Murder of a Stacked Librarian (21 page)

After several rounds of hugs, Trixie, Frannie, Loretta, and Skye made their way into the theater. Before they could even shed their coats, the other guests started to arrive and the seats began to fill up.

Initially, the bachelorette party had been comprised of only Skye’s closest friends. But once Trixie rented the theater, she exponentially expanded the invitees, which now included Skye’s mom, aunts, cousins, and quite a few of her coworkers from the school district. Skye hadn’t seen the bachelor party’s guest list, but she was fairly certain it had increased, too, and now contained her father, uncles, male cousins, and the entire police force.

A half hour later, after Skye had greeted everyone and the lights began to flicker, indicating that the show would begin in a few minutes, she decided she’d better visit the little girl’s room before she settled in for the movie. She hated having to get up in the middle.

Wally must have had the same idea because he was leaving the men’s room when she hurried into the alcove where both restrooms were located. They exchanged a quick kiss, and Skye asked, “How did it go this afternoon with King Housley?”

She hadn’t had a chance to talk to Wally since Housley had been brought to the police station, and she was anxious to know how the situation had been resolved. Disability fraud was both a criminal and a civil matter, and Wally hadn’t been sure which case the city attorney and the mayor would choose to pursue or what kind of deal they might make with the maintenance worker.

“In exchange for not pressing charges against him, the city attorney and the mayor gave Housley the option of testifying against Dutch and Artie and repaying all the cash he’s defrauded from the town.”

“And?”

“He snapped up the offer almost before the attorney put it on the table. He claimed that Dutch had figured out how they could fake an accident and pretend to be hurt.” Wally snorted his skepticism. “Apparently, Housley was just a pawn.”

“Sure.” Skye wrinkled her nose in disbelief. “Oh, well. At least this way the taxpayers get their money back and don’t have to pay for a long trial or foot the bill for his jail time.”

“That is something.” Wally blew out a puff of exasperation. “But I really hate to let criminals off like that.”

“Me too. But it’s out of both our hands.” Skye kissed Wally again, then said over her shoulder as she pushed open the door of the restroom, “Gotta go. The movie’s going to start any second, and I don’t want to miss the beginning.”

The show was great and everyone was laughing and talking afterward as they trooped into the lobby. Even though Skye had eaten a tub of popcorn only slightly smaller than a Tilt-A-Whirl car and a box of Junior Mints bigger than her head, her stomach growled when the aroma of pepperoni pizza, Buffalo wings, nachos, and onion rings enveloped her.

The men were already crowding the buffet, but the women elbowed their way in and filled their plates. Once everyone had their food, most of the guys drifted over to the left side of the lobby, where a poker table, a golf simulator, and Skee-Ball machine were available. The majority of the women headed to the opposite end, where couches and chairs had been arranged to resemble a nightclub.

Skye piled her plate with goodies, refusing to think about how tight her wedding dress might be if she ate everything she took; then she joined Frannie, Trixie, and her twin cousins, Gillian and Ginger. Both cousins were married and were dressed in red, but Frannie wore a bright yellow sweater and a pair of black jeans.

Skye had noticed Frannie’s choice of color earlier but hadn’t had a chance to say anything to her. Recalling their earlier conversation about where Justin would live once he went to college, she wondered if he and Frannie were on the outs.

While Skye pondered a way to bring up the subject, Ginger said, “This is such a great party. It had to have cost a bundle.”

Shoot!
Skye hadn’t asked Wally how he wanted to handle this issue. He’d always been careful not to let anyone in Scumble River know about his well-to-do background because he didn’t want people to treat him any differently than they would a regular small-town police chief. He lived modestly and refused to take money from his millionaire father. As far as Skye knew, only she and his ex-wife were aware of his family’s extreme fortune.

Glancing at Trixie, Skye held her breath. What would she say? Come to think about it, did her friend have any clue just how wealthy Wally’s father and cousin were? Since other people were bound to notice Carson’s and Quentin’s elaborate spending during their time in Scumble River, Skye needed to consult with Wally as soon as possible. If he wanted his family’s affluence to stay a secret, they needed to come up with a story pretty darn quickly.

Trixie finished her bite of pizza and beamed at Ginger. “I’m so glad you’re having a good time. When Skye said she didn’t want to go to a Chicago bar or to see male strippers at a club, I really panicked.” Trixie giggled. “Do you know that she suggested we hold it at the bookstore café?”

