Back on Blossom Street (Blossom Street #4)(70)

Because of this, Margaret was taking a lot of time off work. I let her go as often as she felt necessary, which wasn’t easy for me. Some days I didn’t even get a lunch break. It was one customer after another until the end of the day. Thankfully, I loved what I was doing! I still love it.

This Wednesday morning in early May was unusual—because Margaret had nothing to say. My sister’s always been quick to share her opinions, wanted or not. She showed up for work and hardly said a word. Questions hovered on the tip of my tongue. I knew Julia had joined a support group for crime victims—which I’d learned from Hailey.

At first it irritated me that my own sister hadn’t given me this latest update. But vocal as she is, especially about other people’s actions, Margaret can be intensely private about her own life and affairs. I supposed she would eventually have mentioned this counseling group of Julia’s; at least I hoped so.

As if she’d been reading my thoughts, Margaret approached me where I was taking inventory. This particular wool was one of my favorite brands and it felted beautifully. I could hardly keep it on the shelves. The key is choosing the right colors and with hundreds of choices from which to select, I’d been experimenting, bringing in new shades.

“I’m going to need time off this afternoon,” Margaret announced bluntly. “That isn’t a problem, is it?”

“It’s the shawl class,” I reminded her. I counted on my sister to be there in case customers stopped by.

“Yes, I know, but this is important.” I heard the defensiveness in her voice.

I bit off the words asking my sister how much longer she’d be requiring time away from work. “I’ll manage,” I told her, although I didn’t look forward to running the class while waiting on customers.

Margaret’s reluctance to explain worried me. At one point she’d talked about hiring a private detective, but if she’d done so, I wasn’t aware of it. I hoped—trusted—that Matt had talked her out of it.

After an interminable pause, Margaret answered my unspoken question. “Julia’s going into police headquarters at three to identify the defendant in a lineup,” she said.

“The police caught him?” You’d think Margaret would’ve said something!

“Detective Johnson believes this is the one,” she muttered. “He’s in a lineup so Julia can get a good look at him.”

My immediate concern was for my niece and how she’d react to seeing her attacker again. “How’s she handling that?”

Margaret didn’t betray her feelings easily; nevertheless, I could see she was nervous. “Matt and I talked to her this morning. We told her the suspect—” she spat out the word “—can’t hurt her again. I assume he’s already behind bars.”

I didn’t tell my sister that just because he’d been brought in for a lineup didn’t necessarily mean he was in jail. Of course, everything I knew about police procedure I’d learned on Law & Order. I did realize that a lot depended on Julia’s ability to make a positive identification. Then and only then would the suspect be charged.

“Julia’s stronger now than at any time since the attack,” Margaret went on. “Matt and I are going with her.”

“Is there anything I can do?” I asked, grateful that my sister and brother-in-law would be with my niece. I wanted to help Margaret through this crisis, but felt powerless to do anything more than give her the time off she needed.

She shook her head. “I appreciate your being so understanding about all of this,” she said brusquely.

I didn’t let on how perturbed I’d been earlier. I certainly would’ve liked more notice but guessed she hadn’t been given much herself. And her acknowledgement, her thanks, meant a great deal to me. “You’ll call and tell me what happened, won’t you?”

Margaret nodded. “I’ll call you from the police station.”

By the time the members of my class started to arrive, Margaret was gone for the day. Alix didn’t show up, which surprised me. I’d never known her to miss a class. I was sorry she wouldn’t be joining us; her presence always made our knitting sessions livelier.

“I haven’t talked to Alix since last week,” Colette told me.

“Me, neither,” Susannah said. “But last time we met, Alix was almost finished with her shawl.”

I remembered that, too. In fact, she’d purchased yarn for another project, a felted purse. Still, it wasn’t like Alix to stay away, even if she’d completed a project. My guess was that wedding plans were keeping her extra busy.

“I read an article about people knitting with wire,” Susannah commented as she sat down at the table and brought out her knitting. After a slow start, she’d done well with the shawl.

I’d heard of wire-knitting, too. “I guess some people get desperate to knit,” I said, trying to be funny. “Some poor knitter was probably stuck somewhere without a yarn store and broke into her husband’s tool kit.”

Colette didn’t laugh the way I’d expected.

“Seriously, though, I’ve seen some lovely jewelry made with gold wire,” I said.

“Really?” Colette finally looked up from her knitting. Her own shawl was coming along, though not at any great speed. I’d hoped she’d be nearly finished by now. Next week was our final class and she had more than half the shawl yet to knit.