Kilt Dead (17 page)

“You’ve got some cleaning up to do and no mistake.”

“I’m not sure I know what you mean”

“There will be fingerprint powder on everything.”
Mrs. Mayfield gave a decisive nod of the head for emphasis. “Almost impossible to clean off. Be careful you don’t
get the surfaces wet or you’ll have a real mess on your
hands”

“Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately, I can’t do anything about it until they let me back into the shop”

“Good thing you’re closed on Mondays”

“Yes, isn’t it?”

Liss toyed with the idea of trying to pry information
out of Mrs. Mayfield but decided against it on two counts.
For one, she wasn’t sure what to ask. For another, she could
hardly ask direct questions about Ernie Willett, Mrs. Norris,
or her aunt without contributing to the local gossip mill.
Several other library patrons had been there and gone while
she’d sat at the computer. One had given her a suspicious
look, another a glare that was downright hostile. Liss had the
feeling they knew she’d been questioned about Mrs. Norris’s
murder and thought the worst.

“Thanks for your help, Mrs. Mayfield,” she said in a
dismissive tone, and began skimming pages. The librarian took the hint and went back to her desk.

Hoping she’d know what she was looking for when she
saw it, Liss scanned reports on school plays and sporting
events, municipal elections and traffic accidents, only peripherally aware that there were other patrons in the library. She advanced the film bit by bit, moving through
the years, growing steadily more discouraged. There did
not seem to be a single mention of any Willett or MacCrimmon or Boyd. By the time her eyes blurred and she
had to stop what she was doing to blink and stretch, she
was ready to quit. She lifted her hand to rewind the microfilm but froze at the sound of her own name.

“Why would the MacCrimmon girl kill Amanda Norris?”

“Maybe Amanda knew about her hot affair with Dan
Ruskin.”

Two men, elderly by the sound of their voices, stood
just on the other side of a set of bookshelves, talking in
low but carrying tones. Liss couldn’t have stopped listening if her life depended upon it.

“What affair? She’s only been in town a couple of days”

“Pretty obvious to me that something has been going on for a while. Either that or she’s awful free with her favors. Look how quick she moved in with him.”

They moved away, their voices fading. Liss pressed
both hands to her burning cheeks. She knew she shouldn’t
be surprised. She shouldn’t even be offended, let alone
embarrassed. Gossip was a part of life in a small town.

But she wasn’t about to leave the shelter of the microfilm reader until those two men left the building. Why
subject herself to the awkwardness of coming face to face
with them?

Her hand shook a little as she gave the crank another
turn. She stared at the page, unseeing, then turned again.
She’d almost wound the microfilm right past the picture
when something about one of the faces caught her attention. She blinked, then had to bite back a gasp of surprise.

The photograph was centered under the heading VALENTINE’S DAY SWEETHEARTS. The caption identified the subjects standing inside a gigantic heart, not that Liss was in
any doubt about who they were. The man on the right was
a young, thin Moose Mayfield, whose real first name
turned out to be Roger. Next to him was Dorothy Heston,
now Dorothy Mayfield. Beside her was a beaming Margaret MacCrimmon. And on Margaret’s other side, his arm
around her waist and an adoring look on his face, was
Ernie Willett. Thirty-five years ago, they’d been a couple.

he municipal building was directly across the town
- square from Moosetookalook Scottish Emporium.
Emerging into the bright afternoon sunshine, Liss squinted
against the glare. Trees blocked part of the view, but she
could see enough to tell that yellow police tape was still
in place. Two state police cars were parked in front of
Mrs. Norris’s house.

She debated cutting across the green to confront whoever was there now and demand access to the shop and
apartment. After what she’d overheard in the library, staying longer than she had to with Dan was probably a bad
idea. Not that she cared what other people thought. It wasn’t
as if she was planning to stay in Moosetookalook. And if
you believe that, I’ve got a bridge I d like to sell you!

The taunt from her inner voice brought a wry, selfmocking smile to Liss’s face as she stepped off the curb
and crossed the street to the strip of sidewalk surrounding
the town square. She’d taken only a few steps onto the
grass before she changed her mind. If Detective LaVerdiere
wasn’t on the scene, whoever was would probably just tell
her she’d have to wait and talk to him. And if he was
there … nope! Call it cowardly, but she just didn’t feel
like putting up with him or his cockamamie suspicions
just now.

She walked briskly toward Dan’s house instead. A cold drink and a cool shower, she thought. And maybe, if she
was in the mood, she’d offer to fix supper.

She’d barely gone inside and turned up the air conditioner, relishing the blast of cold air on her overheated
skin, when she saw a familiar truck pull up to the curb.
Moments later, Sherri was pounding on the front door.

“I thought you were going to spend the day catching
up on sleep. What’s wrong?” The dark circles under Sherri’s
eyes were proof enough she hadn’t gotten much rest. Then
again, she wore no makeup and had simply pulled her
hair back into a queue and secured it with a scrunchie.

“You try napping with a five-year-old in the next room”
Sherri’s expression softened at the thought of her son, but
the next moment she looked grim again. “We need to
talk.”

Liss gestured toward the kitchen. She found a pitcher
of lemonade in the refrigerator and filled two glasses,
adding a couple of ice cubes to each. “So what’s up?” She
took a sip but it was sweeter than she liked. She set the
glass aside and looked expectantly at Sherri.

