Deadly Ever After by Eva Gates (distant reading .txt) 📗

“What about you, James?” I said nonchalantly. “What did you do?”

“Nothing special.” He walked away.

Daisy called, “Cheerio!” clattered her bangles once more, and followed James up the back stairs to the rare-books-and-maps room. Louise Jane’s arm popped out from the stacks, and she gave them a wave as they passed.

The next person through the doors was my aunt Ellen accompanied by one of her friends. “Good morning, Lucy,” they called.

“ ’Morning.”

“We’re here to help with Saturday activities,” Aunt Ellen said. “The marsh walk the other day was such an enormous success, Ronald wants to carry what the children learned out there inside with activities to do with Eastern North Carolina wildlife.”

“He’s got the school-aged children keeping a diary of sightings,” the other woman said. “We’re going to help them with that today.”

They headed for the stairs. Curses. Saturday is always the busiest day at the library. Ronald had children’s programs all day, and that meant parents would be in too, needing help or wanting to chat, and the volunteers, such as Aunt Ellen, would be needed in the children’s library. Bertie didn’t usually come in on Saturdays, and she wasn’t expected today.

Meaning, I was trapped here until closing time.

Maybe not. “Louise Jane!” I called.

Her head appeared around a shelf. “Yes?”

Louise Jane was a regular volunteer at the library. She knew her way around the place and how we did things. All I needed was someone to staff the circulation desk for an hour or two, and she’d done that before. Charlene and Ronald were in the building if anything came up.

I’d take an early lunch hour. In the past, Bertie had given me permission to take the time I needed when I was helping the police. I’d assume she’d do the same this time. It shouldn’t matter that this case didn’t directly involve the library community, should it?

Better, as they say, to ask forgiveness than seek permission.

“I’m taking my lunch break early, and I have to go into town,” I said. “Do you mind watching the desk for an hour or so?”

“Not at all. I need to start getting more familiar with how things work around here anyway.”

“Why?”

“No reason.” Louise Jane gave me a wink. “No reason at all.”

“Thanks. I guess. I’ll call you in half an hour. If you don’t hear from me, call Connor and tell him I decided not to take his advice.”

Her eyebrows rose. “What does that mean?”

“He’ll know.” I checked my watch. “It’s five to ten now. I’ll call at ten thirty, and then every half hour until I get back.” I set the timer on my phone to remind me.

Louise Jane’s intense eyes studied my face. “Are you in some sort of trouble, Lucy?”

“No. It’s another beautiful summer’s day on the Outer Banks; what sort of trouble could I get myself into?”

I phoned Evangeline to let her know I was coming, and I found her and Leon Lions relaxing by the hotel pool. Not as calm as I’d been last night; my nerves were on edge, and I’d kept my eye on the traffic around me all the way into town. No one seemed to be following me. Would I have been able to tell if they were? Still, as I’d said to Louise Jane, it was daytime. I’d be sure to stay in public places, surrounded by people.

Josie’d called this morning when I was still at Connor’s, wanting to make sure I was okay. Jake told her what happened, although either Butch hadn’t told him about the note left on the door or he hadn’t shared that with Josie, and I decided not to tell her that she’d been threatened as well as me.

The threat had been intended to scare me off investigating the death of Rich Lewiston. Instead, now, more than ever, I was determined to get to the bottom of things. Suppose they never found out who did it? The threat would hang over me for a long time.

Evangeline looked terribly glamorous relaxing in the sun beside the pool in a black one-piece bathing suit, huge sunglasses, long dangling earrings, and an enormous straw hat adorned with a black ribbon. Her dark hair was pinned up on top of her head, and a glass of orange juice rested on the table next to Paris Is Always a Good Idea by Jenn McKinlay. Leon did not look the least bit glamorous in orange-and-purple swim shorts collapsing under the weight of his big round white belly and a tow truck company’s orange ball cap protecting his balding head from the sun. He also had an orange juice, and his choice of reading material was a political biography.

The juice, I couldn’t help but notice, was extremely pale. Meaning it had been watered down with sparkling wine to make a mimosa.

“Good morning,” I said cheerfully.

Evangeline lifted her sunglasses and peered at me. “What’s this about, Lucy?”

“Where’s Ricky?”

“I haven’t seen him this morning. He and Stephen went out last night after dinner.”

“Hungover, probably,” Leon said. “Oh, to be young again.”

“Can I speak to you, Evangeline?” I asked. “Privately, I mean.”

“What about?”

“That’s the private part.”

Leon lumbered to his feet. “Don’t mind me. I’ll get us another round of drinks.” He took his cap off, rubbed idly at his bald head, and dropped the hat onto the table next to him. “Lucy?”

“Nothing for me, thank you,” I said.

He went into the main building, and I pulled over a chair. The area was busy with children splashing in the cool water of the pool and parents soaking up the hot sun, but no one was sitting near enough to overhear us. I kept my voice low. “Let’s not waste time. Leon will soon be back. I’m going to ask you a question, Evangeline, and you’re going to tell me it’s none of my business, and I’m going to insist. Let’s go directly to the answer part, shall we? Why did you lie to the police about never visiting Nags Head?”

She lowered her sunglasses and looked at me for