Everyone howled, and Skye smacked Trixie on the arm. “What? You love books, too, and the café’s pastries are to die for. It would have been fun.”

“Yeah.” Frannie rolled her eyes. “If you’re a hundred and two and a cloistered nun.”

“Or Amish,” Gillian added. “We might as well have had the party at the church hall and brought our knitting. Father Burns could have given us an inspirational talk about the sanctity of the marriage bed.”

“Okay, you guys.” Skye laughed along with everyone else. “You’re right. This is much better.” When they all simultaneously replied with the word
duh
, she added, “But my thinking was that Trixie and I work for the school district, so we have to be a lot more careful of our reputations than people in other professions. No one wants their kids to be educated by someone who gets drunk and watches men take off their clothes.”

“Well . . .” Trixie trailed off. “I guess you have a point there, and poor Wally is in the same boat.” She looked over to where the guys were whooping at someone’s Skee-Ball prowess. “No one wants a police chief with a hangover and some bimbo’s panties in his pocket.”

“Except maybe Uncle Dante,” Ginger said, gnawing on a hot wing.

“Why would he want that?” Skye was relieved that the cost of the party had been forgotten. “I mean, I know Uncle Dante isn’t a big fan of Wally’s, but he wouldn’t want any bad publicity for the town. His biggest ambition is to make Scumble River a destination for day-trippers. Look at his last scheme to turn it into the Branson of Illinois.”

“The tourist attraction idea is old news.” Gillian took a swallow of her chocolate martini. “I heard Uncle Dante talking to Mama, and he wants to do away with the police department and use the money we’d save to build a big incinerator at the edge of town.”

“Incinerator?” Trixie nearly choked on the onion ring she’d stuffed into her mouth. “What in God’s green earth do we need with an incinerator? Scumble River doesn’t have that much trash. Do we?”

“Uncle Dante’s plan is to charge neighboring towns to use the incinerator.” Gillian licked the foam from her upper lip. “He told Mama that it will pay for itself in a couple of years, then be a real cash cow for Scumble River.”

“Cow patty is more like it,” Skye muttered.

“And he wants to finance this moneymaking idea of his by eliminating the police force entirely?” Trixie asked with a look of incredulity. “So there would be no law enforcement in town?”

“Uncle Dante says we can contract for services through the county sheriff’s department for a lot cheaper than what we spend on the police budget.” Ginger wiped her fingers on her napkin. “He says we spend way too much for what we get since we don’t have that much crime.”

“Is the mayor on crack?” Frannie’s mouth twisted into a sneer. “How about all the murders? According to my sociology class, the only reason a town like ours doesn’t have more crime than it does is it has a good police force doing its job.”

“Uncle Dante is like a lot of people.” Skye tried to keep her voice calm, but the news of her uncle’s plan had struck her like a blow to the stomach with a weed whacker. “Reality is what he wants it to be and has nothing to do with the true facts.”

“If Uncle Dante succeeds”—Gillian crunched a nacho chip thoughtfully—“that would mean Wally would need a new job, wouldn’t it?”

“I guess . . .” Skye’s voice trailed off.

Gillian puckered her brow. “And you two would have to move away.”

“Probably.” Skye forced herself not to scream at her cousin. “Is this a recent plan?” Certainly, she’d been busy with the wedding and the holidays, but surely, someone would have mentioned Uncle Dante’s proposal. Say, for instance her mother, Dante’s sister. May should have been having a fit at the idea of Skye leaving town. “I wonder why I haven’t heard anything about it.”

“Oopsie! Guess I’m the big mouth.” Ginger winked. “I forgot. Mama said it’s a huge secret and Uncle Dante wants to sneak the whole thing through the city council in executive session without giving any of the townspeople a chance to object.”

“Ah.” Skye finally smiled. “Did Aunt Minnie suggest you might want to slip up and tell me about it?” Aunt Minnie, May’s younger sister, wouldn’t have the guts to go against Dante, but she’d be okay with having her daughters play the dumb-blonde card in order to warn Skye. “Or were you supposed to drop a hint to my mother?” Minnie was a lot smarter than most people gave her credit for being.

