Book Club
Page 3
“How’d you know Tolliver was lying about the stranger?”
“It was a hunch, as I said. He lacked imagination—people who look for symbols in books like Garp often do—or he’d have come up with a description that didn’t belong to a well-known actor. The unused ladder started me thinking the thief had to be tall enough to reach a shelf nine feet from the floor.”
“He might’ve gotten away with it if he weren’t so interested in throwing us off the track.”
“Not really. The only other copy of L’Exploration known to exist is in the Library of Congress. He couldn’t try to sell Fister’s without implicating himself. No imagination, and too volatile for reason.”
“They’ll cure him of that in prison. Meanwhile, what do we do with the book?”
Sharecross looked uneasy. “It mustn’t languish in a non-climate-controlled evidence room through the trial and inevitable appeals. I keep my rarer stock in a properly maintained storage room in Santa Fe. I’m offering it to the justice system indefinitely, without charge.”
“You’re a civilian. That would constitute ownership. No judge would allow it.”
Sharecross’ face fell.
Dockerty stood. “Get up and raise your right hand.”
“Whatever for?”
“I’m swearing you in as an officer with the Good Advice Police Department and putting you in charge of homicide evidence.”
The bookseller rose with a smile. “All of it?”
“Every last volume.”
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copyright © 2012 by Loren Estleman
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