Chain Piecing a Mystery

Jenny Doan can quilt her way out of any situation, but when three people, including her niece, confess to the murder of a local celebrity, it’s like Jenny’s been left holding a needle for the first time. When the confessions are found to be a hypnotist’s hoax, the relief is short lived as one of the three turns up dead.
Amid trunk shows and fabric giveaways, Jenny finds long held grudges and jealousy-fueled secrets buried deep in the quilted lining of her beloved small town. When the killer threatens Jenny and her niece, she will fight to unravel the truth before they kill again.
From festival booths to hypnotist’s props, Jenny stitches together a compelling mystery with a twist you won’t see coming, whether you’re following the clues, or a string of chain-pieced quilt blocks.

“Look, if you want the whole fee, you’ll have to do two shows. I need two shows.” Harry’s voice confirmed Lissa’s statement . . . and he was mad.
Jenny took a step closer to the alley's entrance, holding her breath.
“Well, you can’t have them." The other person responded, and Jenny frowned. We have somewhere to be.”
“Who’s Benji?” Jenny asked.
“The Great Eduardo’s assistant.” Lissa whispered. “He’s the one who negotiated the shows for the Bash.”
Harry was talking again, and Lissa quieted. “Eddie already said you’re available. Do the shows, get the money. It’s that simple.”
“Well, he’s wrong. If you wanted two nights, you should have booked two nights. Our next show is big enough I should have canceled this one altogether. Maybe I will.”
“They can’t do that,” Lissa said. She leaned closer, her brow furrowed, as if she needed to make sense of it.
“Maybe you guys need to talk.” Harry’s tone had turned into a snarl and a shiver ran through Jenny’s skin. This wasn’t the man she was used to joking around with.
The other guy, Benji according to Lissa, snapped at Harry. “I don’t need to talk to anyone, Eddie should be checking with me.”
“I don’t care who’s in charge with you guys,” Harry said. “If you want your money you’ve got to do what I say.”
“Or what?” Benji laughed. Harry didn’t sound like he was in the mood to take that well.
“Or I’ll ruin you.” Harry’s voice had lost some of its confidence.
Benji laughed harder. “I don’t have to do anything. I’ll pack up right now. How will it look if big, tough Harry loses the whole show?”
“Are you threatening me?” Harry asked. “You’re not going anywhere. I’ll make sure of it.”
Jenny leaned in as Lissa pulled back. “Let’s go.” She hissed. Jenny shook her head and stepped closer as Benji’s laugh turned cold.
There was a thump and a gasp and then more silence. Before Benji’s voice drifted back, quieter and more menacing than before. “You have no idea what I’m capable of.”
The silence that followed seemed to tie a noose around Harry’s neck and Jenny reached up, half convinced a rope had circled her own throat, cutting off her breathing.
Benji wasn’t done. “You want Eduardo to stay? Sure, we’ll stay. We’ll do your shows. But I want double the original fee.”
“We can’t, we can’t do that.” The pitch of Harry’s voice had risen, nursing a delicate waver at the end.
“I think you can.” Benji’s voice was icy. “Double the fee, or we walk . . .” A metallic clang rang out from the distance followed by a crash that jolted both Lissa and Jenny.
Footsteps pounded into the distance and Jenny’s lungs found room to function again. She reached out to steady herself against the rough brick wall.
“I don’t think we were supposed to hear all of that,” Lissa said.
Jenny held her finger to her lips. The alley was quiet but if someone was still there . . . Jenny didn’t want to think about how easily Benji’s threats had turned to actions.
Jenny peaked around the corner of the theater and slowly stepped out into the open.
Both men must have left because the alley was empty. A box of construction debris lay next to the dumpster. The crash, Jenny thought, taking in the arc of metal and plastic contents scattered across the alley.
“Harry?” Jenny called out. “Is everything all right?”
“Why are you calling him?” Lissa hissed from behind her.
“Why not?” Jenny asked. “If he can hear us, he knows we’re here. If he can’t it doesn’t matter. Might as well not look suspicious.”
“Harry?” Jenny called out again, her voice echoing against the old brick.
A dumpster sat at the corner of the building. Smears of red swiped across the side of the metal container. Jenny put a careful hand out and touched the bright red marks. Her finger came back bloody. It was fresh.
“Do you think it’s Harry’s?” Lissa asked. Then, without waiting for an answer, her worries poured out. “It was an accident, right? I mean, it’s just a show. He told us he’d scheduled two of them, I guess not. But who really cares? Why would he hurt Harry?”
“We don’t know that Harry’s hurt,” Jenny said patiently. She hoped the blood wasn’t Harry’s. She hoped Harry hadn’t hurt anyone else either.
“Maybe we should go look for him.” Lissa was still focused on the blood.
Jenny cleaned her finger off as best she could, wiping it against the corner of the dumpster, and pulled her niece away. “That’s a good idea, do you have his phone number? Let’s go.”
Lissa pulled out of Jenny’s grip. “We have to go this way. If Harry’s hurt, we need to help him.”
Jenny looked at the space between the buildings where Lissa pointed.
Tucked on the wrong side of the block, the theater had a rarely used road on one side and an alley on the other. A narrow pass through connected them at the back of the building.
If someone was going to disappear, this was a great place to do it.