Skein of the Crime by Maggie Sefton Page A

up.”
    “Thank you, Burt,” Megan said as she went to embrace him.
    “I couldn’t be happier if you were my own kids,” Burt said, squeezing Megan before releasing her. “I’ve always thought of you girls like second daughters.”
    “Second and third and fourth . . .” Jennifer joked, counting heads around the table.
    “You’re a sweetheart, Burt. And so is Mimi. She’s going to help me get organized. Can you believe I haven’t made any lists? And it’s my wedding.”
    Burt threw up his hands, feigning shock. “What? Megan has no lists? The same girl who made my life miserable a few months ago with daily lists? Well, I’ll just have to make some up for you.”
    “Don’t worry, Burt. I’m taking care of that detail,” Mimi said. “I have a few minutes now, Megan, if you’d like to get started. Lisa and Kelly and Jennifer can jump in with suggestions.”
    Jennifer checked her watch. “Actually, Jennifer’s break is way over, and she has to get back to the slow Monday café traffic. You guys can fill me in on what you come up with later.”
    Lisa shoved her knitting into its bag. “And I have to get to the university and study before class. See you guys.”
    Kelly decided this was a good time for a coffee refill and pushed back her chair. “Hey, Jen, I’ll go with you. I need to fill my mug.”
    “I’ll join you, Kelly,” Burt said, accompanying them as they headed through the central yarn room toward the café.
    Kelly waited by the counter as Jennifer refilled her mug, inhaling those enticing aromas of breakfast foods—eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes. What was it about them that was so tempting? Aside from the fact they tasted so good.
    “Thanks, Jen,” Kelly said, accepting the mug. Jennifer refilled Burt’s cup, then returned to checking customers. Kelly gave Burt a quizzical look. “What’s up, Burt? I can tell you’ve got something to say.”
    Burt smiled and motioned her over to an empty table. “You and I are getting so we can read each other’s body language, Kelly. We can’t hide anything anymore.”
    Kelly settled into the chair across from Burt. “That’s scary. I might like to get away with something sometime.”
    Burt took a sip of coffee, then spoke. “I heard from Dan this morning. The medical examiner has finished his work, and they’ve been able to establish Holly’s cause of death.”
    “What was it? How was she killed?”
    “There’s no sign anyone killed her. She wasn’t assaulted in any way. Just that lump on the back of her head. But the medical examiner found a large amount of opiates in her digestive system. They’ve ruled that an overdose of opiate narcotics is what killed Holly.”
    Kelly drew back, appalled. “Opiate narcotics? Good lord! Did she shoot up with something?”
    “There were no signs of injection sites. Whatever Holly took, she ingested them, probably in pill form.”
    Kelly stared off into the café, where Julie was clearing a customer’s plate and refilling his coffee cup. Kelly didn’t even see it. All she could see was an image of pretty blonde Holly lying lifeless along the river trail.
    “Why would Holly do that? She’d been off drugs for a month. She was taking classes again. What was she thinking ?”
    “I’m not sure she was, Kelly,” Burt said, wagging his head sadly. “If someone’s hooked on pills or drugs of any kind, it rules their lives. They don’t think, period.”
    “How could she be so stupid? And what was she doing taking opiate narcotics? She was taking Ecstasy the night she showed up at my place. That’s a hallucinogen like acid.”
    “Who knows? All sorts of pills are passed out and sold at those parties, Kelly. It can be a real pharmacological stew, I’ve been told.”
    “Did the examiner find out what she took exactly?”
    “Sometimes all they can tell is what the main chemical ingredients are. Opiate narcotics are powerful painkillers, and they’re carefully regulated and controlled because