“I’ll see you on Monday, then.” Gracie stood and grabbed her parka. “I just wanted to mention that I was admiring your books before you arrived. It’s a very nice collection of classics.”
He smiled proudly and looked around lovingly at the over-filled bookcases. “It’s a lifetime collection of my favorite titles and some local history documents. Anything about this area in the 1700s is my real passion.” Will grinned, touching the spines of several volumes.
“I didn’t know you were a collector.”
“I started when I graduated from college, many years ago now. Iris will tell you that I’ve spent way too much money over the years on my passion.” He chuckled, stepping back to glance again at the letter that was just too far away and the wrong side up for Gracie to read. His hand came to rest on an advertising flyer beside it, and he slid it over the letter.
Chapter Twenty-Five
A stainless steel colored sky highlighted with drifting snowflakes officiated for Alice Harris’ funeral. Gracie stood shivering in line on the sidewalk with the library trustees as they waited to get into the funeral home. The Harwood brothers stood like sentinels in matching black topcoats at the door, greeting everyone, but giving them the once-over like bouncers at a bar.
The small overheated gathering room was filled with softly chattering mourners. Two stout women in austere black dresses flanked an elderly lady, and Gracie guessed they must be Alice’s mother and sisters. Alice’s mother was positioned near the closed casket covered with a spray of red roses. She looked confused and frail as she accepted a steady stream of condolences. Two men with gray hair and dark suits sat somberly in the first row of thickly upholstered folding chairs, along with two younger men and three women who looked to be in their 20s and 30s. Apparently the rest of Alice’s family had appeared. She was surprised at the lack of a local crowd, but several older ladies were there, whispering among themselves. The rumor mill would be working overtime today. Two men she didn’t recognize stood by themselves, talking in low tones. One was of average height with wavy silver hair, and the other was tall, although he was a bit stooped and had a shaved head and well-trimmed beard. Investigator Hotchkiss sat quietly in a back corner, watching the line file past. She didn’t acknowledge Gracie, which was a relief. Although the trustees were all present, Sybil and Patti were not. Terry was apparently still down with the flu.
Promptly at 1:30, Ernie Harwood carried a podium to the front and asked everyone to take their seats. Gracie braced herself for the service. She’d focus on the attendees and not the vision of Alice with knife in her chest.
The Fellowship Hall at the church was humming like a beehive in June. Her mother and Gloria Minders were riding herd in the kitchen. It looked like there was enough ham and scalloped potatoes to feed 200 people. A mere 30 or 40 dribbled into the hall and sat at the round tables set with flatware and paper napkins. A pitcher of water, salt and pepper shakers, and small dishes with foil-wrapped pats of butter topped each table. Gracie slipped into the kitchen to check in with her mother.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Hey, yourself. Are you here to help? You can start cutting pies over there.” She pointed to the far counter that was covered with pies of every variety. Theresa wiped her hands on her sunflower print apron and started pouring ham gravy from a huge roasting pan into waiting bowls.
“Not really, but I can.” Gracie quickly washed her hands and started on the pies.
“Thanks for pitching in,” her pastor’s wife said gratefully. “We’re a little shorthanded today for some reason. Lots of food, but our regular crew wasn’t available. We’ve only got two other ladies today.” Gloria’s round face was flushed, and she looked unusually harried.
“Glad to do it. Not many to serve though. You have enough here for Sunday morning church.”
“We’ll all have to take home leftovers. I don’t think the family will want all of it. Most of them are leaving tomorrow,” Gloria said, arranging dinner rolls in plastic baskets. She handed them to Mae and Barb, elderly sisters who made up the rest of the kitchen crew.
Gracie finished cutting the pies and started plating single pieces for the dessert table. She heard Reverend Minders call for everyone’s attention in the hall. He said the blessing over the food, and chairs scraped back over the wooden floor immediately. No one wasted any time getting to the food tables. The smell of baked ham had everyone’s attention.
