Free Spin a Wicked Web by Cricket McRae

just keep displaying it at the co-op. What if someone
wants to buy it?"
    "Fat chance," Irene muttered.
    Jake, Irene, Ruth, and I had gathered around a small rickety table
in the corner of the Beans R Us coffee shop to talk about how to
keep the co-op from going under. All of Cadyville knew a woman
had been murdered in the studio, and the yellow crime scene tape
strung over the exterior doors provided a constant reminder in case
anyone forgot. No one was allowed inside, so we couldn't retrieve
any of our belongings or any of the artists' stock or supplies.
    Behind the counter, the barista, Luce, fussed with bags of coffee
beans and craned her head so as to best hear our conversation.
    "Making money off someone's death isn't right," Jake said, still
talking about Ariel's big splotchy paintings.
    "Isn't that something we should worry about later?" I asked.
Irene was right; no one was likely to buy Ariel's art right away. After all, no one had bought any of it yet. "Right now isn't the main problem getting back into the building?"
     
    Irene flicked a quick sidelong look my direction.
    "Detective Lane told me we'd be able to get back in tomorrow
afternoon, at least downstairs. The crime scene people may be
done with the upstairs by then, too." Ruth said.
    All eyes turned to me, as if I should have already had this information. I looked at the floor. Barr and I had only spoken briefly on
the phone since he'd dropped the triple bombshell of ex-wife, sister and fortune on me the previous afternoon.
    "So, it is pertinent, what we do with Ariel's art." Jake again. "If
we're going to re-open.CRAC"
    Irene scowled at him, then quickly transferred her gaze out the
window. Ruth sat quietly and watched all of us. Chris had said
she'd rather not join us, and no one blamed her. Ruth had invited
me along, just as she had invited me to join the co-op in the first
place. I'd jumped at the chance to be in on the discussion, but now
I felt like an interloper.
    "You may be right," I said. "She must have some family."
    "Just a brother, I think," Ruth said. "Up north, around La Conner. I don't know his name." She looked the question at all of us,
and we all shook our heads.
    "There can't be that many Skylarks in La Conner," I said.
    "I believe he has a different last name. Ariel changed hers to
Skylark," Ruth said.
    "Really?" Jake asked, bushy eyebrows climbing up his forehead.
    Irene rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me you're surprised."
    "What about friends around here?" I asked.
    Everyone shook their heads.
     
    "No one?"
    "Us," Ruth said. "And she had a roommate"
    "I wasn't her friend." Irene's tone was flat. "But I guess Jake
was." She gave him a little wink, which looked downright weird
coming from her.
    He looked out the window.
    Sheesh. What was wrong with these people?
    "Tell you what," I said. "I'll go talk to her roommate, see if I
can find out more about her brother. Maybe we can just ship the
art off to him."
    Irene pressed her lips together, as if to keep from saying something. Jake nodded his approval.
    "That would be nice," Ruth said with a slight look of triumph
on her face. "Now, what do we do about the bad publicity?"
    No one responded. Sighing inwardly, I stepped up again. "I've
got to say, I don't think it's a problem for business. People are
weird, and they'll want to see where the murder happened. We
need to change the lock on the doors and implement some rules
about being safe when working there, but for the most part, I bet
we get more traffic than ever."
    Jake leaned his rather squarish chin on a meaty fist. Eyeing his
spatulate digits, I reflected that it was a good thing he hadn't chosen gynecology as a specialty. "You may be right," he said.
    We finished our coffee drinks and shuffled out, squinting, to the
hot, bright street. Through the window I saw Luce reach for the
phone, but there wasn't anything we'd said that was a big secret.
    Go for it, girl. Gossip on.

     
    "I thought you