Kyle spat out, “For the record, Scott told me you let Amber drown because she’d been flirting with him. He knew you had a crush on him.”
Grace looked at him coldly. “You mean Scott told you that before you killed him? It’s true. I wasn’t the Pretty One in high school. I was the one who just kind of hung around with the cool kids, and they probably just tolerated me because I helped them with their homework sometimes or could crack a joke every now and then. But Amber was a flirt. And when Amber went under the first time, I thought she was just goofing around in the water. It wasn’t like she was yelling ‘help’ or anything.”
Burton looked grim. “Drownings frequently don’t look like people think they should look.”
“What about the next time she went under?” I asked.
Wilson rubbed his forehead as if he was developing a massive headache.
“The next time she went under . . . okay, I might have thought it was a good chance to teach her a lesson. To have her feel a little scared or unsure for once. I didn’t really realize what was going on,” said Grace.
Burton asked, “And the next time she went under?”
Grace shrugged. Likely Amber hadn’t come back up out of the water after she’d gone under that time. Which must have been what Scott had witnessed on his way back.
Wilson gave a shudder. I could only imagine his internal dialogue: this person, who’d almost been publicly lauded by the library, was capable of allowing people to drown in lakes.
Linus stooped down to rub Ivy. I suspected that was to comfort himself more than to comfort the dog. Wilson still hadn’t seemed to completely notice the canine in the room, although Fitz certainly had. He lolled on his back and gave Ivy a ‘come hither’ look as if he wanted to play with her.
“So you’re saying your actions weren’t malicious,” I said to Grace.
“Of course they weren’t. Not that I expect anybody to understand that, which is exactly why I didn’t want any of this to come to light.”
Burton scratched his head. “I’m on the side of the folks who don’t understand. After all, letting somebody go underwater to teach them a lesson sounds like the definition of malicious to me. But let’s move on. You decided to have a party and invite Scott to it.” Burton gave her a searching look as if he was really trying to understand the philosophy behind inviting one’s blackmailer to a party.
“He’d gotten in touch with me while I was still just visiting down here and overseeing the construction of the house. At that point, I was just making short trips to Whitby and then heading back north. During one of those trips, he asked me to go out for a drink. And I was excited to do that because I hadn’t seen him in ages.” Grace’s voice dripped with bitterness.
“That’s when he told you he wanted money to keep quiet,” said Burton.
“He did. And I gave him money. And then he wanted more. Plus, he wanted to come to my housewarming party with Kelly, probably just to torment me. In fact, he was the one who insisted I throw one and really make it over the top. His demands were never going to stop,” said Grace. She glanced over at Kyle. “You actually did me a huge favor. Scott was starting to get really sloppy. He was drinking, his personal life was falling apart. I didn’t really feel confident that, even if I was paying him, he’d keep quiet.”
Kyle just scowled silently back at her.
Grace said, “You know, Kyle, what really gets to me isn’t Scott. Like I said, you really helped me out when you killed him. What gets to me is that you murdered Roz. When we were in school, she was always nice to me, even when others weren’t. And I feel partially responsible for what happened to her because I put her in that bedroom. She heard arguing, she looked out of her window, and she obviously saw something.”
There was a long pause. Burton asked Kyle, “Did Roz see you hit Scott with the bottle? Or did she just see you arguing?”
Kyle looked tired. “Arguing. But she put it all together. I didn’t have a choice. She was going to go to the police.”
I asked slowly, “There was one thing I was curious about. Did Scott really break up with Kelly by text message? Or did one of you take his phone and send the message while he was in the pool?”
Grace snorted. “I did it. It was childish and I didn’t mean to hurt Kelly by doing it. I was just looking for a way to get back at Scott in just a small way. He would have figured out eventually that somebody grabbed his phone. He was such a drunken mess by that point that he probably thought he had sent the message. I was just so fed up with him by then that I was looking for anything to make life harder for him. At the time I didn’t realize it was going to make her a suspect in a murder investigation.”
Burton said to Kyle, “Going back to Roz. How did you know when to show up at her apartment?”
