Death of a Crafty Knitter Read Online Free PDF

to defend the white-haired waitress.
    Suddenly, Dharma lunged for the pitcher of ice water that had been sitting on the table. She tossed the entire thing on Voula, who jumped to her feet in a sputtering rage.
    The whole section now noticed the fight between the two women and went quiet, waiting to see what would happen next.
    Voula howled, "You dare call me a WITCH? I'll SHOW YOU a witch!"
    "It's not fair!" Dharma yelled back. "You can't use your black magic for gain. It's not fair. Using magic isn't fair."
    Voula stood glowering, an imposing figure at nearly a foot taller than the senior waitress. She plucked an ice cube from her plunging neckline like she was pulling out a dagger, and tossed the ice to the floor. She drew back her dripping wet arm, like she was about to hurl something at the waitress, but then she stopped.
    Around me, people murmured about spells and curses and getting on the wrong side of scary people.
    Voula seemed to feed off the energy of the crowd, getting bigger, or so it seemed. It was possible the tossed water was making her curls frizz up.
    She tipped her head from side to side nonchalantly, shook out her arm and said, "You're not worth it. I'll save my magic for the paying customers, who appreciate my talents for making them rich."
    Dharma bowed her head, turned, and walked away briskly. Even in the dim light of the pub, I could see her cheeks flushing with rage or shame.
    Across the table from me, Marvin began to clap.
    "Wonderful performance," he said, still clapping.
    People around us let out sounds of relief and joined in the applause. Some of them were already inebriated enough to believe they'd just witnessed dinner theatre, by the sound of it.
    "Now, that's entertainment!" Marvin kept clapping while Marcy looked like she wanted to crawl under the table and pretend she didn't know him.
    I leaned over to Jessica and whispered, "We can't say our first New Year's Eve together in a decade was boring, can we?"
    She whispered back, "I'm sorry about Marvin. He's not usually so obnoxious. Something's gotten into him lately."
    I nodded toward the bottle of wine, which was being emptied into Marvin's empty glass by Marvin. "Some Chardonnay is getting into him tonight."
    "That man is a hero," she said in a low voice. "He's heroically saving all of us from a wicked hangover."
    "You look thirsty, though. I'm not sure if our waitress will be back, so I'm going to head over to the bar and get another bottle."
    Jessica reached for her purse. "It's my turn. Let me get this one."
    I pushed my chair back and got up quickly. The wine hadn't been expensive, even by Misty Falls standards, but I knew Jessica's accounts were at their limits.
    "This next one's actually on the house," I lied.
    "Really?" Even with the red glittering mask over her eyes, she gave me a skeptical look.
    "Yes, that bottle was on the two-for-one list."
    Jessica grinned. "Oh, Stormy, you're so brilliant at getting deals! I didn't even know there was a two-for-one list. And it was nice wine, too, from what I tasted." She licked her lips in anticipation of a second glass, assuming we could keep it away from Marvin's thirsty lips long enough to liberate a serving.
    I grabbed my purse from the back of my chair. Jessica's gaze went to my purse, and I anticipated her thoughts: If the second bottle was free, what did I need my wallet for?
    "Just going to freshen up in the washroom," I explained. "If the food shows up, don't wait for me to dig in."
    I left the table and wove my way through the crowd, stopping at the bar to prepay for another bottle of wine, then making my way to the ladies' room.
    The washroom was relatively quiet and chilly compared to the rest of the bar. A tiny window was open for fresh air. The doors for all the stalls were open, and there was only one other person in there with me: the voodoo lady.
    The front of her dark clothes were black from the tossed pitcher of water, but she didn't seem as concerned about that as she was