“No kidding?” After a beat, he said, “Brent is a cool name.”
“I’m sure there are a lot of cool names out there.”
“Hey, I should start a betting pool.”
“Oh, God,” she grumbled. Not a day went by that Maxwell didn’t have fresh ideas about the various topics he and his buddies could bet on.
“Two betting pools, in fact. One for the due date and the other for the sex of the baby.”
“And what would your guesses be?” she asked, indulging him as he poured her a fresh cup of Jasmine tea.
He thought for a few seconds and said, “I’m betting it’ll be a girl since you’ve already had two boys.”
“I’m not sure it works like that, but okay.”
“And in terms of your delivery date... I don’t know, I’m guessing...” He was studying her stomach. “A week or two?”
“Maxwell,” she burst out laughing. “I’m only seven months along. You would lose that bet.”
“You’re huge,” he commented in disbelief.
“Thanks,” she said dryly, taking the mug from him before waddling out to the living room, which they’d arranged. “We need some flowers in here. We should give Carly a call.”
“You got it,” he said, pulling his cellphone from his baggy jeans.
“Not yet, let’s get the master bedroom squared away.”
“Right, we can think of flowers while we work.”
Kate rounded the living room with ease though she moved slowly, but when she reached the stairs and hoisted herself up a few steps, she felt out of breath.
“I’m not sure I’m going to make it.”
“To the second floor?”
“Damn.” After two heavy steps down, she reached the wooden floor and let out an exhausted sigh.
“Want me to—”
“No, I don’t want you to carry me.”
“I was going to say handle the bedroom myself.”
“Oh, yeah, that would be great. You remember what we decided?”
“Sure do.” He began bounding up the stairs.
“Hey, I’m going to go for a quick drive.”
Maxwell turned to face her and cocked his brow.
“I have another book waiting for me at the library.”
“Want me to drive you?” he asked, rushing down to her.
“No, that would just be a waste of time. I’ll be back in half an hour if not sooner.”
He looked scared, but it wasn’t at the thought of working alone. When Scott had stopped in for lunch a few hours ago, he’d made his point very clear that Maxwell wasn’t to leave Kate alone for any reason.
“Oh, I’ll be fine. You won’t even know I’m gone,” she assured him.
Getting bundled up in the foyer was a slow and arduous task, of which stepping into her boots was the most difficult. She hadn’t bothered with her sock earlier except to tuck it into the toe of her boot and she felt it now, all bunched and damp.
The sleet had let up, she noticed as she walked out to her truck. It was coming down in a fine mist, which chilled her bones, but wouldn’t cause the drive to be too treacherous.
After settling in behind the steering wheel and pulling her seatbelt on, she started off driving through the slushy streets into the center of town.
Maxwell undoubtedly had been a huge help in keeping her Mrs. Fix It business going throughout her pregnancy, but the fact of the matter was that Kate was a loner. She preferred to work in silence all by herself, and as good-natured as Maxwell was, he talked incessantly and it happened to drain her. Any time she could steal away for a breather, she jumped at the opportunity.
Fifteen minutes later, she pulled into the library parking lot and found a parking spot even closer to the entrance than the one she had used that morning. She wasn’t looking forward to dealing with Mrs. Briar, but she told herself the grumpy librarian might still be holed up in the back office.
Starting for the entrance, she made it only a few steps before she felt a strange tightness around her belly. It flared, swelling painfully and she grasped a nearby car, keeling over and breathing into the sensation.
“It’s fine. I’m okay,” she told herself, straightening up once the pain had past. “False contractions happen all the time in the third trimester.”
But as she set off again, taking cautious steps, the tightness hadn’t entirely subsided. She paused, breathing deeply and closing her eyes. The mist on her face was enough to pull the flush from her cheeks, and after a few moments she sensed that her belly felt as it always had. She sighed in relief and started off again, her boots shuffling through the slushy snow until she reached the entrance doors.
