A Stitch in Crime by Betty Hechtman Read Free Book Online Page A

cake. I just had coffee.
    “You did great,” she said in a true best-friend encouraging voice. “No disasters, no dead bodies.”
    “Just a few bumps in the road, thanks to Adele,” I replied. The kitchen crew was clearing the tables, and I was about to suggest that Dinah and I leave when someone else came into the dining hall. My mouth fell open when I realized who Mrs. Shedd had gotten to teach tai chi.

CHAPTER 5
    “HI, SUNSHINE,” MASON FIELDS SAID AS HE crossed the empty dining hall to our table. “I’m guessing by your open mouth that you weren’t expecting me.”
    The cleaning crew was beginning to put the chairs on the tables and sweep the floor. Mason’s expression clouded over. “Looks like I missed dinner, huh?”
    “You’re right on both counts,” I said, still looking at him with disbelief. Dinah greeted him with a nod and a smile, and he gave her a wave.
    “How come you never told me you do tai chi?” I asked, feeling a little unsettled.
    Mason laughed. “You never asked. Sunshine, there’s a lot you don’t know about me. Tai chi brings balance to my life, though I’m not quite a master at it. Your boss made me sound better than I am. My teacher, Master Riki, was supposed to do the weekend, but he broke his leg. Nothing to do with tai chi, something about a slippery waxed floor. I was already coming up to Santa Cruz this weekend for my aunt’s eightieth birthday. I heard you were going to be running this workshop weekend, and I didn’t want to leave you hanging.” He glanced at Dinah and me and the empty table around us. “Where’s the detective?”
    “Barry didn’t come,” I said. We were getting looks from the two men doing the chair moving and sweeping. Who could blame them? They wanted to be done and go home. “Maybe we ought to take it outside,” I said.
    Besides his apparent skill at tai chi, Mason was a well-known criminal lawyer. Well-known because he was the one celebrities in trouble turned to. He was known for keeping them out of jail. He also had a self-deprecating sense of humor that was endearing.
    We had sort of a flirty friendship. Mason had wanted it to become something more, and during the time Barry and I had broken up, it almost had. Mason and I seemed to be on the same page relationship-wise. We both wanted something casual. Only his definition of casual turned out to be too no-strings for me. Even so, we had stayed friends. And since I seemed to find myself mixed up in murders, it was handy to have a criminal attorney around just in case.
    Outside, the air was so thick with moisture that it had a texture. And it was dark. I asked Mason if he’d checked in; he nodded and mentioned his room was in Lodge. “I think my room is right down the hall from yours,” he said with a devilish smile. Did I mention that Mason was still hoping for more than friendship?
    “Sorry I’m so late, but my flight got diverted to San Jose because of the fog, and then I had to drive from there. Are there any restaurants in this place?” He gestured toward the grounds that were mostly invisible thanks to the fact we seemed to be in the middle of a cloud.
    “No, and there’s no room service. Have you been to your room yet?” I asked.
    “Yes. I noticed there was no television, no telephone, and not much in the way of luxurious amenities. Personally, I like it for a change. When I come here, I usually stay at one of the resorts in Pebble Beach,” he said. “Now, there must be some place to eat in the area.”
    I suggested we check with the registration desk, and we headed up the walkway to the administration building. As we were climbing the stairs to the deck, Nora Franklyn appeared out of the darkness, pulling a white windbreaker around her.
    “Have you seen Bennett?” she said with an edge in her voice. She glanced past us toward the empty dining hall.
    “Last time I saw him, he was walking out with the others. Why don’t you call his cell phone?”
    Nora appeared