Free Silent Knife (A Celebration Bay Mystery) by Shelley Freydont Page A

silently. “I thought maybe Bill would still be there and give me a dispensation.”
    “Well, he isn’t, he took Hank to the station, but I’m glad you’re still in town. We have a plan of sorts.”
    “I’m listening.”
    “While I was waiting for Hank, I called A Stitch in Time to see if they had enough red velveteen to make a new costume. They’re rustling up what they can and setting up their crafts room as a sewing room. I’m bringing Hank there. They’ll need him for the fittings.”
    “Ted, I can’t sew, can you?”
    “Needs must—”
    “Yeah, where the devil drives. I hope they catch this devil and throw the book at him . . . or her. I’m on my way. I’ll meet you at the fabric store.”
    Dolly was waiting at the bakery door.
    “Change of plan,” Liv said. “They’re going to make a suit down at A Stitch in Time.”
    “Bless Miriam Krause. I’ll send over whatever pastries are left when we close up. It’s going to be a long night. Good luck.”
    Liv hurried up the street to A Stitch in Time. She passed the dark Trim a Tree store and was thankful there was no crime tape across the front, though someone had installed a lockbox on the door. And the windows were covered over with brown paper.
    Next door, A Stitch in Time seemed all the more festive. Small and narrow, the store was crammed with bolts of fabric and was decorated in swags of red and green calico ribbons. There were still quite a few shoppers in the store, carrying wicker baskets filled with fabric, notions, and gifts made by Miriam’s sewing and crafts classes.
    Liv hurried down the narrow aisle to the back where a quilting frame displayed the work of the quilting club. Opposite it was a cutting counter and cash register. Liv knew the shop also held sewing, knitting, and quilting classes. She didn’t know how they could squeeze it all in. She didn’t see any sewing space.
    Several women had formed a line at the cash register, and Miriam Krause, the proprietress, called out over their heads, “We’re setting up in back, go on through.”
    Liv had to sashay between the line and a shelf of shiny satins to get to the back of the shop.
    A narrow hallway led to a back door and the alley, just as in all the other stores on the block. Liv couldn’t help but wonder if the murderer had picked one store at random and it happened to be Trim a Tree. That would make sense: a robbery gone bad.
    A door was open on her right and she looked in. It was a small square, maybe ten by ten. The entire space was taken up by a rectangular table covered with a cardboard cutting surface. A length of red material was spread across it, and two women were pinning tissue pattern pieces to it.
    Liv didn’t sew, but she understood the mechanics of it, and it looked like this project would take more than a few hours.
    “Do you think you can finish that tonight?”
    “Don’t you worry,” said one of the middle-aged women; she was wearing a green handmade sweater with a spring of holly pinned to the front.
    “The Stitch in Time Sewing Club won’t let you or Hank down.”
    The other lady nodded her agreement. She had a row of pins held between her lips.
    Liv didn’t want to take up what little space there was in the room, but she didn’t want to leave. So she paced in the narrow hallway outside while she waited for Ted and Hank to arrive.
    After an interminable few minutes, Miriam showed the last customer out and turned over the Closed sign. She walked briskly to the back of the store and began clicking light switches until only the spotlight over the quilting frame was left on. The front of the store was plunged into darkness.
    Liv started. There was an uncanny resemblance to the way she and Ted had found the Trim a Tree shop only a few hours before.
    “Give me a hand, can you, Liv?”
    “Sure.” Liv jumped to attention.
    “We need to swing this quilting frame out of the way so we can set up the extra sewing machines in here. I have two in back, but we