“Earl, have you got a minute? There's something I've been meaning to tel you. It's probably nothing, yet I thought you should know.”
The notebook came out. He clicked his pen.
Merciful y, they were parked behind the post office.
They might be news, but not big news, particularly if she spoke fast. She explained about finding the mark on the quilt she'd bought—a mark identical to the one on the red-and-white quilt.
“I know you told me. It's a blue cross, right? Like this?"
He drew one on the pad.
“Yes, maybe a bit smal er. I wouldn't have noticed it on the one around the body if the quilt had had more colors.
Then in the one I bought, it just seemed to jump out at me"
“Do you have any idea what it could stand for?"
“It could be some kind of family laundry mark. Both quilts may have come from Sul ivan. I mean, that's where the antiques dealer said the quilt was from, and Mitch was living in Sul ivan when he died. The red-and white one may have been taken from his room.”
Earl agreed. "That makes sense. Although I'm not sure what kind of link there could be. He hadn't been in his room for some days before he was kil ed, according to his landlady, but she admitted he could have been there one of the times she was out doing errands."
“There's another possibility. Much as it pains me to realize I may have been duped, I think the quilt I bought could be a fake. The price was suspiciously low. I have a book about dating quilts and I'm going to go through it to try to establish when mine was made. If it's a modern one, as I suspect, the mark could be a way whoever was faking the quilts kept track of which were real and which weren't.”
Earl looked at Pix admiringly. "Good thinking.
Obviously, we don't want it spread around, but we're pretty sure Mitch was involved with one or more of the antique scams. Unfortunately, he was also involved in some other tricky businesses, so the field is pretty broad" His face fel a bit.
He continued: "So that's why you were asking al those questions on Sunday."
“Yes," Pix admitted.
“Look, I'd like to photograph the mark and see how it matches with the one that was wrapped around Pierce's body. I've got my camera in the trunk. Al right if I come over and take a picture now? I'l be able to send it to Augusta right away. They may also have something in their files about it."
“Sure," Pix agreed. She was excited. They were beginning to get somewhere. Maybe.
As Earl got into his car, he cal ed over to her, "By the way, since you're turning out to be so interested in detective work, how about finding out why my girl is giving me the cold shoulder?”
Pix was sorry to disappoint him. "I'l try, but I'm sure it's nothing much. You two have been together a long time"
“ `Nothing much,' " Earl was uncharacteristical y sarcastic. "Do you think the fact that she had dinner with Seth Marshal last night might mean something? The entire island and half the mainland saw them down at the inn.”
Pix did not have an answer.
Nor did she have an answer shortly thereafter when she spread out the new quilt on her living room floor.
"Where is this mark?”
She looked. Then looked again.
It was gone.
* * *
“I felt like a fool. Fortunately, I thought to get one of Samantha's magnifying glasses and I showed him where the holes were. There had definitely been something sewn there.”
The first thing Pix had done after the police car had pul ed away from the house was cal Faith. She was at work.
“But this proves that the marks mean something." Faith was excited. "Why am I stuck down here making blueberry pies and coleslaw, not to mention a cake in the shape of an eagle some patriotic soul has ordered, while you're having al the fun!”
Pix thought of Mitch and the incidents at the camp. It wasn't exactly what she'd cal fun, but Faith tended to view life a bit differently.
“I wish you were here, too. Sam has to leave after the parade. He's got a client coming in early Thursday morning.
It must be someone important, because it's not like Sam to miss the fireworks. Since he's been here, I've realized how nice it is to have another adult around. Samantha is wonderful company, but she's at work or off with her friends.
In fact, I think she's doing too much. She looked terrible at breakfast—as if she hadn't slept a wink, but she says she's fine."
“Wel , what did you used to tel your mother? Speaking of whom, she certainly qualifies as an adult. Why don't you get her to come over for a while? No, that's not right. That's not what you need.”
Faith knew her so wel , Pix thought. Much as she loved her mother, it would not provide the ease she was seeking.
“Even before we got here, I asked her to come until my brother arrives. I don't like to think of her alone in that big house, but she wants to be on her own, and when we're her age, we'l be exactly the same."
“I should hope so. Now, back to the quilt. Obviously, nothing else in the cottage was disturbed or you would have said so."
“Right, and yes, I did leave the door unlocked as usual.
There's nothing of value here, and it's such a nuisance for Samantha to carry a key. I have one with my car keys, but I can't remember the last time I used it”
These New Englanders, Faith thought to herself. The unlocked door represented their trust in humankind and belief in a certain way of life: "Come in; it's off the latch."
And she knew Pix would stil keep her doors unlocked even now. What would it take? Faith hoped Pix would never find out.
“I've been doing some detective work for you in between shucking corn for corn pudding and the like. There was an article on quilt making in the paper. You remember that controversy about the Smithsonian's decision to reproduce some of the quilts in their col ection using overseas labor? That's what it's about mainly, however it started me thinking. These new quilts could be made to look old, particularly if they are unmarked. I think the Smithsonian ones have an indelible tag on the back, but a lot of mail-order companies and department stores offer quilts. I doubt they're al labeled so conscientiously. Anyway, I mailed the article to you and you should get it by Thursday."
“It's pretty easy to spot some of the reproduction quilts, even if they are made by hand, because the stitching is uneven and there are fewer stitches to the inch. Handmade quilts, like the one I got in Pennsylvania last year, have ten to twelve stitches."
“What about this one? How many does it have?"
“Ten in most places, more in a few others"
“But it could stil be a new one made to look old."
“Yes, and that's what I have to do now—figure out for sure if it's a fake. Then I can tel Earl to have an expert look at the one the police have. I also thought I might do some more antiquing and see if I turn up any more marked quilts."
“So what else is going on up there—or should I say down there?”
Pix had patiently explained to Faith her first summer on the island what Down East meant. The term dated from the days when the coastal towns of Maine were part of an active exchange of goods with the port of Boston. Timber, quarried stone, and of course fish were sold to purchase manufactured goods from Massachusetts. The coast curves eastward as it heads north to Nova Scotia and the first landfal a boat encounters is Maine. The windjammers took advantage of the prevailing westerlies, sailing down-wind—before the wind. Therefore, a boat setting sail from Boston to Bangor was headed down-wind, eventual y shortened to "down east." Pix made Faith learn it until she was letter-perfect, but although she was sure she had the words right, it had never made a whole lot of sense to Faith.
Up was north and down was south. And Maine was north.
“The clambake was great, but the weather's been much too hot."