| |
Wilson was right about needing a few extra people. I didn’t end up taking my breaks, and my lunch “hour” was spent in the lounge eating as fast as I could shove the food down my throat before hurrying back out to the front desk.
Things started easing a little at six, but I still had three hours left to go since I was locking up. The lack of sleep from the night before was definitely catching up with me and I couldn’t stop yawning. Considering the concerned looks the patrons were giving me, I had the feeling I had that lovely hollow-eyed look I got when I was totally exhausted. In some ways, the busyness of the day had helped me get through, but now that things were slowing down, tiredness was hitting me like a sledgehammer.
Luna and her mom came by the desk to say goodbye as they were on their way out the door. Her mother was beaming because Wilson had complimented her on the breakfast casserole—a fact she confided to me with a happy smile.
I said ruefully, “I didn’t even have a chance to sample it today. It would have been a waste for me to eat it at lunch because I didn’t even taste my sandwich, just shoved it down my throat as fast as I could so I could go right back out front again.”
“I’m keeping it in there for tomorrow,” said Mona placidly. “It reheats really well. Just don’t even pack a lunch tomorrow: there’s plenty of casserole. Or bring a little bowl of fruit or something light to go along with it if you want.”
I remembered that I still didn’t have a wide selection of food at my house. At the grocery store, I’d been more focused on getting dinner than replenishing the stock in my kitchen. But I wasn’t working late tomorrow, so I could run by the store on my way home if I came up with a grocery list now.
After Mona and Luna left, the library became even quieter. Usually Linus was still there, reading up on something interesting in the nonfiction stacks, but he’d apparently gone home to play with Ivy. There were also usually a few patrons who liked to come to the library after work and answer emails and read magazines, but they weren’t there, either.
I’d asked the staff to name some of their favorite books of all time for the Fitz’s Picks picture and so I spent about fifteen minutes pulling those off the shelves and arranging them on a table. Then I went looking for Fitz, who was proving surprisingly elusive.
I finally found him in the children’s section with the same little boy I’d seen him with previously. This time I was determined not to startle him away. “Hi there,” I said with what I hoped was a warm smile. “I’m Ann. Looks like you and Fitz are really hitting it off.”
The boy nodded shyly and kept his eyes focused on the cat, who was all curled up on his lap and purring contentedly. “We’re friends.”
“That’s great. He’s my friend, too,” I said. I glanced around to see if the boy’s mom or dad were anywhere around, but they were nowhere in sight.
The boy must have noticed I was looking around because he quickly said, “My grandmother is reading magazines in the grown-up section.”
“That’s good. I’ve seen you here before, haven’t I? What’s your name?”
He quietly said, “Tom. It’s really Thomas, but everybody calls me Tom.” He looked at me curiously. “Does Fitz stay here at the library all night? Even when everybody goes home?”
I shook my head. “He did for a little while, but then I thought it would be better for him to come home with me at night.” I was going to say that Fitz was lonely at the library by himself, but I chose the more truthful answer. “I live alone and Fitz helps keep me company at night.”
Tom nodded solemnly. “That’s good. It’s not good to be alone.”
Since I didn’t know Tom, I asked, “I don’t think I’ve seen you at the library except for that one time. Are you new here in town?”
He nodded again. “I moved here to live with my grandmother.” He paused. “It’s just that I don’t know anybody in Whitby at all.”
“It can be hard to meet people, can’t it? Do you like it here at the library?”
“It’s pretty cool,” he said diffidently. “I really like Fitz.”
I said, “Do you remember the lady who works here? She left just a little while ago.”
He tilted his head to one side. “The one with the purple and green hair?”
“The very one. She has a whole bunch of programs for kids here at the library. Maybe I can give you and your grandma some information about them and you can choose one to try out. It could be a good way for you to make some friends. And lots of kids come to the programs because Luna makes them fun.”
His large eyes lit up. “Lots of kids come?”
