Murder of a Bookstore Babe

Before the older woman could yell at her, Skye said, “I’m so sorry. Enjoying some fresh air?”

“Yes, I was.” Pru’s pale blue eyes were malicious. “What are you doing out here, dear?”

“Just jogging during my morning break.”

“Really.” Pru raised a drawn-on eyebrow. “I thought you told me that you weren’t going to lose weight for your wedding pictures.”

“True.” Skye forced herself to look contrite. “But I considered what you said and decided you might be right, so I’m trying to run a couple of miles every day.”

“How energetic of you.” Pru’s tiny pointed teeth appeared in her version of a smile. “Well, all I can say is that I hope you keep it up.”

“Me, too.”

“So many young people have no follow-through these days.” Pru tucked a greasy strand of hair behind her ear. “When I was your age we were expected to stick to our decisions, not change course every five minutes.”

Skye nodded silently, a firm believer that you rarely learn anything valuable if your mouth is moving.

“Look at those two over at the bookshop.”

Eureka! Just the subject Skye wanted to talk about. “Rise and Orlando? How are they not sticking to their plans and following through on their decisions?”

“They’re prime examples.” Pru pursed her thin lips. “I heard that they both had completely different careers before coming here and opening that store.” She tsked. “All this hopping from job to job is what’s ruining America. It used to be you stayed in your position until you retired, and it was a disgrace to get fired or quit.”

“Still”—Skye tried to steer the conversation into a more positive light—“now that you’ve seen Tales and Treats, surely you don’t still think it’s full of porn and how-to manuals on the occult, do you?”

“Maybe not,” Pru admitted. “After the unfortunate incident of her pets escaping and emptying out the store, I went back and spoke to Ms. Vaughn about my concerns.”

Skye had to bite her tongue to stop herself from blurting out, “You mean after you let the chinchillas loose.” Instead she asked, “And what did Rise say?”

“She assured me they wouldn’t be selling the racier romances or the darker science fiction to anyone under eighteen. And they do have that lovely cafe. She gave me a card for free coffees for a year to show her appreciation for my concern.”

“I guess that means you can stop gathering signatures for your petition and disband the protesters.” Skye wondered whether the complimentary beverage card was a bribe. More important, had it worked?

“Yes.” Pru thrust out her bottom lip. “Hardly anybody signed anyway,” she muttered, then brightened. “But clearly, something is wrong with that store and its owners, or there wouldn’t have been a murder, so I’m still going to keep my eye on them.”

“Being robbed is not their fault,” Skye pointed out. “That could happen to any business.”

“Not in Scumble River.” Pru shook her head. “I can’t remember the last burglary around here. I believe that everything happens for a reason. And more often than not the reason is someone’s past goof-ups. Thus, there has to be a reason that store is attracting violence. And I think it has to do with that couple’s previous life.”

“What did they do before?” Skye asked. Rise had mentioned her husband’s prior occupation but not what she had done. “I thought Orlando was a book scout, which should be pretty harmless.”

“Maybe.” Pru twitched her shoulders. “But she was some hotshot executive.”

“I wonder why she’d give that up,” Skye mused. “Her salary had to be a lot more than the money they can make from the store, and she’s got to be within five or six years of retirement age.”

“Exactly.” Pru’s tone was predatory. “They’re hiding something, and I won’t rest until I find out what.”

“So then, after I jogged out of her sight, I went and told Trixie she didn’t have to try to dig up any dirt on Pru after all.” Skye was sitting with Wally in the hall outside of Father Burns’s office at the rectory. “She seemed almost disappointed.”

They were waiting for the priest to arrive for their late Monday afternoon appointment to discuss Wally’s annulment. They’d met with him briefly once before and had been given paperwork to complete, but today he was going to discuss the entire process with them.

“That sounds like Trixie. She likes a good fight.” Wally chuckled, then asked, “What did Homer say when you told him?”

“He agreed that although Pru might still be harassing the bookstore, it didn’t sound as if she was going to pursue the petition angle.”

“I’ll bet he was relieved.”

“You sure couldn’t prove that by me.” Skye made a wry face. “He just grunted, told me to get back to work, then picked up the phone and ordered his secretary to get his wife on the line and cancel their trip.”

“Homer sounds like our mayor.” Wally ran his thumb down Skye’s cheek. “Your uncle isn’t too happy that we have another murder. The city’s in negotiations with new businesses for several of those empty storefronts on the same part of the street as Tales and Treats.”

“I wonder if Hugo knows that.” Skye leaned her head on Wally’s shoulder. She was so tired. She hadn’t slept well last night, and the stress of the last couple of days was catching up with her. “I just told you my cousin and Rise are in a big fight over parking spaces.”

Skye had been unable to reach Wally all day, so she was using this time to fill him in on what she’d forgotten to tell him the previous evening.

“Right.” Wally put an arm around her. “You mentioned she had disagreements with Flip and Kevin, too. I’d say it was odd that so many of your family members are somehow involved with that woman, except that you’re related to half the town.”

“Maybe more. Mom keeps coming up with new branches on the family tree.” Skye nestled closer. “It’s a good thing it was a burglary. If Rise was the intended victim without any other motive, a lot of my relatives would be suspects.”

“It’s pretty amazing that Rise has managed to tick off so many people in such a short time,” Wally commented.

Before Skye could respond, Father Burns walked in the front door and ushered them into his office. He was a tall, ascetic-looking man who had been the priest at St. Francis, the Scumble River Catholic church, for as long as Skye could remember. He had to be close to sixty, but he had an ageless face and a gaunt body that hid his age.

Once Skye and Wally were seated on the leather wingchairs facing Father Burns at his desk, the priest said, “As I warned you the first time we spoke, the annulment process isn’t usually smooth or quick, and I’m sorry to tell you, yours seems to have already hit a snag.”

“Oh?” Wally tensed.

“What’s the problem, Father?” Skye took Wally’s hand and gave it a squeeze.

“I’m afraid the address you furnished for your ex-wife isn’t any good.” He looked at them to see whether they understood the gravity of the situation. “Although declaration of nullity is still possible, without her input, the proceedings will be even more drawn out.”

“In other words”—Wally narrowed his eyes—“it would be best if I found her?”

“It would speed things up. Her involvement isn’t essential, but the Church does like to give both parties an opportunity to present their views of the marriage.” Father Burns sat motionlessly. “How long has it been since you’ve had contact with her?”

“A couple of years.” Wally’s hand tightened on Skye’s. “Since we didn’t have children, and the prenup she signed precluded her from claiming any of my assets or asking for alimony, or whatever it’s called nowadays, there was no need to keep in touch.”

“Fortunately, your line of work should assist you in locating her.” Father Burns smiled. “I’m sure God will guide you in your search.”

“Thank you, Father.” Skye was afraid this setback would cause Wally to try to persuade her to marry him without the process, so she asked, “Could you explain to us why the Church requires an annulment?”

“The Church’s stance is that matrimony is lifelong.” His dark, serious eyes studied them for a long moment; then he continued. “The annulment procedure is used to determine if an essential element, which prevented the