Read It and Weep (A Library Lover's Mystery)

by Jenn McKinlay

  “I think I’ll release it in the field behind my house. I don’t want it scaring customers out of the garden center.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Lindsey said. She jotted down on a piece of paper the number for the Connecticut wildlife office. “Here’s a number for you to call if you want more advice, and I’d recommend calling them before you release it just in case there is something else you need to know about this type of snake.”

  “Thanks, Lindsey,” Mrs. Duncan said. “You were a big help.”

  “Anytime,” Lindsey said. “But remember, next time a photo will do.”

  Mrs. Duncan grinned. She put her jar back in her big bag and left the library.

  “Is it gone?” Lindsey glanced behind her to see Jessica peering around the corner of the shelves.

  “Yes, both the snake and Mrs. Duncan are gone,” Lindsey said. “It wasn’t poisonous.”

  Lindsey held up the pamphlet to show Jessica, but she put her hand up and waved her off.

  “I don’t even like pictures of snakes,” Jessica said.

  “Oh, sorry,” Lindsey said. She went and re-filed the pamphlet. She stopped by the desk on her way back to her office. “Let me know if you need backup again.”

  “Thanks,” Jessica said.

  Lindsey took a few minutes to walk around the library and make sure everything was as it should be. The Internet-accessible computers were full. The cushy chairs in front of the newspaper and magazine racks were also full. There was a chess match going on in the corner, and several families occupied the children’s area.

  She watched as two kids put on an impromptu show in the puppet theater while several toddlers were using the alphabet area rug to stack up the large oversized foam blocks. When a younger toddler came over and smacked down the towers, the cries of outrage were fierce but the mom of the offending toddler was right there, and she got him to apologize and help repair the damage he’d caused. Lindsey wished that all conflicts could be resolved so simply.

  There was no sign of Milton when she passed the circulation desk and went into the workroom, where her office was located. Ms. Cole was assisting a patron with a fine, and if she had any opening-night jitters about the play, they didn’t show. Lindsey found herself speculating about Milton and Ms. Cole, but then she shook her head. Curious as she was, it was none of her business.

  She went into her office and decided to try and work on her presentation to the Friends of the Library. She wanted them to consider broadening the summer reading program to include prizes for whole families; after all, having parents and grandparents model good reading behavior for kids was probably the most effective way to up the community’s involvement, especially if prizes were involved.

  She was just going over her proposal when Heather poked her head into the office. “Hi, Ms. Norris. I was just wondering—did Dylan call out?”

  Lindsey glanced at her phone. The flashing light that indicated a waiting voice mail was solid, so no messages.

  “No, not to my phone, at any rate,” she said. “Did you check with Ms. Stanley?”

  “Yeah, she said she didn’t hear from him, either. He wasn’t at school today,” Heather said. She hesitated and then added, “His mom called my house last night around midnight, looking for him. She called Perry’s house, too. As far as I know, he never went home. I’m worried about him.”

  “He’s not in trouble,” Lindsey said. “I mean, Chief Plewicki let him go last night, if that’s what’s worrying you.”

  “You know he gets sick a lot,” Heather said. “What if the stress of all of this is making him ill?”

  “I’ll call his mother,” Lindsey said, “and make sure he’s okay.”

  “Thank you,” Heather said. She looked relieved.

  Lindsey took a key out of her top drawer and used it to open the locked file cabinet in the corner. The cabinet contained the library’s personnel files, and she flipped through it until she came to Dylan’s folder. His phone number and personal information were in it, and she carried it back to her desk.

  The very first sheet had his phone number, but she took a second to flip through the file. The form was generic, but she noted that Joanie had stapled a handwritten note to the file. It listed all of the ailments that Dylan was known to suffer from and as Lindsey read through the list, she found herself getting more and more alarmed.

  Joanie’s list of things that Dylan suffered from included dizziness, nausea and sweats. Lindsey couldn’t help but flash on the last few minutes of Robbie’s life. He had exhibited all of those symptoms.

  Maybe she was crazy, but her hand was reaching for the phone to call Emma before she could stop herself. She reached the front desk. Emma was out. She left a message for Emma to call her. At the very least, she wanted to show Emma the file and see if it struck her the same way it had Lindsey.

  She had heard stories of mothers who intentionally harmed their children because the mother was mentally ill; could Joanie be doing that to Dylan? Was his illness real or was his mother causing it? The thought made a cold shiver run down Lindsey’s spine. Dylan was missing. She did not have a good feeling about this.

  • • •

  She was just putting Dylan’s file away when Beth stuck her head in the office.

  “Lindsey, we’re supposed to report to the theater early tonight,” she said. “Come on!”

  Lindsey glanced at the clock. Where had her afternoon gone?

  “I’m coming,” she said.

  She shut down her computer. Then she grabbed her purse out of the lower drawer of her desk and hopped up from her seat. Maybe she could catch Emma at the theater. Beth was dancing from foot to foot in the doorway.

  “Did you want to grab something to eat first?” Lindsey asked.

  “No.” Beth shook her head, looking pale and ill.

  “You’re going to be fine,” Lindsey said.

