Free Make Quilts Not War by Arlene Sachitano

happened,” Lauren added. “Jenny was inside, but in the bathroom.”
    “As far as we know,” Harriet said.
    “What do you mean?” Lauren turned to look at Harriet to see if she was serious.
    “All I’m saying is, we were outside, so we have no way of knowing if Jenny was in the bathroom or not. She told us that’s where she was going, but we were outside before she went in.”
    “Oh, honey, you don’t think she had anything to do with this, do you?” Mavis asked. She started to take off the deep-pocketed apron she wore while she was selling tickets. “Where is she? She needs us if she’s involved in some way.”
    “No rush,” Lauren said. “She took off already.”
    “Does she know the family?”
    “She claims she didn’t know the woman until they were teamed up by the committee to show her quilt,” Harriet offered.
    “Why would she go running off if she didn’t even know the victim?” Mavis asked. “Her husband is on a hunting trip in Africa, so she’s not going home for comfort.”
    “The exhibit hall is closed for the rest of tonight, so she said she wasn’t needed and left,” Harriet said.
    “She was acting really weird, even for a Loose Thread,” Lauren told Mavis.
    “Yeah,” Harriet agreed. “She told us that since they were all dressed in the same shirt, wig and glasses, the bullet could have been meant for any of them.”
    “That sounds like she had some reason to believe it could have been meant for her,” Mavis said thoughtfully. “Did she give any indication as to why she said that?”
    “No, but I have to agree with Lauren—she was acting weird. When we went back to see if her quilt had been damaged, she stepped past Pamela like she was a bag of trash on the rug.”
    “Yeah,” Lauren jumped in. “Then she was fondling her quilt like it was the one who had been shot.” She finished with a shiver. “It was kinda creepy.”
    “Do the rest of the Threads know?” Mavis asked.
    “No. I mean, we haven’t told them,” Harriet said. “Aunt Beth had already heard, but Robin and DeAnn are watching my table in the south vendor hall, and we haven’t seen Connie or Carla yet.”
    “Connie and Carla are here, two rows over, helping people arrange precut fabric into patterns that other ladies are sewing into blocks for baby quilts for the hospital. I’ll go talk to them while you two go tell Robin and DeAnn. We all need to talk.”
    “Where shall we meet?” Harriet asked.
    “Do you mind us coming to your place? It’s too cold to sit outside here for very long.”
    “Sure,” Harriet agreed.
    She and Lauren went back outside. There was a door at the back of the room that led into the exhibit hall, but Harriet assumed the police wouldn’t be letting people through that way for the time being.
    “What’s going on?” Robin asked as soon as they were in ear shot.
    “Someone said there’s been a shooting,” DeAnn said.
    “Yeah,” Lauren answered, “the woman who took over for Jenny when we took her for break.”
    “Is she badly hurt?” Robin asked.
    “If you consider dead to be badly hurt, then, yeah.”
    “Stop,” Harriet said and glared at Lauren. “Mavis suggested we meet at my house after we finish here. The woman who was shot was one of Jenny’s replacements—they were all dressed alike. And Jenny’s been acting odd since the shooting.”
    “I’m sure she’s upset,” DeAnn said. “Did she know the woman very well?”
    “She says not,” Harriet answered. “But then as soon as we were outside, she took off. And Mavis says her husband is out of town, so she’s going to an empty house.”
    “If she’s going home,” Robin said thoughtfully. “Why would she run off like that if she didn’t know the woman? I mean, I’m sure any of us would be upset if someone we worked with was shot, but we’d want to talk it over with the rest of the group, not run away.”
    “Maybe she’s worried that she was the intended victim,” Harriet suggested. “It