“I saw LaVerdiere at work last night. He interrogated
me.” Sherri gulped down too much lemonade and started
to cough. Liss waited impatiently until she recovered and
was able to continue. “Sorry. It’s just that the more I think
about him the madder I get. I woke up angry. He thinks
you killed Mrs. Norris, Liss.”

“Yeah. I got that impression.” But it was discouraging
to hear it confirmed. So much for the faint hope she and
Dan had been mistaken about LaVerdiere’s conclusions.

“That’s crazy. He’s crazy.” Sherri sucked down more
lemonade.

“Crazy or not, he’s the one in charge of the investigation. What did he ask you?”

“He wanted to know if I overheard what you and
Mrs. Norris talked about. If I did, I don’t remember any of it. And I could only say when I left the games, not
when you did.”

“Don’t worry about it, Sherri. I didn’t expect you to
provide me with an alibi.”

“No, but I could have found out what else he’s got. I
should have asked him flat out why he thinks you did it.”
With an irritated slurp, she drained the glass.

“I appreciate the sentiment, but there’s no sense putting
your job at risk. Besides, I already know what he believes
my motive was” As concisely as she could, Liss told
Sherri about the looseleaf Dan had seen. “We think that’s
why LaVerdiere has decided Mrs. Norris was a blackmailer.”

“She was writing down juicy gossip about fictional
characters?”

“Maybe. Or she was using those names to hide real
people’s identities.” Liss had been mulling that question
over, on and off, all day. “Keep in mind that Dan only saw
one page and he didn’t remember everything that was on
it.”

“Maybe I can find out more”

“Sherri, your job-“

“Well, we can’t just sit around doing nothing till he
comes to arrest you! Besides, I’d love a chance to spike
LaVerdiere’s guns”

Liss hesitated, wondering why Sherri seemed so eager
to help. It wasn’t as if they were lifelong best friends.
Until Saturday, they hadn’t seen each other for more than
ten years. Liss didn’t know anything about Sherri Willett.
Not really. Except that she was Ernie Willett’s daughter.

Sherri’s grin faded. She dropped her gaze and began to
tug at a loose thread on the bottom of her cut-offs. “Guess
it’s none of my business. And I suppose LaVerdiere will
have to see he’s wrong eventually.”

Liss sighed. “I wish I could believe that” She col lected the glasses and carried them to the sink. Her back
to Sherri, she tried to think how to broach the subject delicately and decided it was impossible. “I paid a visit to
your father earlier today.”

“What for?”

I wanted to know why he made that scene at the fairgrounds. And why he broke up Aunt Margaret’s shop”

The visit was still fresh in her mind and she’d been
brooding about what Ernie Willett had said to her … and
what he’d left unsaid.

“I think he was really worried about you, Sherri. He
heard someone had been murdered in the shop where you
work and he got to thinking how easily it could have been
you. That’s why he gave in to the impulse to go to the fairgrounds. He had to see for himself that you were okay.
And then, probably embarrassed to be seen showing fatherly concern, he started yelling to cover up his real feelings.”

“That’s just crazy”

“Maybe, but there’s more to all of this than we thought.
After I talked to him, I went to the library. I found a picture in an old newspaper, a picture of my aunt and your
father.”

“Doing what? Trying to kill each other?”

Remembering the look the camera had caught on both
their faces, Liss shook her head. She turned to face Sherri,
bracing one hand against the counter on each side of her
for support as she dropped her bombshell. “More like
planning to spend the next week in a hotel room somewhere”

“What?” Sherri started to laugh, then caught sight of
Liss’s face. “You’re serious? They were … together?”

“The library doesn’t own the kind of microfilm reader
that makes copies, but I wrote down the date and page
number. You can see for yourself.”

“Thanks, but imagining it is bad enough.”

“They were younger than we are now at the time.
Young and in love, by the look of that photograph”

Sherri looked reluctantly intrigued. “I wonder what
happened”

“And I wonder what that long-ago relationship has to
do with the way your father feels about Aunt Margaret
today.”

Sherri sucked in a sharp breath. “Whoa. Wait a
minute. I know my father has a temper, but you can’t be
thinking that he killed Mrs. Norris. What, by mistake for
Margaret Boyd? Not likely.” She came to her feet in a
rush, hands curled into fists at her sides.

“I never said ‘

“You didn’t have to!” Petite and blonde, Sherri looked
like an enraged pixie, but Liss wasn’t fool enough to underestimate the smaller woman.

“Will you calm down? I’ve already said I thought your
father was checking to make sure you were okay. If he’d
killed Mrs. Norris, he’d know that already.”

Sherri blinked at her and then, to Liss’s immense relief, gave a short bark of laughter. “You’re right. Sorry I
overreacted. Don’t know why I did. It’s not like there’s
any love lost between my father and me. It’s just that …
well, sometimes I get sick and tired of everybody thinking
he’s the bad guy. My mother-” She waved the thought
away. “Never mind. That’s neither here nor there”

There was more of her father in Sherri than Liss had
realized. Disconcerted by the perception, she attempted
to get the conversation back on track. “Your father is no
longer on my suspect list, but just about everyone else is.”

“You’re collecting suspects?”

“Do I have any choice? You said it yourself. If LaVerdiere
is set on me as his murderer, then we can’t just sit around
waiting for him to arrest me. I have to do some investigating on my own. That means I have to consider everybody.” She forced a weak smile. “Even you, Sherri”