“Pissed,” Robbie said. He lowered his head and directed his stare at Lindsey. “That’s about the only way I can imagine that man will tell me anything. I will have to get him good and truly sozzled.”
“I feel like you’re up to the task,” she said.
Robbie grinned. “There are worse jobs.”
“Right, and in the meantime, I am going to get this vital-record information to Emma,” Lindsey said. “That should get me out of some hot water with her, don’t you think?”
“Eh.” Robbie shrugged. “Are any of us ever truly out of trouble with her?”
Lindsey nodded in agreement. Emma could be exacting, which made her an excellent chief of police.
Robbie departed for his mission, and Lindsey forwarded the divorce record to Emma with a text explaining what she had requested of her friend. Emma could get annoyed with her, but Lindsey seriously doubted that she would. Even if it turned out to be another Lawrence and Sarah Milstein, it was something in a case that was seriously lacking any direction.
She glanced at her computer and realized that she needed to tell Ms. Cole to suspend Toby’s card. If he really had lost it, then whoever had found it had checked out the CDs that were discovered in Kayla’s car. Of course, if it had been the suspect, then it stood to reason that if he had no problem stealing a car, he certainly wouldn’t blink at stealing a library card.
A glance out her office window and Lindsey saw Ms. Cole talking to Milton Duffy. The two of them had been an item ever since performing in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and while some considered them an odd couple, Lindsey took comfort in the fact that two such opposite personalities had found each other.
She decided to take care of Toby’s record herself. She opened the circulation module on her computer and typed in Toby’s name. It took only a moment for his record to appear on the screen. She looked to see whether he had any overdue books she should warn him about, but there weren’t any listed.
She scanned the list of items, seeing that the CDs found in Kayla’s car were still there. She frowned. When she had checked the barcodes for Emma, and Toby had been listed as the person who’d borrowed the items, she hadn’t thought to look at his full record. Now that she was looking at it, there were more items than the CDs checked out, but that made no sense.
Toby had said he’d lost his card before the CDs were checked out. If that was true, then whoever had taken his card had checked out more materials, and they’d done it recently.
Lindsey looked at the list of titles. There were some books and some audiobooks. The titles looked familiar, but why? And then it hit her. The audiobooks listed were perfect for listening to when you were dosed on pain medication and didn’t have the energy to read—say, for someone who had just been hit by a car and was stuck in an enormous cast. As she recognized the list of titles, her heart lurched in her chest.
The list matched the items she had helped Liza gather for Theresa. In fact, it matched exactly. There was no way this was a coincidence. Liza Milstein had used Toby’s card to check out the audiobooks for Theresa, but did that mean she was also the one who had checked out the CDs that were found in the car? Either way, it was not something Lindsey could ignore.
She quickly brought up the circulation records for Theresa Huston and Liza Milstein. Neither of them had any books checked out, so Liza hadn’t used either of their cards. She switched back to Toby’s record. She tapped her lips with her index finger while she considered the ramifications of what she was looking at.
How had Liza gotten Toby’s card? It could have been during their study group. Maybe their cards had just gotten mixed up. But that only proved that Toby wasn’t involved and that Liza was, unless, of course, Toby was lying.
Lindsey hated the thought that either one of them could be involved in something this awful. It looked bad for Liza right now, but Lindsey remembered that Toby had come running up to his study group after Theresa had been hit. He hadn’t been with them in the library, so he had no alibi as far as Lindsey knew, and he had only his word as proof that he had lost his card—maybe he hadn’t. Maybe Liza had gotten her card mixed up with his after the hit-and-run. There was no way to be sure. The only thing that was certain was that someone was lying. The question was, Who?
She picked up the phone on her desk and dialed the police chief’s direct number.
“Chief Plewicki,” Emma answered.
“Emma, it’s Lindsey,” she said. “I think I found something that you might want to look at.”
“What’s that?” Emma asked. Her voice was muffled. It sounded as if she was chewing while she spoke.
“It’ll be easier to explain if I show you,” Lindsey said.
“I’m kind of busy,” Emma said. “I’m trying to trace this Chad Bauman, figure out who was shooting at Theresa Huston last night, and verify that the vital record you texted me is for our Larry and Sarah Milstein. Thanks for that, by the way.”
“You’re welcome,” Lindsey said. “Here’s the thing. I think I know who really checked out those music CDs that the state crime lab has in evidence.”
“I’m listening,” Emma said.
“Liza Milstein,” Lindsey said.
“I’ll be right over.”
The phone went dead, and Lindsey hung up her receiver. She glanced back at the computer and hoped she was correct. She scanned the titles again. She squinted at the list. It was shorter. A couple of them were missing. She refreshed the page. Another one went missing. What the hell? Had someone hacked the system?
She glanced out at the circulation desk and saw Stieg Norrgard chatting with Ms. Cole, who was checking in a stack of items that was piled between them. Oh no! Stieg had returned the materials!
“Stop!” Lindsey yelled. She jumped to her feet and sprinted out of her office, calling, “Stop, Ms. Cole. Stop!”
“What on earth?” Ms. Cole turned to look at her as if she thought Lindsey was a few volumes short of a set.
