Murder at the Library by Ellen Jacobson

Author:Ellen Jacobson [Ellen Jacobson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ellen Jacobson
Published: 2023-08-05T00:00:00+00:00

10

Plastic Wrap

The next day, I dropped Hudson off at the library in the morning, did a bunch of errands in town, met a friend for lunch, and then headed back home to pick up my grandmother.

When Grandma got into the car, she was holding two travel mugs. “You’ve been running around all day, so I thought you could use some coffee.”

“Thanks, that was sweet of you.” I took a sip, then scrunched up my face. “Whoa, this is sweet, too.”

“Oops, that one must be mine,” Grandma said as she exchanged our mugs.

“What’s with all the sugar?” I asked as I pulled out of the driveway. “You put a ton of it in your coffee last night, too.”

“I guess it’s just my way of coping, I suppose.” She took a sip of her coffee and sighed. “A little extra sugar helps soothe the nerves.”

“Are you worried about checking out the storage room?” I asked. “You don’t have to go with me if you don’t want to.”

“No, that’s fine. It’s not like I can avoid going in there for the rest of my life.” My grandmother sighed. “Actually, that’s not true. Since I’m not the library director anymore, I don’t have a reason to go to the storage room or any other place that’s restricted to staff. The only reason I need to go to the library now is to check out books. I’m just an ordinary patron now.”

“Hardly,” I said. “You’re far from ordinary.”

For the rest of the ride, we were both lost in our thoughts. After we pulled into the parking lot, my grandmother said, “Do you mind if we pop into the Imagination Room first? I want to see what they’re doing at the Saturday Crafternoon session today.”

“The kids love those,” I said.

“Why wouldn’t they?” Grandma said. “What could be better than spending the afternoon reading books and doing crafts?”

When we walked into the library, Carol handed us eyepatches and hats adorned with skulls and crossbones. “Ahoy, there. Want to join in? The kids are making pirate-themed Valentine’s Day cards.”

“Pirates and Valentine’s Day—that’s a great combination,” I said.

Carol smiled. “Arrr, matey.”

My grandmother put the eyepatch and hat on, then motioned for me to do the same. Once we were suitably disguised as pirates, we poked our heads inside the Imagination Room.

Children of all ages were sprawled on the floor listening to Hudson read Magic Marks the Spot by Caroline Carlson. Laughter broke out when Hudson reached the section with the talking gargoyle. A few days ago, I would have told you that gargoyles or chameleons only talked in books. Now, I knew better. I wish I didn’t. But I did.

“Why is Hudson leading the session?” I whispered to the library assistant.

“Erik is on medical leave,” she said. “It’s stress-related, you know. Of course, I can’t blame him. I’d be a nervous wreck if the police were going to charge me with obstruction of justice.”

“Where did you hear that?” I asked.

“When I was picking up coffee at Swede’s this morning. Norma told me all about it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.