Knitting Bones Read Online Free

“What?” he said, surprised.
    “What, what?” she asked.
    “I don’t know, you were giving me a look, like you already know I did something wrong.”
    “I was? I didn’t mean to.” She took off the magnifying glasses. “Did you do something wrong? Is there trouble down in the shop?”
    He relaxed and came forward. “No, no, nothing like that. But have you seen the news today?” He was starting to get excited again.
    “No,” she confessed. Though she was not taking so many of the most strenuous meds, she still found she lacked any desire to see what was happening in the real world, possibly because she lay helpless here at home so there was nothing she could do about anything. “Did I miss something?”
    “Girl!” said Godwin. “Did you miss something? Only the biggest scandal ever to hit EGA!”
    Betsy stared at him. She hadn’t been able to go to the convention, of course, being either doped into semiconsciousness or actually in surgery while it was going on. But Godwin had brought her all the details once she was awake and able to take notice. Others reported that he had done a superb job of running the Crewel World booth at the event. Neither he nor any other visitor had even hinted at a scandal. And, anyway, the Embroiderers Guild of America was hardly a place one would find a scandal of any size, large or small. She tried a smile, thinking he was jesting, or at least exaggerating, but he didn’t smile back. “You’re serious!” she said.
    “You bet I am!”
    “So tell me!”
    “Well, you know how they were selling that heart canvas to raise money for women’s heart disease research,” he began.
    She nodded. The local EGA group had begun selling a painted outline of a Valentine heart on canvas right after the last annual convention. The inside was divided into seven sections, each to be filled with a different stitch. There was a competition to find the best composed and executed set of stitches, entries to be displayed at the convention for members to vote for. Betsy and Godwin had both been consulted by several people putting together their designs—and been glad to sell them the materials needed to work them.
    “Did you know they raised over twenty-four thousand dollars?” asked Godwin.
    “I knew it was going to be at least twenty thousand,” said Betsy. “They said as much at the last meeting I went to.”
    “Well, the Heart Coalition was so impressed that they sent a man to the banquet to pick up the check—and he’s gone. So’s the check.”
    “Gone?”
    “Yes, gone. Gone, as in run off, vanished. With the check. The police are looking for him, but so far no luck. That’s what the news is saying. Mrs. Germaine is downstairs, and she’s really upset.”
    Mrs. Germaine was president of the local EGA chapter. Betsy said, “She should be—everyone in the guild should be. Twenty-four thousand dollars was a lot of money to raise, and it’s a lot of money to lose!”
    “No, no, sweetie, you don’t understand! The man who disappeared with the money is her husband!”
    Betsy had to try twice before she could exclaim, “No!”
    “Yes! Mr. Bob Germaine came to the banquet, made a nice speech, gave me the eye, and walked out with the check.”
    Betsy shook her head as if to clear it. “I don’t think I’m following you.”
    “I went to the EGA banquet, remember? You told me to use your ticket, since you couldn’t go. That’s why I was actually there, an eyewitness who watched him take the check from Ms. Pickens, the EGA Treasurer, and make a small thank-you speech. Don’t you remember me telling you about that?”
    “You told me about the banquet and the check presentation. But that’s not what I mean. Why did EGA give the check to Allie’s husband?”
    “Because he was the honcho from the National Heart Coalition they sent to pick it up.”
    “Bob works for the Heart Coalition?” Betsy held up a hand. “Wait a minute, I knew that. How could I forget