A Troubling Tail by Laurie Cass

Author:Laurie Cass [Cass, Laurie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2023-08-02T00:00:00+00:00

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As soon as she finished her sandwich, Bianca glanced at her watch. “Sorry, Minnie, but I have to go. I’m showing a house out on the point in half an hour, and the owner was adamant that all the windows be opened for fifteen minutes to get the fresh lake breeze smell inside.”

She put air quotes around “fresh lake breeze,” and I laughed. The point was full of massive residences that normal people called mansions. Most of them had been constructed in the late 1800s as cottages for summer people from Chicago who steamed up Lake Michigan to spend the hot months in cooler climes, hauling north trunks of clothes and bringing maids and cooks who slept in uninsulated attics.

Though those days were long gone, the houses remained. Many still belonged to descendants of the original families, but every once in a while, a house came on the market for prices far beyond the reach of the ninety-nine percent. People selling or buying out on the point tended to have drastically different worldviews than the rest of us, and vastly different expectations about service.

“No way would I have the patience to deal with requirements like that,” I said. “Realtors earn their fees.”

Bianca smiled as she gathered up her lunch detritus. “All in a day’s work. And every job has parts that aren’t any fun, right?”

After she left, I finished my sandwich and tried to come up with the parts of my job that were less than enjoyable: The occasional cranky patron. Kelsey’s way too strong coffee. The annoying president of the Friends of the Library group.

But all of those were minor irritations. No, the worst thing about my job was something that was my own fault: Eddie hair. Keeping the bookmobile as free of cat hair and dander as possible was a constant chore, and I was continually trying to improve the methodologies.

I got up and tossed my lunch leavings into the trash, smiling on the inside. If cleaning up after my own cat was the worst part of my job, I had to be the luckiest person in the world.

The child at the register said, “Have a nice rest of your day.”

“Thanks.” Instead of walking out, I stopped and looked at him. Upon closer inspection, I could see facial signs of adolescence—acne and chin fuzz—so he must be older than he looked. “Maybe you can help me,” I said, shifting into investigator mode.

All the downtown business owners knew one another, so it stood to reason that the employees did, too, at least to some extent. In my head, I quickly read through the suspect list: Dan Calhoun, Kurt Wasson, and Rene Kinney. Plus Toby Guinn, because if Ash thought he’d done it, there was probably a good reason, and even though I thought he was wrong, there was always the worst-case scenario that I’d eventually be forced to admit he was right.

But that day wasn’t anywhere on the horizon, and here was an opportunity to gently explore for information.

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