“You’re not done yet. I need 10 more pieces, and then you can go eat,” Theresa ordered her daughter.
“All right. I’m going as fast as I can.” Gracie blew at a piece of red hair that had fallen into her eyes.
“People want their dessert, so don’t dawdle.” Theresa stood with her hands on her hips inspecting Gracie’s work.
“Yes, mother. I’m saving this piece of pecan pie for myself, so don’t take it” She nudged the pie sitting on small white paper plate to one side. She went back to plating the wedges of apple and chocolate cream. “OK, there are your 10 pieces.” Gracie ran her finger down the pie server, then popped the chocolate cream into her mouth.
“All right. Go eat.” Theresa loaded a tray with the remaining pieces of pie and steamed toward the dessert table in front of the stained glass window of the Good Shepherd.
Gracie hurried to the official library table. Will had saved her a chair at their table tucked in a back corner. She picked up a dinner roll from the basket and pulled small pieces of the soft bread, popping them in her mouth. Darlene tapped her forearm, nodding toward Alice’s sisters seated at a table across the room.
“I think you should talk to Pearl. She’s the one with the spiky hair. She seems to know about Alice’s business problems.”
“I don’t know if I want to know any more about Alice’s problems. I’m really interested in what her relationship with Jack and a couple others was like though.”
“That’s what I mean. She may know what was going on with them. I think the police are looking long and hard at our Mr. Greene and Roger Woodson too. Pearl has already talked to Investigator Hotchkiss. I saw them talking at the beginning of calling hours.”
“I think we’d better let the police do their jobs. I’m sure they don’t need our advice,” Will advised sternly after finishing a mouthful of scalloped potatoes. Helen nodded in agreement and waved a teacher-like index finger at Darlene and Gracie.
“Girls, we need to stay out of this. That policewoman interviewed me and she wasn’t very nice. You’d think we were all suspects the way she talked to me.”
“Sounds familiar. But Jack is pretty vocal about paving the way to Roger,” Gracie said firmly. “Alice was involved in something with both men. It had to have been pretty ugly to get this outcome.”
Will looked up, his face tinged with pink. “I’m sure the police are working as fast as they can. Remember, the library has no comment to the press or anyone else who asks. Unless of course it’s the police.”
“We’ve all kept quiet,” Darlene said. “But I think we should have some sort of statement. Otherwise we all look guilty, and that may be the reason I can’t get a job right now.”
Will sighed and placed his hands palms down on the table. “Let’s not fight among ourselves. We can consider a statement, I suppose. What do you think, Bill?” His face was waxy, his eyes weary.
“I’m not talking to anyone without my attorney,” munched Bill Stone. He had been unusually silent throughout the emotional exchange. “We had a couple discussions about Alice before this happened. You of all people know that she was doing things—well, improperly. She asked me to invest in that development too, but fortunately, I’m cash poor at the moment.” He helped himself to another dinner roll and sopped up the ham gravy that covered his plate.
“Real estate is always a gamble, and I can say I’ve learned that the hard way. Unless those houses begin selling, well …” Will’s voice trailed off. “Everything is such chaos now, especially with the Woodson gift. I believe the murder weapon was part of
the collection coming to the library. It could be tied up for years.”
“How could we ever accept that now?” Helen spouted.
“It’s worth about $50,000, that’s how,” Bill retorted. “That, along with a set of pistols, and a painting would endow the library in perpetuity. The preliminary appraisal that Alice got was for over $250,000. The painting is worth upward of $200,000 alone. Don’t you remember?”
Gracie sucked in her breath. This was first time the actual items had been named along with their value.
“Who did the appraisal? Was Alice in charge of getting them?” she asked.
“Alice knew someone at Seneca, which was her alma mater. Whoever it was specialized in antique weapons. Someone in the art department there does appraisals on paintings from the Civil War period,” Helen explained. “I can’t remember any names, but I’m sure we have some record of the appraisals.”
“But isn’t there some question about who owns them?” Darlene piped up.
