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little
over twenty pounds and had been known to fly more than
a hundred yards when well thrown. “One year I stood too
close to the field. A contestant lost his grip on the hammer and I swear it was coming straight at me. I let out a
shriek and threw myself flat on the ground”
    “Were you hit?”
    Liss shook her head, a rueful expression on her face.
“The only thing damaged was my dignity. The hammer
didn’t land anywhere near me”
    She could smile about it now. At the time she’d been
mortified.
    “So,” she said, scooping out the last of the yogurt, “do
you have a special interest in Pete Campbell?” Liss remembered him slightly. He’d been a couple of years
ahead of them in school.
    A haunted expression came over Sherri’s face. “What
would be the point? I come with too much baggage”
    Frowning thoughtfully, Liss tossed the now empty
container toward the trash can. “Because you have a child?”
    “That’s part of it. The other’s my job. And his. It’s
complicated.”
    “I’m a good listener,” Liss offered. “What does working in a shop that sells Scottish imports have to do with
anything?”

    “Oh, not that job. I only work part time for your aunt.
My full-time job is as a corrections officer for the sheriff’s department” Before Liss could ask for further explanation, Sherri’s gaze shifted, moving to a spot over Liss’s
shoulder. Her eyes widened. “Oh-oh”
    “What?” Liss turned her head to look but saw nothing
that alarmed her.
    “Jason Graye is coming this way. He’s got to be the
most obnoxious man in Moosetookalook.”
    “Never heard of him.”
    “He only turned up in this area a couple of years ago.
One of those move-in-and-take-over types. Lives in Moosetookalook but owns a real estate company here in Fallstown.
Got himself elected president of the Rotary Club and a
selectman.”
    “Ah, an entrepreneur!”
    Sherri grinned. “Yup.”
    Liss fixed her salesperson smile in place and reached
her side of the counter just as a man and woman came
abreast of the booth. Graye looked to be forty at most,
with a hawk nose and strong jaw. His companion was
younger, but not by much. Of medium height and slender,
she’d styled her strawberry blonde hair into an elaborate
twist that kept it away from an oval face dominated by
pouty lips and rather pretty hazel eyes. Liss glanced at
her hand, looking for a wedding ring, but didn’t see one.
    “The lady wants a kilt,” Jason Graye said. He had a
brusque manner and although he wasn’t quite tall enough
to loom over Liss, he thrust himself into her space in a
way that made her hackles rise. She wondered if he tried
to intimidate everyone, or only those he considered his
inferiors.
    Hiding her irritation behind the facade of a helpful
salesclerk, she invited him to come around the counter
and take a look. A narrow aisle allowed access to several
racks of clothing, including ready-made kilts. The rest of the sales space consisted of a series of display tables
arranged in a square under an awning.

    From the rack holding an even dozen, Liss selected a
kilt in the red, green, yellow, blue, and white Royal Stewart tartan and held it up for their inspection. “This one is
beautifully made”
    Graye reached in front of his companion and flipped
the price tag over. His eyes widened. “Three hundred dollars! For a skirt?”
    “For a kilt,” Liss corrected him. “Kilts are tightly pleated
at the back and take eight yards of material to make. The
apron front has to hang just right. Length is important,
too. A properly made kilt just clears the ground when the
wearer kneels.”
    “That looks too big for me,” the woman said, leaning
in and nearly knocking Liss over with the strong perfume
she wore. “What size is it?”
    “They don’t come sized the way women’s clothes are.
To be honest, the best way to make sure your kilt will
look right is to have one custom made”
    “And that