Murder by the Bookend

by Laura Gail Black

  I headed across the store in search of Alice, passing an elderly couple who stared at me with startled eyes and whispered to one another as I passed. Guess the smile didn’t help.

  Alice looked up as I approached, seemingly unfazed by my ghastly appearance. She smiled a slightly damp smile at me, her lip trembling for a brief moment before she drew in a deep breath and huffed it out.

  “Are you okay?” I gently touched her shoulder.

  She nodded. “Yes. I take it you saw the argument.”

  “I did.” I let my hand fall from her shoulder and gestured toward the sitting area. “Want to talk about it?” I tried to put on my Perry-Mason-esque-prying-mind-disguised-as-a-friendly-ear persona.

  Alice’s gaze turned toward the large armchairs. “I don’t want to be a bother.” Her bottom lip trembled again.

  Compassion warred with nosiness, and I shoved my mother’s voice—chiding me for the nosiness—aside. “Nonsense. Everyone needs to vent sometimes. I’m happy I can be here for you.”

  I led the emotional woman to an armchair and settled her, gesturing to Mason to bring a warm cup of coffee. He arrived with a steaming Twice Upon a Time mug, two single-serve creamer cups, and several sugar and sweetener packets for Alice to choose from.

  Tears sparkled in Alice’s eyes as she whispered a “thank you” to Mason before he left to greet an incoming customer. Absently she stirred a creamer into her coffee. “I wish … I don’t know what I wish.”

  My Mom conscience poked at me, telling me to be nice to her, compassionate about her distress, even if she was a killer. “I know you loved him.”

  Watery eyes looked up at me. “I did.” She cleared her throat. “I thought he loved me too.”

  “I understand what that’s like,” I said gently. “I thought a man loved me, too, once, and it hurt a lot when it wasn’t true.”

  A lone tear streaked down her face, and she pulled what appeared to be another used tissue from her purse to dab at her eyes. “Part of me wishes I could go back to daydreaming about the possibilities.”

  I nodded, knowing exactly what she meant, but I kept silent, giving her room to have her say.

  “I said some really ugly things to him when he rejected me.” She sniffed loudly. “Things I wish I could take back. I mean, it’s not his fault he didn’t love me. It simply is what it is.”

  This was a new side to Alice King, one I hadn’t seen previously. This Alice was wise and reasonably calm. Maybe the two previous Alices were operating on high emotion, and this Alice had managed to come to an acceptance point. Or maybe she was just a really good actress, trying to convince others she wasn’t a killer.

  Alice blew her nose into the tissue, tucked it into her lap, and reached for the pink sweetener packets without sanitizing her hands. Ewww.I’d have to remember to toss the whole bowl of packets and wash the bowl.

  “Did you not ever have a chance to repair the friendship?” I pushed my ick-meter aside and concentrated on comforting her.

  “I was getting to the point where I could let it all go and just be friends when he found out I was …” Her brow wrinkled and she stirred her coffee rapidly. “He discovered something about me that he disagreed with.”

  “That you were selling books with false provenances?” I crossed my legs under me in the armchair opposite her and leaned back, waiting to see how she would react.

  Her stirring froze for a brief moment, then resumed at a slower pace, her gaze remaining on the mug. “He discovered I was being a bit too eager to make sales, and in the process, I was over-qualifying the worth of the books inadvertently.”

  A nice way for her to say she was lying to her buyers. Inadvertently, indeed. “I heard he damaged your reputation in the book world.”

  Alice’s hand trembled as she removed the spoon from the mug and laid it aside on the small table beside her chair, making a sticky ring I’d have to clean up later, but she still didn’t make eye contact with me. “He did. But I’ll survive.”

  Well, all or nothing. “And now he can’t say anything anymore.” I waited, but when Alice didn’t respond, I added, “We saw your online book listing.”

  Alice’s gaze flew up to mine, eyes wide and startled. She opened her mouth to say something but snapped it closed instead.

  “Was that what you were arguing with Selina about?” I had home-court advantage, so I might as well press on. Even if she were the killer, she wouldn’t try anything here in the store with witnesses. Would she?

