Finders Keepers Mystery (6 page)

“Of course, of course,” said Coral. She nudged the basket to one side with her foot and stood up. “How do you like my shop?” she asked.

They looked around. It was a colorful place with cozy chairs, a bright quilt on one wall, racks of thread and sewing supplies, a cabinet labeled
PATTERNS,
another labeled
PROJECTS
, and lots and lots of cloth.

“What’s that up there?” asked Benny, pointing to a large wooden frame that looked sort of like a bed frame. It was suspended from the ceiling above them.

“That? That’s a quilting frame,” Coral said. “You stretch the top and bottom of a quilt across it and stitch them together. At least that’s one way to do it. I can raise and lower it when I need to, so it doesn’t take up room in the shop.”

“This place is wonderful,” Violet said. She ran her fingers across some pretty purple cloth and thought she might like to make a quilt in that color, to match the violet flowers on her wallpaper.

Coral talked some more about quilting, and all four of the Aldens asked lots of questions. The more she talked, the more excited Coral got. She knew the answer to every question.

“I think she must know as much as Mr. Munsey,” Jessie said softly to Henry.

“Maybe more,” Henry whispered back. To Coral, he said, “Do many men make quilts?”

“More and more,” Coral said. She didn’t seem so nervous now.

“I wondered,” Henry went on, “because we saw a man coming out of your shop, and we were wondering if he makes quilts.”

Coral thought for a moment. “A man coming of the shop this afternoon?” she said slowly.

“Yes, just before we came in. He has short hair and thick eyebrows, and he walks with a sort of bounce,” said Violet.

“Oh! That’s Dirk Grey,” said Coral. “He owns the antique shop across the street.”

“We thought we saw him at the yard sale this morning, too,” Violet said.

“Yes, he was at the sale,” Coral said. “I gave him a ride — well, a ride from his car. He’d parked down the street from the house because there were so many other cars, and I decided to take a look at where the sale was on my way to my store.” Coral smiled.

“Oh,” said Benny, and the disappointment in his voice mirrored what the others were feeling. There was nothing suspicious about Coral Weaver and Dirk Grey meeting before the sale that morning.

“I know a man who likes quilts,” Jessie said. “Mr. Munsey. Do you know him?”

“The name doesn’t sound familiar,” Coral said, “but I’m terrible with names.”

“Oh,” Jessie said, her voice as disappointed as Benny’s.

“Well, thank you for dropping by,” Coral said, suddenly sounding as if she was in a hurry. “Come again.” She followed the Aldens to the door — and closed it behind them. When Jessie glanced back, she saw Coral hang up the
CLOSED
sign.

“I got the feeling that Coral wanted us out of there all of the sudden,” said Henry.

“Yes, me, too!” Jessie exclaimed. “And look — according to the sign, the store should be open for another half hour.”

“She
was
acting funny,” Benny said, “especially when we came in.”

“But she seemed to like talking about quiltmaking,” Violet pointed out.

“You’re right,” said Jessie. She paused, then added, “Maybe she was nervous when we got there because of Mr. Grey. He’d just left, remember?”

“Could be,” Henry said. “And maybe she wanted us to leave before we could ask her more about him.”

“I think we should talk to Mr. Grey,” said Jessie.

“Hold my hand while we cross the street, Benny,” Violet said. She led the way.

Dirk Grey’s shop was still open, and they could see him inside, sitting behind a desk. Jessie pushed open the door and went inside.

Mr. Grey looked up. The smile on his lips faded when he saw Violet and Henry with Jessie and Benny.

“May I help you?” he said, his voice cool.

“Hello, Mr. Grey,” said Henry.

Mr. Grey glanced at the lettering on his window and nodded. “You’re right. I’m Dirk Grey and this is my shop.” He stopped and waited.

“You were at our yard sale this morning. In the house,” Henry said.

“I was,” agreed Mr. Grey.

“What were you looking for?” asked Jessie.

The man shrugged. “I’m an antique dealer. I was curious to see if there was anything in the house that I might want to buy.” He paused. “Old clothes, furniture, knickknacks, quilts, maybe. Anything of value.”

