Sleight Of Paw

9

Claire was behind the counter inside the restaurant. It was too early for the lunch crowd.

“Hi, Kathleen,” she said. “What can I get you?”

“Sandwich, I think,” I said.

“For here or to go?”

I was tempted to stay and eat, but I needed to get some things done if I was going to get away and help Maggie later. “To go,” I said, pulling off my mittens.

She thought for a second. “All right. How about turkey and Swiss with spicy mustard and baby lettuce?”

“That sounds good.”

“Sourdough bread?” she asked.

I took a deep breath. The smell of fresh bread made my mouth water. “Yes.”

Claire put in the order and turned back to me. “What about a cookie?”

I patted the front of my parka. “If I keep eating your cookies more than just this coat is going to be padded.”

“It’s a new recipe,” she said, her tone wheedling. “Whoopie pie. Soft chocolate cookies, creamy, fluffy filling.”

“Stop, stop, stop!” I held up both hands, palms out.

She waited, eyebrows raised expectantly.

“One cookie,” I said, and held up a finger for emphasis. “One.”

Claire headed for the kitchen, a big grin on her face.

“Where’s Eric today?” I asked when she came back with my lunch packed to go in a brown paper bag.

“He’s still having problems with that tooth,” she said, taking the money and counting change from the till.

I grimaced in sympathy as she handed back my change. “I hope he feels better soon.”

“Me, too,” Claire said. “Double shifts are killing me. I’m getting too old for this.”

I smiled, pulling on my mittens again and picking up my food. Claire was maybe twenty-two.

She leaned across the counter and gave me a conspiratorial smile. “Is it true about Dr. Davidson?”

“Is what true?”

“I heard she’s seeing a younger guy, a hockey player. Eddie Sweeney.”

Eddie Sweeney? I couldn’t help laughing. “Sorry. This time the rumors are wrong.”

Claire looked disappointed.

I walked over to the library, noting that the sidewalks had all been sanded and plowed again. Susan was at the front desk. She turned as I walked in. “You’re early,” she said

“I need to get away for about a half hour or so later on,” I said, unwinding my scarf. “So I thought I’d get an early start. Quiet morning?”

She tucked a loose piece of hair behind her ear. Her topknot was kind of sideways. That wasn’t like Susan. She wasn’t wearing any lipstick, either, and there were crumbs on the front of her chocolate brown sweater. She looked frazzled and distracted.

“Actually it was fairly busy until about twenty minutes or so ago. Even with Winterfest, I guess people are looking for a good book to curl up with in this weather.” Her eyes kept darting to the phone, and she tried but failed to stifle a yawn.

“Is everything all right?” I asked undoing the button at the neck of my jacket.

“I’m just a bit tired,” she said, but again her eyes slid off me to the phone. “Eric and the boys all have colds, so I’m not getting a lot of sleep. But, hey”—she gave an elaborate shrug—“what can you expect in this weather?”

Her eyes just couldn’t stay on my face. In the almost year I’d known her I’d learned that Susan was a terrible liar and I knew she was lying now. Whatever was happening between her and Eric, she was going to have to work it out in her own way.

“Susan, if you need anything, you only have to ask,” I said quietly.

Her cheeks reddened. “I, uh, thanks,” she mumbled. She gestured to a stack of books behind her. “I should get back to work.”

“I’ll be in my office,” I said, and headed for the stairs.

Upstairs, I hung up my coat and changed into my shoes. Then I went down the hall for a cup of coffee. Roma was on my case because she thought I drank too much coffee. I couldn’t wait to tell her the story that had been spawned from driving around with the Eddie dummy in the front of her SUV. She might not have a love life, but she did have a heck of a rumored love life.

I spent some time in my office, working on the book order and finishing up plans for the spring programs at the library. I worked at the front desk while Mary and Susan had their lunch breaks. Then I took some time to go over the library usage hours.

Library visits were up; so were the numbers of books checked out. I was hoping Everett Henderson and the rest of the library board would be pleased. After all the turmoil associated with the refurbishment of the old building, it made me glad to see that the town was using it.