  Alice thumped her mug on the side table, sloshing a bit more of the sweetener-sticky liquid onto the surface. “If you must know, I saw her and couldn’t contain myself. I accused her of killing Linus because she hated him. I know she did it. I just can’t prove it.”

  “I saw you the day of the funeral, before you came into my store.” I watched her closely for a reaction. “Were you following Selina?”

  Alice froze, her nostrils flaring before she relaxed and shook her head. “I need to find a way to prove she’s the one who hurt Linus. I thought maybe if I followed her, I’d find something. She’d slip up somehow.”

  My ears perked up, and I leaned forward, stopping Alice as she began to rise from her chair. “Alice, wait. Why are you convinced Selina did it?”

  Spine ramrod straight, Alice perched on the edge of her seat. “Her car was still in the parking lot when I left that night. Add that to her hatred, and there you go.” A head bob accompanied her matter-of-fact statement.

  “You know what she drives?” I scooted to the edge of my seat as well, ready to pop up and stop her if she tried to leave before she told me what she knew.

  “Everyone knows what that woman drives.” Alice waved her hand in the air. “It’s a Jaguar something or other. A sports car. I don’t know the exact model, but it’s silver and flashy and she brags about it. ‘Oh, I’ll be over in the Jag in a bit. Let me check to see if I need to have someone put gas in the Jag. I’ll meet you there in the Jag.’” Alice did a fair imitation of Selina’s hand gestures and voice tones. “It’s annoying and rude, and she does it to lord it over everyone else. She bought it last year, and I’m surprised she hasn’t traded it in yet for a new model.” Her sneer faded into a look of pity. “Poor Douglas must have put his foot down for once.”

  How did I answer that? “Hmm, okay. I’ll have to watch for it.” Unsure what else to say, I stood when she did and followed her toward the door. “Thanks for stopping by. I look forward to seeing you when you come again.” I cringed inwardly, knowing how tacky it sounded after the conversation we’d had.

  “Yes. See you again.” She swept out the door with all of the regality of Selina March, head high and shoulders back.

  “Find out what the fight was about?” Mason stepped up beside me and leaned against the counter.

  “It seems she accosted Selina in the street to publicly accuse her of killing Linus Talbot.” I watched Alice walk away without a backward glance.

  “Does she seriously think Selina did it?” Mason let his gaze follow mine toward the retreating figure.

  I sighed and walked behind the counter, settling onto a stool. “I honestly don’t know. Maybe. But maybe she did it so everyone would think, ‘Hey, Alice must be innocent.’”

  Mason turned to face me, propping his elbows on the counter. “Kind of a she-who-accuses-first-is-most-believable thing?”

  I nodded. “I even brought up our book we caught her selling online with a false writeup. She didn’t even try to defend herself. Just pointed the finger at Selina again and says she’s tailing Selina to catch her in a slip-up and prove she killed Linus.”

  Mason shook his head. “We won’t see Alice again, will we?”

  “Nope.” I returned my gaze to her retreating figure, tiny now as she neared the end of the street. “Not unless she’s our killer.”

  Chapter Twenty

  “I think she just took a picture of our car.” Mason craned his head backward toward the farm supply’s front door.

  W
hat the hell? I looked in the rearview mirror at the same lady who had tapped on our window the previous night. She’d marched out into the lot to glare at us a few minutes ago, and we’d smiled and waved at her before she’d grimaced and stormed back inside. Now, it seems she was taking photographs of my car and my license plate number. As I watched, she lowered her phone and looked down at the screen, swiping her finger across it as if to check her pictures, glared at us once more, and stomped into the store.

  I shook my head and returned my attention to the library. Mason had checked out an audiobook on his phone, and he quietly sat with headphones in, listening to a Robert Ludlum novel. Left in silence, I let the whole mess swirl through my brain while keeping an eye on the parking lot. I didn’t really think anything would happen yet, as even Hokes Folly Feed and Farm Supply hadn’t closed for the night. It was only eight PM, and I figured the thief wouldn’t make an appearance until the wee hours.

  A loud knock on my window made me jump, a flashlight blinding me as it swept the car. Mason yanked out his earbuds and sat up.