Inside the library, quite a few more patrons were seated around the communal table, and she noticed a short line of people holding library books at the counter where Hazel was hurrying to check out their books.
Kate glanced around the library on her way toward the line and didn’t see Mrs. Briar anywhere. When she joined the end of the line, she noticed the office door behind the counter was shut, indicating the crotchety librarian must still be inside.
Inching forward slowly, as Hazel tended to each patron, Kate debated whether or not she should interrupt Mrs. Briar and have a talk with her about being respectful. Her doctor had advised her not to engage in any activities that would rile her up, but Kate reasoned he had been referring to extraneous activities and not verbal confrontations.
Her cell began vibrating in her overalls. She muttered, “Darn,” as she wrestled the zipper of her winter coat down and rifled under her scarf. It was the mayor, Dean Wentworth calling. The library had strict rules against cellphone calls, but she didn’t want to keep the mayor waiting. Dean’s stress had skyrocketed ever since the first winter snow. His amusement park hadn’t pulled in nearly as much money as he had projected, and with the onset of bad weather, the park had closed down for the season.
“Hi,” she whispered, answering the call.
“Kate? Why are you whispering?”
“I’m in the library. What’s up?”
He sighed. “I need a little help over here in my office.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning these windows are terrible. The heaters are right below them and all the heat is billowing out the seams in the windowpane. They’re so drafty that I’m certain my high oil bill is because the building has been leaking heat.”
“So you want me to insulate the windows?”
“Not the entire building.” he said quickly. “We can’t afford it. Just my office.”
“I’d have to swing by Grayson’s to pick up some materials.”
“Great, how soon can you be here?”
She paused for a moment, considering the timeline. She didn’t want to leave Maxwell for too long, and she knew it wouldn’t take him much more than a half hour to arrange the master bedroom. She also knew that Scott wouldn’t appreciate her working solo at the mayor’s office.
“Let me get back to you, Dean. I’m juggling a few projects right now.”
“But can you come by today?” he asked anxiously. “I’ve been wearing my winter coat and hat in the office.”
“I can make today work, yes, but it won’t be for maybe an hour,” she said, making promises she wasn’t sure she could keep. She resolved to make it work, however, as she got off the call just in time to step up to the counter.
“Good, Kate, you’re here,” said Hazel. “I found an excellent book for you in our system. It’s a Lamaze how-to for women in their forties. Apparently the breathing techniques are different if the mother is getting up there in age.”
“Sounds great,” she said.
“There’s just one problem.” Hazel glanced over her shoulder at the office door. “Mrs. Briar scanned it back into the system a few weeks ago, but I couldn’t find it on the shelf.”
“Which means it’s probably in the office?” Kate guessed, eyeing the door. “Is Mrs. Briar going to come out of there any time soon?”
“I have no idea. Clearly, she despises me and has been hiding in there to avoid me. Quite frankly, I can’t say I mind.”
Kate nodded, completely understanding where Hazel was going with her point. “I’ll be the bad guy,” she volunteered, striding toward the office door.
Hazel seemed to hold her breath as Kate rapped her knuckles against the door. “Mrs. Briar?”
There was no response, so she pressed her ear to the door and knocked again.
“She must be in one of her moods,” said Hazel, cautiously inching over.
Kate knocked a third time, announcing, “Mrs. Briar, I am going to come in if you don’t come to the door.”
But again there was no response.
Kate shrugged at Hazel, turned the doorknob and let herself into the room.
The window was wide open. Freezing air was whipping into the office and rustling papers on the desk. Kate’s gaze snapped up to Mrs. Briar, who was seated in the chair. It took a moment for her to register what she was seeing: Mrs. Briar’s eyes were wide open as well as her mouth, her hands splayed on the armrests, her body still as a statue.
There was a red mark across her neck, and as Kate rushed to the woman, she realized it was a laceration.
Mrs. Briar was dead.