About two forty-five, I went to the desk. Mary was checking out a man with a stack of books at least ten volumes high.

“Mary, I’m going over to the community center for a while,” I said. “I won’t be any more than an hour, probably less, and I have my cell.”

“Okay,” she said. “You’re coming to the supper tonight?”

“Absolutely.” I zipped my jacket. “I love your pie.”

“That’s because I bake it with love,” she said, trying to look like a sweet, gentle grandma, but not quite getting there with the devilish twinkle in her eye.

“Later,” I said, and headed out.

Maggie was on a ladder when I got to the center, taking down a string of lights I hadn’t noticed fastened to the ceiling. I dropped my coat and mittens on a chair and hurried over to help her.

“Hi. What can I do?”

She frowned at the ceiling. “Hi. How about grabbing the end of the lights before they bang against the side of the ladder and break?”

I caught the end of the cord, holding it away from the ladder while Maggie finished unhooking the string. That was when I noticed the helium-filled pig. It was floating over the tables, wearing a Minnesota Wild hockey jersey and holding a sign that said BITE ME.

“Interesting choice with the pig,” I said.

“Thanks,” Maggie said. “Could you hand me those bulbs, please?”

I draped the lights over a nearby chair and grabbed the package of bulbs she pointed to. I got one out of the box and handed it to her. She screwed it in place, then looked at the adjacent fixture, twisting her mouth to one side in thought. I held up my arm, offering another bulb without speaking.

“Yeah,” she muttered to no one in particular. She twisted the second light into place and nodded with satisfaction. We ended up replacing six bulbs before Maggie was completely happy.

“Thanks,” she said, scrambling down the ladder. “I just want to see how this looks.” She walked over to the door and flipped the light switch.

There was a faint pinkish yellow cast to the light on the locker-room scene. Maggie came back and stood, studying it, with her arms crossed. “What do you think?”

“It looks kind of like those old fluorescent lights. I’m guessing that’s the effect you wanted.”

She nodded. “Yeah, I wanted it to look like a locker room. She frowned suddenly. “Do Eddie’s legs look right to you?”

“Uh-huh. Why?”

She shook her head and started for the dummy. “No,” she said. “His right leg is crooked.”

I watched her twist the dummy’s leg. Even though he was just a mannequin I caught myself cringing in sympathy.

I was still wearing my hat. I pulled it off and shook my head as Rebecca came out of the kitchen. She waved, and I dropped my toque on the chair and went over to her.

“Hello, Kathleen. What are you doing here?” she asked. She was wearing a long white apron tied at the neck and waist and she smelled like cinnamon.

“Just giving Maggie a hand.”

Maggie was on her knees now, doing something to Eddie’s knee that would’ve had him writhing on the floor if he’d been a real person.

“Have you had a chance to look at the photographs?” Rebecca asked, gesturing to the display.

“A little,” I said. “They’re fascinating.”

She pressed a hand to her chest. “They take me back.”

Behind her Everett appeared in the kitchen doorway. He was wearing an apron, too. He had a vegetable peeler in one hand and a carrot in the other. “Hello, Kathleen,” he said.

Rebecca turned at the sound of his voice and every bit of her face smiled.

Everett held up the carrot. “This is the last one. I think we need to do another bag.”

“All right,” Rebecca said. “I’ll be right there.” He lifted the peeler in acknowledgment and disappeared back into the kitchen.

I smiled at Rebecca. “The things we do for love.”

Her eyes sparkled and a blush of pink spread across her cheeks. “Isn’t it grand?” she said. She gave my arm a squeeze. “I’ll look for you tonight.”

I watched her go back to the kitchen, hoping I’d be that happy when I reached Rebecca’s age.

The door to the hall pushed open and Ruby came in. She looked around, caught sight of me, and hurried across the floor “Am I late?” she asked, yanking off her gloves.

“It’s okay,” I said. “Maggie’s adjusting Eddie’s legs.”

Ruby looked over at Mags pulling on Eddie’s leg like a demented chiropractor, and handed me a canvas bag. “These are the lights Maggie wanted.”