  I rolled down the window, prepared to give the store’s employee a piece of my mind. We weren’t doing anything wrong, and the woman needed to quit hassling us. “Do you mind?”

  The light lowered, and Sutter’s face formed in the darkness. “Why, yes, I do mind. Thanks for asking.” Grunt.

  Oh, good grief, the woman had called the cops on us! “Detective Sutter. How can I help you?”

  “You can start by telling me what you’re doing here.” Sutter shifted, leaning down to look at Mason. “We’ve had a complaint about someone casing the store to rob it.”

  I looked at Mason and we both burst out laughing. “That’s insane. We’re not even looking at the store, nor have we done anything but sit in our car.”

  “A complaint is a complaint, Miss Quinn.” Sutter stepped back. “Would you please step out of the car?

  Was he serious? I opened my car door and slid to my feet as another car entered the lot and headed in our direction.

  Keith stepped from his car. “Sutter, what’s going on? Why are you hassling Jenna and Mason?”

  “We had a complaint from this store’s manager about someone casing the joint for two days.” Sutter reached into his pocket for his little notebook, flipping it to a blank page once he had it in his hand. “Care to tell me why you’re here?”

  Keith snatched Sutter’s notebook from his hand and flipped it closed, thrusting it back at Sutter. “Enough. They’re here because I told them to sit here to watch the library. Is that official enough for you?”

  Sutter’s eyes narrowed, and his voice hissed out. “Don’t ever get physical with me again, boy.”

  Keith’s eyes went cold, and I took a step back, ready to jump into my car and slam the door shut if things got really ugly.

  “Move, Jenna,” Mason whispered from behind me. “I can’t see.”

  I shifted to the side, still able to leap into my car if necessary, yet giving Mason a little bit of a view. I wouldn’t deprive him of the night’s excitement. He’d never forgive me.

  Keith clenched his fists at his side. “Sutter, you are no longer my partner, and you have no say in what I do or do not investigate or how, when, or where I do so. You are interfering in an active investigation and need to back down.”

  Sutter took a step forward, puffing out his chest, his voice a growl. “No, boy, it’s you who is interfering. I won’t have this woman messing up my Talbot murder case.” He turned, took a step, and grabbed my upper arm. “I’m taking you in.”

  “Drop her arm. Now.” Keith’s warning was low and firm, a tone which did not match the stark fury coming from his gaze.

  “As you said earlier, we’re not partners any longer.” Sutter tugged at my arm, forcing me to stagger a few steps toward his car. “You can’t tell me what to do either.”

  The passenger door on Keith’s car swung open, and a lithe African American woman stepped from the car. “No, he can’t.” She stepped into the circle of light formed by Keith’s headlights. “But I can. I’m the lead on your investigation. You will drop her arm now, and you will stop harassing our consulting detective immediately.”

  Sutter and I both dropped our mouths open at her statement.

  “Consulting detective?” Sutter’s grip tightened on my arm. “Since when?”

  Pain shot up my shoulder, and I stumbled, gasping.

  Keith grasped a handful of Sutter’s jacket collar and jerked him up close. “Let. Her. Go.”

  If Sutter missed the threat implied in his tone, he was an idiot.

  “Logan. Enough.” The senior detective’s voice cut through the tension.

  Keith released Sutter and stepped back, and my gaze swung to the other woman, noticing her hand had slid to the grip of her gun, her feet in a solid stance.

  “Detective Sutter, please release Miss Quinn now.”

  Apparently, Sutter’s lizard brain finally took in not only Keith’s rage but also the woman’s action-ready stance. He dropped my arm and held his hands in front of his chest, although the superior sneer never left his face. “Fine. Whatever you say.” He turned to glare at me. “But you’d better stay away from my investigation. You already lost me a promotion. I won’t have you screwing up my record again.”

  I bit my tongue, dug my fingernails into my palms, and listened to my mother’s voice screaming in my ear that I should shut up. None of it did any good. “First, my innocence did not screw up your record. You did that all on your own by trying to pin two murders on me so you could have a big splashy case. Second, as you have already stated you feel book thefts cannot possibly be connected to ‘your investigation,’ I fail to see how sitting in my car watching a library at night can in any way interfere.”

