The Murders in the Reed Moore Library (2 page)

The library's front door swung open. Penny's
shoes shuffled on the concrete as she edged away from the book
drop. Dupin darted out from his place of concealment, like the
shadow of a bird he flew across the concrete for the narrow open
gap.

"Dupin!"

He sensed rather than saw her reach for him
but she was far too slow. By then he'd already entered the library.
He headed at first towards the counter area but that's where the
other body was in the other book drop. He swerved and headed
instead towards the heavy padded chairs and one of his favorite
spots beneath. Enclosed on three sides, but with an opening beneath
the back, he liked watching people come and go in the library.

Safe in the shadows beneath the chair Dupin,
surrounded by his own scent markings, settled down and watched
Penny at the door with the police. Another scent distracted him.
Dupin sniffed around and found an envelope beneath the chair that
smelled of mint. He rubbed his face against it, one side, then the
other. Out by the lobby the police crowded around Penny but she
didn't cringe or back away from them. She stood right up to the man
who was in charge.

That man wore a long black coat that reminded
Dupin of ravens. He tried to get some raven chicks once. Actually
went so far as to climb the tree after the nest but the parents saw
him and chased him away. Even after he was on the ground they kept
coming after him with their harsh cries and nasty beaks. Dupin
narrowed his eyes, wondering if that man was like the ravens.

Penny led the police into the library right
towards Dupin's hiding place. He shrank back a bit further into the
shadows. Penny's hand waved at the counter.

"The other one is over there, in the
bin."

The man in the black coat stood close to
Penny. Dupin could smell a fishy sort of smell about the man from
where he was hiding. It made him feel a little better about the
man, but reminded him that he still hadn't got his tuna. Even so he
stayed concealed.

"Ms. Copper, you said the door was locked
when you entered the library?"

"I thought so. I didn't check before I put
the key in and turned it to open the door. I always do it that way,
the door stays locked until you flip the little switch on the
door."

"So it was possible that it wasn't
locked?"

"I guess so, although I always double-check
the locks when I leave."

Dupin eased forward a bit. That man was
writing something in a notebook. Abruptly he looked down past his
pad and fixed blue eyes on Dupin.

Dupin froze in place, staring back at the
man.

The man pointed a pencil at Dupin. "That your
cat?"

"Yes, detective Clemm. I can't understand why
anyone would do this? Kill someone and put them here?"

The detective blinked first. Dupin yawned
widely just so the detective got a good look at his fangs.

"Call me David, Ms. Copper. It's too early to
speculate. When did you last close up?"

"Saturday. Four p.m., our usual time."

"And were you the last to leave?"

"No. Henry was with me. And Dupin, of course.
We don't like to have people leave alone, even if it isn't dark.
Just to be safe. We walked out together. I pulled on the doors to
make sure that they were locked. I know I did."

"Okay, and this Henry can confirm that? A
last name?"

"Yes. Duvall."

"Who has access to the building?"

"It's a city-owned building, it was donated
when the library was built. You'd know better than me who has
access over there. All of my staff have keys. The city hires
cleaning staff, so they must have keys too because they get in and
clean the library after hours."

Dupin eased out of the space beneath the
chair. He walked over to Penny and rubbed against her legs. He let
a low purr rumble through his chest.

Penny's legs stayed anchored as if she had
grown out of the floor.

"Do you have any enemies? Anyone with
something against you? Or the library?"

Penny? Hardly. Dupin observed lots of humans
and he knew better than most that everyone loved Penny. He'd even
go so far as forgiving her for forgetting his tuna. Eventually.
Bored, Dupin wandered away from Penny towards the circulation
desk.

Teams of people had gathered around the desk
while the detective talked to Penny. They had pulled the book
return bin out from the desk. Dupin padded closer, edging around
the end of the desk. He sat down beside one of the tall pillars
where he could watch and still keep an eye on Penny. Just in case
she decided to get his tuna.

