Jenn McKinlay - Due Or Die

“I suppose it’s cold comfort, but you’ve been given an excellent life lesson by your dad,” she said. “You and your sister won’t be like that. You won’t miss out on the things that matter most.”

Kyle parked the car in front of the library and turned to smile at her. “Now I know why my mom likes you so much. You know just what to say.”

Lindsey laughed and said, “If only that were true.” She climbed out of the car and added, “Thanks for the ride. Tell your mom to call me if there’s anything I can do or if she just wants to talk.”

“Will do,” Kyle said. With a wave, he headed back down Main Street toward his boyhood home.

Lindsey turned and walked into the library. When the doors slid open, she found Ms. Cole standing at the circulation desk with her arms crossed over her formidable front, glowering at the door.

“Mr. Tupper never took long lunches,” she said. Her lips puckered up tight, and Lindsey had to resist the urge to tell the lemon to take an antacid and calm down.

“It started as lunch,” Lindsey said. “It turned into a police investigation.”

Knowing the lemon would want to know more, Lindsey purposefully strode past her and went into her office, where she shut the door.

Five minutes passed and there was a knock. Without waiting for an invite, Beth opened the door just a crack and peeked in with one eye.

“What happened?” she asked. “Rumors are flying all over the library.”

Lindsey waved her in. Beth came in and took the seat across from her. It was only then that Lindsey realized Beth was dressed as a dog, with floppy ears and a long tail, and her nose was painted black.

“Bingo was his name-oh?” she asked.

“Yeah, it never gets old,” Beth said. She bobbed her head and her ears flapped against her face.

Lindsey was quite sure that for Beth, it never would. The woman was a walking encyclopedia of finger plays, poems, stretches, songs, rhymes and picture books. The residents of Briar Creek had no idea how lucky they were to have such an advocate for children and reading.

“Now dish,” Beth ordered. “I have my afternoon crawlers coming in shortly.”

“Carrie and her kids went to the storage unit today and did inventory,” she said. “They found some discrepancies.”

“How so?” Beth asked.

“Several rare books worth thousands are missing,” Lindsey said. “We went out to Carrie’s house to see if the missing books were in the boxes we brought to her house on the night her husband was killed, but her house has been ransacked and those boxes are missing.”

“No!” Beth’s eyes went wide.

“Yes, and Batty Bilson was spotted by a neighbor at the house the day before.”

“Do you think she broke in?” Beth asked. “Why would she want those books? She’s not even a reader, is she? I mean she only joined the Friends to be near Bill.”

“The only thing I can figure is that she stole those books to make it look like Carrie was irresponsible with them in some crazy scheme to make Carrie look bad and get Bill reinstated.”

“That’s mental,” Beth said.

“Yeah, well, we’re not dealing with the most rational person in town now, are we?”

“But to break into someone’s house,” Beth said. “That’s serious stuff. And if she is that crazy, then we have to assume that she’s the one who shot Markus.”

“I know,” Lindsey said. “And if that’s the case, the murder may be solved.”

“What do you think will happen?” Beth asked.

“I think the police have to consider her suspect number one, don’t you?”

“Hello, ladies, I couldn’t help but overhear,” a high-pitched voice said from the door. “Who are we talking about?”

Lindsey felt her heart thump in her chest as she found herself staring into the crazy eyes of Marjorie Bilson.

BRIAR CREEK

PUBLIC LIBRARY

“Can I help you?” Lindsey asked. She was pleased to hear that her voice was almost normal.

Marjorie slipped around the edge of the door. The bright pink hat she was wearing had a fluffy pom-pom about the size of her head on top. It was pulled low over her brow as if she were using it to hide behind. Her coat was unbuttoned, but she still wore her scarf and mittens, also in an eye-watering shade of pink.

Lindsey could see Beth sit up straighter, as if bracing herself for the onslaught of crazy. She sat up straighter, too.

Marjorie looked at her out of the corner of her eye and said, “I was just wondering if you had decided to reinstate Bill yet.”

“It’s not really up to me,” Lindsey said. “I work with the Friends, but I’m not a member. It would be a conflict of interest for me to get involved with the leadership of the group.”

“That didn’t stop you from getting Bill kicked out,” Marjorie said through gritted teeth. She was staring at a spot on the wall over Lindsey’s shoulder, which was completely unnerving.

Lindsey took a deep breath. “I didn’t have anything to do with that.”

Marjorie’s eyes got wide and focused on Lindsey for the first time, and she snapped, “Liar!”

Beth jumped up from her chair, looking ready to rumble. Lindsey rose from her chair, too, and circled the desk. She’d had it with Marjorie and her weird phone calls, almost getting run over by her in her car and most probably being locked in the shed to freeze by her, too. The fact that she had probably ransacked Carrie’s house was just the capper.

“Marjorie, let’s have a chat,” she said. She gestured for the woman to have Beth’s vacated seat. “Beth was just leaving. Let’s take this opportunity to clear the air, shall we?”

Marjorie gave her a suspicious look. Lindsey took that to mean she was crazy but perhaps not stupid. Lindsey took Beth’s elbow and led her to the door. As she pushed her through, she whispered, “Call the police.”

Beth gave her a quick nod and hurried off.

Lindsey left the door open just a crack, in case Marjorie went batty on her, and then took her seat behind her desk.

“Now, I understand that you are unhappy with me,” Lindsey said. “What can I do to make things better?”

“Make Bill the president again,” Marjorie said.

“The Friends have to make that decision,” Lindsey said. She had a feeling this conversation was going to be as repetitive as a hamster’s run on a wheel, and they’d probably get about as far.

“You control the Friends,” Marjorie said. “They will do whatever you tell them to. That’s why they voted him out to begin with.”

“I never told anyone to vote him out,” Lindsey said.

“Then why were you at the meeting that night?” she asked. Her gaze fleetingly met Lindsey’s before moving to fixate on something behind her head.

“I was at the meeting to bear witness to the fairness of the proceedings,” Lindsey said. She did not add that she’d been there mostly to keep Bill from having a hissy fit, because she didn’t really think it would help her case with Marjorie even if it was the truth.

“Fair?” Marjorie’s voice became shrill, and Lindsey glanced out her office window, hoping to see a police car arriving. Nothing yet.

“Would you like a mint?” she asked. She pulled a canister of mints from her desk drawer and offered it to Marjorie. “They’re butter mints; they melt in your mouth.”

Marjorie frowned at her, her expression distrustful. “Why are you being nice to me?”

“I’m nice to everyone,” Lindsey said.

“Not Bill,” Marjorie retorted. She took off one mitten and then opened the canister. Snatching a fistful of mints, she shoved them in her coat pocket as if afraid Lindsey was going to grab the candy back.

She looked like a scared little kid, and Lindsey felt a pang of sympathy for her. Marjorie couldn’t help it if she was a few cards short of a full deck. Maybe she just needed some understanding.