“Don’t check in any more materials,” Lindsey said.
“I . . . but . . . that’s . . .” Ms. Cole stuttered. Since she was the head of circulation, checking in and out materials was her thing, and being told not to do so clearly did not compute.
“Just until Chief Plewicki gets here,” Lindsey said. “Stieg, hi,” she added as she turned to face him.
“Hi, Lindsey, everything okay?”
“No.” She shook her head. “Did you bring these materials back?”
“Yes, I’m returning them for Theresa,” he said. “She said to say thank you and asked if you had time to find more books and audiobooks for her. She would be ever grateful.”
Lindsey nodded and then turned to Ms. Cole. “Where are the books you just checked in, Ms. Cole?”
“On the cart to be sorted for shelving,” she said. “Exactly where I always put the returned items.”
“Of course,” Lindsey said. She shook her head, feeling panicked at the thought of what she’d discovered being erased by Ms. Cole’s efficiency. She turned to the cart. It was empty. She glanced back at Ms. Cole. “Where are the books?”
“The cart was full,” she said. “Heather took it into the workroom to sort.”
“No!” Lindsey turned to go to the workroom but then turned back and said, “Do not check in anything!”
Both Stieg and Ms. Cole looked at her as if she were possessed, and she realized her voice had come out a tad demonic, so she added, “Please.”
Once in the workroom, Lindsey found Heather sitting on a stool, organizing a cart of books.
“Heather, where is the cart you just wheeled in here?” Lindsey asked.
The part-time teen worker looked at her with a worried expression and pointed to the end of the row of carts. “I put it right there. Did I do something wrong, Ms. Norris?”
“No, you’re fine—I’m just looking for some mater
ials that were just checked in.”
“Oh.” Heather nodded. She watched Lindsey as she hurried for the cart, grabbing the audiobooks she remembered helping Liza choose.
Lindsey saw only five audiobooks that she remembered. She hoped she got them all. She hurried back to the front desk, where Ms. Cole and Stieg Norrgard stood talking in low voices. She knew they were talking about her, and they probably thought she was having a librarian episode, but she didn’t have time to worry about that. It was critical that she gather these audiobooks before Emma—
“All right, Lindsey, I’m here,” Chief Plewicki said as she strode into the library. “What do you have to show me?”
“It was better about five minutes ago,” Lindsey said. She moved to stand beside Ms. Cole and gestured to her computer. “May I?”
Ms. Cole stepped back as if she thought the craziness might be catching, then she waved for Lindsey to continue.
“I ran into Toby Carter this morning,” Lindsey said as she opened up the patron-record option in the circulation system. “He was helping Kayla Manning load groceries into her rental car.” She paused to look at Emma and see whether this had any significance for her. It didn’t appear to, and Lindsey figured she’d better mention that Toby and Kayla were a thing. If she was sharing, she was going to share everything.
“And?” Emma asked.
“He told me that he lost his library card before the hit-and-run,” Lindsey said.
“Yeah, that’s his story,” Emma said. “He told me the same thing last night.”
“He said he didn’t check out those music CDs,” Lindsey said. She finished opening his record and swiveled the computer so that Emma could see the monitor.
Emma glanced at the screen and then at Lindsey. “These are the CDs. I recognize the titles.”
“Yes, they are,” Lindsey said. “And here, checked out after the CDs, are the poetry book and audiobooks that Liza brought to Theresa on the day someone tried to smother her.”
“I’m not following,” Emma said.
“I was with Liza when she checked out those materials. The fact that they are on Toby’s record means Liza used Toby’s card to check them out, using the self-checkout machine, meaning that if she’d had Toby’s card for a while, she also could have been the one to check out the music CDs that were found in Kayla Manning’s car.”
“What?” Stieg stood up straight.
Lindsey ignored him, keeping her focus on Emma.
“I had the record with all of the titles, but Stieg returned the items, and Ms. Cole started checking them in, so while I have the materials, I no longer have the record that is an exact match,” Lindsey said. “Sorry.”
“That’s okay,” Emma said. “You helped her get the books and check them out and saw the record while it was still active. That makes you an eyewitness.”
“To what, exactly?” Stieg asked. He looked tense. “Are you saying that Liza is responsible for the attempts on Theresa’s life?”
“Maybe,” Lindsey said. She liked the young woman. She hated saying it, but she couldn’t deny the possibility. “The other thing I found out this morning is that Toby and Kayla are involved.”
Emma tipped her head to the side and said, “Explain.”
“I interrupted them when they were having a heated discussion outside the grocery store,” Lindsey said. “According to Toby, Kayla wants to keep their relationship quiet because her reputation is already bad, and she’s afraid people will think she’s using Toby as a boy toy to get back at Larry.”
“Or by having him kill Theresa for her?” Emma asked. Her body went rigid.
“He didn’t say that,” Lindsey said. “Just that her taking up with him might make her reputation worse than it already is.”
“Well, there’s some self-awareness I wouldn’t have credited her with,” Ms. Cole said.
“I need to talk to them both again,” Emma said. “I swear ninety percent of my job is ferreting out people’s lies. But first, I need to talk to Liza about using Toby’s card. I don’t like what that could mean. Liza has easy access to Theresa.”
