Arlene Sachitano - Quilt As You Go

"And having done that,” Ilsa said, “why would he come back after all this time?"

"Okay,” Harriet said. “Let's be a little more methodical about this, construct a time line, maybe."

Robin pulled a tablet from her purse. “I'll take notes,” she said.

"Start at the beginning. Mavis, what can you tell us about the time right before Gerald left."

Mavis recounted what the rest of the group already knew about Gerald's last weeks before he disappeared. He'd been working a lot. He'd just perfected the fire protection fabric. He was working a lot of hours but seemed upbeat about the new product. Gerry had started working at the factory, and he and his dad were spending more time one-on-one talking about the job.

"He worked in a factory?” Ilsa said in disbelief.

"He was a fiber chemist,” Mavis said. “He invented the fire protective fabric that is still made in Carlton Brewster's factory."

Ilsa sat back in her chair. “I can't believe it,” she said. “I mean, I believe you. I just can't believe he worked anywhere that was inside. He told me he loved living things and had always worked out-of-doors."

"He did have a green thumb,” Mavis offered. “He had quite the garden at home."

"A garden,” Ilsa said. “Not a small farm in a green valley in northern California?"

"'Fraid not."

"When I met him, his skin was tanned and his hands callused."

"Don't forget there were some numbers of years unaccounted for,” Harriet said. “He disappeared from here almost twenty years ago. You told Mavis you'd been married fifteen years ago. How long before that did you meet him?"

Ilsa thought for a moment. “I think we dated for almost a year. And he'd been working for Joris for the year before that. So there must have been three mystery years."

"And you have no idea where he was during that time?” Harriet asked.

"Apparently not. He told me he came to the Netherlands to visit his cousin and decided to stay. He said he lived with them and worked on a farm near Amsterdam until he could save a little money to relocate with. He came to Aalsmeer, where I live, and went to work for Joris."

"Wait,” Lauren interrupted. “You work at a flower shop and Gerald was a farm hand and you can afford to dress like that?"

"I own the flower shop, and flowers are big business in Aalsmeer. Over seven billion cut flowers and one hundred fifty million plants are sold there annually. The flower auctions in Aalsmeer pretty much set the price for the flower trade internationally."

"I stand corrected,” Lauren said. “Who would have ever thought flowers were such big business.” She got up and went to the counter to get her drink refilled.

"Please excuse Lauren's lack of tact,” Mavis said.

"She obviously can't help herself,” Ilsa said with a small smile.

"So nothing out of the ordinary happened for fifteen years?” Robin said, bringing the group back to the time line.

"Not that I can think of,” Ilsa said. “I mean I could second-guess every pensive moment he had, but really, looking back I can't point to anything out of the ordinary until he got the phone call and said he was going on a trip."

"Did he go on solo trips often?” Connie asked.

"No, that's why it was so strange, why I followed him here. Neither one of us had ever taken a trip alone. I figured it was because it was his son-that is, the reason he lied about it. He didn't want to upset me."

Robin looked at her tablet. “Well, kids, we're going to have to come up with more than this."

"Isn't investigating Gerard's death a job for the police?” Ilsa asked.

"Of course,” Harriet said. “I'm sure they will figure out a cause of death and even eventually who killed him, but for Mavis's sake, we need to know why he left here, why he stayed gone and, most of all, why he came back. I'm not sure the police care about that, or they won't, if they catch the killer first."

"Are you about ready to go, mija?” Connie asked. “I have to take care of my granddaughter tonight, and I need to get a few things done before then."

"Sure,” Harriet said and picked up her bag. “Could you drop me off at Carlton 's office?” she asked when they were in Connie's car. “I want to see if they have an employee badge book."

"You mean like our yearbook at school? They give us a new badge every year with an updated picture."

"Yeah, something like that."

"Who are you looking for? If it's someone at the factory, can't you just ask Carlton?"

"I tried that-he didn't recognize the name I was looking for. I just want to be sure.” She quickly told Connie who she was looking for and why.

"I'll come in with you. Two people can work faster than one, especially a one-handed one.” She smiled and patted Harriet's good hand.

The two women spent an hour and a half at Foggy Point Fire Protection, poring through the badge books. To be Terry's father, the man couldn't have worked there in the last ten or twelve years. Terry had said his dad died when he was young, and since he couldn't be more than thirty and probably was younger than that, they concentrated their efforts on the books from the nineteen-eighties. When that didn't yield anything, they checked the first few years of the nineteen-nineties, but to no avail.

"This just confirms what I already believed,” Harriet said. “Terry is here for some reason, but finding friends of his dead father isn't it."

"You're worried about Carla, aren't you?” Connie asked.

"Aunt Beth keeps telling me Carla's a big girl, but I have a bad feeling about this. Young people just don't come to hang out in Foggy Point."

"You came back,” Connie reminded.

"Yeah, but I had a reason. I have a relative here, one who really exists."

"Shall I drop you at your house?"

"Yeah, thanks. I need to think about what this means."

There was a car parked in the circular driveway when Connie dropped Harriet off.

"Oh, joy,” Harriet said, “that looks like Lauren's car."

"Come on, honey,” Connie said. “Think positive."

Harriet gave her a half-smile and thanked her for the lift.

"It took you long enough to get home,” Lauren greeted her as she came through the quilt studio door.

"I didn't know I was on the clock,” Harriet said.

"You asked me to do some research, and I got some results. I thought you were anxious to hear any news regarding Gerald."

Harriet knew there was no winning with Lauren. However, the woman did know her way around a keyboard, and Harriet appreciated the fact that she'd taken the trouble to deliver the news privately.

"This took some work. You owe me big time."

"Okay, already, I owe you. I'll name my firstborn child after you. Better yet, I'll give you my firstborn child."

"Eww,” Lauren groaned.

"I've got to take my medicine-you're going to have to come to the kitchen to impart this earth-shattering news."

When Lauren got up without further argument it piqued Harriet's interest.

"You want some lemonade?” she asked as Lauren plopped down on a bar stool.

"Sure,” Lauren said, and pulled a folded sheet of paper from her pocket.

Harriet filled two glasses from a pitcher in the refrigerator, handed one to Lauren and then used hers to down two pills. She opened a plastic bag of chocolate chip cookies and put half a dozen on a plate then set it in front of Lauren. She finally sat down at the bar, one stool between herself and Lauren.

"Okay, I'm ready. Amaze me."

"You certainly know how to take the thrill out of things,” Lauren groused, and twisted a strand of her blond hair around her finger. “I searched for everything I could find on Gerald and didn't turn up much,” she said without waiting for Harriet to react to her accusation. “But when you gave me the Gerard Van Auken name, things started getting interesting."