  Sutter reached for me again, his grasping hand barely missing my arm when I took a large step back from him.

  “Sutter!” The female detective’s sharp bark stopped Sutter’s advance. “In the car. Now. You’re done.”

  Sutter froze, his jaw clenching and unclenching, his eyes cold and hard. Slowly he turned to face her, his voice slithering out in a hiss. “I’ll go, but I’ll deal with you at the station.” He stalked to his car, got in, and drove out of the parking lot.

  Keith stepped forward and slid an arm around me. “Are you okay?”

  I nodded, unable to speak, and sagged into his shoulder. I took a few ragged breaths, forcing myself to quell the tremble that threatened to overcome me.

  Mason jumped out of the passenger door and stormed around the car. “Whoa. That was a bunch of bull.” He laid a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Man, if you hadn’t been here, I would’ve let him have it.”

  “I’m glad you didn’t. It would’ve given him a legitimate reason to arrest you.” Keith led me to my car door and eased me into the seat. “It’s over. He can’t hurt you.”

  I nodded again. “I know.”

  The other detective stepped forward. “He won’t be hurting anyone again.”

  Keith stood and angled his body to include Mason and her in the conversation. “Mason, Jenna, this is LaTisha Riddick. She’s the detective we’re borrowing from the department in Boone.”

  “Everyone calls me Tish.” She reached for my hand, shaking it when I responded. “Nice to meet the woman Keith talks about in such glowing terms.”

  I glanced at Keith, unsure if there was a blush staining his cheeks, before turning back to Tish. “Very nice to meet you as well, Detective. And thanks for helping with Detective Sutter.”

  Tish sighed deeply. “I honestly don’t know what to do with him. I hate to see him fired when he’s six months from retirement, but he cannot be allowed to work on active investigations.”

  My brows shot up. “Even this one?” Was it possible I’d been accused for the last time by the detestable detective?

  “That’ll be up to the captain to decide.” She gestured over her shoulder toward their sedan. “But with the dash cam footage, I’m sure they’ll conclude
he at least needs to be relegated to filing paperwork for the next few months.”

  Oh, please no. They’d caught it all on video. I fought down the urge to cry. If it got out, my store would once again be entwined with the police. “Is this going to be on the news?”

  Tish shook her head. “We’ll keep it inside the department.”

  Mason pointed at the store’s front door. “It might be on Facebook or YouTube.”

  My gaze flew to the store. The manager stood, triumphant look on her face, phone held up as if she was taping everything.

  Tish strode over to the woman and they talked quietly before the woman handed Tish her phone. Tish tapped the screen a few times, handed the phone back, and shook the woman’s hand before returning to our group. “I told her it was a deep undercover action, and the rest of the department had been unaware. She was quite happy to let me delete her video once I explained she could damage an active investigation, letting a criminal ring run rampant.”

  Keith cocked an eyebrow. “Rampant?” He snorted.

  Tish grinned. I wanted to hug this woman. She was amazing, or at least a darned sight better than Sutter had ever been.

  “What’s this about consulting detectives?” Mason leaned on the car in a casual pose, obviously approving of the title.

  “Oh, that.” Tish waved her hand in the air. “I had to tell Sutter something to get him to back off, and I just finished binge-watching Elementary, that TV show about Sherlock Holmes.” She apparently caught sight of Mason’s now-dejected look. “We don’t mind if you want to sit over here and watch the parking lot on the outside chance that Linus Talbot was onto something. But if you see anything, you need to call us and let us handle it.”

  Keith slid his fingers through mine and squeezed softly. “Promise me.”

  I nodded, soaking in the warmth of his hand. “I promise.”

  Keith dropped a quick kiss on my hair, squeezed my fingers once more, and left with his new, albeit temporary, partner.

  After Mason and I slid into the car and shut the doors, I started it briefly to warm the interior. I was shivering, and I didn’t think a blanket or two would counteract the deep chill I’d fallen into when Sutter had manhandled me. I leaned forward, hands at the top of the steering wheel and forehead on my hands, sucking in deep, cleansing breaths.