by Rose Pressey
He ran his hand through his hair. “So where do we start?”
“I don’t know, but give me your number, I’ll call you soon.”
He nodded, but looked disappointed that I didn’t have a better answer for him.
“I have to think about this some. Are you sure you’re doing okay?” I asked.
He nodded. “As well as can be expected. I feel like my heart’s been ripped out. I’ll never recover. Part of my life is gone now. I was going to ask her to marry me. She was my soulmate.”
Now I really didn’t think he had anything to do with her murder. He would never talk like that if he’d killed her, right? A person didn’t talk about someone like that if they had murdered them. He seemed genuinely in love.
I jotted down his number and promised to call him soon. He walked away, but seemed more lost than ever. I felt someone staring at me. When I glanced over my shoulder, I spotted Mr. Byrd from the antique shop looking at me. I waved and headed toward him.
I walked through the door and asked, “How are you?”
“All right, I suppose. To be honest, I’m still upset by what happened.”
“That’s understandable. I feel somehow responsible for the way you’re feeling. I want to apologize. I’m so sorry.”
“You had nothing to do with it,” he said.
Now I hated to ask, but I supposed I had to look for clues sometime.
I picked up a vase and studied it. After a moment, I placed it down and then said, “I just wondered if I could look around a little bit. I’m trying to help the police.”
My statement made it sound like they had officially hired me to investigate and that was probably the last thing they wanted to do.
“Sure, go ahead and take a look,” Mr. Byrd said with a wave of his hand.
I walked toward the back of the building where we’d been standing the last time I had seen Ashley. There was a door that led to the alleyway where she’d been found. I figured the door was the way she had gotten out to the alleyway.
But had she gone out that door on her own or had someone taken her out? Another tour-goer was the only logical explanation. Or had there been someone else already in the store we didn’t know about? I examined the door and then checked the handle. It didn’t have any kind of special lock and it seemed like the knob was easy to twist. I probably wouldn’t have heard if she had opened the door. I twisted the knob and pushed it open.
That was when a loud siren sounded throughout the building. I quickly closed the door and jumped back, startled by the noise. Mr. Byrd ran toward me.
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
I blew the hair out of my eyes. “Well, I’m just wondering why that siren went off. That never happened before.”
“No, after what happened I decided to add an alarm,” he said.
I released a deep breath, and then said, “That’s probably a good idea.”
Too bad it wasn’t like that before the murder, but I didn’t want to make him feel worse. He’d had no way of knowing that something like that would ever happen. It was good for his safety to have alarms on all the doors.
I said goodbye to Mr. Byrd and headed out the door. Instead of heading home, I went around to the back area of the shop. I wanted to check out what it was like back there in the light of day. I had only gotten a glimpse the other night. It had been dark and there had been lots of people around. Not that I would find anything now, but I could maybe figure out where someone might have hidden or maybe where she’d been headed if she’d left on her own. I headed around the side of the building and ended up at the back alley.
I peered at the door of the antique shop where I assumed she had come out, then to the left and the right. There really was nowhere to go back there, besides maybe hiding behind the Dumpster. There was a fence back there. If she wanted to leave that way she would have had to climb it. Otherwise she would have to walk around the building and end up in front on the sidewalk again. We would have seen her. I figured she’d only been back there for a couple of minutes when the person had attacked her.
I also wanted to figure out where the person who killed her had been when she came out. Had they been hiding? Maybe they were behind the Dumpster, but how did they know she was going to be back there? Was it just a coincidence? Had she planned to meet someone back there?
That was when someone ran from behind one of the Dumpsters. They were down by the other shops. The person headed around the side of the building. That seemed odd and I didn’t know if they worked there or if the person had been following me. I was paranoid now with everything that had happened. He could have followed me. I’d only seen him from the back and he wore a black hoodie.
Chapter 10
When I moved over to the Dumpster, I noticed a footprint in the soft ground. I leaned down for a closer look. The bottoms of the shoes had left a clear imprint of the brand. It was Sketchers. I had a couple of the brand. They looked like they were boots, possibly hiking boots. My guess was the size was probably around a ten or ten and a half. After snapping a photo, I hurried around to the front of the building again and onto the sidewalk. I didn’t see anyone acting suspiciously, so the person who’d run away must be gone by now. I pulled out my phone to call Brannon. I wanted him to see the shoe print.
I pulled out my phone and dialed Brannon. When he answered, I said, “Okay, it’s hard to explain, but I’m behind the antique shop and I need you to see something.”
“It’s not hard to explain. I know what you’re up to,” Brannon said with a hint of laughter in his voice. “I’ll be right there. I’m just down the street.”
“See you in a second,” I said.
At least I didn’t have to pretend that I wasn’t snooping around. Brannon knew by now that I couldn’t stay away from a mystery. In my defense, I was only trying to help.
I fidgeted from foot to foot. I checked my watch. Thirty seconds since I’d talked with Brannon. Yeah, not enough time for him to arrive. I needed to relax. I blew out a deep breath, hoping that would ease the tension. It didn’t help much. About a minute passed and I spotted Brannon’s car coming down the street. Finally my anxiety eased. Though there had been people around and businesses open, it still felt scary standing out there alone. He pulled the car up along the curb and got out. With his gaze fixed on me, I couldn’t hold back a smile.