They were all so busy about the dead people,
it was like someone had stirred up a nest of yellow jackets.
Another cluster of people buzzed around the book drop outside. They
had that one open too and had pulled the bin partway out before it
got stuck on books that had piled on top of the body.

"We'll have more questions later," the
detective said.

"Can I go back to my office?" Penny asked. "I
should call our staff and tell them we won't be opening today."

The detective shook his head. "Please stay
here, until my people have a chance to look everything over." Blue
eyes found Dupin sitting beside the pillar. "If you could keep the
cat out of our way, that'd be good too."

Out of the way? Dupin closed his eyes just to
show the man how important he was.

He heard Penny's footsteps approaching and
looked up. Penny got close and Dupin let out a small meow. He
arched his back, expecting a scratch but instead she scooped him
up. She brought him close to her chest and wrapped her arms around
him. For a second Dupin tensed, then he relaxed and breathed in her
apple scent. No tuna. Yet.

Penny carried him away before he could see
anything interesting, including the dead body. She took him back to
the stuffed chairs and sat in the one he had hid beneath. She
absently stroked his back. Dupin flexed his claws and stretched out
first his left leg, then his right. He put his head down and closed
his eyes. If he couldn't eat, he might as well sleep.

As he drifted off to sleep he heard Penny
talking on her cell phone. He didn't like her being sad so he
purred loudly as he drifted off.

#

Dupin found himself rudely woken when Penny
stood up and put him down on the floor. He shook himself and took a
couple stiff steps away before he stopped to clean the nap from his
fur.

"Thank you, detective." Penny rubbed her
arms. "Did you find anything? Who are those people?"

David reached out and put a hand on Penny's
arm. "I thought you might be able to help us with that. You get a
lot of people in here, do you feel up to taking a look? See if you
recognize them? They don't have any identification on them."

Dupin paused in his cleaning and looked at
Penny. If she could lay her ears back or have her fur stand up, he
thought she would do so. She took a deep breath and nodded.

"Yes. Of course, if it will help."

David stepped close. "I'll be right there
with you. There's something else?"

"Yes?"

"The books in the outside drop, can you tell
who checked those out?"

Penny shivered. "Yes, but I'd need a subpoena
to release those records. They're confidential under state law. Why
do you want to know who checked out the books?"

"A lot of the books we removed had fallen on
the body. Others were beneath the body. Anyone returning books
might have seen something suspicious or someone hanging
around."

"Makes sense, I'll just need you to get a
subpoena."

David grinned. "Of course."

"And I'll need the books."

He shook his head. "We've taken the books to
examine for evidence. I can get you the barcode numbers."

"That'd be fine."

This all was about as interesting to Dupin as
getting his nails trimmed. He stretched out his legs and took a
long stretch with a satisfying yawn.

"If you're ready?" David asked, gesturing
towards the lobby where the two bodies waited on gurneys.

Penny crossed her arms but nodded. Figuring
the most likely possibility of tuna lay in sticking close to Penny,
Dupin followed along after Penny and David into the lobby. There
lay the dead man and woman in black body bags upon the gurney, with
all of the assorted smells of death.

David unzipped the first bag. "Do you
recognize him?"

Dupin looked over at Penny. She nodded.
"That's Bill Wilson. He teaches over at the high school. Who would
want to kill him?"

"That's what we need to find out." David
zipped up the dead man's bag and then moved around to the other
one. He unzipped it. "Her?"

Penny didn't move from the spot where she
stood. She stared for several seconds then took a deep shuddering
breath. "Camille. Camille L'Espanye. She works here at the
library." Penny brought her hand to her mouth and sniffed.
"Camille? Why?"

Dupin stood up and looked at the body bag
with more interest. He breathed deep and, yes, Penny was correct.
The woman was Camille. She gave him extra cat treats when Penny
wasn't looking. And now she was dead too? His fur stood up.

"She had keys to the building." David said.
"Maybe she came back for something and interrupted whatever was
happening with Mr. Wilson. Or maybe they were together? Do you know
if they were dating?"

