Murdered, actually. No question about it.
And that meant a murderer.
The thought clamped my jaw shut and sent whatever adrenaline I had left shooting through my veins like acid. I jogged to the stairs, pulling my cell phone from my pocket. As I moved, my attention ping-ponged around the room, an animal seeking a predator, fear sharpening my hearing and sight to something nearly supernatural. Air whistled through the ductwork above. Colors took on an eerie glow. One of Irene's sculptures seemed to leer at me as I hurried by.
I had a sudden flash that this could be what it felt like to go insane. Taking a deep breath, I muttered to myself, "This is old hat for you, Sophie Mae. Buck up. You've been through worse."
The 911 operator sounded ridiculously calm, given the fact that I was reporting a murder. She told me to stay on the line, and she'd send help.
"Sorry. I'll meet them outside," I said.
She didn't like me hanging up, but there wasn't much I could do about that.
I stood in the shade of the giant yellow cedar in front of the coop and placed another call. Thank God, Barr answered his cell phone after two rings.
"I found a murdered woman," I said.
A pause, then, "Could you say that again?"
I took a deep breath. "Ariel Skylark. The one I mentioned at Scott's funeral, the skinny little blonde from CRAG? Well, she's dead. Strangled at the co-op. I've already called 911."
He swore. Loudly. Not at me, of course, but still. Then, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I'm out front."
A flurry of voices in the background. "Hang on," he said.
A pause, more voices, and then he spoke into the phone again. "I have to go. Apparently there's a murder I have to look into."
"See you soon," I said.
He was grumbling something unintelligible as he hung up.
It didn't take long before Barr screeched to the curb in front of where I stood. Like a leggy supermodel at a movie premier, Detective Robin Lane swung out of the passenger seat of the patrol car they'd obviously appropriated. Barr erupted from the driver's side, took four long strides and stopped next to me.
"What happened?" he asked.
"I'm fine," I said again. Actually, I still felt a little lightheaded, but that seemed to be passing.
Detective Lane tossed her thick auburn ponytail and moved to stand beside Barr, notebook at the ready. She seemed to be standing a bit too close, but I pushed that thought out of my mind. Whatever her intentions might be, I didn't have to worry about Barr straying. After all, he kept bugging me to move in with him.
A thought flickered across my consciousness: unless that was what he'd wanted to talk to me about and kept putting off. Had he changed his mind? He sure looked mad right now.
"Where is she?" Lane asked.
"Upstairs in the studio area. You know where that is?"
"We'll find it," Barr said.
"Good," I said. "Because I'm not going back in there. Can I sit in your car while you work your detective magic?"
They exchanged glances. "Sure," he said.
So I sat in the front seat and waited. It wasn't that I was afraid of dead people. Heck, Ariel was the second dead person I'd seen that day. And I wasn't afraid of the murderer anymore, not with Barr and Robin there.
But someone had squeezed the life out of her. On purpose. The palpable violence of it took my breath away.
A knock on the window brought me back from my reverie. Ruth Black stood on the sidewalk, peering at me quizzically. I opened the door.
"What on earth is going on, Sophie Mae? No one will tell us."
I got out of the police car and looked around. All the other core members of the co-op were there. Even Chris Popper, changed into jeans and a T-shirt now, questioned me with her eyes.
"It's Ariel," I said. "She's… well, she's dead."
A group intake of breath at that.
I cleared my throat. "She was strangled."
Stares all around.
"In the co-op. I came early for my spinning lesson with Ruth, and found her."
The stunned silence drew out, until finally Ruth said. "You found her?"
I sighed. "Yes"
That seemed to release them, and the clamor of voices rushed over me like water, drowning me with their shouted questions.
A hand reached through them and grabbed my arm. Robin Lane pulled me away, calling out, "We'll let you know when we have more information."
Inside the co-op, Robin guided me to a corner and gestured toward a rocking chair made out of plum-colored wood.
I shook my head. "Can't sit there. It's for sale. Purple maple. Very expensive. See the sign?"
Lane looked disgusted. "What use is a chair you can't sit on? Okay, come over here." And she led me behind the register counter, where we both perched on stools.
Barr appeared at the top of the stairs. "Robin's going to take your statement."
I nodded my understanding. "There might be a conflict of interest for you, huh."
"Gee, you think?"
"I don't have much information," I said. "I found her is all. I don't know her very well or anything."
He came down the stairs, the heels of his cowboy boots sounding a sharp report on each step. He'd changed out of his dress uniform, and now wore mushroom-colored slacks, a blue shirt, and a string tie from his considerable collection. This one had a copper slide, beaten into the rough outline of a leaf.
Leaning his elbow on the counter, he said, "What is it with you and murder victims?"
"Hey," I said. "It's not like I enjoy it. And come to think of it, I didn't have this problem before I met you."
"No. You met me because you have this problem."
Okay. Technically he was right.
"Are you going to sit in?" Robin asked Barr.
"If you don't mind."
She hesitated, at war with her affinity to play by the book. "Shouldn't be a problem."
"Why aren't we doing this at the station?" I asked.
"There's still a lot to do here, and we thought you might want to leave. But we need some information before sending you on your way," Barr said.
"Okay. Shoot."
"How did you find her?" Robin asked, pen poised to take down my answer.
I told them, and after that there were more questions about when I got there and how long it took before I called 911. We spent quite a bit of time on the open front door, and why I went upstairs in the first place. I explained that I thought an artist must have come in to work and left the door open. Then we moved on to Ariel herself. What did I know about her? Not much. I told them Ruth Black would probably know more. Ariel had always seemed kind of standoffish around me; my gender probably hadn't helped. Ruth seemed to get along with everyone, though.
"Did you see the yarn around her neck?" Lane asked.
"You mean the yarn she was strangled with?"
She nodded.
"Oh, I saw it all right," I said.
"Do you know if it came from here?"
"I know it did."
Lane looked the question at me.
"It was mine. The first two-ply homespun yarn I ever made, and Ruth was going to show me how to set the twist on it this week."
Barr's eyes widened a fraction, but he didn't say a word.
"I'm sorry," I said.
"What exactly are you sorry for?" Robin asked, her tone suddenly hard.
"For being upset about the stupid yarn," I said. "I really liked it, though. Even if it was kind of lumpy and thick and full of slubs, it was the first time I'd created a decent amount of actual yarn on the spinning wheel."