Arsenic and Old Books

SIXTEEN

Diesel jumped down from the windowsill to go sidle up to the mayor. Kanesha rose from her chair, and I did, too, as soon as I could gather my jumbled thoughts enough to do so.

“Another volume,” I said. “That’s exciting.”

“I thought you’d be pleased,” Mayor Long said as she patted the cat’s head. “With the loss of the other four, and not knowing if—and when—we might get them back, this is truly lucky.”

She stepped forward, and Kanesha moved to one side. The mayor’s eyes lit on the diary on my desk. She stared at Kanesha, then at me. “That looks like one of the missing diaries.”

“When I came in this morning,” I said, “I found them on the shelves here, as if they had never disappeared.”

The mayor shook her head back and forth several times, obviously surprised. “What in the blue blazes is going on here?”

Kanesha motioned for Mrs. Long to take the chair she had vacated, and the mayor nodded. She made herself comfortable, her handbag in her lap. She leaned forward to place the canvas tote and its contents on the front edge of my desk. Diesel, evidently convinced the petting was done, went back to his spot in the window behind me.

Kanesha pulled another chair near the mayor and sat while I resumed my own seat. I was about to speak when Kanesha caught my eye. She shook her head slightly, so I stayed quiet.

“Your Honor,” Kanesha said, “I have some news I need to share with you. Pretty shocking news. I was planning to call you this morning after I finished with Mr. Harris, but we might as well talk now.”

Mrs. Long’s hands tightened on her handbag. Her expression blank, she said, “Go ahead.”

“I’m sorry to inform you that Dr. Marie Steverton has died,” Kanesha said.

“Dead? What on earth happened? I just talked to her last night.” The mayor sounded bewildered.

“She was the victim of a hit-and-run in the street in front of her house,” Kanesha said. “A neighbor was wakened by the noise around two a.m. and went out to investigate. He found her, but she was beyond help by then.”

“How horrible,” the mayor whispered. “What in the name of all that’s holy was Marie doing outside at that time of the morning?”

“We are investigating that,” Kanesha said. “At present we don’t know what would have brought her outside then.” Her gaze focused on the tote bag on my desk. Her tone sharpened when she spoke. “Your Honor, where did you get that bag?”

“The bag?” Once again the mayor appeared at sea. “I’ve had it for some time. I picked it up years ago at a college reunion. Why do you ask?”

“We found one like it, with that same emblem on it, in the street near Dr. Steverton,” Kanesha said. “It was larger than yours. It was also empty, although there were traces of something that had been inside it. We’re going to have it examined thoroughly, of course.”

“This gets weirder by the minute,” I said.

“Marie and I were at Sweet Briar together,” the mayor said. “It’s no surprise she had a bag with the crest on it. But why did she have it with her then?”

“That’s what we aim to find out,” Kanesha said. “I’m hoping the trace evidence inside will tell us. Your Honor, do you know if Dr. Steverton has any family that we need to contact?”

Mrs. Long shook her head. “As far as I’m aware, no, she didn’t have any close relatives. The college may have more information for you.”

“I’ll be checking with them,” Kanesha said. “You mentioned you talked to Dr. Steverton last night. Can you tell me about that conversation, and when it took place?” She pulled out her notebook and a pen.

“Your Honor, would you like some water? Or something else?” I asked. Mrs. Long looked a little wan to me.

The mayor shook her head. “No, thank you, Mr. Harris.” She turned to Kanesha. “I’ll do my best, but it really was a brief conversation.” She paused for a moment, her brow wrinkled. “It was around ten thirty, I think. To be honest, I was a bit irritated with her for calling so late, because I was getting ready for bed after a long and tiring day.”

“Did she want something in particular?” Kanesha asked when the mayor paused.