“That was easy. We were all talking about work over dinner and Roz talked about her schedule because it was such a crazy one. Well, crazy to the rest of us, anyway. I think it felt normal to Roz. Anyway, I knew exactly when she left for work so I just waited in the stairwell. Once she came out, it only took a quick shove. I’m sure she never knew what happened.” Kyle looked slightly sick, just the same.
Burton said, “And she was dead instantly?”
“I wouldn’t have left her to suffer,” said Kyle, a faint note of indignity in his voice. “I didn’t want to kill her in the first place. But she came to see me and told me she saw or heard something and was going to talk with the police. I tried to tell her she’d just been confused about what she saw but she could see on my face I was lying.”
Burton nodded. “And what happened tonight? Why did you show up at the library?”
Grace broke in, “He was after me, that’s why. Scott, for all his failings in business, apparently did keep good records. Kyle found out I was paying Scott to stay quiet.”
Kyle’s face grew blotchy again. “Scott didn’t have to die. You should have said what happened.”
“You’re just fooling yourself. That wasn’t the whole reason you killed Scott. Face it—you were fed up with him and that was the final straw.”
I said, “So once you realized the truth about Grace, you decided she had to go, as well. So you followed her tonight.”
Burton said, “And Grace wisely decided to go to a public location instead of home.”
“Endangering Ann in the process,” said Kyle darkly.
I said, “Grace at least tried to defend me. She hit Kyle with the cat carrier before he could shoot me.” At least, I thought she’d been defending me. She might have just been using Kyle’s distraction to try and get away.
Grace nodded quickly. She was glad to get brownie points however she could, apparently.
Burton asked her, “When did you realize you were in danger?”
“When I realized Kyle was following me. He’d been literally waiting in the dark for me to come out of the grocery store. I put two and two together then and knew Scott must have told him something before he died or someone else had filled him in.” Grace shrugged.
The sound of car doors outside had Burton glancing out to see the state police arriving.
Burton said, “And I think that just about wraps everything up for the time being. I’ll get your confessions you both can sign at the station. And I’ll need to get statements from both Ann and . . .?” He gave Linus a questioning look.
He cleared his throat. “Linus.”
“And Linus.” He spoke with the state policemen and then led Grace and Kyle from the building to the police cars.
I leaned back against the circulation desk, suddenly feeling exhausted. “Whew,” I said softly.
Linus was peering at me with concern in his eyes as he walked up to me. The concern was mirrored by Ivy, who licked my pant leg. “Are you all right?”
I was all set to give my automatic ‘yes’ when I stopped. “You know what? I don’t think I am right now.” I glanced down at Fitz, who had also come up and rubbed against my leg. “But I think I’ll be all right as soon as I c
url up with Fitz at home.”
“And a good book?” asked Linus.
I gave a short laugh. “I do have a good book, but I’ve finished it. Luckily, I have other comfort reads at home. Like anything by Rosamunde Pilcher.”
Wilson was starting to look askance at Ivy, a clear sign that he was emerging from his cloud of shock. He cleared his throat and turned to me. “You won’t need to come in tomorrow.”
“I’m on the schedule, though.”
He shook his head. “Another staff member recently asked me for more hours and I’m sure he’d be happy to come in at the last minute.”
Linus said quietly, “If you’re all right, Ann, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He slipped out into the darkness with Ivy, snd Wilson gave a sigh of relief.
Wilson looked completely drained. Of course, he already looked very un-Wilson-like since he wasn’t wearing his omnipresent suit, but now he appeared exhausted and gray on top of it all. I had the feeling I didn’t look so hot, myself.
“I’m sorry for the way everything turned out,” I said softly. “I know you were counting on that donation.”
“I wasn’t so much counting on it, as really excited by it,” said Wilson in a tired voice. “I was excited by all the possibilities for the library.”
I said, “But you made a great point when you said it could represent a starting point for community donations. We’ve never solicited them before, but we could start. There are a few people here in Whitby who have the ability to donate large amounts but may never have thought about it. And there are others who use the services weekly who might be able to regularly handle small donations. We’ve just never asked and never made it easy.”
Wilson nodded, still looking very gray at the near-miss with a library-related scandal, but I could see a spark of interest in his eyes at the idea. I took a deep breath, realizing this meant yet another project for me down the road. “I could put a little footer at the bottom of our newsletter. Something subtle with a link. And we could easily put something small like that as an email signature for official library emails.”
