Arsenic And Old Books

FIFTEEN

I was only half-done with my breakfast when my cell phone rang that morning. I saw Kanesha Berry’s name and number flash on the screen. Kanesha almost never called me with good news. When she told me Marie Steverton was dead, I couldn’t take it in at first.

“What happened?” I asked. I stared at my plate, my appetite gone. Diesel warbled anxiously because he could still smell bacon. I patted his head absentmindedly as I listened to Kanesha’s reply.

“Neighbor across the street heard a crash outside around two this morning. Ran downstairs and out onto the front porch. He saw the body in the street and taillights disappearing way down at the end of the street. He immediately checked on Ms. Steverton, but there was nothing he could do.”

“What was she doing out in the street at that time of the morning?” I couldn’t understand any of this. Why would someone want to kill Marie? Despite her enormously irritating personality, and my own jokes about batting her over the head, I couldn’t fathom her murder. I couldn’t believe it was an accident, either.

“We have no idea yet,” Kanesha said. “How well did you know her?”

“We weren’t friends,” I said. “I knew her, of course, from activities on campus, and a couple of years ago she did a few days’ research in the archive.” I paused for a sip of coffee—my throat went suddenly dry and tight. “The past few days, however, I had several encounters with her over those diaries that are missing.”

“The ones Mayor Long gave you,” Kanesha said. “Still no sign of them, by the way.”

“That’s so frustrating,” I said. I wanted to ask whether anyone had searched Kelly Grimes’s home—or Jasper Singletary’s, for that matter—but I didn’t want to poke the bear too much. Kanesha could definitely resemble a grumpy bear on occasion. She would tell me only as much as she deemed necessary.

“I’ll need to talk to you in-depth about the events of the past few days,” Kanesha said. “There has to be some connection between Dr. Steverton’s murder and the theft of the diaries. Will you be in your office at the archive today?”

“Yes, from about eight thirty on. Come anytime you want.”

“I’ll see you about nine.” Kanesha rang off.

“That my daughter on the phone?” Azalea asked when she walked back into the room with a load of freshly washed and dried dish towels. “Reason I ask is you got that look on your face you usually get when she calls you and reads the riot act.”

I had to suppress a smile. My relationship with Kanesha had been one fraught with conflict, though recently Kanesha tended to be more at ease with me.

“Yes, that was Kanesha,” I said. “Calling to share some terrible news.” I told my housekeeper about the hit-and-run murder of Marie Steverton.

Azalea set the dish towels on the counter, closed her eyes, and said a short prayer under her breath for Marie. “That poor lady,” she said aloud to me when she finished. The simple dignity of her action touched me deeply.

“Yes, it’s horrible,” I said after a moment. “She was one of the most irritating women I have ever met, but I wouldn’t have wished that on her.” I shook my head. “I pray her soul can find peace.”

“She’s in the Lord’s hands now,” Azalea said. She picked up the dish towels and placed them in the drawer where they resided.

Diesel, not pleased at being ignored while I talked on the phone and then with Azalea, stood on his hind legs beside me and reached onto my plate with one paw to steal a piece of bacon.

I caught his paw a second before he got hold of the bacon. “No, bad kitty,” I told him in a firm tone, one I knew he would recognize. “You do not take food off my plate. Bad kitty.”

I released his paw, and he stared at me for a moment. He warbled sadly, as if in apology, and I patted him on the head. I couldn’t give him the bacon now, because I didn’t want him to think he could act badly, be penitent, and then still get his way. He was like a five-year-old child sometimes.

“It’s okay,” I told him. “But you’ll have to be satisfied with your cat food this morning.” He trotted off to the utility room, no doubt in search of sustenance from his food bowls.

I pushed back my chair and stood. I gulped down the rest of my coffee. “Azalea, I’m sorry, but I can’t finish my breakfast. Not really hungry anymore.”

“I understand, Mr. Charlie,” she said. “You going to come home for lunch today? I reckon by then you’ll be feeling better and want something good to eat.”

I smiled. Azalea was always determined to keep me well fed. “Yes, Diesel and I will be home for lunch, as far as I know. If anything comes up to prevent it, I’ll give you a call.”

