Death Among The Stacks: The Body In The Law Library (9 page)

“
How did this happen with
Beatrice?”

“
Well…she was shelving some
books and Kelly pressed a button a few rows away. The sensors
didn’t pick up the fact that Beatrice was already standing inside
one of the rows and the shelves started squeezing together.
Luckily, Kelly was able to stop the movement in time, but Beatrice
screamed, was really scared and was sore from the compression. She
told me, “I thought that I was going to die, and it was okay.” Only
a little old lady like Beatrice would say that she’s okay with
dying. I would’ve sued the library.”

Sledge and Willis look at each other
with raised eyebrows as Nic continues.

“
And that’s not the only
incidence of equipment malfunctioning around here. There was
another freak accident. Yvonne was in the elevator and, as she was
getting out of the doors, she bent over to pick up a piece of paper
she’d dropped and managed to get her head stuck between the two
doors.”

“
Ouch!” Sledge
says.

“
No kidding. And Yvonne
hasn’t been the same ever since. Between her brother and sister
dying on top of everything that happened to her in Chicago, she’s a
bit of a “nut case.” Oh…I shouldn’t be saying this. She is my boss,
after all.”

Sledge smiles at Willis and says, “We
won’t tell anyone. What do you mean by ‘what happened in
Chicago’?”

“
Well, I don’t know the
whole story, but rumor has it that she pulled a knife on her
husband because he was trying to rape her. It was a big scandal and
she had to leave the state.”

“
That’s interesting. But
probably doesn’t have anything to do with what happened to the
Government Printing Office inspector.”

“
That’s true,” Nic says,
sounding a little disappointed.

“
Well, that’s all for now,
Nic. Thank you. Could you ask Kelly to come in; we have a few
questions for her.”

Sledge notices a smell like peppermint
gum as Nic walks out the conference room. “Did you smell that?” he
asks Willis.

“
Yeah, I did. Maybe she
smokes those clove cigarettes that some of the kids are into these
days. What do you make of ‘Yvonne’s scandal in
Chicago’?”

“
I’m going to have to make a
few calls to our friends in the Chicago Police
Department.”

Chapter Nineteen

Kelly knocks on the door and comes
gingerly into the conference room.

“
Hello again, Kelly,” Sledge
says.

“
You gentlemen wanted to see
me?” Kelly asks, with a disarming smile.

“
Take a seat, Kelly,” Sledge
says. “We’ve been looking into your history in the Marine Corps and
found out that you got into some trouble that led to your discharge
from the Corps.”

Kelly becomes very upset, saying,
“What’s that have to do with anything? I was honorably discharged.
I acted in self-defense. Two guys were harassing me in a bar. Some
marines just can’t handle the idea of a woman officer. They were
drunk and hurling all this abuse at me and at women, in general.
All I was doing was trying to unwind with a beer and a game of pool
with a friend. They wanted our table and started criticizing every
shot we made. Saying that it was a man’s game and we should leave.
One of them grabbed my pool cue and tried to yank it away from me.
I pushed him away and got jumped by his buddy. They both attacked
me, so I picked up my pool cue and started swinging. I hit one of
them so hard that he almost died. To make a long story short, there
was an investigation and I was asked to leave the
corps.”

“
Do you have any animosity
towards men in general?” asks Sledge.

“
Not at all. I like most
men.” Kelly smiled.

“
What about
Gaylord?”

“
Oh; he was just a jerk.
That’s the extent of my feelings towards him.”

Sledge asks, “Do you think Yvonne may
have been angry at Gaylord?”

“
I have absolutely no idea.
You’ll have to ask her yourself.”

“
She called in sick today.
Could you please ask John to come see us?”

“
Certainly. I’ll go get
him.”

After she leaves the room, Willis asks,
“What do you think of her?”

Sledge answers, “I can’t see her
drinking and swinging a pool cue at anyone. She seems so
dainty.”

Willis jokes, “I think she’s taken you
under her spell.”

“
I imagine that happens to
her all the time with guys,” Sledge answers.

Chapter Twenty

John Meadowlark briskly walks into the
conference room. “You rang,” he lamely jokes, doing his best
“Lurch” impression.

“
Have a seat, John. We’ve
been doing some background checking and we came across a picture of
you at a Tea Party rally. Isn’t this you?” Sledge asks as he shows
him a newspaper clipping.

“
Yes. I’m a Libertarian, you
know. I believe this country has gotten way off course, especially
since the last election. This county needs to get back to its
roots. I’m a Revolutionary War re-enactor, you know.”

“
No; we didn’t know
that.”

“
Yes; I believe in a strict
interpretation of the Constitution.”

Sledge interrupts, “Yes; we’re hearing
you, Mr. Meadowlark. What concerns me is this sign you’re holding
in this picture that says, ‘The tree of liberty must be refreshed
from time to time with the blood of Patriots and Tyrants.’ Sounds
pretty radical.”

“
Hey—that’s a direct quote
from Thomas Jefferson. We need to get back to the America that our
founding fathers envisioned.”

Sledge responds, “Do you really think
violence is the answer? Have you ever felt so angry with the
Federal Government that you might resort to bearing arms and
rebelling?”

John answers, “It’s just a metaphor. I
didn’t mean for you government types to take it literally. I mean,
I don’t even own a gun, for God’s sake.”

“
Did you ever feel anger
towards Mr. Gaylord, who is an employee of the Federal government?”
Sledge asks.

“
Well, I think the
government is way too bloated. Lots of federal jobs could be
eliminated. We’re bankrupting our children’s future, you
know.”

