No Cats Allowed: A Cat in the Stacks Mystery (5 page)

I wasn’t sure what I had really expected from bringing Porter Stanley and Oscar together, but I didn’t think Oscar would react as though he was terrified.

Stanley moved past me to approach Oscar’s desk. Though Stanley paused about three feet away, Oscar backed up against the built-in bookshelves behind him as if he were trying to climb into the wall to get away.

I moved back a couple of paces, making sure Diesel was behind me. Then I pulled out my cell phone in case I needed to call the campus police. I was afraid Stanley might attack Oscar by the way my boss had reacted.

“Aw, now, is that any way to greet an old buddy?” Stanley sounded amused. “You can do better than that, Oscar.”

Oscar’s voice sounded higher than usual when he spoke. “Why are you here, Porter?”

“I don’t think that’s anything you want to discuss in front of
your coworker here, is it?” Stanley made himself comfortable in one of the two chairs Oscar kept near his desk for visitors.

Oscar’s glance flicked nervously in my direction. “Um, no, I guess not. You can leave, Charlie.”

“If you’re sure everything is okay,” I said. Stanley had his back to me, and I held up my cell phone so Oscar could see it clearly. I mimed punching in three digits. He gave a slight shake of the head. “Okay, then, Diesel and I will resume our morning walk. Nice meeting you, Stanley.”

The big man didn’t acknowledge me. All his attention appeared focused on Oscar, who showed no signs of relaxing. He still stood with his back pressed against the shelves.

Stanley spoke in a firm tone. “Sit down, Oscar.”

Oscar sat, though he continued to eye his erstwhile friend warily.

I turned and walked out. Diesel scampered ahead of me, eager to be out of the tension-filled room. I couldn’t blame him. I was glad to be out of it myself, though part of me wanted to eavesdrop on the conversation.

I stopped and turned, trying to decide whether to sneak back, but before I could make up my mind, Oscar’s door shut. Given the thickness of the walls and the door, I knew I had little chance to overhear anything now, so I led Diesel out of Melba’s office and back out to the street.

We hadn’t made it twenty feet down the sidewalk toward home when I heard Melba hail me. I turned, and Diesel almost jerked the leash out of my hand. He was that eager to see Melba. I held firm, though, and we walked back slowly toward her.

“Morning, boys,” Melba said with a bright smile. She scratched Diesel’s head as he rubbed against her leg and meowed.

“Good morning to you, too. You sound pretty cheerful. Did your meeting with Penny go well?”

Melba nodded. “Yes, it sure did. I filed that complaint, and now I feel fine. Penny told me from now on I should call her the minute Oscar gets nasty over anything.” She nodded in the direction of the building. “Why don’t y’all come in with me, and let’s have some coffee?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea right now,” I said.

“Why?” Melba looked startled. “Don’t tell me you’ve had another run-in with him this morning.”

“Not exactly.” I filled her in on the encounter with her mysterious stranger and his meeting with Oscar.

Her eyes widened at first, then she grinned when I finished. “Maybe this Stanley guy will solve the problem for us. If he beats Oscar up real bad, he won’t be able to annoy the rest of us.”

“Melba, surely you don’t mean that?” I was a bit shocked at her bloodthirstiness, though I had to admit she had provocation.

She rolled her eyes. “No, I don’t really want anyone to beat Oscar up that bad, but I wouldn’t mind if this guy scared the daylights out of him. Maybe after this he’ll be too shaken up to bother me or anybody else.” She laughed. “Once he finds out I’ve filed a complaint, he
really
ought to calm down.”

“I don’t think he’ll be a problem much longer, frankly. He’ll have to behave properly because of the complaints, or he could lose his position.” I paused for a moment to consider that. “Once all this gets to the vice president for finance and the president himself, I imagine he could get fired right away.”

“I hope so,” Melba said. “That would be the best outcome for the library, that’s for dang sure.”

I considered telling her about the argument I’d overheard between Oscar and Cassandra but decided I had best keep that to myself for now. Melba would probably hear about it from another source eventually anyway.

“If they do get rid of him,” Melba continued, “I wish they’d make you the director, or at least the interim. You’ve got the experience, and everybody likes and respects
you
.”

“Thank you,” I said and tried not to blush. I have always had a hard time accepting praise, even from an old friend. “It’s a kind thought, but frankly I’m not interested. I don’t want the responsibility anymore. I like my life the way it is. Diesel does, too, don’t you, boy?”

As ever, when I addressed him directly, he responded right away, this time with a loud meow.

“Diesel has spoken.” I grinned.

Melba laughed. “Since he’s in charge, not you, I guess that’s the end of that.” She turned to look toward the front of the administration building. “You think we ought to get in there and check on Oscar? How long has that stranger been with him?”