“You shouldn’t have gone sneaking in like that,” said Violet. “You should have asked.”

“Maybe not, but it didn’t do any harm,” said Mr. Grey. He didn’t sound at all sorry.

“You don’t know anyone named Edward Munsey, do you?” Jessie asked suddenly.

“Munsey?” Mr. Grey repeated. His eyes shifted. Then he said, “Antique dealer?”

“No,” said Jessie. “He works for the state museum.”

“Ah. I thought the name sounded slightly familiar,” said Mr. Grey. “I have friends who own antique shops near that museum. That’s probably where I heard it.”

The phone on Mr. Grey’s desk rang. He reached for it. “If you’ll excuse me,” he said to the Aldens. “Have a nice day.”

There was nothing to do but leave.

Henry, Jessie, Benny, and Violet headed for home. They didn’t pedal as fast this time. They didn’t have to hurry. They could talk as they rode their bikes.

“I don’t like Mr. Grey,” said Benny.

“He doesn’t seem very honest,” Henry agreed.

“He admitted to sneaking into Lina’s house to look around,” Violet added.

“But was he really looking for the quilts? I didn’t notice any quilts in his shop, just furniture and lots of china and glass,” Jessie said.

“You’re right!” said Violet.

“Maybe he was searching for the hidden treasure,” Benny said.

“I think he
does
know who Mr. Munsey is,” Henry said. “I don’t think he told us the truth.”

“Do you think Mr. Grey and Mr. Munsey could be working together? Mr. Grey could have been the one who tried to break in…” Jessie’s voice trailed off.

“To get the quilts for Mr. Munsey,” Henry finished for her. “But how does Regina Lott fit in all this? How did she hear about the quilts and the treasure?”

“And what
is
the treasure?” Benny added.

“What about Coral?” asked Violet. “She’s a quilt expert, too, but she doesn’t know Mr. Munsey. Or at least she says she doesn’t.”

“And she was acting strange when we were in her shop,” agreed Jessie.

“Coral has a nice smile,” said Benny. “I like her.”

“But everyone is a suspect, Benny,”

Henry said firmly. “Coral
did
seem to know about the quilts in the attic.”

“Maybe Mr. Munsey told Dirk Grey, and he told Coral, and she’s the one who’s after the quilts!” said Jessie.

“It does seem like a stretch,” Jessie said. She sighed.

“We have suspects and clues, but nothing that puts them together,” Violet said.

“It’s like a quilt without a pattern,” said Benny.

“Exactly like that,” said Henry. “A crazy quilt mystery.”

“We’ve only got a few more signs to take down and then we’ll be finished,” said Henry. He handed Jessie one of the yard sale posters they’d put up only a few days before.

“Good,” said Benny. “I’m
tired
.”

Just then, a familiar green van pulled up.

“I thought I’d find you somewhere around here,” Lina said, leaning out the van window. “I’m glad I caught you.”

“Hi,” said Benny.

“Is everything okay?” asked Jessie. “Did someone try to break in again?”

“No, nothing like that. Coral Weaver called and said she needed to talk to me about something important, something to do with the yard sale. I thought you might like to come along.”

“Yes,” said Henry instantly.

“We’ll get the rest of the signs later,” agreed Jessie, crumpling up the one she was holding and dropping it into the recycling can at the curb.

The Aldens jumped into the van and headed for Coral’s store. The door was propped open, and Coral called from inside the store as they walked up, “Come in, come in.”

Coral was perched on one of the store’s comfy chairs, focusing on a small square of quilted fabric in her lap.

“Are you making a quilt?” Violet asked politely.

“A quilted cover for a pillow,” Coral said. “To protect it and keep all of the feathers from leaking out. It’s a gift for a friend.”

“What a nice gift,” said Lina.

Coral looked up. “Yes,” she said. She set her quilting work to one side. She took a deep breath.

“I have something I think you should see,” Coral said quietly. She got up and went to the back of the shop. When she returned, she was holding the old basket she’d bought at the yard sale.

“The scrap basket,” said Jessie.

“That’s right,” Coral said. “But it had more than scraps in it.”

“Treasure!” said Benny hopefully.

