Kenny, who sat at Leslie’s desk, looked up from the cellphone in his hands and smiled at Walt and Danielle. “Hi. If you’re looking for Adam, he left for the post office, and then he has some errands. Not sure when he’s going to be back.”
“Are you taking over for Leslie?” Danielle asked, only half joking.
Kenny grinned. “I stopped by to drop something off, and Adam asked if I’d hang out here and answer the phones while he’s gone. Leslie is still sick. And hey, he offered to pay me. I’m happy to sit in a warm, dry office and surf on my phone while getting paid.”
“Gosh, I’m sorry Leslie’s still sick,” Danielle said, now standing in front of the desk, Walt by her side.
“Adam said she’d be back tomorrow. I guess she’s feeling a lot better, but not enough to come in today.”
“I have a question,” Danielle began.
Kenny smiled at Danielle. “Sure.”
“I thought you looked familiar the other day when we stopped in here, and Adam introduced us. And I’ve been trying to figure out where I’d seen you before. Did you used to work at the library?”
Kenny nodded. “I did. I worked there for three years.”
“So I guess you know about Betty Kelty,” Danielle said.
Kenny smiled sadly. “I suspect everyone in town knows what happened to Betty.”
“I didn’t really know her,” Danielle said. “But she was killed just a few doors down from our house. It’s chilling. A killer is still out there.”
“Yes, I knew they found her on Beach Drive. I know you’re the ones who own Marlow House. I heard they found her body only a few doors from your place,” Kenny said.
“Did you know her well?” Walt asked.
Kenny shrugged. “We both worked for the library. We were friends. But I haven’t seen her since I quit. I’m really sorry to hear what happened. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to hurt her. My guess, it was some random killer. Maybe a mugger. Hopefully, the police will figure it out, because I agree, it’s chilling thinking a killer is still out there. But I suspect whoever did it is long gone.”
“It’s an open investigation, and if they have any leads, I haven’t heard,” Danielle lied.
“I imagine if they have any leads, they aren’t telling anyone,” Kenny said.
“You’re probably right.” Danielle smiled at Kenny and then asked, “Did you like working at the library? Personally, I love libraries. Something about all those books…”
Kenny chuckled. “Well, I didn’t get much of a chance to check out the literature. I spent most of my time cleaning the bathrooms, mopping the floors, and maintaining the building. Actually, it wasn’t a bad job.”
“You just wanted a change?” Danielle asked.
“Something like that.”
“Our new neighbor is the new head librarian.”
“Yeah, I heard that,” Kenny said. “From what I understand, Betty was supposed to be taking over Josephine’s job, and they were hiring this new person to take over Betty’s spot. But I guess this new person got an instant promotion, and they’re now looking for someone else to replace Betty.”
Danielle nodded. “Yes, that’s what I heard too.”
“I’m surprised Josephine wants to retire. That place was her life,” Kenny said.
“I don’t really know Josephine. Oh, I know who she is, but I don’t really know her,” Danielle said.
“I always got along with Josephine. She’s the one who hired me. I was sad to hear she was thinking of retiring. I kind of figured Betty might get her job.”
“You didn’t want to work for Betty?” Danielle asked.
“I didn’t say that.”
“Kenny,” Walt interrupted, “do you just work for Adam? I’m asking because we occasionally hire a handyman to make repairs around Marlow House. We often use Bill Jones, but he’s so busy these days, it’s hard to get him.”
“Sure. I’m always looking to pick up extra work. Heck, here I am answering phones for Adam.” Kenny chuckled.
“Great. Can I have your number?” Walt asked.
Kenny grabbed a blank piece of scratch paper from the desk and jotted down his phone number. While he was writing the number, Walt asked, “I assume you live in Frederickport?”
“Yeah. I rent a room over the hardware store. It’s more convenient and cheaper than my last place.”
“Wow, you are a sneaky one,” Danielle teased Walt after they left Adam’s office and got into her car.
“You’re not the only sneaky one in this family,” Walt returned.
“You got his phone number and where he lives. Good job!”
Walt put the key into the ignition and turned to Danielle. “It might be the same phone number Edward already has, but now we also know where Kenny lives. You want to call the chief and give him the information?”
