Jill nodded. “I see what you mean.”

“I thought for a long while it was Marvin who did the whole thing, shot Bill and hid his body in the lay-by. But when? The night before? Marvin had an alibi for the night before; he was playing poker with some friends. Maybe late at night, after the poker game, or the day of the run, early in the morning. I thought about Bill going to confront Marvin over the affair he was having with Charlotte. I thought perhaps Marvin shot him when Bill got violent, and then, to cover the time of the murder, he took Bill’s place, driving the Maxwell in the run. But why bring Charlotte into it? He could just bury the body somewhere, or make it look like a robbery. Surely Marvin would never ask the woman he loved to be an accessory to murder. But if Marvin drove the Maxwell, Charlotte was right in the middle of the cover-up, deeply involved.

“So I thought she must be the one who shot him-only not at the lay-by, she was with me all day Saturday. Then I thought, well, what if she shot him early Saturday morning, when they were getting ready for the run? Then, okay, it still was Marvin doing the driving. She called Marvin to help her, and they came up with this hasty scheme. And there it was, all the pieces in place.”

“Clever of her to get you to provide her with an alibi,” said Godwin.

“No, it wasn’t,” said Jill. “She didn’t know about Betsy’s sleuthing skills or she would never have involved her. Once she found out Betsy has a nose for crime, she had to pretend she wanted Betsy to investigate, which was really the last thing on earth she wanted.”

Betsy nodded. “And because she was scared of what I might find out, she kept coming around to check on me. That was another thing that made me look at her. She couldn’t wait for me to come to her, she just had to find out if I was getting close. When she turned up in Willmar to shove Adam under my nose, I knew I was right.”

“That’s two police investigators you’ve gotten in ahead of,” said Godwin. “Sergeant Mike Malloy and now Detective Steffans.”

But Betsy shook her head. “No, he was onto her as well. He followed her out to Willmar because he was afraid she might try to murder me. While she was out there, he had a forensics team picking up all kinds of evidence in her house.”

Godwin cocked his head at her. “You like him, don’t you?”

“Heavens no!” said Betsy. “For one thing, he’s too tall and gawky. For another, his ears stick out. For another…” She tried to think of a personality trait to complain about, but once she started thinking about his shy smile, his charming wit, the way he looked at her with admiring eyes, she had to stop, because she couldn’t think of anything else.

Fabric: Aida, White, or Black

Design Count: 73w x 79h

Design Size: 7.3 x 7.9 in, 10 Count

The designer, Denise E. Williams, stitched this design on black 14-count Aida. On any other color fabric, stitch the design first, and then fill in the blank stitch spaces using DMC Black.

Hints

1. Take the pattern to a copy shop and enlarge it so the markings in the squares are easy to read.

2. Find and mark the center of the pattern, and the center of your fabric.

3. If you use black fabric, put a white cloth behind it to make the weave easier to see.

4. This pattern is trickier than it looks. Count twice so you only have to stitch once.

Mary Monica Pulver