all.
Beth thumped her spoon on the table. “Seriously? You’re not talking? But I’m your best friend!”
Lindsey swallowed. “There’s nothing to say.”
Truly, her conversation with Dale was a bust. He had a solid alibi and she had discovered that the man had layers. She didn’t really think he was as bad as people said. In fact, she wondered if he cultivated the bad-boy image just to keep people at a distance.
“Really?” Beth asked. “Are you trying to tell me that there is nothing going on between you and Sully? That you didn’t go over to the pier today to see him?”
Lindsey choked on a bit of clam and had to cough into her napkin before she could respond. “Are you saying I went over there to see Sully?”
“Yes!”
“Well, I didn’t, and as far as I know, there is nothing going on between us,” Lindsey said.
“Oh, please.” Beth scoffed. “Everyone knows you two like each other.”
Lindsey glanced around the small break room where they sat eating their lunch. Thankfully, no one else was on break right now.
She leaned over the table and whispered, “If you must know, I went to the pier to see Dale Wilcox.”
“The ex-convict?” Beth gasped. “Have you lost your mind?”
“Nancy said he had a road-rage incident with Markus Rushton just a few weeks ago.”
“And you questioned him about it?” Beth’s eyes went wide. “Lindsey! Don’t you know the amateur sleuth is never supposed to go off on her own? This isn’t an Agatha Christie novel and you’re not Miss Marple. You could have gotten yourself into a heap of trouble.”
“Well, given that I pretty much accused him of murdering Rushton,” she said, “I concede your point. But I didn’t go off alone. I happened to be going for lunch and saw Dale Wilcox on his boat. I was simply being neighborly.”
Beth slapped her hand to her forehead in exasperation. “You’re lucky you’re still alive!”
“Nah, I don’t think Dale is as bad as everyone says,” she said. “He reads Hemingway.”
“Didn’t Hemingway hate women?” Beth asked.
“I don’t know if I would say
“So, Ernest had issues,” Beth said. “And you decided that it was a good idea to question a fan of his about committing murder. Yeah, this all makes perfect sense.”
“I did discover one thing,” Lindsey said. Then she paused, wondering if she should voice her speculation. “Don’t say anything, but I think Dale had feelings for Carrie when they were younger.”
“How so?”
“I think he only talked to me today because he knew I was asking questions to help out Carrie. And he got this look on his face, like, well, like he was very fond of her.”
“Interesting. You don’t think that fondness would have caused him to kill her husband, do you?”
“No, his alibi must be airtight or the police would have taken him in by now,” Lindsey said.
“So what’s next?” Beth asked.
“Well, Carrie has asked us all to meet her out by the storage shed this evening so we can try to move the Friends items to an undamaged shed. I imagine we’re going to have to toss a lot of the ruined books.”
“I’m in,” Beth said. “My house is already dug out, so I’m happy to pitch in.”
“Thanks,” Lindsey said. “The more hands the better.”
She did not mention that she planned to have a chat with the other two people Markus had offended recently, Clyde Perkins and Della Navarro. Since she didn’t know if it would lead to anything significant, she figured she’d keep it to herself. Unlike the warehouse, the fewer people involved in this the better.
“Last call for hot chocolate and donuts!” Mimi Seitler shouted as she headed into the storage facility office, where she had a huge pot of hot chocolate plugged into the wall. Carrie had brought a big orange and pink box full of donuts, which was in there as well.
After hauling twenty-five boxes of books from the old shed to the new one, Lindsey felt like the hot chocolate was the only thing that might bring back the feeling in her toes. She trotted into the office and filled a foam cup before heading back out into the cold.
They’d been here for a couple of hours now. Carrie had picked up her and Beth after work, and she’d brought Heathcliff with her because he had been cooped up all day and needed the exercise. He had been overjoyed to see Lindsey and had been chasing the snowballs that Lindsey and the others threw for him for the past half hour.
Lindsey stamped her feet on the ground. It was a great turnout and the work was going quickly. There had to be at least fifteen people here, including both Edmund and Bill Sint. Mercifully, there was no sign of Marjorie Bilson.
A car turned into the small parking lot, its headlights sweeping over the area. Then again, maybe Marjorie had decided to show after all. Lindsey stood up straighter, bracing herself for a possible confrontation.
Before the car had even stopped, the passenger door flew open and out jumped a young woman. She had long, dark hair and was yanking on her winter coat as her eyes scanned the people in front of her.
“Mom!” she cried.
CHAPTER 21
BRIAR CREEK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
Carrie popped out of the new shed and cried, “Kim! Kyle!” Then she broke into a run.
The driver shut off the car and got out, too. He was a tall young man with the same dark hair as his mother and his sister. In fact, the three of them had the exact same face, with big brown eyes, delicate noses and strong jaws.
Carrie opened her arms wide as she ran, and the three of them tumbled into a group hug in the middle of the parking lot. Lindsey turned away to give them some privacy.
“Her kids?” Beth asked as she joined Lindsey.
“I’m assuming.”
“Good. She could use the support.”
It was several minutes later when Carrie brought her grown children over to meet Lindsey and the others.
“Kyle, Kim, this is Lindsey Norris, the director of the library, and Beth Stanley you already know.”
“I remember the parties you used to throw for the teens every time a new Harry Potter book came out,” Kim said.
“And I remember that you did the best artwork for my programs,” Beth said and gave the girl a hug. “I still have some of those posters. How are you enjoying RISD?”
“I love it,” she said.
“Welcome to Briar Creek,” Kyle said to Lindsey and extended his hand.
Lindsey took his gloved hand in hers. He had a good handshake.
“Thank you. It’s a lovely town,” she said. She paused and then added, “I’m very sorry for your loss.” She turned to include Kim in her condolences.
“I’m sorry, too,” Beth said.
Both Kim and Kyle nodded, and Lindsey realized they probably weren’t used to talking about it. It had taken them a few days to get here. And now that they were in their hometown, it must be surreal to confront their father’s shooting.
Kim shivered and Carrie frowned, looking full of motherly concern.
“Listen,” she said. “I’m staying at Nancy Peyton’s place, and she said you two could stay with me. She has enough room so long as you two don’t mind bunk beds. Honestly, I haven’t been able to face going back to the house yet.”