“Thanks,” I said. I studied her face for a moment. She seemed unsure whether to go or stay. Before I could ask her if everything was all right, Lita poked her head out of the door to the kitchen.

“Ruby, hang on for a moment,” she called. “I have something for you.” Lita skirted the long tables and joined us. She was carrying a black cloth bag from the grocery store. “I was so sorry to hear about Agatha,” she said.

Ruby nodded. “Thank you.”

“I know the two of you were close.” She held out the bag. “Agatha left this here the night she . . . died. I didn’t know what to do with it.”

“What is it?” I asked. I remembered Agatha had had the bag at Eric’s.

“Just odds and ends,” Lita said.

Ruby took the bag, hugging it to her chest. “Thank you,” she said in a low voice.

Lita nodded and went back to the kitchen.

Ruby pressed her lips together and swallowed a couple of times. “I’m not very good at this.”

“You’re doing fine,” I said. Agatha’s death had hit her hard. Her usual resilience seemed to have deserted her.

“David—Agatha’s son—called me. It’s going to be at least another three or four days before he can get here.”

“I’m sorry.”

“He asked me to pick some clothes for her to be . . .” She let the end of the sentence trail off. Then she cleared her throat and continued. “And check on the house.” She had to clear her throat again, and I could see the effort it was taking for her not to give in to tears. “I said I would, but when I think about it . . .” She took a shaky breath.

“I’ll go with you if that would help.”

Ruby looked at me. “Seriously?”

“Yes.”

Her shoulders sagged. “That would help a lot. Thank you.”

“When do you want to do this?”

“Any chance we could go before the supper tonight?”

“I don’t see why not,” I said. “The library is closing early because of Winterfest. Where did Agatha live?”

It turned out the older woman had lived close to the Stratton Theater, ten minutes, maybe less, from the library. We agreed to meet just before five thirty.

“It won’t take long,” Ruby promised, setting the bag on a chair and shedding her coat. She took the lights back from me. “I appreciate this, Kathleen.”

“It’s not a problem,” I told her.

Maggie was standing back studying Eddie again. From where I was standing, his legs didn’t look any different from the way they did before she started pulling and twisting them. Ruby walked over, gave Maggie the bag and studied Eddie, too. Whatever it was they were concerned about, I couldn’t see.

“Hello,” a voice said behind me.

Startled, I jumped.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” It was Ruby’s boyfriend, Justin. He smiled. “Ruby says she’s going to stick a warning bell on me. She says I must’ve been a cat in a past life.”

I thought about Hercules and Owen sneaking around the house. They were always catching me unawares.

“Hello, Justin,” I said. “Ruby’s helping Maggie. She shouldn’t be too long.”

He pulled off his gloves and stuck them in the pocket of his brown leather jacket. “Actually I was hoping to talk to you. Ruby said you’d probably be here. Could you answer a couple of questions about the reading program you set up at the library?”

I frowned. “You mean Reading Buddies?”

“Yeah,” he said. “You got a Franklin grant for that, didn’t you?”

“We did,” I said.

Reading Buddies was a program we were doing through the schools. It paired kids in kindergarten and grade one with older kids in grades four and five—supervised, of course.

“I’ve been working on a project to build a camp for at-risk kids. You know, the ones who for whatever reason don’t fit in at a regular school.” He pulled a brochure out of his pocket and handed it to me. “It’ll give them the chance to learn responsibility and life skills.” His face got dark. “We have a piece of land, but the funding for the next stage fell through.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that.”

“People can be shortsighted.” His voice was laced with anger. He took a deep breath. “Ruby thought maybe I would be eligible for a Franklin grant.”

“Maybe,” I said, glancing at the pamphlet he’d just given me. “With a Franklin grant you have to document the need when you apply. They like numbers. They like statistics.”

He rolled his eyes. “Isn’t it kind of obvious that there are kids living on the street? Kids that need a chance?” He snapped the two elastics around his wrist.

“It’s easier for some people to connect with the problem—whether it’s kids who can’t read or kids who are homeless—if they have specifics.”

