Yvette's Death (Cara Daniels Cozy Mystery Book 3) by Gillian Larkin Page B

should have told
Robin to stay in the car. She’d do her best to ignore him. Her attention was
drawn towards the woman behind the counter who was smiling at her. Cara knew
immediately it was Yvette Carter. Cara could see the fine black line that
surrounded Yvette, the death line that confirmed Yvette would be murdered soon.
    Yvette said, “Good morning. Are you
looking for anything in particular?”
    “Good morning,” Cara said and returned
her smile. “I used to come here with my gran. It looks just the same!”
    Yvette laughed. “I wouldn’t dare change
a thing! This shop belonged to my mum, Olivia, as in Olivia’s Wool Shop. She
left the shop contents and tenancy to me. Mum died five years ago.” Yvette’s
smile faltered. “I do miss her but I feel close to her when I’m here.”
    Cara nodded. “I remember the other
shops that were on the parade. What happened to them all?”
    Yvette shook her head sadly. “They
weren’t making any money, I barely am either. It’s that new shopping centre at
the other side of town, everyone goes there now, it’s more convenient. Please,
have a look around the shop. What are you wanting to knit?”
    Cara gave her an embarrassed smile. “I
can’t knit. Gran tried to teach me but I never got the hang of it.”
    Yvette laughed. “I can help you, if you
like. It’s not as if I’m overrun with customers! Would you like me to teach you
how to knit? We could start with a scarf.”
    “Would you really? That’s so kind of
you,” Cara said, glad that she could spend some time with Yvette.
    Yvette waved a hand at her. “You’ll be
doing me a favour, it’s nice to have some company. Hang on, I’ll pop the kettle
on. We might as well have a cup of tea.” She disappeared into a back room.
    “Cara!” Robin called out from behind
her. “Look at me! I’m a model!”
    Robin was standing near a row of men’s
knitting patterns. He was in the same pose as a man who was swinging a golf club.
Robin shouted out, “Fore!” He moved to another pattern and adopted the pose of
a man wearing a cable jumper who was swinging an axe. “Timber!”
    Cara couldn’t help but laugh.
    Robin said, “You could knit me a
jumper. I like that one with a horse on it.”
    Cara shook her head. “I think that’s
way out of my experience. I’m going to start with a scarf. Did you see Yvette?
She seems very nice. Are you sure she’s going to be murdered?”
    “You know she is, you saw her death
line,” Robin said.
    Yvette came back into the shop carrying
a tray. She set the tray down on the counter. She said, “How do you take your
tea?”
    “Milk, no sugar. Thank you.”
    “And have you chosen some wool?”
    Robin’s hand hovered over a pile of red
wool. He grinned at Cara and said, “You can make me a scarf, to go with my red
T-shirt.”
    Cara picked up one of the balls of wool
and gave Robin a brief smile.
    “Good choice,” Yvette noted. “Here’s
your tea.”
    Cara walked over to the counter and
took the proffered cup. “Are you sure you’ve got time to teach me?”
    Yvette nodded. “I’m making the most of
my last week in this shop. My lease is up soon and the landlord is due to see
me soon to talk about the renewal. Sol’s a good man and he’s let me renew the
lease even when the other shops closed down. He was a good friend of Mum’s. I
don’t think he’s going to let me renew it again.” Yvette looked round the shop.
“I’m not looking forward to Sol’s visit. My heart already feels like it’s
breaking at the thought of losing Mum’s shop. I think I might actually die if
Sol turns up today.”
    The door to the shop opened and a
grim-faced man entered.
    Yvette’s hands flew to her chest. “Sol!
No!”

 

 
    Chapter 3

 
    Sol walked over to the counter, his
hands held outwards. Robin came to Cara’s side and said, “He’s a funny-looking
chap, isn’t he? All that hair on his chin and none on his head.” Robin tipped
his head and looked at Sol again.