Sledge interrupts, saying, “But, in my
understanding of the depository program, the Public (which includes
you) has the right to know what its government is up to. I’d think
you’d be happy to have all this information available. You know,
transparency and accountability and all that.”

“
Yeah, yeah. I agree with
you on that. As far as Mr. Gaylord himself, I have no bone to pick
with him. He’s just a regular guy trying to make a living, like the
rest of us, you know.”

“
Okay,” Mr. Meadowlark.
Thank you for sitting down with us today.”

“
Anytime, gentlemen.
Anytime.”

After Mr. Meadowlark leaves, Willis
asks Sledge what he thinks. “Do you think he’s capable of
murder?”

“
No; I think he’s just a
blowhard. He’s not the person we’re looking for.”

“
Is there anyone else we
need to speak to sir?”

“
No, Ronnie. I think that’s
it. Did you get any information about those homeless folks from the
uniformed guys yet?”

“
Oh man; I forgot to follow
up. I asked the beat cops before I left to see if they had anything
for me. They said they’d go through their notes for me. I’ll talk
to them when we get back to the station.”

“
OK. That’s it for
here.”

As Sledge and Willis head down the
library stairs, Sledge’s phone blares out.

“
Great phone ring,
sir.”

“
Real funny,
Ronnie.”

He answers is phone and says, “Hello.
Sledge here.”

“
Mark? I need to see you and
Ronnie in my office this afternoon. Will that be a
problem?”

“
No ma’am. No problem at
all. We’re on our way back right now. Is five minutes too
soon?”

“
That will be perfect. See
you both then.”

“
Damn,” Sledge
moans.

“
Who was that that
sir?”

“
The boss lady. She needs to
see us now. Is there anything I need to know about your trip that
you haven’t told me yet, Ronnie?”

“
No, sir. Am I in
trouble?”

“
Can’t say. Maybe both of us
are in trouble.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Willis and Sledge arrive at the police
department and head for Captain Wilson’s office. Captain Sandra
Wilson is the only female captain in the department. In her late
forties, Captain Wilson is tall and athletic. A lifelong marathon
runner, she looks lean and mean behind her large captain’s desk.
Her bookshelves are studded with trophies from athletic
competitions and intra-departmental competitions. She’s usually the
first one in in the morning and the last one to leave at night.
She’s had to earn her stripes in this male dominated department and
it helps that her family comes from police stock. Her father and
grandfather were police officers and both of her brothers work for
the FBI.”

“
Good evening, boys. Please
sit down.”

Willis and Sledge sit in the two seats
in front of Captain Wilson’s desk. The seats are intentionally
lower than the Captain’s for psychological purposes. You feel your
place on the departmental totem pole when you’re in her
office.

“
So how’s the investigation
going on the government inspector’s death?”

“
Very well, ma’am.” Sledge
answers. “We’re making some good progress and feel we’re getting
closer to figuring out who’s responsible.”

Sledge listens to himself say these
words, even though he doesn’t really believe them.

“
Good, Sledge. So how soon
can we expect to get some results?”

“
Well, Sergeant Willis just
returned from Maryland and has some very good information on
Inspector Gaylord which is helping us in our inquiries.”

Willis squirms in his seat. He can feel
the captain’s gaze on him and hopes to God she doesn’t ask him any
questions.

“
We’re hoping to have the
murderer ID’d in a day or so.”

Willis can’t believe what he’s
hearing.

“
Good. I’m going to let you
in on something about this case and trust you understand that it’s
not to leave this office. Correct?”

“
Yes,” Sledge and Willis
answer in unison.

“
As I’m sure you know, I’ve
got some connections with the FBI here as well as in DC and I want
you both to know how important this case is to them. That’s all you
need to know for now. Just know that more eyes are on this case
than just ours.”

Great,
Sledge thinks.
No pressure
now.

“
This case is very high on
our radar here. The chief and the local FBI folks want to get this
thing solved right away and want you both to know that you can have
anything you need at your disposal. Just say the word.”

How about a clue?
Willis thinks with a smile.

“
Is there something you’d
like to add, Sergeant Willis?”

“
Ah, no ma’am. We’re on it
and you can trust us both to get to the bottom of this.”

Sledge grimaces at Willis’s nervous
comments.

“
Captain, we’re going to
make sure we get this thing done. Count on it.”

“
I am. You both can go now;
remember what you heard and didn’t hear today. I’d like an update
by tomorrow afternoon, say at this same time? Will that
work?”

“
Yes ma’am. We’ll be
here.”

Sledge and Willis slink out of the
captain’s office and walk down the stairs to their offices. In the
stairwell, their colleagues are smiling and ribbing them about
being called to the woodshed.

“
Did it hurt much, boys? Is
mama mad?”

“
Ha Ha, guys. Your turn is
coming,” Sledge tells them.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Back in their office, Willis sees an
envelope from the patrol sergeant.

“
Sir, it seems that the
homeless people lead goes nowhere. The patrol guys assure us that
they are harmless; a bit nuts, but harmless.”

Sledge tells Willis that when he called
the police department in Chicago, they knew nothing about any
marital problems of Yvonne and her ex-husband’s. He feels that it’s
a dead end. “I just don’t think that Yvonne is guilty of this
murder. It’s just a gut feeling that I have.”

Willis eagerly agrees with what his
boss is saying.

Sledge continues, “I’m feeling like
this investigation is going nowhere.”

Willis tells his boss, “I gotta admit:
I’m totally stumped.”