“Of course not,” Gillian protested halfheartedly. “Mama would never break Uncle Dante’s confidence like that. She’ll be so upset with us.”

“Don’t worry,” Skye assured her cousins. “I won’t let on how I came by this piece of news.” She pasted an innocent expression on her face. “You know how hard it is to pin down a rumor in this town.”

They all agreed that gossip was like small change; you never could remember where you picked up a certain dime or penny. After that, they switched the subject to something lighter, and a few minutes later Skye excused herself, saying she needed to mingle.

As soon as she was out of sight, she made her way over to where the guys were eating. As she’d suspected, Trixie had invited Skye’s dad, uncles, and male cousins, as well as Wally’s officers. Jed and his brother, Wiley, were in a corner drinking beer and mostly ignoring a NASCAR race on a big-screen television set, but almost everyone else was playing various games.

Skye scanned the rest of the guys, noticing Dante when he chortled triumphantly while pulling in a towering stack of multicolored chips. Uncle Charlie sat next to the mayor, a thoughtful expression on his face. He eyed the other three men at the table as he picked up the deck, shuffled, and dealt the cards.

Uninterested in the poker game, Skye glanced toward the golf simulator. Her brother, Vince, her cousin Hugo Leofanti, and officers Roy Quirk and Anthony Anserello were competing in a tournament. The four of them frowned in concentration as they putted.

Justin, Ginger’s husband, Flip, and Gillian’s husband, Irvin, were taking turns at the Skee-Ball machine. As the device spit out tickets, the three guys stuffed their winnings into their jeans pockets. The vouchers could be redeemed for prizes displayed on a table in the rear.

Skye didn’t see Wally anywhere in the gaming zone and he hadn’t been over in the lounge area, so where was he? Swiveling her head, she finally spotted him off to the side of the lobby, talking to his father and a man who had to be Quentin. Carson was a distinguished-looking older version of his son, and Wally’s cousin could pass as his younger brother.

Carson was gesturing emphatically and appeared to be attempting to convince his son about something. And although Quentin nodded his agreement, his expression belied his concurrence.

Skye was trying to decide whether to interrupt the men when Bunny Reid tottered over to them in five-inch rhinestone and marabou-feathered stilettos. She was known for her outlandish fashions, and tonight she had outdone herself. She had on a bright green lace minidress that would have been better suited to a woman of twenty-eight than fifty-eight.

Bunny wound her arm through Carson’s and tossed her red curls. He smiled down at her and she patted the deep vee of her neckline, drawing his eyes down to her cosmetically enhanced boobs. Once she had his attention, she whispered something in his ear. He shook his head, but she leaned closer and whispered again.

Skye couldn’t hear Carson’s reply, but Bunny’s voice carried. The redhead sniggered and said, “I don’t care about top or bottom; my favorite position for a man is CEO.”

Carson chuckled and murmured something else that Skye didn’t hear, but Bunny swept her hands over her hips and said, “Thank you, kind sir. I
have
indeed found the fountain of youth. Turns out it was in a tequila bottle all the time.”

With that, Carson shrugged at Wally and Quentin and allowed himself to be pulled away.

Trust Bunny to zero in on the richest, most eligible man in the place. Skye wondered what had happened to the not-quite-divorced, over-the-hill TV star Bunny had been dating. Maybe he’d gone back to his wife. The ditzy redhead didn’t seem to have much luck with men. Which was a real shame, since she’d been desperately seeking a husband for as long as Skye had known her.

Originally, Skye had debated whether to include the flamboyant redhead and her daughter, Spike Yamaguchi, in the wedding events. Although Skye considered both Spike and Bunny friends, it was sometimes awkward having the mother and half sister of her ex-boyfriend around. And the last thing she wanted was for Simon to show up with the excuse that he was Bunny or Spike’s plus one.

However, in the end, Skye had decided that it would hurt both women’s feelings if they weren’t part of the festivities. So, much to her mother’s dismay, since May wasn’t a fan of the redhead, Skye had added Bunny and Spike to the bachelorette party and wedding guest lists.

Now, as she watched Wally’s father laugh at something, then lead the flirtatious redhead over to the tiny area in front of the jazz quartet and start to dance with her, Skye was glad she’d chosen to include Bunny. Especially since it looked as if Wally was relieved to have his father distracted from whatever point the older man had been trying to make.