He sighed and shook his head. “I’ve been working on this project for over a year. So many pieces of paper, so many trees used, and nothing happens.”

His dark hair was slicked back with gel. He smoothed a hand over the top of it, then let out a breath and smiled at me. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I get a little crazy about this.”

He looked over at Maggie and Ruby. “I’m worried about her,” he said quietly.

“She was close to Agatha,” I said. “It’s understandable that she’s upset.”

“She’s not getting any sleep. She has nightmares,” he said shifting restlessly from one foot to the other.

“She found Agatha’s body. That would give anyone nightmares.”

At that point Ruby caught sight of Justin. She waved to him, said something to Maggie, who was on her way down the ladder, and walked over to us.

“Hi,” she said. “Did Kathleen answer all your questions?”

He nodded, reaching to brush something from her cheek. His fingers lingered on her skin for a moment. “Yeah, she did.”

I did? I didn’t think he’d actually asked any. I touched Ruby’s shoulder. “I’ll see you later.” She smiled and nodded, but her attention had already been pulled back to Justin.

I walked over to Maggie, tucking Justin’s brochure in my pocket. “Am I just a bitter, cynical person? Because he gets on my nerves,” she said.

I held up my thumb and middle finger about an inch apart. “Maybe just a bit,” I said. “I thought you liked Justin.”

“I don’t dislike him.” She leaned in close to me. “He’s just so intense,” she said, stressing the words the way Justin did when he spoke.

I couldn’t help laughing.

Maggie grinned and then her attention went back to Eddie.

“He looks good, Mags,” I said.

“Are you saying that because it’s really what you think or because you’ve decided I’ve crossed the line into Wack-a-doodle Land?”

I waggled one hand at her. “About sixty-forty.”

“I can live with that.”

She turned her attention to the photo collages. The new lights were clear and natural, a lot more like outdoor sunlight than anything else. Maggie looked up at the ceiling.

“Would it help if I went up the ladder and you nitpicked over how the lights are positioned?”

“Yes.” She smiled at me. Sometimes Maggie was like Owen and Hercules; sarcasm was totally wasted on her.

I moved the ladder about a foot to the left, checked to make sure it was steady and climbed up. For the next ten minutes or so I made miniscule adjustments to the lights until Maggie was satisfied.

“That’s it,” she said, holding out both hands. “I’m not touching anything else. I swear.”

Rebecca came across the tile floor, beaming. “Maggie, this is fantastic,” she said.

Maggie’s cheeks flushed. “Thank you.”

“And I love Roma’s young man.”

“Excuse me?” Maggie said.

Rebecca pointed at the dummy. “That’s Eddie Sweeney, right? The hockey player Roma’s seeing?”

“Roma’s not dating Eddie Sweeney,” Maggie said, looking at Rebecca like she had a second head.

“She’s been driving around with him all over town.”

Maggie looked at me. I looked at her. We both burst out laughing at the same time.

Rebecca looked at us like we were crazy.

“Yes, Roma was driving around town with Eddie,” Maggie said, giggling. “But it was this Eddie.” She pointed at the mannequin.

Rebecca looked at me. I nodded. “That’s how we got him down here,” Maggie explained, gesturing with both hands. “He wouldn’t fit in my car, so we belted him into the front seat of Roma’s SUV.”

“And people thought it was the real Eddie,” Rebecca said with a laugh.

“I guess we were invisible in the backseat,” Maggie said softly to me.

I looked at my watch. “Is there anything else I can do?”

“No,” she said, giving me a quick hug. “Go back to the library. I’m headed back to the studio. I’ll meet you here about six o’clock.”

“Okay,” I said.

“Don’t eat for the rest of the afternoon,” Rebecca said. “They’ll be lots and lots of food.”

I got my coat and pulled on my hat. Then I headed down the stairs, cut across the lot and made my way to the corner. Waiting for a car to turn so I could cross the street, I noticed Marcus come out of Eric’s. He paused on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant, then made his way down two buildings and disappeared into the mouth of the alley.

I waited on the curb for a moment, but he didn’t come back out.

This wasn’t good. I just knew it wasn’t good.