Kate placed her fingers against the old woman’s neck just to be sure and when she felt no pulse, she said, “I think someone strangled her.”
Chapter Three
Hazel was wringing her hands and pacing near the communal tables. Kate stood against the windows and split her focus between her old friend and the police officers rushing around within the library office at Detective Kilroy’s instructions. The library had been stripped of patrons the second the officers had arrived, which meant that all of Rock Ridge would soon know that someone had strangled Mrs. Briar and then jumped out of the office window. Kate wasn’t looking forward to hearing the rumors, but for the time being, Hazel was her greatest concern.
She looked just about at the end of her rope.
Kate neared her, which got Hazel to stop pacing.
“I can’t believe this,” the older woman whispered. “I mean, I can believe it, but I can’t believe it. No one liked Mrs. Briar, but no one had a reason to strangle her.”
“It’ll be alright,” she said gently. “Scott will find whoever did this.”
Kate peered into the office where Scott was directing the medics to roll Mrs. Briar’s gurney toward the door. Though she was wrapped in a body bag, Kate could almost see the grouchy woman within. Hazel was right. No one liked the librarian, but Kate couldn’t imagine anyone disliking her so much that they would take her life. It just didn’t make sense. As unpleasant as the old woman was, she kept to herself. When she wasn’t at the library, she was at home. Kate couldn’t even recall seeing Mrs. Briar out and about in Rock Ridge. She lived alone. She had no family. Scott was going to have a hell of a time rustling up leads.
The medics rolled the gurney around the front desk and Scott stepped out into the library after them. Once he’d cleared the doorway, Detective Kilroy began posting crime scene tape across the entrance, though his officers were still gathering evidence inside.
After Scott watched the medics push the gurney out the entrance door, he approached Hazel and Kate.
“Thanks for your patience,” he said in a solemn tone. “Can you tell me what happened?”
Bewildered, Hazel locked eyes with Kate, who offered her a supportive smile, saying, “Go ahead.”
“Well, we were working together. Mrs. Briar had some complaints—the usual you might say—and then she tucked herself into the office. I’ve gotten to know her personality well enough not to dare disturb her. So I left her alone.”
“Around what time did she shut herself into the office?” he asked and Hazel again looked at Kate.
Scott guessed, “She was here with you?”
“I was,” said Kate. “I was checking out a few maternity books. I think Mrs. Briar went into the office around a quarter before nine because I showed up at the old Victorian at nine sharp.”
Scott was jotting this down. “So she was murdered between a quarter to nine and three in the afternoon.” When he glanced up from his notepad, he asked Hazel, “That’s an awfully long time for her to be in there all by herself.”
Hazel winced with guilt. “I should’ve checked on her. But we don’t get along, and I was relieved to have space from her.”
“Don’t blame yourself,” said Kate, wrapping her arm around Hazel’s shoulder.
“Did you hear anything? Did she call out or make any noise? Anything to help me narrow this window?”
Hazel considered the question for a moment, but told him, “No, I didn’t hear a thing.”
“So, it’s safe to say you also didn’t hear any commotion indicating the time she was killed?” he asked, pressing his pen against his notepad.
“No, I wish I had. I would’ve called the police,” she explained.
Scott eyed her carefully for a long moment then said, “Would it be possible for you to write up a list of everyone who was here in the library today?”
Kate didn’t see the sense in that. “Wouldn’t the killer have come and gone through the window?”
Hazel grimaced. “We generally keep the windows locked so the heat doesn’t escape.”
“But are you certain the office window was locked?” she challenged.
“It was last night,” she said openly.
“But did you check this morning?” Kate asked.
“Well, no, but that’s because Mrs. Briar is so pushy. She tends to take over the office on Mondays when we share the shift.”
Kate locked eyes with Scott as if to say she could be right about the window.
“Never the less,” he said. “Get that list to me when you can.”
“Shouldn’t you be canvasing the block outside?” Kate asked, which Scott didn’t seem to appreciate. She kept going. “There are businesses across the street. Someone might have seen the killer jump out the window.”