  “I don’t know,” Beth said. “Perry and Heather both said that they haven’t seen Dylan all day. What if his mother is holding him out? What if there is no Puck?”

  “There will be,” Lindsey said. “Worst-case scenario, Violet plays Puck. You know she knows all of the blocking and the lines.”

  “A sixty-something black woman playing Puck,” Beth said as they walked out of the workroom. “That doesn’t seem odd to you?”

  “When you consider that in Shakespeare’s time all of the actors were men and they played the female characters? No, it doesn’t seem that odd. Besides, Violet would be great. She can do anything.”

  “Agreed,” Beth said. “But still . . .”

  “You’d prefer Dylan,” Lindsey said.

  “Well, yeah,” Beth said.

  “Break a leg,” Ann Marie called from behind the circulation desk.

  “Thanks.” Beth grinned.

  “Good luck,” Jessie called from the reference desk.

  “Wow, I feel like a celebrity,” Beth said. “Where’d the lemon go? I figured we could walk over together.”

  “I’m guessing she already left,” Lindsey said. “You know how she is about being prompt.”

  They stepped outside the library. The sky was just beginning to get dark, and Lindsey could smell the distinct scent of woodstove smoke in the air. It was early in the year to be firing up the woodstove, but then, the weatherman on television had said that tonight would be the coldest one yet.

  Beth huddled in her jacket. She was mumbling to herself and Lindsey wondered if it was a personal conversation or her lines that she was going over. Either way, she decided not to interrupt her friend and instead took a moment to relish the sight of the leaves on the trees in the park taking on the last of the sun’s rays in bursts of orange, red and yellow. Breathtaking.

  They continued down the sidewalk to the theater. The closer they got, the more Beth started to hum with anxiety.

  The
ushers and ticket takers were all in the lobby and they turned when Lindsey opened the door as if they were expecting their first guests.

  “Cast and crew,” Lindsey said.

  Kim Berger, who was in charge of the ushers, nodded at them and waved them through.

  “Oh, my god, this is really happening,” Beth said. “That’s it. I can’t do it. I can’t go on stage.”

  28

  “What?” Lindsey grabbed her arm before she bolted.

  “I can’t do it,” Beth said.

  Lindsey pulled her through the doors that led into the theater. The lights were down. Crew members were scrambling to make sure the set was just right for the opening act, and cast members were in various states of costume, huddled in dark corners while they went over their lines.

  “Stop it,” Lindsey said. “You just have a touch of stage fright. Shake it off.”

  “Shake it off?” Beth repeated. “How?”

  “Violet will set you right,” Lindsey said. “Come on.”

  Violet was in front of the stage with a crowd around her. From the looks of it, Beth wasn’t the only one panicking. The lighting man was holding up colored gels, the stage director kept testing his headset as if he just couldn’t believe it actually worked and two of the cast members were wringing their hands and looking as ill at ease as Beth.

  Lindsey would have felt sorry for Violet, but she looked energized in a way Lindsey had never seen before. Her eyes sparkled, her skin glowed and her smile was positively luminescent.

  “Cast and crew,” Violet called everyone forward. “Gather ’round.”

  As if they had all been tucked into the woodwork, the players and crew came forward, gathering en masse in front of the stage. Violet’s gaze moved over all of them with the affection of a mother.

  Lindsey felt someone join the group on her other side, and she glanced over to see Sully, Ian and Mary move in beside her.

  “Tonight, we perform for our friend Robbie Vine,” Violet said. “Fear not that you aren’t ready. His spirit will carry you through your scenes.”

  Lindsey saw Beth visibly relax beside her. Leave it to Violet to remind them that this was about more than the individual cast and crew members. It was a living memorial to Robbie Vine, and if anyone could elevate their abilities, it was him.

  “Now remember,” Violet continued, “this is theater. It is a living organism that lives and breathes as you live and breathe, and it will live whether you flub your entrance or forget your lines. Be flexible, help each other and adjust, but most important, live.”

  An air of calm descended over the group. The doors at the back of the theater opened and in stepped Dylan Peet. A collective sigh of relief swept through the assembled cast, and Lindsey saw Violet smile at the young man.

  “Dylan, you’re just in time,” Violet said. Her voice was kind and she lifted her right hand and waved him into the group. The others parted so that he could stand beside her.

  Violet took his hand in hers and gave him what Lindsey thought was a searching look. He answered with a slight nod and she turned back to the group. Lindsey noted that Dylan appeared a little pale but otherwise fine. Maybe she was crazy to think there was a connection to his lifelong illness and Robbie’s death. Still, she scanned the theater for Joanie but didn’t see her.

  “Join hands, please,” Violet instructed. “I’m going to lead you through a centering exercise.”

  Lindsey held out one hand to Beth and one to Sully. She felt the spark she always felt when Sully’s callused hand enfolded hers. She tried to ignore it, but she couldn’t deny that her heart rate had picked up considerably.

  “Close your eyes,” Violet said. “Try to clear your mind of all thought and of all emotion. Just be.”

  Lindsey had her mind clear for about a nanosecond, but then she felt Sully’s thumb running ever so slightly back and forth over the pulse point in her wrist, which felt as if she was being repeatedly hit with gentle zaps of electricity.