“Not quite fifteen minutes,” I said. I had been facing the front of the building, and I hadn’t seen anyone come out. Maybe we should go in and make sure nothing had happened to our boss. I still felt uneasy about leaving Oscar alone with Porter Stanley when Oscar was so clearly afraid of the man. “We probably should. Come on.”

Diesel for once did not appear happy to enter the building. I was sure he remembered the unpleasantness from earlier and was still unsettled by it. I stopped for a moment to talk to him and stroke his back.

“Poor baby,” Melba said in an undertone as we resumed our progress. “He must have been terrified by it all.”

I nodded. “I’m hoping we won’t encounter more of the same.” I opened the door and held it for Melba. Diesel and I stepped inside and followed her toward her office.

All was quiet as we entered, but the door to Oscar’s office remained shut. Melba moved quietly to it and put her ear against it. She listened for about ten seconds before she stepped away.

In a hushed tone she said, “I can’t hear anything in there. Usually you can at least pick up a faint sound, but this time, nothing.”

We looked at each other, no doubt both thinking similar terrible thoughts. After a moment, I handed Diesel’s leash to her. “You two step back. I’m going in.”

Melba, eyes round with fear, did as I asked. She and the cat retreated toward the door to the hall while I approached Oscar’s door. I knocked loudly and waited.

After a few seconds I knocked again, and when there still no response, I opened the door and braced myself for what I might find.

What I found was an office empty of men. I expelled a pent breath in relief. “No one’s here,” I announced.

“Maybe they’re upstairs,” Melba said. “Let’s go look.”

I passed her and walked to the bottom of the stairs. “Stay here.”

Melba didn’t argue. Diesel didn’t look happy, but I didn’t want him with me, in case I did make an unpleasant discovery on the second floor.

At the top of the stairs I called out Oscar’s name. After a moment of silence, I did it again, this time more loudly. There were no other offices on the second floor besides mine. The rest of the
rooms up there were dedicated to the archive, archival storage, and storage for a few other things, like old library personnel files and discarded furniture.

I pulled out my keys and went to each in turn, but there was no sign that Oscar and Porter Stanley had entered any of the rooms. I walked slowly back downstairs and shook my head at Melba’s interrogative glance. “Not up there,” I said.

We checked the other rooms downstairs, a small conference room across the hall from Melba’s office, another room full of files and books, the rather dilapidated kitchen, and finally the room that had been turned into a staff lounge eons ago. All vacant.

I peered out a window in the lounge that looked onto the small parking lot behind the building. “Oscar’s car is gone,” I said.

“Then he must have taken the other man with him,” Melba said.

I didn’t remember seeing a car come out of the side street that gave access to the parking lot. “They must have gone the other way. I didn’t see a car, did you?”

“No, I didn’t, and Stanley’s car was still parked on the street.” Melba handed Diesel’s leash back to me, and we stood there a moment, both puzzled.

Melba clutched at my arm suddenly and startled me. “Surely you don’t think he’s made Oscar go somewhere with him so he can execute him, do you? Maybe he’s a gangster.”

My old friend’s imagination really did run amok sometimes, and this was one of those times, I was sure.

“No, I don’t think he took Oscar away to execute him, but I do believe he has some kind of hold over Oscar. Surely if Oscar had been truly afraid for his life, he would have let me call the campus police when I offered to.”

“Maybe.” Melba looked doubtful. “But what if Oscar didn’t realize at first this guy meant to kill him?”

I couldn’t keep the exasperation out of my tone when I replied, “Melba, you’re getting a bit too carried away with all this. Obviously there’s something wrong between the two, but it doesn’t necessarily mean murder.”

She looked chagrined. “You’re probably right. I guess having that man sitting out on the street the past few days spooked me. He seems sinister to me.”

Diesel meowed and butted his head against her, his anxiety obvious. Melba reassured him with soothing words and rubs on the head.

“I think Diesel and I had better head home,” I said. “I’m sure Oscar will turn up before too long, acting as if nothing happened.”

“We’ll see.” Melba walked out of the lounge and headed for the front of the building. Diesel and I followed.

When we reached the entryway, she turned. “Sure you don’t have time to have a cup of coffee?”

I didn’t want any coffee, but I realized that Melba didn’t want to be on her own in the building, so I nodded. “Sure, that sounds good.”

“I’ll put it on and be right back. Only takes about six or seven minutes.” Melba smiled and hurried back to the kitchen to make the coffee. Diesel and I went into her office. I chose my favorite chair, and the cat stretched out on the floor by my feet.

I pulled out my cell phone and checked my e-mail. Nothing urgent, I decided after a quick scan. The phone went back in my pocket.

The front door was in my line of sight, and when I heard it open, I glanced that way. I didn’t think it would be Oscar, who would surely come in the back way from the parking lot.

