It was a brisk walk outside to take care of business. Nancy’s backyard was a long one that ended in a cliff that overlooked the bay and the islands beyond. Lindsey took the opportunity to enjoy the smell of the sea-it was strong, signaling that the tide was coming in-and admire the stars that twinkled in the sky above.
People had been muttering about a bad storm blowing in, but it was hard to imagine on this clear and quiet night.
Once inside, Lindsey prepared for bed. She wasn’t sure what to do about the puppy. She didn’t know where he normally slept or where he would want to sleep. Mary had given her a flat fleecy dog bed. Lindsey figured she’d better put it in her bedroom, so he didn’t go chewing up her apartment during the night.
“Okay, buddy,” she said as she draped a fluffy throw over the fleece bed, “you sleep here.”
She patted the bed with her hand and he trotted over to sniff it. He seemed to get the idea as he climbed into it and did the circling thing that dogs do.
“Good night, little fella,” she said as she climbed into bed.
Lindsey had shut out the light and was just drifting off when she felt the foot of the bed sag. She figured she had two options, either turn on the light and get the boy back in his bed or ignore him. The poor guy had had a rough day and it was bitterly cold. Even with the heat on, the apartment wasn’t getting much warmer than sixty- two degrees.
Her bed was big enough, he would make it warmer, and besides, it wasn’t as if he was staying. Bed training him would be someone else’s problem. She burrowed into her flannel sheets and tried not to think about why that made her sad.
CHAPTER 13
BRIAR CREEK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
The feel of hot breath across her chest woke Lindsey the next morning. Heathcliff, or rather the puppy, was dead asleep with his head on her shoulder. She felt her mouth curve up in a smile. He was a snuggler. How cute was that?
She glanced down and his fuzzy head tickled her chin. He was lying pressed close beside her, and she wondered if he had been cold or scared during the night and had sought comfort in closeness. Either way, she knew she was going to have to find a home for him and fast. He was too charming for his own good, and despite what Tom the vet had said about pit bulls or pit bull mixes being put down just because they had pit bull bloodlines, she knew she’d be able to find someone to take this sweet young dog.
With that in mind, she got them both suited up to go outside. She was standing in the backyard with him when Nancy poked her head out of the back door and called her over.
“What are you going to do with Heathcliff while you’re at work today?”
“I don’t know. I hadn’t really figured it out yet,” Lindsey answered. Nancy was holding out a steaming cup of coffee to her, and Lindsey took it with a grateful smile.
“Leave him with me,” Nancy said. “I’ll puppy sit for you.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. Honestly, it’ll make me feel safer to have a barker around.”
Lindsey glanced across the yard. All of the houses on this street were old and big and sat on very large lots. She had never noticed before how isolated they all were, probably because when Charlie was in residence, the horde of musicians that came and went were nonstop, making the place feel as busy as the New Haven train station. Until now, the quiet had been a nice reprieve. Now it was just creepy.
“He’s all yours,” Lindsey said. “I took a picture of him this morning. I’m going to put up some flyers and see if anyone is missing him. Hopefully, he’ll be reunited with his people soon.”
Nancy pursed her lips but said nothing. As the puppy trotted into Nancy’s first-floor apartment, to be spoiled rotten no doubt, Lindsey raced upstairs to get ready for work, dropping off Heathcliff’s essentials with Nancy on the way out.
Things were quiet at the library. Maybe it was just the hullabaloo of the day before, or perhaps the crazy events of the week, but Lindsey found herself relieved to be answering normal questions on the reference desk and writing up her weekly report for the mayor’s office.
It was midafternoon and she had just called Nancy to make sure the puppy was behaving-he was-when she heard two women talking over by the new-book area.
She recognized one as being on the high school PTA, but the other woman was a new face, not a regular library user. They both appeared to be in their late forties, with the requisite rounded figures and hair dyed improbable shades of blond to hide the gray.
“Well, I heard that she was having an affair,” the PTA woman whispered to the other.
“Really?” the woman asked.
“Marjorie didn’t say, but I got the feeling it was an inappropriate liaison,” the PTA woman said. “I’ll bet she was sleeping with a married man, probably one of the doctors at the hospital where she works. You know, she always works the night shift.”
The woman’s voice was sly, as if working nights was proof of anything.
“Do you think poor Markus knew?”
“I doubt it,” the other woman said. “He trusted her so completely, besides the poor man never left his house. He was disabled, you know.”
“I didn’t,” the other woman clucked. “Do you think she shot him so that she could be with her doctor?”
“I don’t know. I mean, if her doctor is married, he’d have to leave his wife, wouldn’t he?”
“Oh, I just had a horrid thought,” the other woman said. “If Carrie shot Markus to be free of him, would she shoot her doctor if he refused to be with her or would she shoot his wife?”
“Oh, dear,” the PTA woman said. “We could have a serial killer on our hands.”
Lindsey felt her teeth set. She didn’t like gossip as a rule, especially malicious gossip about a friend. Since one of the women had mentioned Marjorie’s name, she got the feeling Batty Bilson was the one planting the seeds of the malicious talk.
Knowing that it was none of her business, Lindsey rose from her seat anyway and approached the two women.
“Good afternoon,” she said. “Was there anything you needed help finding?”
The two women looked startled at her approach, sort of like kids caught pilfering cookies out of the cookie jar when they’ve already been told it’s too close to dinner.
“Uh, no, I’m good,” the PTA woman said. She held up a current bestseller.
“Well, there’s a young adult series called
The PTA woman had the grace to blush while the other one gave Lindsey an irritated look and said in a rather snotty tone, “I’m fine, but thanks so much for your concern.”
“Anytime,” Lindsey smiled. Okay, it was really more a showing of teeth, but she figured she should get points for trying.
She turned and headed back to the reference desk. A glance at the circulation desk and she saw Ann Marie give her a sly thumbs-up from behind her computer.
So, Ann Marie had heard their conversation, too.
Lindsey shook her head. How could anyone believe that Carrie would cheat on her husband and kill him? Truly, it mystified, especially if Batty Bilson was the source of the gossip. Everyone knew the woman was a few slices short of a loaf; how could they listen to her?
She was not surprised to see the two women leave the library shortly thereafter. When the doors slid open again a few minutes later, she glanced up and had to smile as Edmund Sint made his way into the building, looking as if the drafty bitter air from outside was chasing him into the library’s welcoming warmth.
He unwrapped the plaid scarf from about his neck and pulled off his leather gloves as he approached the
