Free Four-Patch of Trouble by Gin Jones Page A

several months, and while it wasn't worth making an appointment to see my doctor about it, I'd definitely be keeping my phone close at hand, and not just because I'd promised Lindsay.
     
    *   *   *
     
    Gil Torres was singing the blues, passionately enough to be heard in her waiting room while the door was closed.
    I didn't know the genre well enough to identify the title of the song, even when Gil sang a bit of the lyrics instead of just humming. Even to my untrained ears, though, the song had the distinctive chord progression of the blues.
    I knocked. "It's Keely Fairchild. May I come in?"
    Gil stopped singing, and the door swung open. "I was just about to call you. I've been worried sick about you."
    "You've heard the news then."
    Gil gestured for me to sit and settled back into her own chair. "Oh, yes. From at least a dozen different sources. I'd rather hear it from you."
    I was torn between gratitude that Gil didn't blame me for the public relations nightmare and frustration that so many people had managed to give her their stories before I could control the narrative. "I assume your board of directors has been passing along all the rumors."
    Gil mustered up a sad smile. "I know they're good people, volunteering their time and all, but they can be a challenge too."
    "What have you heard?"
    "Tremain was murdered in his shop, shortly after he'd been threatened by two prominent members of the Danger Cove Quilt Guild over his role in the upcoming quilt show, sponsored most prominently by yours truly. The quilters, and I believe you too, were at the scene of the crime, complete with means, motive, and opportunity." Gil hummed a few more despairing notes. "Have I got it about right?"
    "That's not quite how I would have presented the facts, but that's the gist of it."
    Gil let out a sadly trilling sigh.
    "There are some additional facts that change the story a bit," I said, making a desperate grab to regain control of the story. "There were other people there too. Tremain's partner, for one. And a reporter, who can establish an alibi for Dee and Emma."
    "I thought you could alibi them."
    "Unfortunately, I was…" I thought back to the detective's questioning. "At the exact time of the murder, I was indisposed. In the ladies' room, some distance from where Tremain was killed."
    "Still, an alibi for Dee and Emma is a start." Gil scribbled something on a legal pad. "Anything else I can tell the board? They've called an emergency meeting for this afternoon."
    "It seems a little premature to hold an official meeting. There's nothing anyone can do until the police arrest Tremain's killer."
    "That's exactly the sort of situation the directors like the most—a chance to take a stand when nothing's at stake and no difficult action has to be taken."
    "Would it help if I came to the board meeting and replaced some rumors with facts?"
    Gil hummed for a minute and then shook her head. "No, I've got this one. It looks like Nancy Grant—she's the woman who cut in front of your appointment yesterday—is going to keep everyone calm. She isn't well liked among the other directors, but she always gets what she wants. Her husband is a state legislator with influence over municipal funding. Danger Cove usually gets some grants for the museum, and the directors don't want to risk alienating the source of our funding by alienating the politician's wife. Nancy is convinced the murder had nothing to do with the quilts or the museum. Of course, she also believes the rumors about Tremain's scams were false, so it's easy for her to believe he was killed by some random burglar, or possibly a jealous business rival. Let's just hope the police catch the killer before Nancy has to accept the allegations against Tremain were probably true." 
    "I'm sure they're doing their best," I said, despite my concern that the detective might be unduly influenced by Wolfe's ridiculous theory about Dee and Emma. "I'm even more sure you're doing your best to keep the