“Kate, I’m handling it,” said Scott curtly. “And yes, we will canvas. Hazel,” he continued, turning to the older woman. She seemed choked up with apprehension. Kate knew her memory wasn’t what it used to be and listing all the patrons for Scott would be no easy task. “In the past few weeks, or the past few months, did you notice Mrs. Briar get into any confrontations? Or did she mention she had friction with anyone?”
Kate would’ve laughed if this situation weren't so troubling.
Gradually, Hazel said, “Yes, of course,” and Scott seemed excited until she elaborated. “Mrs. Briar was in a state of constant friction with just about everyone. She had a bad attitude. She acted resentful toward the library patrons. She antagonized me. She was always complaining about this or that. She was a very difficult woman.”
“So you two didn’t get along,” he concluded, making some notes.
Kate didn’t like his tone.
“Can you tell me what you two didn’t get along regarding? Specifically, that is?”
“Whoa,” said Kate. “Hazel had nothing to do with this.”
“Kate, please. You were here just before nine in the morning and then you weren’t. Let me ask my questions.”
“Well, for one she criticized how I was keeping the front desk. She said it was messy and then she shut herself in the office,” explained Hazel.
“Any other arguments?”
“Oh millions,” she said with a disgruntled laugh. “Every time I came in for my shift I found countless post-it notes all over the counter and the desk in the office. Instructions on how I should be doing my job. She was so passive aggressive, I couldn’t stand it.”
Kate wanted to hush Hazel before she incriminated herself, but the fact of the matter was that disliking someone or not getting along wasn’t a motive for murder.
Scott continued, “And you didn’t go into the office at all to check on her?”
“No,” said Hazel.
> “Well, I’ll definitely need to speak with all the patrons who were here.”
“Then why did you ask them to leave?” Kate questioned.
“My officers spoke to those who were here when we arrived,” he countered. “But people could’ve come and gone before then.”
Hazel told him she would get right on it and found a slip of paper behind the counter. Kate watched the older woman begin racking her brain, and it pained her to see Hazel so stressed out about this.
“You can’t possibly think she did it,” said Kate in a low tone, as she grabbed Scott’s arm.
“Who said I think she did this? I never said that.”
“But we both know what you’re doing. You don’t believe that she didn’t go into that office after I left. You want to talk to the other patrons to see if she’s lying.”
“Kate, calm down—”
“Did you just tell me to calm down?” she objected. “You never tell a woman to calm down!”
“Lord, fine. Sorry. No, I don’t think an eighty-year-old woman strangled a seventy-year-old woman unless this town has completely gone to hell. It takes a lot of physical strength to kill someone in that manner. Would you trust me to do my job, please?”
Kate sighed. “I’d appreciate it if you could set her mind at ease. I don’t want her panicking at her age. Look at her.”
They both did. Hazel seemed on the brink of tears. Her lower lip was quivering and she hadn’t yet listed one name on the piece of paper.
Scott grumbled out a sigh and promised he would go easy on her.
“Thank you,” said Kate. “Now, if I’m excused.”
“You are, but I want you to be careful,” he warned. “There’s a killer on the loose.”
“I doubt the killer will be a threat to anyone in Rock Ridge.”
“What makes you say that?” he asked.
“Hazel is telling you the truth. No one liked Mrs. Briar. I’m sure the old librarian offended the wrong person and they retaliated. They aren’t going to go after anyone else.”
“Retaliated? Kate,” he said, speaking sternly. “This was premeditated. This was planned. The cord the killer used isn’t a common household item and they didn’t find it in the office. Whether they came in through the front door or jumped through the window, killing wasn’t a last minute decision. It wasn’t retaliation and right now we don’t know that the killer was motivated by Mrs. Briar’s dislikable personality.”
Mrs. Fix It Mysteries: The Complete 15-Books Cozy Mystery Series Page 105
