The Murders in the Reed Moore Library (3 page)

Penny lifted the key up in front of her face.
"It looks like a fingerprint, in the dust on the plastic tab." She
lowered it to the counter and set it down. "We'll have to show that
to David when he comes back."

Maybe so, but it didn't answer any questions
right now. Dupin left the bin and sat down to clean the fingerprint
powder off his paws. It tasted like ashes and made him sneeze.

"Oh, you poor kitty," Penny said. "Stop
licking it! Let me get a rag and we'll get this all cleaned
up."

Dupin didn't bother stopping. Penny left the
counter area and headed back into the staff room. Dupin realized
that this put Penny near the tuna and took off running after her.
Unfortunately he realized too late and she surprised him in the
doorway holding wet paper towels. Dupin tried slipping around her
but Penny caught him. She grabbed his feet and rubbed them with the
wet towels. It was almost as bad as being licked by a dog! She
finally released him and he headed under the nearby desk where he
sat cleaning his drenched paws.

While he cleaned himself Penny busied herself
cleaning the counter area, except for the spot where she left the
key. She used a spray on the book drop, the sort that made his eyes
water, so he stayed back beneath the desk and just watched. Penny
noticed the scratch along the side of the bin.

"What happened —?" She sniffled. "Oh."

Dupin rose and strolled out from under the
desk as Penny finished cleaning the bin and pushed it back beneath
the counter. She looked at Dupin.

"Why would anyone kill Camille?"

Dupin meowed.

Penny smiled. "Okay. You're right. I should
be trying to find out something to help David with his case. Like
why Camille might have been here. Or why anyone would kill Bill
Wilson. I always thought he seemed nice enough. He thought he was
more charming than he was, but a lot of men are like that."

Dupin jumped up on the desk and sniffed at
the papers there. A red file folder sitting on the desk smelled
like Camille. He pushed it with his paw towards the edge of the
desk.

"Dupin!" Penny ran over and caught the folder
before it fell. "You're acting so strange. Do you miss her
too?"

At least he missed the extra treats. People
came and went in his life, always had until Penny.

Penny flipped through the folder. "These are
Camille's! How did you know?"

Didn't they smell like Camille? It should be
obvious, but Penny suffered from the same poor sense of smell as
most humans. Dupin arched his back for a scratch but Penny didn't
notice.

"The deadline for these financial aid forms
is today." Penny looked at Dupin. "This could be very helpful. If
she left these forms here, it could explain why she came back to
the library last night."

Penny carried folder towards the front desk.
Dupin jumped off the desk and followed her to the counter. She put
the folder down next to the key. Dupin jumped up on the counter.
From the counter it was much easier to look at Penny's face.

He meowed and arched his back again. Penny
reached out and stroked his fur. "Good kitty."

Dupin purred happily against her hand. He
still wanted his tuna, but scratches were progress. Except then
Penny stopped. She tapped her fingers on the counter.

"So Camille comes back to the library to get
the folder she forgot. I still don't see how that ties in with Bill
Wilson. I can't imagine they were involved."

Dupin sat down and waited.

Penny crossed her arms and stared at the book
drop key for several seconds. Then she glanced over at the
cleansers she had used on the wood book drop bin.

"I should check the outside drop, make sure
it's been cleaned up before anyone puts more books in it." Penny
pulled open a drawer on the back of the counter and rummaged in a
plastic basket with a good dozen keys, each attached to a bright
plastic tag. Dupin yawned. Penny took out another key, a duplicate
of the one sitting in that small patch of fingerprint dust.

Penny tossed it in the air and caught it.
"Let's do that."

She tucked the spray bottle and a roll of
paper towels beneath her arm before heading towards the outside
doors. Dupin followed. Before they got to the lobby Penny stopped.
Dupin came up from behind and rubbed against her leg and then
stopped too. Several people were standing outside the main doors.
Penny took a breath and then started walking again.

Dupin trotted along after. Penny went out to
the main doors and pushed them open a crack. There were four humans
standing outside. A man smelling of sawdust with red cheeks and
dark hair stepped forward.

"We saw the police. What was going on?"