Cassandra Brownley stormed into the entryway, accompanied by Lisa Krause and Delbert Winston at a calmer pace. She walked into Melba’s office and right by me without acknowledging my presence. She approached Oscar’s door—I had shut it before I searched the rest of the building—and jerked it open.

I had no chance to tell her Oscar wasn’t inside. She strode in while Delbert and Lisa paused, manifestly nervous, near me. Lisa greeted me softly.

Cassandra came marching out of Oscar’s office and addressed her companions. “The jackass isn’t there.” She finally appeared to notice me. “Where is he?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “Melba and I have been wondering the same thing. If you don’t mind, can I ask why you’re so upset?”

Cassandra looked ready to tear the room apart. “Because the bastard fired all three of us this morning.”

“Fired you?” Melba said from the doorway, having returned from putting on the coffee. “What’s going on here?”

At the same time, I asked, “Exactly
when
did he fire you?” I wondered when he’d had the time to do it today. “Was it when I saw you earlier coming out of his office, Cassandra?”

“No, the jerk didn’t have the courage to tell me to my face.” She snapped out the words.

I felt a tug on the leash and glanced down. Diesel was trying to get under Melba’s desk. The poor boy didn’t like the loud voice of my irate colleague. I got up from the chair and moved to stand behind the desk so the cat could seek refuge there.

“I don’t understand.” Melba looked as bewildered as I felt. “How could he fire you if he wasn’t present when it happened? Who actually fired you? HR?”

“No, we all got letters in the campus mail a little while ago.” Delbert Winston spoke in a much calmer tone than Cassandra
had done. He pulled a letter-sized manila envelope out of his jacket pocket and waved it for a moment before replacing it. “I didn’t think such a thing was legal.”

“I doubt it is,” I said. “If Oscar intended to fire you, he’d have called you all together at one time, in the same room, with an HR officer present, and then you would have been escorted off campus immediately.” I shook my head. “This reeks to high heaven.”

“If this is Oscar’s idea of a practical joke,” Lisa said, “I don’t think it’s funny. It’s downright cruel.” She appeared ready to burst into tears.

Melba and I exchanged a glance. I felt sure she was thinking the same thing I was. This looked like another prank against Oscar, but Lisa, Delbert, and Cassandra got caught in the crossfire.

“I think we’d better call Penny Sisson,” I said. “HR needs to know about this.” After a brief thought, I added, “The campus police, too.”

“Why the police?” Cassandra demanded.

I explained my reasoning without going into unnecessary detail. “Oscar has been the victim of several pranks recently, and given the circumstances of this so-called firing, I suspect this is another one. Unfortunately, it involved the three of you in a nasty way.”

“I’ll call Penny,” Melba said. “Y’all have a seat.” She waved toward an old sofa near the window and a second chair kept for visitors. “I’ll get ahold of the campus police, too.”

Lisa and Cassandra chose the sofa, and Delbert pulled his chair close to them. They all kept their eyes trained on me, Cassandra with her usual glower, and Lisa and Delbert with more hopeful expressions.

I pulled my chair closer to the side of Melba’s desk, facing my
three colleagues, so I could keep an eye on my cowering feline under the desk. Now that the atmosphere was calmer, he peeped out from his hiding spot, and I reached down to rub his head. “It’s all okay, boy,” I told him in soft tones. “You don’t need to worry.” He inched his way out into the open about half a foot, until his head could rub against my shoe.

“Guess we scared your cat with all the commotion.” Delbert cast a sideways glance at Cassandra, the true source of the “commotion.” “Sorry about that, but we were all really upset.”

“Understandably so,” I said. “Diesel’s okay now, as long as nobody starts ranting again.” I stared pointedly at Cassandra, but she appeared not to notice.

“Penny’s on her way over,” Melba said. “Chief Ford, too. I’ll go make some coffee. More coffee, that is.”

“None for me,” Cassandra said. “I do not imbibe caffeine.”

“I’ll take some, and thanks,” Delbert said.

“Me, too.” Lisa rose from the sofa. “I’ll come with you.”

“Sure thing, honey.” Melba smiled at the younger woman.

I itched to question Cassandra and Delbert about their encounters with our mutual boss, but I figured I should keep out of it for now. I wondered where Oscar was, and whether he was okay. Where could the two men have gone? I would tell Chief Ford about the meeting between the two men. He had the resources to investigate.

Lisa came back with mugs of coffee for herself and Delbert, and Melba, with cups for the two of us, arrived seconds before Penny Sisson hurried into the office. Chief Ford was almost on her heels.