“More than you know,” Stieg said. He shoved his hand into his pocket, pulled out his phone, opened the display window, swiped, and then held the phone to his ear. “Stefan, we have a problem. Theresa cannot be alone with Liza.”
Lindsey could hear Stefan’s voice on the other end. He sounded upset.
Stieg looked at Emma Plewicki. “Do you have your car here?”
“Yes, why?”
“Stefan dropped off Liza and Theresa at the Thistle Inn and Resort not far from here,” he said. “Liza told him not to wait around, since no one knew they were going there. The place is so high end it has its own security, so he figured they’d be fine. Theresa said they were going to have a quiet spa day and not to worry.”
Emma started to run, shouting over her shoulder, “Hold those books!”
Stieg jogged after her. The automatic doors whooshed closed behind them, and Lindsey blew out a breath and leaned against the counter. “I hope they get there in time.”
15
Lindsey printed out the records for Toby, Liza, and Theresa. She then put the records and the materials that Stieg had brought back in a cupboard in her office. As far as she was concerned, it was evidence, and she would treat it as such until further notice from Emma.
The wait for news was painfully slow. She found she couldn’t focus on any tasks and roamed the library, looking out the window with her phone in her pocket.
An hour went by, and there was still no word. She was straightening the new magazine rack when the doors slid open and Robbie entered the building, scanning the room until he saw her.
“Lindsey, you may want to take a little break, um, now,” he said. He was walk-running at her, and Lindsey looked at him in bewilderment.
“What do you mean?” she asked. “What’s going on?”
“You!” Larry Milstein came in right behind Robbie. His face was a mottled shade of red, and he looked like he was barely keeping a lid on his temper.
Lindsey knew there was only one reason Larry would be furious with her. He must have found out that she told Emma that Liza might be responsible for the attempts on Theresa’s life. She was swamped with a sudden wave of guilt but then remembered she had found documentation that Larry had divorced his wife ten years ago and had never told anyone that she was still alive. She was not the bad guy here.
She put her hands on her hips and thrust out her chin. “What?”
Milstein came to a full stop in front of her. “How could you? You know Liza. She considers you her friend. How could you tell the police that she was the one behind the attempts on Theresa’s life?”
“I didn’t say that,” Lindsey said. Milstein gave her an incredulous look. “I said she might be.”
He threw his hands up in the air.
Robbie stepped up beside Lindsey as if to protect her. She appreciated the gesture, but she could handle this.
“Listen, if what Toby said was true, and he did lose his library card before Kayla Manning’s car was stolen, then the person who had his card, Liza, is the person the police need to speak with,” she said.
“It’s all circumstantial,” he protested. “Not to mention ridiculous. Liza loves Theresa. Why would she hurt her?”
“Maybe because she found out that her mother is alive,” Robbie said.
Milstein gaped at him. “Who told you that?”
Lindsey didn’t say anything. She knew Robbie had said what he had to pull Milstein’s ire off her, but she had a feeling Emma was going to be unhappy. Too late now.
“I told him,” Lindsey said.
“Wasn’t really planning to share that part, pet,” Robbie whispered to her.
“That is personal information,” Larry said. “No one has any right to invade my privacy.�
�
“They do if your wife is alive,” Emma Plewicki said. She strolled into the library, looking as if she’d expected to find Larry here. “I had the divorce record that Lindsey found checked out. It is yours. You’ve known all along your wife was alive, haven’t you?”
“I . . .” Larry swallowed. He glanced at each of them, and then his face crumpled from outrage to grief. “Yes, of course I knew.” He glanced at Emma with a fierce light in his eye. “Theresa, is she . . . ?”
“She’s fine,” Emma said. “Stefan found her at the spa and got her out of there. Luckily, she was waiting in the lounge with several other ladies. Stieg searched for Liza, but there was no sign of her. She appears to have run.”
“She didn’t!” Larry protested. “She wouldn’t. She loves Theresa. She considers her more of a mother than her own mother. If anyone is after Theresa, it’s that Toby kid. He’s sleeping with Kayla Manning, who has never gotten over being dumped by me, and I’m sure she used her sexual favors to manipulate him into doing what she wanted.”
Lindsey glanced at Robbie. His eyebrows were up high on his forehead as he took in this torrent of accusation.
“Which is why I asked them both to meet us here, since I knew you were here as well,” Emma said. “I’d like to hear what they have to say about that.”
“Who cares what they have to say?” Larry shouted. “Wait. How did you know I was here? Are you following me?”
Emma shrugged.
Lindsey glanced around the room and noted that the library had gone still as everyone watched the drama unfold. Clearly, everyone cared.
“Maybe we should take this into another room,” she said.
“Chief Plewicki.” Andrea Carter entered the library with her son Toby by her side. “You asked us to meet you here?”
“Oh, boy, and now Mom is involved,” Robbie said. He folded his arms across his chest, obviously settling in to watch what happened next.
“Yes, thank you,” Emma said. She turned to Lindsey. “I think I’ll take you up on the offer of a meeting room.”
Hitting the Books Page 16