After Danielle finished buckling her seatbelt, she pulled her cellphone from her purse and said, “I really wanted to ask Kenny what he and Betty argued about after the letter opener went missing.”
Walt turned on the ignition. “I’m glad you didn’t. Kenny would wonder how you know about that.”
“I resisted the temptation,” Danielle said before calling the chief.
Brian Henderson drove to Adam’s office, hoping to catch Kenny after Danielle had called the police station. When he walked in, he found who he assumed was Kenny sitting at Leslie’s desk, looking at a cellphone. When Kenny looked up to see who had just walked into the office, his eyes widened.
“Umm, if you’re looking for Adam Nichols, he’s out running errands. But I can call him for you,” Kenny asked nervously.
“And you are?” Brian asked, certain he already knew the answer.
“I’m Kenny Chandler. I do odd jobs for Adam.”
“Actually, you’re the man I’m looking for. I heard you worked for Adam.”
Kenny frowned at Brian. “Is there a problem?”
Brian handed Kenny one of his business cards and then said, “I’m investigating Betty Kelty’s murder. I understand you used to work together.”
The next moment, Adam Nichols walked into the office.
“Hey, Brian,” Adam greeted him. “What’s up?”
“He needs to talk to me about Betty Kelty,” Kenny answered for Brian.
Kenny agreed to meet Brian at the police station to answer questions. Fifteen minutes after leaving Adam’s office, the two sat in the interrogation room, with Joe and the chief in the adjacent office, watching through the one-way mirror.
“I’m so sorry about Betty,” Kenny began. “But I really don’t see how I can help you. I haven’t talked to her since I quit the library.”
“Why did you quit?” Brian asked.
Kenny shrugged. “I just wanted a change.”
“I understand you and Betty had an argument a few days before you quit.”
Kenny frowned at Brian. “Did Becca Hammond tell you that?”
“Why do you ask?”
Kenny gave another shrug. “She was the only one in the library at the time.”
“So you did have a disagreement?”
“Betty was just upset, and she was venting to me. And I guess I didn’t appreciate it, so the exchange got a little heated.”
“Venting about what?”
“There’s a display case off the lobby used to showcase different displays throughout the year. They change every month or so. They had one on the lost art of letter writing. Something from the display disappeared, and Betty totally flipped out. She blamed me, but I had nothing to do with the display, and it was certainly not my responsibility to watch it. That wasn’t my job.”
“You’re talking about the missing letter opener?”
Kenny frowned at Brian. “You know about that?”
“I understand it was an antique. According to one antique dealer, it is worth around five hundred dollars.”
“I don’t know about that.”
“Does the display case lock?” Brian asked.
“Yes. That’s one thing that had Betty so upset. She swore she locked the display, but when she discovered the letter opener missing, she realized the display wasn’t locked. And it didn’t look like anyone had tampered with it. She found the key where she always kept it, still hanging in the back office on a hook. I know the letter opener belonged to her friend Becca Hammond, because Becca came into the library to see if Betty had located it.
“I got the impression Betty may not have been up front with Becca about it being missing. Becca knew someone had removed it from the display, but I think she believed it had been taken out for some reason, not stolen. Anyway, that day, Betty pulled me aside and started grilling me. Insisting I must have opened the display to dust it or something and had forgotten to lock it. And then she asked me to remember where I set the letter opener. I hadn’t touched the thing, but she kept telling me to just try to remember.”
“How did the conversation end?”
“I finally said something like, ‘I don’t know what else I can tell you,’ and then I walked away and left for my lunch break.”
“And you quit a few days later?”
“Yes, I felt it was time for a change.”
“Did you quit because of the missing letter opener?” Brian asked.
Kenny frowned. “Why would I quit over the letter opener?”
“I meant, did you quit because of how Betty reacted?”
Kenny considered the question for a moment and then shrugged. “Not exactly. I had been considering leaving for a while, and I guess that was the final straw.”
“You are saying this wasn’t your first problem with Betty?”
“Hey, I didn’t have a problem with Betty. Certainly not what you’re talking about.”
“And what am I talking about?” Brian asked.
“You’re investigating her murder. And I totally get that. You’re looking at people who knew her, who might have had an issue with her. But just because Betty took out her frustration on me over that missing letter opener doesn’t mean I had a reason to go homicidal.”