“You look a little lost standing out here. What happened?” he asked as he approached.
“There’s something I want to show you.”
He quirked an eyebrow. “I’m intrigued.”
“Follow me.” I motioned over my shoulder.
Brannon and I walked around to the back of the shop.
Once at the Dumpster, I stopped and pointed down. “Right there. Do you see the shoe print?”
He glanced over at me. “I’m confused.”
“It’s just that I saw someone messing around back here. They were dressed in black like a cat burglar. Right away that made me suspicious. The person took off, but I decided to look around to see what they might be up to.”
“And then you saw the shoe print?” he asked.
I nodded. “That’s right.”
Brannon grinned. “I appreciate that you’re trying to help, but there’s no way to know if this has anything to do with the murder. You know they thoroughly went over this area the other night. They would have seen this. Plus, it still wouldn’t be this fresh.”
“No, I know, but I think the person who was back here just now was the killer. I think he or she came back for a reason. Maybe to find something they lost?”
“Don’t you think anything lost would have been found by the detectives who searched this area?”
Obviously Brannon was beginning to think that the police hadn’t done their job.
I sighed. “So, I suppose there’s nothing you can do.”
He touched my chin. “I’m sorry.”
He probably thought I’d been reading too many mysteries. There was no such thing as
too much reading. Plus, I knew what I felt and the person I’d seen gave off a bad vibe. I had to come back later to see if I could find what this person had been looking for.
“Why don’t we go for ice cream?” Brannon asked.
“That sounds like something you’d say to a kid.”
He quirked an eyebrow. “All I know is I’ve been thinking about pistachio ice cream all day.”
I laughed. “Then I guess we should head to the ice cream shop immediately. Just don’t turn on the siren and lights.”
***
I was settled on the sofa at home now with the diary in hand. I couldn’t wait to finish reading. I couldn’t believe it had taken me this long. Normally, I would complete a book in a couple of hours, but the craziness of the situation had kept me from finishing. Plus, it was hard to make out the words sometimes. The script had faded and words were missing. It was tough to read on with the uneasiness that leapt from the page. Sarah described more of the scariness of the stranger, his advances toward her and the way he would pop up as if he’d been hiding. It made me so uneasy that I kept lookingover my shoulder to make sure I was alone. Luckily, I was safe in my apartment.
When I flipped to the next page, nothing was there.
“What? No! It can’t end here,” I said out loud.
Unfortunately, that was exactly how it had ended. I had to know what had happened with Jacob. I had to figure out what had happened to Sarah. There had to be something other than her name in the death ledger—some kind of information about how she’d died. I couldn’t remember the date that I’d seen on the tombstone. I’d have to go back and look again. Was it the same date as the last entry on the diary? I had an awful feeling that it was. Jacob had probably had something to do with her death.
A couple hours later, I had relaxed into bed. I had to be at the library early in the morning, but when my cell phone rang, I almost jumped out of bed it startled me so badly.
“Ripley, this is Melissa. I work at the accountant’s office across the street from the library. I just wanted you to know that I thought I saw someone in the library just now.”
“Really? Just now?” I tossed the covers off my legs.
“Yes, I was sure that there was more than one person too.”
“Okay, I’ll go over there and check it out right away. Thanks for letting me know.” I hungup.
If someone was at the library then why hadn’t the alarm gone off? I rushed into my jeans and a gray sweatshirt. I shoved my feet into my tennis shoes, grabbed my keys, and then took off for the library. The walk was short, but it was dark and spooky. The hair prickled on my arms and my chest tightened. No matter how scared I became, I couldn’t call for Brannon. I wanted to hurry up and get there. By the time he arrived at my place, even if he turned on his sirens, it wouldn’t be fast enough. There was no telling what the people at the library could do to the place. As soon as I got there I would call him and let him know what had happened.
Traffic was light since it was so late. The moon put in a brief appearance from behind the clouds. Crickets chirped from the nearby bushes. Beyond the calmness of the night was an underlying apprehension. It wasn’t just my anxiety—it was something that drifted through the air. I hurried down the sidewalk, looking over my shoulder every few seconds. I hoped that no one would pop out from behind a tree or building. Whether they were a living person, or a ghost, I didn’t have time to deal with that right now.
Finally the looming old library came into view. Its presence cut through the night like a lost ship at sea. When I hurried up the front path, I could have sworn I saw someone walking around the side of the building. I hoped that wasn’t the person I’d seen at the antique shop. Would they come around and jump out at me when I got near the building? I hurried up the front path towardthe main entrance doors.
When I tried the knob, the door opened. I knew I had locked it. How had it gotten unlocked? Now I eased into the space. The lights were out. I didn’t know if I should call out for Annie or not. In case someone was there I remained quiet. Annie didn’t pop up like she usually did when she knew I was around. I tiptoed across the space, listening for people or any unusual sounds. I hoped the dark shadow didn’t pop out and jump at me again. Were there more ghosts in the library than the dark shadow I’d been seeing?
