggie had been so keyed up on Friday morning, it was hard to imagine she’d come to a full stop like that for a knitting break.

The police also seemed to be having trouble imagining it.

Walsh glanced at his partner. Detective Reyes looked back at Maggie. “Did anyone see you down there? Did you speak to anyone?” Detective Reyes asked her.

Maggie’s brow crinkled a moment. Then she shook her head. “I can’t think of anyone specifically. I saw a few people pass by, jogging or walking their dogs. I didn’t meet anyone I know.”

Walsh looked back at his notes and flipped the page. “So maybe you sat in your car about half an hour…forty-five minutes?”

Maggie paused again. “Maybe. I finished about half a sleeve for the sweater I’ve been working on.”

Maggie sounded proud of her progress, then her expression fell. She’d suddenly realized what he was asking. The gap in time would have made it possible for her to drive over to the Knitting Nest, kill Amanda, and return to meet Lucy at the Black Sheep by nine. Or even sooner.