Cassandra jumped up at once and launched into her grievances over her “callous mistreatment at the hands of that incompetent
idiot,” and it took Chief Ford a few moments to get her to shut up. Finally, she subsided, albeit with a resentful glance at the campus cop, and resumed her seat.

“Thank you, Ms. Brownley,” Ford said, and much to his credit, I thought, he sounded polite, rather than irritated. “Now, let’s talk about this calmly. You three all received letters saying you were fired, right?”

Lisa and Delbert nodded. Cassandra just glared. The chief turned to Penny Sisson. “Was HR aware of this?”

Penny shook her head. “No, we were not. We haven’t had any kind of communication from Mr. Reilly that he intended to lay off any of the library staff. I’d like to look at one of your letters, if I may.”

Delbert rose and again pulled his letter from his jacket pocket and handed it to Penny. Before she could grasp it, however, the chief said, “If you would, Mr. Winston, please open the letter and place it flat on the desk here. I’d rather no one else touch it for now.”

Delbert complied with the chief’s command and then stood back. Penny and Ford moved closer to examine it. After a moment, Penny turned to face the three fired librarians. “This is absolutely
not
the way this college handles the laying off of employees. I don’t know what Mr. Reilly was thinking, but this violates our procedures completely.”

All three of them looked relieved, even Cassandra, who forgot to glower for at least three seconds.

“Ms. Gilley,” Chief Ford said, “you’re the administrative assistant. Is it normally your job to type the director’s letters and mail them?”

“Normally, yes,” Melba said, “but Oscar certainly didn’t give
me any letters like this to process. I don’t know anything about them.” She approached the desk in order to inspect the letter. After a moment she said, “That does look like his signature, though.” She straightened. “But it’s not the letterhead stationery he usually uses.” She pointed to the top-left-hand corner of the sheet of paper. “The library’s logo should be there, along with the phrase
Office of the Director
. This is just plain Athena College stationery.”

“I never noticed that.” Lisa Krause turned to Delbert. “Did you?” He shook his head. She glanced at Cassandra, who appeared not to have heard the question.

“This is all really strange,” Penny said. “What was Mr. Reilly thinking, to do something like this? It makes no sense whatsoever.”

“We don’t know that Mr. Reilly is responsible,” Chief Ford said. “Even though it looks like his signature, according to Ms. Gilley. I need to talk to Mr. Reilly and find out whether he knows anything about this.” He turned to Melba. “Where is he?”

“I don’t know,” she answered, then looked at me.

“If I could speak to you in private for a moment, Chief,” I said. “I need to talk to you about that.”

Ford responded with a curt nod and headed for the entryway. I handed Diesel’s leash to Melba and then followed the officer.

“What is it, Mr. Harris? Do you know where Mr. Reilly is?” Ford looked and sounded impatient.

“No, I don’t, and in fact, Melba and I are worried about him.” I quickly explained the situation.

Ford didn’t interrupt with questions. When I finished, he got on his radio and instructed his officers to start a search for Oscar’s car. Then he called the Athena police department and had a brief
conversation with them, ending with a request for their patrol cars to look for the car as well.

Ford restored his cell phone to its holder. “You said Ms. Gilley noticed this stranger sitting in a car on the street outside this building for three days in a row?”

“Yes,” I said. “Four days, if you count today.”

“Why didn’t one of you report this to us?” Ford shook his head.

“Sorry,” I said, “but frankly I didn’t think it was that serious. I figured the man was simply waiting to pick up a student or a faculty member to drive them home. Something innocuous like that.”

Ford stared at me for a moment before he turned and walked back into Melba’s office. I felt foolish and resentful at the same time as I followed him.

Ford didn’t share with the others what I told him. Instead he said, “Ms. Krause, Ms. Brownley, do you have your letters with you?”

Lisa nodded and delved into the small handbag she had brought with her. Cassandra shook her head. “No, it’s on my desk in my office. You’ll have to send someone for it.”

I could tell the chief didn’t care for her patronizing tone any more than I did. His shoulders stiffened, but he regarded her with a bland expression. “Thank you, Ms. Brownley.” He asked Lisa to lay her letter, still in its envelope, on top of Delbert’s.

“Thank you all,” he said. “You can go back to work now.” He turned to Penny. “That should be okay, right?”

“Yes, of course,” Penny said. “You all are still employed by the college. Those letters are not legitimate. I would like to have copies of them, if you please, Mr. Ford.”

“I’ll arrange that,” he replied.

My three fellow librarians and Penny all began to move toward
the door and out into the hallway while Melba, Diesel, the chief, and I remained in the office.

I heard the front door open, and I moved to a vantage point from which I could see who had come in.

Oscar Reilly stood just inside the door frame, glaring at Penny and my coworkers. He looked fine and completely unfazed by whatever had gone on between him and Porter Stanley since I had last seen them together in Oscar’s office.