Ten minutes later Diesel and I left the house to walk to the college. We made it to the archive right on the dot of eight thirty. Melba wasn’t in when we went by her office, and I hoped I could put off talking to her until later in the day. Going through it all with Kanesha would be exhausting enough.

I felt sick at heart when I unlocked the archive door. The replacement lock hadn’t been installed yet, but I didn’t figure the thief would be back for anything more. She—or he—was interested only in the diaries, I was sure.

I flipped the light switch, then bent to release Diesel from his leash and harness. He went straight to the window and climbed onto the sill. I headed for my desk, and my eyes lit on four books lying on it.

I stopped, unable to believe what I saw there.

One of the four volumes of Rachel Long’s diaries without its archival box.

My legs trembled for a moment, and I couldn’t move from the spot. Then I gained control of myself and walked around the desk to sink into my chair. I continued to stare at the book.

My eyes strayed to the shelf. The other three volumes sat there as if they’d never been gone, but without the archival boxes I’d made for them.

This made no sense. Why would the thief steal the diaries one day, only to return them less than twenty-four hours later?

My mind felt stuck in a groove, with that thought going round and round. Then I realized that it was possible that the thief didn’t bring them back. Some other person might have found them and decided to return them, for reasons unknown.

I shook my head. Either way, it was bizarre.

What would Kanesha say when I told her?

Thinking of Kanesha made me realize something that had my stomach twisting in knots.

The diaries were evidence in a crime. That meant Kanesha would take them away for testing. Would the technicians who examined them treat them with the care they deserved?

For a moment I was tempted to hide the diaries and not tell Kanesha they’d been returned. That way I could go ahead and start scanning them and find out what was in them that caused all this brouhaha. When I finished, I could say I found them back on the shelves.

Then I realized that wouldn’t work, for two reasons. The first, and most important, was that I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I couldn’t lie to Kanesha like that. The second was that, once the lock was changed, it would be extremely difficult for someone to get into the office to put them back. There wouldn’t be a way around that inconvenient fact that I could see.

I checked my watch—already three minutes past nine. Kanesha ought to be here any second now. I sat back in my chair and tried to relax. Hearing the purring cat behind my head helped. Happy to be in one of his favorite spots, Diesel rumbled away as he lay there and stared out the window.

A few minutes later Kanesha walked in. “Morning, Charlie.”

I returned her greeting, then said, “You’re not going to believe this.” I gestured toward the book on my desk. “The diaries are back.”

Kanesha stared at me as if she thought I’d lost my mind. She strode forward until she stood less than an inch from the other side of my desk. She looked from me to the book on my desk a couple of times.

“You’ve got all four of them?” she asked.

I nodded. “The other three are on the shelf there.” I pointed to them. “They were in archival boxes when they were taken, but they came back without them.”

Kanesha shook her head. “This is the craziest dang thing I’ve ever seen.” She pulled out her cell phone and punched in a number. After a few moments she identified herself and then gave instructions for retrieval of the diaries for forensic examination. Call completed, she put away the cell phone and found a chair.

“I know you have to take these as evidence,” I said as I resumed my own seat, “but they really have to be handled with extreme care.”

“I understand that,” Kanesha said with a faint note of impatience. “The state crime lab is used to handling all kinds of fragile objects. I’ll be sure they understand the importance of the diaries, and I’m sure they’ll take all due care with them.”

That didn’t completely reassure me, but I had no say in the matter. “How long do you think they’ll take to complete their examination?”

Kanesha shrugged. “Ordinarily it could take several weeks to a few months. They’re always busy. But the mayor might be able to call in a few favors and get them first in line. She knows a lot of influential people.”

Political clout was a good thing, I reflected, when used for a good reason.

“Helpful that they already have your prints on record.” Kanesha grinned.

I decided to ignore that little sally. I was about to ask her a question when I heard a knock at the open door. I glanced past Kanesha to see Lucinda Long in the doorway, her purse on one arm and a canvas bag hanging from the other.

“Good morning, Your Honor,” I said. “Please come in. I have some news I think you’ll be happy about. Deputy Berry and I were just discussing it, in fact.”

The mayor moved forward. “Good morning, Ms. Berry. I’ve got news of my own that I think will make you happy, Mr. Harris.” She brandished the canvas bag. “I’ve found another volume of Rachel Long’s diaries.”