The other humans, a red-haired woman, and an
older couple came closer. Dupin sat down just behind Penny where he
could see everyone. He breathed in deeply. The woman smelled of
fire and smoke. It reminded him of the body that had been in the
bin, but much stronger. The older couple had smelled almost the
same as each other, a dry, powdery, minty sort of old smell like
dried leaves.

Penny took a deep breath. "Two people were
killed. The library won't be opening today, I'm sorry."

"Killed?" The old woman gasped and looked up
at her husband. He put an arm around her. "That's awful!"

The red-haired woman stepped closer. Dupin
watched her warily.

"Look, I've just got to pick up something for
my class. It'll only take a second," the woman said.

Penny shook her head. "We're not opening
today."

The woman moved her hand in a circle as she
said, "Look, this is terrible, really. But you know life does go
on. Everyone else still has places to go, things to do, and I don't
mean to be a bitch but Camille said my book was supposed to be in
last week and it didn't come in which meant I lost the whole
weekend. Then I get this email saying it's there and I just need to
pick it up. You don't even have to do anything, I'll grab it and
check it out."

Penny shook her head. "I can't let you in
right now. If —"

"Look, how hard is it —"

"You just tell me your name I'll get the
book."

The red-haired woman stared at Penny for a
second then shook her head. "Look, just forget it. I don't have
time for this."

The woman turned and left. Her heels made
rapid clicks against the sidewalk as she walked quickly away. Dupin
watched her go.

Then the man standing beside Penny shook his
head. "Guess she didn't need it that much after all." He held out
his hand. "Rod Allan."

"I guess not." Penny shook his hand and let
go quickly. "Folks, I'm sorry, but we won't be open today. If
you'll excuse me, I need to clean the drop."

"Can I help?" Rod asked.

The old couple started to move away but the
old man pulled free from his wife's arm. Both Penny and the man
looked up as the older man approached. He had pale blue eyes and
very pale saggy skin.

"Lo! Death has reared himself a throne," he
said. "In a strange city lying alone —"

His wife tugged on his arm. "Come on
Sullivan." She looked at Penny. "He likes quoting. That's about all
he can remember these days, are poems and lines from plays."

"It's fine." Penny looked at Rod. "I can take
care of this myself. Please, I'd prefer to be alone."

Dupin watched the old couple move off, the
woman tugging on the man's arm. Rod moved away a couple steps and
rubbed his rough jaw. Dupin waited to see what he intended to say
when a police car rolled up in front of the library. Rod ducked his
head, stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked away down the
sidewalk.

David got out of the police car. He walked
past Rod and headed straight towards Penny. Dupin got up and
strolled over to Penny. He rubbed against her legs.

"Hello," Penny said, when David reached
them.

"Hello again, yourself." He reached into his
jacket and pulled out a few sheets of paper. "I've got the subpoena
and the barcode list. Are you ready to help me out now?"

Penny took the paper and looked it over.
"This looks fine. You just need to know who had these checked
out?"

"And any contact information you have. We'll
need to question them."

Penny nodded. "In this case I don't see that
we have any choice, if it'll help catch the killer."

"It might." David opened the library door.
"Shall we?"

"I was going to clean the drop."

"I'm sure my people cleaned it after they
were done."

"I don't know about that," Penny shook her
head. "They left a mess inside."

Dupin meowed.

"See? Dupin agrees."

David chuckled. "Okay. If Dupin agrees, I
stand corrected."

Penny held up a finger. "It'll only take a
minute and I'll feel better. Then I've got something to show you
inside."

"Okay."

Penny unlocked the book drop, twisted the
handle and pulled open the metal door. Dupin peered around into the
drop. It still smelled of the dead man, Bill Wilson. Penny reached
inside and pulled the bin out. Dupin moved aside, and once the drop
was out of the way he went to the opening and looked into the drop.
A dark flat shape lay against the side of the drop.

Dupin strolled inside. He went to the thing
he had seen and sniffed. It turned out to be a leather wallet that
smelled like the dead man. From outside he caught a whiff of the
cleansers Penny sprayed on the drop.

