that room. I want to enjoy the convention and forget all about this horrible morning.” She stood up and hurried out of the room with her half-empty plate.
“That’s too bad,” Stella said. “The detective kept Kate longer than anyone else. I was hoping to hear all about his questioning.”
Mary Beth gave the older woman a stern look. “I think we should give Kate some space. None of us are exactly used to this kind of thing.”
“I agree,” Annie said. “This isn’t like trying to find out who owned some unusual item from Gram’s attic. This is serious.”
“I have found all the mysteries that have come our way since you moved to Stony Point were quite serious,” Stella said, “and some dangerously so. But this is the first time a police detective has practically accused us of a crime. I think we would be unwise to ignore this.”
“Well, I’m with Kate,” Annie said. “We should leave this to the professionals. Now, you’ll have to excuse me. I want to go back to my room and collect the things for today’s convention activities.”
“Me too,” Mary Beth said as she stood up. “I’m sure the police have this well in hand.”
“We’ll see,” Stella said, clearly not happy.
After collecting her things for the day from her room, Annie rode the elevator down to the lobby while reading the schedule from her packet. She wanted to catch the keynote speaker, attend a morning workshop on embellishing crochet projects for a modern look, and then go to the rehearsal for the fashion show before lunch. And she wanted to do all those things without thinking about murder, mayhem, or mystery.
As she stepped off the elevator, she was delighted to spot her friends from Brookfield. “Dorothy!” Annie cried. “Ida Mae, Lily! I was just wondering how to track y’all down. I missed you last night at dinner.”
“Yes, I plumb forgot,” Dorothy said. “We were so excited to see your grandmother’s display and wanted to get to the room before it was locked up for the night. That portrait she did was amazing. I almost expected that young woman to turn around and look right at me.”
“Thank you. I thought so too,” Annie said. “I found it in Gram’s attic in Stony Point.”
Annie looked curiously at the fourth woman in the Brookfield group. She didn’t recognize her at all. Lily caught the look and said, “Annie, we’d like you to meet Alice Lakeland. Her family moved to Brookfield not long after you left.”
The slim, white-haired woman beamed at Annie. “I almost feel like I know you already,” she said. “These three have told me so much about you.”
“I’m glad to meet you,” Annie said. She felt a tiny pang at the thought of her dear Brookfield church family growing with her so far away. Stony Point was her home, and she was glad of the move, but she guessed she wanted to have her cake and eat it too. Things change, even if sometimes you wish they would freeze in place.
“We’re all headed to the keynote,” Lily said. “Will you come and sit with us?”
Annie smiled. “I’d like that.”
The women chatted about all the beautiful things they’d seen already at the convention. “I always find CGOA functions to be so inspirational, and this joint function is just amazing!” Ida Mae said when they finally found seats in the largest of the hotel ballrooms. “This is your first craft convention, isn’t it, Annie?”
Annie said it was.
“Have you found it exciting?” Ida Mae asked.
“Yes,” Annie admitted a bit ruefully. “More so than I ever imagined.”
Ida Mae nodded. “I knew you would.”
At that moment, the conference leader stepped up to the podium at the front of the room. “I’m so happy to welcome all of you to our first-ever all–needle-arts conference. I want to thank everyone from the Crochet Guild of America, The Knitting Guild Association, and The National NeedleArts Association for pulling together to make this truly an epic event.”
Annie
“That’s too bad,” Stella said. “The detective kept Kate longer than anyone else. I was hoping to hear all about his questioning.”
Mary Beth gave the older woman a stern look. “I think we should give Kate some space. None of us are exactly used to this kind of thing.”
“I agree,” Annie said. “This isn’t like trying to find out who owned some unusual item from Gram’s attic. This is serious.”
“I have found all the mysteries that have come our way since you moved to Stony Point were quite serious,” Stella said, “and some dangerously so. But this is the first time a police detective has practically accused us of a crime. I think we would be unwise to ignore this.”
“Well, I’m with Kate,” Annie said. “We should leave this to the professionals. Now, you’ll have to excuse me. I want to go back to my room and collect the things for today’s convention activities.”
“Me too,” Mary Beth said as she stood up. “I’m sure the police have this well in hand.”
“We’ll see,” Stella said, clearly not happy.
After collecting her things for the day from her room, Annie rode the elevator down to the lobby while reading the schedule from her packet. She wanted to catch the keynote speaker, attend a morning workshop on embellishing crochet projects for a modern look, and then go to the rehearsal for the fashion show before lunch. And she wanted to do all those things without thinking about murder, mayhem, or mystery.
As she stepped off the elevator, she was delighted to spot her friends from Brookfield. “Dorothy!” Annie cried. “Ida Mae, Lily! I was just wondering how to track y’all down. I missed you last night at dinner.”
“Yes, I plumb forgot,” Dorothy said. “We were so excited to see your grandmother’s display and wanted to get to the room before it was locked up for the night. That portrait she did was amazing. I almost expected that young woman to turn around and look right at me.”
“Thank you. I thought so too,” Annie said. “I found it in Gram’s attic in Stony Point.”
Annie looked curiously at the fourth woman in the Brookfield group. She didn’t recognize her at all. Lily caught the look and said, “Annie, we’d like you to meet Alice Lakeland. Her family moved to Brookfield not long after you left.”
The slim, white-haired woman beamed at Annie. “I almost feel like I know you already,” she said. “These three have told me so much about you.”
“I’m glad to meet you,” Annie said. She felt a tiny pang at the thought of her dear Brookfield church family growing with her so far away. Stony Point was her home, and she was glad of the move, but she guessed she wanted to have her cake and eat it too. Things change, even if sometimes you wish they would freeze in place.
“We’re all headed to the keynote,” Lily said. “Will you come and sit with us?”
Annie smiled. “I’d like that.”
The women chatted about all the beautiful things they’d seen already at the convention. “I always find CGOA functions to be so inspirational, and this joint function is just amazing!” Ida Mae said when they finally found seats in the largest of the hotel ballrooms. “This is your first craft convention, isn’t it, Annie?”
Annie said it was.
“Have you found it exciting?” Ida Mae asked.
“Yes,” Annie admitted a bit ruefully. “More so than I ever imagined.”
Ida Mae nodded. “I knew you would.”
At that moment, the conference leader stepped up to the podium at the front of the room. “I’m so happy to welcome all of you to our first-ever all–needle-arts conference. I want to thank everyone from the Crochet Guild of America, The Knitting Guild Association, and The National NeedleArts Association for pulling together to make this truly an epic event.”
Annie
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