Миранда Джеймс - Twelve Angry Librarians

“I think so. Make a hole in the bottom of the bottle where it’s far less likely to be seen, insert the cyanide, and then stop up the hole with some kind of superglue.”

“I see. You’ve got it all worked out pretty neatly.” Kanesha leaned back in her chair and regarded me like a professor who’d been questioning her student.

“Well, how did I do?” I almost added teacher but that wouldn’t have gone over well. Kanesha didn’t appreciate flippancy. “Did I get it right?”

Kanesha didn’t respond right away. The silence between us lengthened, then suddenly she laughed.

You did make a fool of yourself after all. It was too far-fetched to be believable .

I sighed and waited for her to tell me how big an idiot I was for wasting her time.

“I don’t know how you do it,” Kanesha said. “How you manage to figure these things out without all the other information that goes into solving a case.”

“Do you mean I’m right?” I was astonished. I’d prepared myself to be laughed at, and she did laugh, but not for the reason I expected.

Kanesha nodded. “Based on information I have, I’m pretty sure you are. We’ve traced the cyanide to Fong’s house in Alabama. We don’t know yet how or where he got it, but investigators there found where he’d hidden it.” She shook her head. “He was incredibly careless to go off and leave the evidence right there in his house.”

“Sounds like typical Gavin to me,” I said. “Always thinking he was too smart to get caught.”

“I guess you’re right about that,” Kanesha said. “We’ll find out where he got the cyanide eventually, but it will take time. Now, about those little old ladies, Miss Ada Lou and Miss Virginia. They were hard to track down, but they finally showed up in the room we were using at the hotel about six o’clock last night. Seems they realized that what they had seen at the luncheon might have some bearing on the case, and I had an officer watching them from then on. I guess they were talking about it again when you saw them later.”

“Harlan Crais came into the suite where we were having a small gathering,” I said. “I guess that set them off again.”

“They didn’t see the actual bottle switch, but I have confirmation of that from another source.”

“Harlan Crais himself?” I asked.

“When you texted me last night, I’d been trying to track him down for almost an hour. He wasn’t answering his cell phone or responding to messages left on his room voice mail. Thanks to you, though, I was able to question him further last night.”

“So he admitted to switching the bottles?”

“Not right away,” Kanesha said. “He was nervous. Pretty sure he thought he was about to be arrested for murder because he didn’t think I’d believe his story. I finally convinced him to tell me.”

“Was he the one who had blackballed Gavin and kept him from getting interviews?”

“Yes, and he explained why,” Kanesha said. “It never occurred to him that Fong would try to kill him, he said, but he got suspicious at that party when Fong suddenly turned generous. He didn’t actually examine the bottle until the next morning, and that’s when he found the evidence of tampering. You figured that out, too—how Fong got the poison into the bottles.”

“Did you charge Crais with anything?”

“Not yet,” Kanesha said. “That’s going to be up to the district attorney and the grand jury. Frankly, I believe him. He might have suspected there was poison in the bottle, and in that case he should have gone to the police. He didn’t, however, and switched the bottles, and that led to Fong’s death. Based on everything I’ve learned about Fong’s personality, I have little doubt that he was the murderer. Just his bad luck he ended up killing himself.”

“I’m really sorry poor Maxine Muller died,” I said. “After she saw Gavin die right in front of all of us from drinking poisoned water, why on earth did she open that bottle?”

“My guess is that she believed someone else murdered Gavin and didn’t suspect the truth. She wouldn’t have suspected that her water was poisoned until it was too late.”

I shook my head. “I can’t say that I’m all that sorry about Gavin. He was a terrible person, but I am sorry that he killed the one person who actually cared for him.”

Kanesha rose wearily from her chair. “I’m going home now and getting in bed. The last time I saw a bed was a cot in my office, for about two hours yesterday morning.” She yawned.

“You’ve earned your rest.” I escorted her to the door, assisted by Diesel, and watched until she drove off in her car. I shut the door, and Diesel and I headed upstairs. I decided bed was where I wanted to be, at least for a couple more hours. Now that the investigation was done—at least my self-appointed part of it, that is—I had some decisions to make, and I figured postponing them in favor of a little rest wouldn’t hurt.

THIRTY-FIVE

After I woke up from my morning nap at around eight forty-five, I remembered that the conference hadn’t officially ended. There were a couple more sessions this morning, and then a final luncheon. As much as I would have liked to, I couldn’t skip it all. Stewart had no plans for the morning and could look after Diesel for me, so I hurriedly showered, dressed, grabbed a bite to eat, and then headed to the hotel.

I was only about twenty minutes late for the first session, a presentation on evaluating electronic resources using a particular tool available through one of the vendors exhibiting at the conference. I wasn’t particularly interested in the subject, but it sounded more interesting than the other presentation scheduled for the same time—a session on career development. My career was in no need of development at this point, I decided.

I don’t think I actually absorbed much from that presentation, or the one I attended in the following session. My thoughts were occupied with the decision about my job, the forthcoming discussion with Helen Louise about her decision to cut back on her working hours, and the still-pending decision by my son-in-law and daughter about a potential move to Virginia.

I chatted casually with the people at my table during the luncheon, but afterward I couldn’t clearly recall who the people were or what we talked about. I vaguely remembered the keynote speaker talking about new models for the digital academic library of the future, but what those models were I couldn’t tell you. After the keynote ended, Lisa Krause took the podium to thank everyone for their attendance, expressed hope that they had found the meeting worthwhile and enjoyable, despite the unfortunate events. She then shared a message from Kanesha Berry, stating that the investigation was nearing a conclusion and an announcement would be made soon. Everyone could now relax and enjoy what was left of their stay in Athena.

I had a brief, final visit with Marisue and Randi in the latter’s room. Randi was still in pain but in a better frame of mind today. They pressed me for details about the investigation after I told them about the message Lisa shared at the end of the keynote address. I promised them that as soon as the results of the investigation were made public, I would tell them all that I knew about it. Until then, I said, I had to keep what I knew to myself. They were disappointed, but thankfully, they didn’t press too hard. I hugged them both before I left, and we promised to keep in touch more often from now on.

I spent the afternoon relaxing with a good book while a large cat snoozed by my side. I napped for a little while. The tension of the last few days had drained mostly away, and I was able to sleep soundly. I looked forward to Sunday dinner and seeing Helen Louise away from the bistro. Stewart had taken over preparing dinner on Sunday, and I didn’t argue.