He pawed at the wallet. It fell open. There
were pictures inside. Dupin took a long look. Penny needed to see
this. He meowed and crouched as the drop magnified and echoed the
sound.

#

Dupin turned his head smoothly and looked at
the bright opening of the book drop. Two human faces looked in at
him. Penny on the right, smiling and on the left the blue-eyed gaze
of David. Dupin crouched down and kept his paw on the wallet.

"What is that?" David asked.

"It looks like a wallet. Just a sec." Penny
crouched and walked into the drop bent over. Dupin backed off the
wallet when she reached for it. "Good kitty."

Penny picked up the wallet and waddled back
out. For once she lacked her usual cat-like grace. Dupin wouldn't
hold it against her. He followed her out of the drop. Penny
straightened and flipped the wallet open.

"It's Bill Wilson's."

David fished in his pocket and pulled out a
bag. "I'll need to take that."

"Wait a sec," Penny said.

Dupin couldn't see anything. Very
frustrating. He looked around and then jumped up on top of the book
drop. He walked to the edge and could finally see what Penny was
looking at.

Pictures, in the wallet, of the dead man and
a young woman with long blond hair. Lots of it, like a Persian cat
he'd known once. Penny flipped to the next picture and it was a
picture of the red-haired woman smelling of fire and smoke that had
been here just a few minutes ago. Penny held the wallet out to
David

"Look at this. She was here earlier, but who
is the girl in this picture? Their daughter?"

David made a whistling sound. "If that's his
wife, what was she doing here? Did she say anything about her
husband?"

Penny shook her head. "She just wanted to
pick up a book."

"You didn't tell her?" David asked.

"No, I didn't know who she was. Haven't you
already contacted the families?"

"Not her. We haven't been able to get a hold
of her." David flipped back to the first photo. "But that girl
isn't their daughter. They don't have a daughter. We already
checked with the school."

"Oh."

David dropped the wallet into the baggy.
"This might just be the clue we needed. Thanks!"

Penny shook her head. She reached out and
scratched under Dupin's chin. He closed his eyes with pleasure. "It
was Dupin that found the wallet."

David coughed. "Yes, I guess so. We've got
some barcodes to look at?"

First Penny wanted to clean out the book drop
bin before she put it back inside. Dupin stretched out on the warm
metal drop and snoozed while she worked. When she finished he
jumped down and inside first, as soon as she opened the door. Dupin
stopped and looked back but the humans were moving so slowly. Penny
laughed at something David had said.

Dupin recognized the signs of human
courtship. Penny had, on occasion, dated various men. None of whom
were good enough for her, a fact that she had quickly realized when
Dupin had made his displeasure known.

Penny walked quickly across the library. So
quickly that Dupin barely avoided being trod upon, escaping at the
last moment by springing up onto the circulation counter once more.
David followed at a more leisurely pace. Penny turned around,
facing him with her hands resting on the counter behind her.

"I've got it!" Penny announced.

Dupin walked up behind her and rose up,
rubbing the side of his face against her shoulder.

"What have you got?" David asked.

"I know who committed these crimes." Penny's
voice turned colder. "I know who killed Camille."

David tapped the list on his hand. "How could
you possibly have figured it out?"

Penny shrugged. Dupin rubbed against her
other shoulder. Then he sat down and stared at David.

"Well, if the red-head was Mr. Wilson's wife
and the girl in the other picture wasn't, she must have killed them
both. Jealous rage, over the affair."

David shook his head. "That might be the
case, but we don't have any evidence of that."

"Maybe we do?" Penny turned and gestured at
the key sitting in its island of fingerprint dust and Camille's
binder. "I thought you might want to look at these. Dupin found key
beneath one of the keyboards. It's to the book drop outside."

"Okay, we shouldn't have missed that, but go
on."

"We also found Camille's folder with her
financial aid forms that needed to be filed today. I think she came
back to get the forms. While she was here she decided to empty the
book drop and got in the middle of Mrs. Wilson killing Mr. Wilson!
Mrs. Wilson came back today because she realized that she had left
this key and was afraid it would lead back to her."