Wilson finally joined in, looking more revitalized. “And on our social media?”
“Most definitely.” I felt relieved at seeing the old Wilson coming back to life. I added, “Before Grace came in, I took some great pictures of Fitz with his book picks.”
Wilson looked even better at this, his eyes getting sharp again. “Perfect. Maybe you could email them to Luna tomorrow and she could post them on social media and make printouts for around the library.”
“Will do,” I said.
I stooped down to turn Fitz’s abused cat carrier upright and opened its door to coax him in. As usual, he trotted right in, knowing he’d come home with me.
“Do you think Mona will be coming to the library tomorrow?” Wilson asked, sounding carefully nonchalant. “Luna’s mother,” he added, in case I didn’t know.
“Probably. She usually comes several days a week so she won’t be stuck at home by herself.” I gave him a curious look and he flushed.
“Don’t you think she’s spending rather a lot of time here? Would she perhaps be interested in taking breaks from the library and going out for a coffee from time to time?” His voice was stiff and hesitant.
The headline for me was Wilson suggesting that he might leave the library. Aside from scheduled days off and board meetings, he rarely left the premises. I recovered from the shock and said equally carefully, “I think she’d love that. She seems to be a social person and Luna can’t really get away during the day. A change of scenery and a good cup of coffee would really make her day, I bet.” Plus time with Wilson.
He nodded, thinking this through. “Maybe I’ll ask her tomorrow.”
“Great idea.” Good thing Luna was a night owl. I could text her and let her know that she needed to bring Mona to the library tomorrow at all costs. And maybe Luna could even give her mom a heads-up that Wilson was mulling over a coffee date.
As I carried Fitz to my car while Wilson locked up, I realized this meant even Wilson was having more success romantically than I was.
I put Fitz in the car and then hesitated. I pulled out my phone and, before I could overthink it, sent a quick text to Grayson.
Having an unexpected day off from the library tomorrow. Want to take that hike?
About the Author:
Elizabeth writes the Southern Quilting mysteries and Memphis Barbeque mysteries for Penguin Random House and the Myrtle Clover series for Midnight Ink and independently. She blogs at ElizabethSpannCraig.com/blog, named by Writer’s Digest as one of the 101 Best Websites for Writers. Elizabeth makes her home in Matthews, North Carolina, with her husband. She’s the mother of two.
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Did you know my books are available in print and ebook formats? Most of the Myrtle Clover series is available in audio and some of the Southern Quilting mysteries are. Find the audiobooks here.
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I’d also like to thank some folks who helped me put this book together. Thanks to my cover designer, Karri Klawiter, for her awesome covers. Thanks to my editor, Judy Beatty for her help. Thanks to beta readers Amanda Arrieta and Dan Harris for all of their helpful suggestions and careful reading. Thanks to my ARC readers for helping to spread the word. Thanks, as always, to my family and readers.
Other Works by Elizabeth:
Myrtle Clover Series in Order (be sure to look for the Myrtle series in audio, ebook, and print):
Pretty is as Pretty Dies
Progressive Dinner Deadly
A Dyeing Shame
A Body in the Backyard
Death at a Drop-In
A Body at Book Club
Death Pays a Visit
A Body at Bunco
Murder on Opening Night
Cruising for Murder
Cooking is Murder
A Body in the Trunk
Cleaning is Murder
Edit to Death
Hushed Up
A Body in the Attic
Murder on the Ballot (2021)
Southern Quilting Mysteries in Order:
Quilt or Innocence
Knot What it Seams
Quilt Trip
Shear Trouble
Tying the Knot
Patch of Trouble
Fall to Pieces
Rest in Pieces
On Pins and Needles
Fit to be Tied
Embroidering the Truth
Knot a Clue (late-2020)
The Village Library Mysteries in Order (Debuting 2019):
Checked Out
Overdue
Borrowed Time
Memphis Barbeque Mysteries in Order (Written as Riley Adams):
Delicious and Suspicious
Finger Lickin’ Dead
Hickory Smoked Homicide
Rubbed Out
And a standalone “cozy zombie” novel: Race to Refuge, written as Liz Craig
Borrowed Time Page 17