Will suddenly stood, steadying himself on the table top. He smoothed his comb-over, and he was breathing heavily.
“Are you OK, Will?” Gracie asked. The man was not looking well at all.
“I’ll be all right. I think I need to get some air.” He pulled a handkerchief from his suit coat pocket and wiped his forehead. Will made his way to the side door that led to the parking lot.
“I’ll go with him,” Helen offered. “I don’t think he should be left alone.” The willowy, gray-haired woman pulled a coat around her shoulders and followed Will out the side door.
“The records need to be found, or we all may be persons of interest.” Bill Stone stood and imperiously wrapped a scarf around his neck before throwing on his overcoat. He stalked through the main doors and offered a curt wave to a bewildered Reverend Minders.
Darlene’s eyes were wide and frightened. “What does all of this mean?” she hissed to Gracie. “I wanted to resign, and you told me to stay. I told you I don’t need any more problems in my life right now. I have more than I can handle.”
Gracie was speechless for a moment. The board was crumbling before her eyes. “You and I need to find out about those appraisals, who did them, and what exactly the gift to the library is all about. Right now, I think I’ll have a word with Alice’s sisters.” She needed to escape the appalling trustee meltdown, and fast.
Before Darlene could respond, Gracie slipped toward the family table where Pearl and Camille sat with their husbands. Gracie pulled an extra chair from a neighboring table, managing to sit more or less next to Pearl. The portly woman was just finishing a piece of chocolate cream pie. She looked up in surprise at Gracie’s sudden appearance, as did her sister, Camille, who stopped mid-bite.
“I was hoping to talk to Pearl for a moment if it's possible.”
The woman’s brown eyes narrowed, and she looked at Gracie suspiciously.
“It depends on what you’d like to talk about. We’ve really don’t have anything more to say about my sister, especially to anyone connected with the library.”
“I know this is a very bad time, but I’m helping out the library with the bookkeeping for a few weeks … and wondered if there were any library records still at the house.”
“Probably. I haven’t had time to go through her office yet.” Pearl responded.
“Would it be possible for you to check? We’re looking for some appraisals on a bequest to the library.”
“I’m staying for a couple of weeks, so I’ll look for them.” Pearl gripped the edge of the table, her knuckles turning white. Tears welled up in her eyes.
Camille put an arm around her sister. “Just leave your card, and Pearl will call you.”
“Sure. I’m so sorry. It’s just awful …” Gracie started.
“My sister was way in over her head,” Pearl managed, sniffing. “She just …”
The side door slammed, and Gracie whirled around to hear Helen yelling for someone to call 9-1-1.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Theresa hung up the phone and sat down next to her daughter on a stool at the kitchen counter. Gracie pinched the bridge of her nose, wishing the headache would disappear.
“What did they say?”
“He’s going to be OK. And although you want to be guilty of his heart episode for whatever reason, you’re not. It was a bad battery in his pacemaker. Iris said the doctors are sure that’s what it was. She also said he’s been having problems for two weeks and wouldn’t see the doctor.”
“Maybe, but if I hadn’t brought up the investigation and Sybil, and … oh, I don’t know Mom. This whole thing is crazy.” Gracie wanted a Xanex, in fact several of them, in the worst way. A do-over on the entire afternoon would be peachy too. “There’s just so much that’s going on there. I wish they’d catch whoever killed Alice and whoever’s terrorizing Terry. What is the sheriff’s department doing? Sitting on their hands?”
“Don’t blame them. Things aren’t always as they seem. It isn’t your responsibility to solve Alice’s murder, nor is it your responsibility to figure out what the library staff is doing. Let the police do their job and you concentrate on running your kennel. What in the world were you thinking when you joined the library board?”
Gracie sighed and looked up at her mother. “I thought it would be simple, and I wanted to help them out.”
Theresa was busy sorting the leftovers on her kitchen counter. “You should have stayed out of anything with committees.”
“All right. I get it. I guess I’d better go home and check on the kennel. I’m sure Jim isn’t very happy with me again.”