The air around me was heavy. A spooky vibe saturated the room, much scarier than ever. There was definitely something strange going on here tonight. The air was so stifling that it almost felt as if I couldn’t breathe. I wished Annie would at least pop up and give me a sign that she was here. I didn’t want to be alone right now.
I headed upstairs to see if anyone was up there, but when I reached the top landing, I discovered that all the doors were closed and locked. No strange sounds came from any of the rooms. Obviously nothing was up there now. I headed back down the staircase. Next,I would have to check the basement. That was one of the last things I wanted to do, but I had no choice.
When I reached the main floor again, I went up and down the stacks, making sure that no one was hiding back there. It didn’t look as if anyone was in the library. I was beginning to worry more and more that Melissa had seen a ghost, but who was it? Annie? Melissa had said there was more than one person. This was so odd. I came around the reference desk and decided to go down into the basement, even though it was even creepier down there than anywhere else in the building. I didn’t like to go down there, but this had to be done.
I opened the door that led to the basement and eased down the steps. I flipped on the light and immediately heard noise. It sounded as if someone was talking, almost chanting even, but then they stopped. That was really creepy.
I reached the bottom of the steps and paused. Stacks and stacks of books made for plenty of places for a person to hide. The noise was gone for the time being, but it felt as if I wasn’t alone down there. I wanted to call out, but then again maybe I didn’t want a response. I moved further into the space. It felt as if I was moving further into the spider’s web. Or further into the killer’s grasp.
The air was so heavy that I could barely breathe at all down there. When I went over to the room that housed more of the children’s books, I spotted them. The group was sitting on the floor, being as quiet as possible, probably holding their breath that I didn’t see them.
Monica and probably some of her friends were all sitting on the floor. What they were doing was what made me upset. A Ouija board sat in the middle of their little circle.
I yanked the door open and they all jumped back. I guessed they hadn’t expected me to actually find them. Did they think they could hide in there and I wouldn’t see them? There was a glass panel in the door—obviously I could see everything that was going on in the room.
“The children’s reading room? Really? That’s just terrible. What are you doing here?” I demanded.
Monica jumped up. “I was just having a little bit of fun, that’s all.”
“Give me your keys.” I wiggled my fingers.
She could tell by the look on my face that I was furious.
“Are you firing me?” she asked.
I was so angry I wanted to say yes, but instead I said, “We’ll discuss this later. This not the time right now. I’ll talk to you in the morning. But right now, everyone out.”
Everyone jumped up from the floor and marched single file out of the room and up the basement steps. There were two brown-haired guys and another brunette. They looked to be the same age as Monica, or maybe younger. Probably mid-twenties. I could expect this behavior from teenagers, but Monica should take this more seriously than that.
“Get that board out of here now,” I said. “Do you realize how dangerous that is? And in the children’s room? How could you?”
Monica grabbed the board. I could tell she was about to cry, which made me feel bad now. Maybe I was going to cry too. I just couldn’t stand that.
“Just follow me,” I said.
She marched up the steps with me. She a
t least hadn’t started sniffling. That made it a little bit easier. I would just have to talk to her in the morning about her behavior and what should take place at the library. I guessed I couldn’t trust her with the keys anymore. But what would Mrs. Agnew say? She was the one who’d hired her, not me, although lately Monica had been doing a good job. She had been slightly less sarcastic.
“So I’m not fired?” she whispered.
“I’ll talk to you in the morning, okay?”
It would do her good to think about this all night and wonder if I was going to fire her or not. As they left the building, she turned around and looked at me.
Just before she walked out the door, she said, “I’m sorry.”
I nodded. “It’s okay.”
Annie popped up at that moment. Thank goodness you’re here. I was so worried. I didn’t know what they were doing. I’m glad they’re gone. That was so scary.
“You should have let me know as soon as I walked in the door,” I said.
I was hiding. I just didn’t want to come out, Annie said.
“Well, everything’s okay now. I’m going to go back home, but you’ll be all right?” I asked.
Annie nodded. I’m okay now.
“All right, so I’ll see you soon.” I walked over to the door and looked back one last time and waved.
She gave me a half-hearted smile.
When I got outside, I walked down the steps. Thank goodness the group had already left, but I noticed footprints in the fresh dirt over by the graveyard. I stepped closer to take a look. Someone could have been looking around the headstones. People were always curious to see the old stones. A nighttime breeze ruffled the leaves of the nearby trees. A chill fell over the area, a contrast to the warm evening. Moonlight painted a shimmery glow across the graveyard.
I leaned down for a closer look. That was when I saw the same name as the other shoes—Sketchers. This could be a coincidence, but was it the same pair of shoes attached to the person I’d seen walking behind the antique shop? I figured that it was.
That same uneasiness encircled me again. The clouds rolled in faster now. I glanced over my shoulder several times. The more I walked the more it felt as if someone was walking behind me. I got the sense that something was lurking in the shadows. I would have asked it to show itself, but I was almost positive I didn’t want to see it. I just wanted to get home, lock the door, and hide from the darkness that surrounded me. The walk seemed longer than usual tonight, just when I wanted to be home the most.
