Killer Research by Jenn McKinlay

Author:Jenn McKinlay [McKinlay, Jenn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2021-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

What?” Lindsey stared at Beth. She had no idea what to say. Could Beth actually be considering Ms. Cole for the murder of her ex-fiancé? It made no sense. Her face must have shown her shocked disbelief because Beth rolled her eyes.

“I’m not saying she murdered Henry Lewis,” she said.

“Really, because that’s what it sounded like.”

“No, what I meant was we need to prepare for the possibility that Ms. Cole is propagandized as the murderer at large. We have to be ready to combat that misinformation.”

“It’s Ms. Cole,” Lindsey said. “No one in Briar Creek is going to—”

“Mayor Hensen will continue to weaponize this incident as sure as I’m standing here with swollen ankles and heartburn.”

Lindsey stopped talking. The mayor’s behavior toward her and the library and Ms. Cole had made it abundantly clear that he did not respect them as people, and certainly not as colleagues. If the news that Ms. Cole had once been engaged to the murder victim became public knowledge . . .

Lindsey glanced at the library. “Let’s go!”

She hustled up the walkway and into the library. Her heart was racing and her hands were sweaty, making it take longer than she would have liked to enter the code to unlock the back door. She yanked it open, and strode into the building with Beth right behind her.

The sound of raised voices alerted her to the problem immediately. She followed the sound down the hallway and through the workroom to the front of the library. Ms. Cole was standing behind the circulation desk with Paula while a crowd of reporters stood on the other side. Their shouts were deafening.

“Ms. Cole!”

“Did you murder your ex?”

“How long were you involved with Henry Lewis?”

“Did you have anything to do with his success in the cookie business?”

“When was the last time you saw him?”

“Did you lure him here to kill him?”

“Was it years of pent-up rage from rejection?”

“What impact will a dead body being found in your car have on your election campaign?”

The questions came in hard and fast like a hail of bullets. Ms. Cole stood blinking at the crowd as if she couldn’t quite believe they were asking such absurd things.

“Oh, no,” Beth said. She surged around Lindsey, striding forward like she was heading into battle. She went nose to nose with the reporter from the Register who was halfway over the desk in his quest for the scoop. “Back up.”

He met her gaze and then slowly slid back to the floor. Beth then turned to Ms. Cole and put her arm around her waist, gently guiding her away from the frenzy.

“Wait,” Ms. Cole said. She turned back to the reporters. “I’m prepared to answer any and all questions. What do you want to know?”

“Ms. Cole, as your campaign manager, I am urging you not to take questions at this time,” Beth said.

Ms. Cole patted her hand. “It’s all right. I believe in transparency, and we may as well get it all out on the table now.”

The eyes of the reporters lit up like kids on Christmas morning.

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