  Did he know what he was doing? She lowered her head and opened her left eye to sneak a peek at him. Even in the dim lighting, she could see that his eyes were shut and his face was perfectly composed as if he were taking a nap. Ugh!

  She resisted the urge to kick him. After their near kiss yesterday, her immunity to him was nil. Even the faint scent of his aftershave was slowly making her crazy.

  While Violet spoke of the deep, dark quiet of a forest at night, Lindsey tried to block out the impact Sully was having on her senses. She closed her eyes and shook her head as if she could shake him off just as easily. It was a battle.

  So many memories of her months dating Sully filled her mind; lazy Sundays spent sleeping in followed by working on the crossword together, late-night strolls on the beach with Heathcliff running between them while he chased the waves, and days spent sailing in the Sound while he taught her how to harness the wind. The memories filled her mind like his touch on her skin and the scent of him in her nose.

  “Now slowly open your eyes,” Violet instructed them.

  Lindsey heard Violet’s voice, but it took her a moment to process the instruction. She really didn’t want to leave the happy memories she had spent the past few months squashing down deep.

  A chuckle forced her to blink her eyes open and when she did, she was mortified to find that she had pressed her body flush up against Sully’s. His face was just inches from hers and he was smiling at her as if he’d been reliving the same memories she had and that he’d been happy to do so.

  Lindsey dropped his hand as if it burned and stepped away from him. She saw Ian and Mary exchange a knowing look and she felt her face get hot.

  She cleared her throat and fanned herself with her free hand. She turned to Beth and asked, “Is it hot in here?”

  Beth released her hand and glanced at her, looking amazingly calm compared to the nervous wreck she had been just moments before.

  “No; in fact, I think it’s chilly,” she said. She narrowed her gaze at Lindsey. “Are you all right? You look flushed.”

  “I’m fi—” Lindsey cleared her throat again. “I’m good.”

  “Oh, okay.” Beth looked at her suspiciously. Then she glanced across Lindsey and said, “Oh, hi, Sully. When did you get here?”

  “A few minutes ago,” he said.

  Lindsey could hear the amusement in his voice but she refused to turn around and face him.

  “Now, if you’ll all spread out,” Violet instructed. “Let’s get centered.”

  They all took a few steps away from each other. Lindsey made sure she was out of range from pressing herself up against Sully again. Honestly, she didn’t think she was ever going to live that down.

  “Everyone stand with your feet apart and parallel with your shoulders. Relax your shoulders and drop your head to your chest,” Violet instructed. “Let the weight of your head pull your body to the floor, and bend over at the waist.”

  Lindsey saw Milton across the crowd. As the resident yogi, he was doing the proper breathing and could press his upper body flat against the front of his legs. He’d been coaching Lindsey on this move, but she still had to bend her knees a bit.

  With a sigh, she followed Violet’s instructions. She inhaled and then slowly released it as she lowered her body forward. Her long, blonde hair covered her face and she could feel the blood rush to her head. At least now everyone would look red in the face. The thought made her laugh, which came out funny given that she was upside down.

  “You okay over there?” Sully asked.

  She turned and saw that he was bent over, looking red in the face, which only made her laugh again.

  “Yep, and you?” she asked.

  “I think I might be stuck,” he said.

  She could tell by the gleam in his eye that he was kidding.

  “Now rise slowly from the base of your spine,” Viole
t instructed. “Go slowly, vertebra by vertebra. Raise your head at the very end.”

  Lindsey rose slowly back up. She could feel everyone rising around her as if they were plugged into a collective energy socket. When they lifted their heads, eyes were bright and smiles were eager.

  She looked at Beth and asked, “How are you?”

  “Never better,” Beth said.

  “All right, everyone, we have a half hour to curtain,” Violet said. “Let’s give them a show they’ll never forget.”

  The group let out a cheer, and everyone made for their various stations. Lindsey glanced at Sully as he headed for the backstage area. As if sensing her gaze on him, he turned around and smiled at her before disappearing behind the curtain.

  “What has gotten into that man?” she muttered to herself.

  “Lindsey! Mary!” Nancy called them over. “I’ve got the cast arriving for final costume checks, and we need to make sure we have everything we’ll need backstage.”

  “I’ll check the back,” Lindsey volunteered.

  She left the seating area and went backstage. The curtained area they were using for costume changes was stocked with racks and the necessities for emergency repairs.

  Nancy had tacked a list to the wall of costume changes, and Lindsey checked it against the items on the racks to make sure they had everything. Even Ian’s donkey head mask was ready to go.

  The cast had all disappeared to the green room while the crew scurried to make sure everything was in its place. Violet was on the stage going over the last-minute instructions with the stage manager. They both wore high-tech headsets and would be communicating throughout the show.

  Violet left to give the cast a final, quick pep talk before she headed up to the light booth, where she would stay for the remainder of the show. Lindsey knew that Emma had posted an officer up there as well as one backstage, while she planned to patrol the audience. It was hard to believe that a small community theater show was requiring so much security but given that just about everyone in town was going to be here for opening night, it seemed the rest of town could get by with the two remaining part-time officers on duty.