“That’s right. And she does a lot of different things. One time she had the science museum from another town come by and they brought different kinds of snakes and insects for everybody to see.”
Tom said slowly, “That would be good. At my school, everybody already has friends.”
I felt a little twinge of hurt for him, remembering my own days of trying to make friends in a new school in a new town when I’d moved here to live with my great aunt. “Maybe you’ll see some of them here and have the chance to learn more about them. I bet a lot of those kids would like to have more friends. It’s not like there’s a limit to the number a person can have.”
An older lady with a walker and a sweet smile came up to us and I introduced myself. “I mentioned to Tom that I could give you both a calendar with some of the upcoming programs for kids. Luna is our children’s librarian and she puts together some fantastic events.”
Tom’s grandmother was interested and we chatted more for a few minutes before she and Tom left. Tom turned around and gave Fitz and me a wave before he left, which made me smile.
I headed to the circulation desk and helped a few patrons with their books. Then my cell phone rang and I saw it was Burton. I glanced around to make sure no one was around and then answered it.
“Hey,” he said briskly, “I did find some old records on that day. Good thing the chief at the time made sure his files were organized. From what I was able to learn, it looks like they were very suspicious about the drowning. The kid wasn’t too far from shore and it seemed like somebody should have at least had wet clothes in the group from trying to help out. But they couldn’t get any information from anybody there, so they had to let it go.”
“Did they have a particular suspect in mind? Out of the group, I mean? Luna made it sound like some of the kids weren’t even in the area when it happened.”
“Whatever Luna knows must have been hearsay because the cops weren’t able to get anything out of those kids. Yeah, there were paddleboats and things on the scene like some of them may have been out of earshot. But they were all very tight-lipped about whatever happened so the case had to be dropped after a while.”
“Okay, thanks for checking into that. I know that probably didn’t have a lot to do with your investigation.”
“Not a problem. Like I said, you never know when there might be a connection.”
He hung up and I stuck my phone on the shelf behind the circulation desk and headed off to finally take the Fitz’s Picks photos.
Fitz was, as usual, very cooperative as a cat model when I set him up with the books. I did get one of his cat toys out of the closet at one point, though, when he started looking drowsy. Although reading sometimes made me sleepy too, I was trying to promote these books as exciting, not soporific. Soon his eyes were huge and his tail was twitching and he was thoroughly engaged with the toy. The trick was to wiggle the cat toy, keep the toy out of view of the camera, and take a picture all at the same time.
By the time I’d finished, I glanced up at the clock. Then I narrowed my eyes and looked again. Was it really past nine?
I took a quick stroll around the library to make sure there were no patrons who’d also lost track of time. I grabbed the cat carrier from the breakroom and walked toward the front desk. I realized I hadn’t had my phone on me for the last hour or more, so connected with the device again, retrieving it from behind the circulation desk and checked for messages.
Luna had left one and I frowned as I read it. In typical Luna style, it was something of a stream of consciousness. There were some random comments about Wilson’s and Mona’s interactions at the library today and then she stated: by the way, I asked my mom and I was wrong. It wasn’t Felicity and Scott who were close when their friend died. It was Grace and Scott.
Grace had been near when her friend drowned. But did it really matter, in the case of a tragic accident? It simply meant she’d probably been eager to get away from Whitby and leave all the sadness behind her—and she had. And quickly become involved with what appeared to have been a very wealthy man with perhaps a fairly limited view on ethical investments.
Then I remembered something else. Scott and Grace’s conversation on the boat when I’d been waking up from my nap. Scott knew something then—something about Grace. It could have been how Grace’s husband made his money. After all, that fact could be really damaging to her locally. But what if it was something different? What if Grace had somehow been culpable in the drowning at the lake when she’d been in high school?
Which was when the library doors opened and Grace rushed in. I tried to maintain a calm, friendly smile while a cold shiver was making its way up my spine. “Hi, Grace.”