“I was so tired by then I could hardly concentrate,” the mayor said. “Marie had a habit of jabbering away without giving a person time to think, much less get a word in edgewise. When she slowed down a bit, I could finally figure out what she was talking about.” She shook her head. “She kept asking me if I thought the diaries were worth as much as fifty thousand dollars. I told her I had no idea, and then I asked her why she wanted to know.”

“What did she say?” Kanesha asked.

“She just kept going on about a reward, and how that might get them back. You can afford it, Lucinda. She must have said that ten times. Surely they’re worth that much to your husband and son. She also said that several times. She sounded excited, and I got tired of listening to her. I didn’t even get a chance to tell her we’d found another volume of the diary.” She sighed heavily. “I finally told her I’d think about it. I had to hang up on her, because then she started on about maybe the diaries being worth even more than fifty thousand.”

I knew Marie Steverton had pinned her hopes of tenure on the diaries and was no doubt desperate to get them back. How—and why—did she come up with such a crack-brained scheme? I couldn’t imagine that the thief took them in hopes of extorting a reward for returning them. That was crack-brained as well.

Then another thought struck me. What if Marie had stolen the diaries and then hit on the plan to extort money from the Longs?

I glanced at Kanesha, but as usual I couldn’t read her expression. I felt diffident about mentioning the idea in front of the mayor. I would broach the subject to Kanesha later in private, if she didn’t bring it up first with the mayor now.

“Did you think more about the idea of a reward?” Kanesha asked.

“Frankly, no,” the mayor said. “I think Marie was drinking when she called me. That fast talking was usually a sign of it. She would go on these binges sometimes when she was upset or worried and start calling people. When she sobered up she didn’t often remember making the calls.” She shook her head. “So I figured she would have forgotten about such a foolish idea this morning.”

“Do you think it was possible she took the diaries herself?” Kanesha asked. “Do you have any idea whether she needed money badly?”

Mrs. Long stared at the handbag in her lap for a few moments. When she raised her head, she said, “I suppose it’s possible. But I find it hard to believe Marie would do such a thing. As to whether she needed money badly, I really have no idea. She never approached me for money before.” She focused on her handbag again.

“I have to consider all possibilities,” Kanesha said. “Can you think of anyone who had a grudge against Dr. Steverton? Someone who intended her harm?”

Mrs. Long shook her head. “The good Lord only knows how Marie could rile people up. She never learned the value of tact and diplomacy. That cost her a number of jobs, I’m afraid. But I can’t see anyone being angry enough with her to run her down in a car.” The mayor looked wan again.

I couldn’t blame her. I found that mental image unsettling myself. Poor Marie Steverton, I thought. A painful way to die.

“Thank you for your time, Your Honor,” Kanesha said. “Now, about the diaries that have been returned.”

“That is just as hard to believe as someone wanting to kill Marie,” the mayor said. “Why take them and then bring them back less than twenty-four hours later? It doesn’t make sense.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Kanesha said. “Until we find out who took them and who returned them, we won’t know what the motivation was. The problem at the moment is, I need to take them as evidence. They’ll need to be examined for anything that could answer our questions. Obviously, Mr. Harris here wants them safely back in the archive as soon as possible. I wondered whether you could talk to some of your contacts and see if the state crime lab can make them a priority.”

The mayor looked troubled. “I hate to see the diaries go anywhere, but obviously I understand the need to have them examined. I know a couple of people in Jackson who might be able to help.” She stood. “I’ll see what I can do. For now, at least, Mr. Harris can work on the fifth volume.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, Your Honor, where did you find it?” I thought it odd that all five volumes weren’t together when she made the first discovery.

“Not at all,” Mrs. Long said. “I was curious about the trunk Beck found the others in, and I had a little time after dinner. So I went up to the attic and dug around in it a bit more. I discovered there was a false bottom in the trunk, and this fifth volume was in it.”

“I wonder why it was hidden and separated from the others.” I stared at the tote bag. Could this fifth volume be the reason there was such interest in the diaries in the first place? Did it contain the elusive secrets that lay behind this whole bizarre situation?