“I’d say that’s a good idea. I’m going to heat up some of these leftovers from the funeral for your Dad. Do you want to take a plate home?” Theresa was already scooping scalloped potatoes from a foil pan.
“No. I think I’ll skip the ham. I don’t feel much like eating anyway. But a plate for Terry would be good. I need to check on her anyway.”
“That’s a good idea. Go tell your father goodbye, and I’ll have it ready in just a minute.”
Gracie pulled into the driveway just before closing time. She waved to two customers who were pulling out. Snow was beginning to fall again, and this time it looked like it was settling in for the night. All was well, and Jim seemed downright cheery. Marian had already left since the grooming schedule had finished early. Cheryl turned over the day’s receipts and shot out the door. From what Cheryl had said over the past few days, she needed to keep an eye on her daughter. Jim was already in his dilapidated recliner when Gracie brought the bank bag in to count the receipts. Haley greeted her mistress and then went back to her bed to chew on her favorite peanut butter-filled bone.
“You look mighty happy there, Jimmy,” she teased, sitting down and pulling the calculator toward her.
“You’re exactly right. Want to know why?”
“You know I’m dying to know. My best guess is that it has to do with Laney. Am I right? Are you finally going to let me know what’s going on?”
“It is. She’s moving down to the lake house in the spring.” He leaned forward, and his dark blue eyes were positively shining. “She’s also arranged to work from home two days a week.”
“Sounds great. Does this mean that things are, well, moving in a certain direction?” Gracie rolled up the calculator tape and paper clipped it to the cash and checks.
“It could. I may actually do a little traveling with her when she has a business trip. We’re both making some compromises.”
“I can’t believe what I’m hearing.”
“Well, it’s going to happen. We’re both so focused on our jobs, we need to step back and focus on our relationship if it’s going to lead in that certain direction.”
Gracie looked up from the calculator. “You’ve actually talked about the “M” word?”
“Well, sort of.” Jim squirmed a little in the chair. “We’ll take it slow.”
“Ah. That’s the Jim Taylor I’m familiar with,” she laugh
ed, shaking her head. “Honestly, Laney’s the best thing that ever happened to you, and the relationship is worth working on.”
She dug around in her desk drawer for some aspirin. The headache she’d gotten after the ambulance took Will away was still nagging.
“Did you survive the funeral excitement?”
“Mostly. I didn’t get a chance to tell you that Will Dover had a heart episode and was taken to the hospital. He’s OK though. This whole library thing is out of control.”
“No doubt, Chief. I told you not to get involved on a committee. They’re time wasters and now you’re up to your waders in police stuff again.”
“Sadly, you are correct, and you’re echoing my mother’s sentiments. It all goes back to trying to be a good neighbor. If I hadn’t taken Terry in, I wouldn’t even care about the library. It seems like it all started when she arrived, but after looking at things today, it started a lot longer ago that.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being a good neighbor. You sort of get carried away with it.” His eyes crinkled with humor.
“Right. But I made a promise to help them out until the end of March. I’ll be ready to throw in the towel by then. But Terry’s scared to death of whoever is stalking her. She’s going back to work tomorrow, so I’m taking the dogs to her tonight.”
“I’m surprised she didn’t want the dogs with her. That’s kind of strange, if you ask me.”
“You didn’t see how bad she looked. She should’ve gone to the doctor, but like the rest of us, Terry’s stubborn about that stuff. She has an alarm service, so the house is pretty secure.”
“That’s good. Well, you and Marc doing anything this week?”
Gracie raised an eyebrow and frowned at her partner. “Don’t know. I haven’t seen too much of him lately. He’s always taking extra shifts.”
“I don’t blame him on that one, Chief. You’re sending him mixed signals. One day everything is good, and the next day you barely speak to him. You were pretty icy when we went skiing. You need to figure out what direction you want to go in your relationship. I’m not the only one with issues here.”
By the Book (A Gracie Andersen Mystery 2) Page 15
