Free Silence of the Lamb's Wool (A Yarn Retreat Mystery) by Betty Hechtman Page B

ill?”
    It was clear I was trying his patience and he spoke brusquely. “Fine. Did she look ill when you saw her today?” He looked at me intently. “And don’t you dare answer with a question.”
    “No problem,” I said. “I didn’t see her this morning.”
    Lieutenant Borgnine barely choked out a thank-you before he turned to go. I got a parting dirty look from Kevin St. John as he followed the cop toward the door.
    Even with the cop and the manager gone, the mood stayed gloomy at the table. I didn’t even feel like eating the mushroom stroganoff that had looked so luscious a few minutes ago. Bree seemed at a loss about what to do. She took out her cell phone and then put it away.
    “This is like withdrawal,” she said. “I wonder what she died of. Maybe she was choking. If only I’d known what was wrong.” Bree’s shoulders slumped and as I feared, she was beginning to worry she hadn’t done enough.
    “We don’t know anything about her,” Scott said and looked to me. “Casey, you’re the only one here who knew her at all. Did she have some kind of condition?”
    “It does seem strange that a woman so young would die of natural causes,” Olivia said. I was trying to find a way to change the subject to something more cheerful and was happy to see Dr. Sammy come into the dining hall. The feeling seemed mutual because as soon as he saw me he bounded over to our table.
    Sammy’s natural expression was a smile that seemed to come mostly from his eyes. I know that sounds weird, but that’s the only way I can explain it.
    “Hey, Case,” he said, calling me by the nickname only he used. He glanced over at the people sitting around me and picked up on their glum mood. “What’s up?”
    I rose from the table and pulled him aside, dumping the whole story on him, including my problems with the retreat.
    “Turning wool into yarn sounds like magic, but I’m afraid I’d be no help with that,” he said. “But if you want to talk about your retreat person’s death, I’m available any time, night or day,” he added. The best thing about Sammy was I knew he meant that, but I had a more immediate problem.
    “Can you do something to cheer them up?” I asked.
    “Can I?” he said with a wink. “It works out perfect because I stopped by to check out the room. You know, get a feel for the space with people in it. Don’t worry about it. I can take it from here.”
    He kept me next to him and addressed my early birds. “Allow me to introduce myself. I’m the Amazing Dr. Sammy and I’m going to be doing table magic here this weekend,” he began. He looked down at his attire. “Oops, I didn’t realize I was still wearing this.” He whipped off the white coat with
Dr. Glickner
embroidered on it. “I’ll be wearing a tuxedo,” he said.
    He put his hand on my back and pushed me forward. “And this is my lovely assistant, Casey.” My group responded with smiles and I could feel their mood lifting already.
    Sammy was tall and had an imposing build. People at other tables had begun to look toward our little group. He made a magnanimous wave and invited everyone to gather around.
    When it seemed everyone who wanted to had joined us, Sammy reached into his pocket and pulled out a deck of cards.
    Making eye contact with the crowd, Sammy began his patter. “You know there are people that think magicians are dorky,” he said as if he were letting them in on a secret. “The kind of guys who never get the girl.”
    The crowd murmured in agreement. Maybe a little too much, and Sammy’s smile dimmed for a moment before he continued. “Never underestimate the power of magic.” He had me pick a random card from the deck. Once I saw that it was the six of hearts, he had me show it to the crowd. “My assistant will write her name on it,” he said, handing me a pen. I’d never seen this trick and had no idea where it was going, so I did as he asked, including folding the card in quarters before he put it in