Penny shook her head. "Camille's ten years
younger than him. She's just out of college. I don't think she was
seeing anyone seriously."

David made notes in his book. "We'll check on
it anyway. Thank you Ms. Copper. If I have more questions I'll let
you know."

The detective zipped up the bag and motioned
to the people waiting outside. Two men in blue suits came and took
away the gurneys. Dupin meowed softly.

Camille dead. That disturbed him. Bad enough
he hadn't gotten his tuna and Penny was upset, but killing Camilla?
Dupin's eyes narrowed. He wasn't going to wait around for David to
try and figure it out. The man seemed well-meaning enough, but he
was hampered by being human. His only advantage was the fact of his
thumbs but that didn't matter.

Dupin looked up at Penny quietly crying. He
had his own human, with her own set of thumbs. She wasn't a cat,
but for a human she seemed quiet bright. Between the two of them he
felt confident in their ability to find the responsible party.

And then maybe she'd remember to get him his
tuna!

#

Dupin watched the gurneys being wheeled down
the sidewalk to the waiting ambulances before he turned his
attention back to Penny, standing beside him with tears running
down her cheeks.

No tuna. Penny upset. Camille and that
teacher, Bill Wilson, dead. Someone had to pay for their crimes and
Dupin didn't trust David to figure out what happened. No, it'd be
better for all concerned if Dupin and Penny identified the
criminal.

First, he needed Penny to get curious.

He knew his human. She loved finding answers.
He watched her each day in the library answering questions for the
people that came in and out. While her intellect might not match
his own — that would no doubt be impossible for a human — she still
showed almost cat-like insight. And she had thumbs, the one human
attribute that saved the entire species.

David came back inside. "You'll be staying
here?"

Penny nodded. "Is that okay? Are you done
with—?"

"Yes. We're done. I'm releasing the scene. I
can send in a couple officers to help clean up, if you like?"

Dupin meowed and bumped against her legs. He
didn't want any more humans tromping all over.

Penny shook her head. "We'll be okay. I'll
take care of it. I've got to clean things up. We won't be opening
today."

David nodded. "Okay then. I'll get that
subpoena for the checkout records and stop by later?"

"Okay. I'll need the barcode list, too."

"I'll have it for you." David turned and
left.

Penny looked down at Dupin. "It's just you
and me now."

Just the way he liked it. Dupin rubbed
against her legs. Penny stepped around him. "Let's go clean up,
then."

Dupin ran between Penny's legs into the
library. The library smelled of latex gloves and fingerprint
powders. He sneezed and stalked closer to the circulation counter.
When he got there he padded across the top towards an area covered
in fingerprint dust.

"Dupin!" Penny rushed up to the counter and
put a hand out in his path. "Don't walk in that! That's all we
need, are cat prints tracked all over."

As if he wanted to track that stuff all over
and get it in his fur? Dupin sat down and licked one paw to prove
his point. Penny put her hands on her hips and sniffled. "It's just
so —"

A bright reflection beneath the keyboard
caught Dupin's eye. Ignoring the powder he walked through it to the
keyboard and fished beneath with his claws.

"Dupin! You're getting dirty!"

He ignored her and tried to get his claws
into whatever it was beneath the keyboard. Not for the first time
he considered the intangible mystery of why cats didn't have
thumbs. His claw hooked onto a metal ring and he dragged out a
small brass key hooked to a red plastic tab by the ring on his
claw. He shook his paw and the key clattered in the fingerprint
dust. Dupin slammed a paw down on the rattling key.

"What's that?" Penny asked. She reached out
and Dupin drew back his paw.

She picked it up neatly, pinching the small
ring between a finger and her thumb. "What's the book drop key
doing here?"

Confident in her ability to answer that for
herself, Dupin jumped down from the counter and sniffed around the
book bin that had held Camille. The police had gone over the wood
bin but they didn't have the benefit of a cat's nose. The bin still
smelled of death. It needed cleaning.