“Of a sort,” said Coral.

She reached into the basket and brought out a few folded sheets of yellow paper.

“More letters?” Lina said, her voice going up in excitement.

“No,” said Coral. “Look.”

Carefully, she unfolded the fragile papers and spread them out on a nearby table. The papers were full of lines and drawings, notes and sketches.

“These papers were Hope’s,” Violet said. “Look, she signed her name in that corner.”

Lina looked bewildered. “What does all this mean?” she asked.

“It looks like… is it a quilting pattern?” Henry asked.

“Yes, a Wedding Ring quilt pattern,” said Coral. She pulled a book from the shelf by her chair and flipped it open. “Like this one.”

Lina was looking at Hope’s signature. “It’s dated,” she said. “This pattern has a date on it. It must be the pattern for Hope’s wedding quilt.”

“The missing quilt,” Violet said softly.

“I found it underneath the scraps, right after I got home,” said Coral. “I wanted to keep it. I thought how wonderful it would look hanging in my store, framed. But that would have been wrong. It belongs to you.”

Lina stared down at the pattern unfolded on the table in front of her. “Thank you,” she said.

They all stood silently for a minute, looking at the pattern. Then Lina spoke softly. “Everything but the quilt itself,” she said. “What happened to that quilt?”

A shadow fell across the open doorway. They all looked up. Dirk Grey was standing there.

“Hello,” he said. “Coral, I saw your door was open and thought you might like a sweet roll for breakfast. I’m just taking a quick walk to the bakery.”

Coral, sounding surprised and pleased, said, “How nice. But no, thank you, I’ve had breakfast.”

Dirk nodded and turned away.

“That was thoughtful of him,” said Coral. “When he first opened up his shop, he wasn’t very friendly, but he’s been coming around. I think he’s even beginning to like quilts. He’s been so much more pleasant since he quit his job at the museum and started working in his shop full-time.”

“Museum!” exclaimed Jessie.

“What museum?” asked Henry at almost the same time.

Looking startled, Coral said, “The State History Museum. Why?”

“Did he work on the quilt exhibits?” Violet asked.

“Oh, no,” Coral replied. “He worked in what I call the china department. But he quit last week.”

Henry said, “Will you excuse us for a minute, please? We’d like to catch up with Mr. Grey. We’ll be right back.”

“Okay,” said Lina. She was stroking the pattern as if it were an actual quilt.

As they hurried out of the shop, they heard Coral say, “So you think this was made into a wedding quilt?”

“Yes,” Lina answered. “Let me tell you the story.”

They didn’t hear the rest. They were running down the street after Dirk Grey. They caught up with him right outside the door of the coffee shop.

“Excuse me,” Jessie said breathlessly. “Excuse me, Mr. Grey?”

Dirk paused, raising his eyebrows. “Yes?” he said.

“Why did you tell us you didn’t know Mr. Munsey?” Henry asked. “You worked at the museum together.”

Dirk frowned. “So what if I did?”

“So you must have known him,” Jessie said.

“We can ask Mr. Munsey,” said Violet, “if you won’t tell us.”

That made Dirk Grey frown harder. “Okay,” he snapped. “I know Mr. Munsey.” He started to turn away.

“Why didn’t you tell us the truth?” Benny asked.

The bouncy man didn’t look quite so bouncy as he turned back to face them. “Because Mr. Munsey and I don’t get along,” he snapped. “We’re not friends. We don’t like each other.”

“Oh,” said Benny.

“Have you talked to Mr. Munsey lately?” asked Jessie.

“No,” said Dirk Grey, “and if I’m lucky, I’ll never have to talk to him again. We had very different ideas about what a museum should exhibit. Okay?”

He spun around and walked into the coffee shop.

The Aldens didn’t try to follow.

“I think he’s telling the truth now, at least about not liking Mr. Munsey,” said Violet.

“Yes,” said Jessie. “And since Mr. Munsey and Mr. Grey don’t like each other, it’s not very likely that Mr. Munsey told him about the quilts.”

“Well, I’m sure he was looking for Lina’s quilts that day at the yard sale,” said Violet, “even though I don’t think he knows very much about them.”