“Really?” Shannon shook her head slowly, like that was a shame. She sounded more intrigued than genuinely upset. She was interested in gossip, which was promising. “That’s a shame. I know the son has had trouble with drugs. The woman isn’t their real mother, of course. Lawrence married her after his wife passed. Of course, there’s not anything wrong with that. I think people should try to move on, and a stepmother can be a great parent. I don’t mean to imply that they can’t, but…” Shannon made a furtive glance around and leaned in closer before continuing. “Between you and me, I don’t think she ever wanted children. She works at the hospital. Personally, I think she’s a dreadful woman. I’ve only met her a couple of times at get-togethers and such. I didn’t much care for her personality. She seems to think an awful lot of herself. Wouldn’t give me the time of day at first. She was all curt the first time we met and then, halfway through the party, she suddenly wants to be my best friend. Complete turnaround. I think someone told her who I was married to. Now, I don’t claim to be anyone special—”

  “I think you’re special,” Lady ventured with the sweetest smile she could muster.

  Shannon pressed a hand over her heart. “Aww, and I think you’re special too, Dear. Anyway, my point is that you just don’t treat people like that. It doesn’t matter who they are. Everyone is deserving of a base level of respect, you know?”

  Lady nodded even though she knew that Shannon’s own daughters were just about the most superficial people she had ever met. She decided not to point that out.

  “And when I brought up the kids, she didn’t have a single nice thing to say about them. She didn’t complain about them explicitly to me or anything, but I could tell that there was no love there. I can’t imagine marrying into a family with children if you’re only in it for one person. Not that I’m putting all the blame on her, mind you. Lawrence married that woman. He’s just as much at fault here.”

  “He’s not a great guy aside from all that, I take it?”

  Shannon frowned. She didn’t answer immediately. It seemed like she might have some reservations about speaking poorly of a coworker. Not that her hesitation lasted long. “You didn’t hear it from me, but… I have some suspicions about him, and I’m not the only one.”

  “Suspicions like what?”

  “Again, you didn’t hear it from me, but I think he’s used his position to make sure his son didn’t go to jail.”

  “Ben?”

  Shannon nodded. “Ben has been picked up twice now. It was for possession both times, but some of us wonder if he didn’t fudge what he was caught with a little.”

  “You mean… Like maybe Ben was dealing?”

  “Maybe.” Shannon shrugged. “I don’t want to assume. I’m just telling you what I suspect. It was investigated the last time it happened. Nothing came of it, but they’re keeping an eye on him now. I’m curious to see what’ll happen when they bring that boy in again.” She seemed to think better of what she had just said. “Not that I’m looking forward to it. I hope he kicks the habit, I really do. Runs in the family, though. Lawrence hardly sets a good example.”

  “He’s an addict too?” That was news to Lady.

  Shannon inclined her head and took another sip of her drink. She didn’t answer Lady’s question directly, but it was obvious that she was responding in the affirmative.

  “Drugs?”

  “It might as well be. Alcohol. Just as bad, if you ask me.”

  Lady thought it probably depended on the drug, but she didn’t disagree. She waited for Shannon to continue.

  “He’s an alcoholic. Everyone at the station knows it. What can you do, though? We’re short-staffed as it is, and it’s not like he comes in drunk.” She paused, rethinking that. “Well, he comes in hungover. I’m not sure that counts. He’s missed work because of it too. Not enough to get him fired, but still. He was out the day everything was so busy. That was a real pain. He couldn’t have known, but still.” Shannon shook her head, giving a disapproving “tsk.”

  “Wait.” Lady held up a hand as her mind stumbled to try and put some of that together. “He was out the day things got busy? You mean when Chad was murdered?”

  Shannon nodded. “They called him later that day, and he came in. He was hungover, though. Smelled like booze too. Terrible. I wouldn’t be surprised if he lost his job soon. Conners isn’t the sort to put up with that sort of thing for too long. From the looks of it, he’s only getting worse too. It’s a shame.”

  So Lawrence hadn’t been there the day everything went down. That couldn’t be just a coincidence, not with everything else she had learned.

  “Are you all right?” asked Shannon.

  “Hmm?” Lady realized she had been lost in thought. “Oh, yes. I’m fine.”

  “I hope Agnes is doing well. Last I heard she was away at college, so—” Shannon was interrupted by the arrival of Crispin and Conners. She smiled up at her boss.

  It was good timing. Lady had already gotten all she really needed to know. “You finished already?” she asked Crispin, standing.

  Crispin nodded. “Thanks for waiting. You ready to go?”

  “Yep.” Lady moved around the counter, saying some hasty goodbyes to Shannon as she went.

  Conners followed them to their car. “I just wanted to make sure you know I really do appreciate you coming to me with what you found out,” he said, taking her aside. “You’ve given me a lot to consider.”

  “You’ve given me a lot to consider too.” She gave him a wink.

  Conners’ brow furrowed. “Okay, I… What are you talking about?”

  “Shannon. You know.” Lady gave him another wink before she realized he hadn’t actually suggested she go interrogate Shannon for information. She had inferred that all on her own. “Oh. Never mind.” Lady stepped away and got into the car before Conners could connect the dots. “I’m sure I’ll see you around!”

  Lady made sure to call Ms. Poole as soon as they were pulling away from the police station. “Yes?” answered Ms. Poole after letting it ring a couple of times. She answered the phone with a clipped tone that made Lady wonder how she had known it would be her. She had called the Fisherman Inn’s landline.

  “I’m getting out of the police station now,” Lady explained. “I think I might be on to something. Do you care if I stop by the store after—”

  Ms. Poole didn’t say anything, but she sucked in a breath that suggested Lady might want to think carefully about what she said next.

  “Never mind. I’ll see you soon.” She hung up the phone.

  Crispin glanced over at Lady. “You sound like you have an idea.”

  Lady nodded. “I found out some things that we should look into… First I need to swing by the store and do Ms. Poole’s shopping, though… But after that! After that, we solve a murder!”

  Chapter Twelve

  Lady did the shopping in a rush. Crispin helped her even though she assured him that he didn’t have to. It was a pointless thing to assure him. He was giving her a ride, after all. He also benefited from making sure things went quickly. She made certain he knew he didn’t have to be helping her anyway.

  “I want to,” he told her with a smile.

  ***

  Lady was thankful that Ms. Poole didn’t make her stay to put up everything she had bought. She looked at the bags as Lady and Crispin brought them in. As soon as they sat down she waved her toward the door. “Go on, then. Solve your murder.”

  “Thanks!” Lady beamed at Ms. Poole and hurried back outside.

  “Just call if you’re going to be late for dinner!” Ms. Poole called after her.

  ***

  They had to swing by the library next. This was just as well. Lady wanted to have a word with Agnes. She wasn’t sure how else to approach the issue. It wasn’t like she could just show up at Lawrence’s house.

  She and Crispin went in together. She had filled him in on the way, letting him know what she had learned from Shannon. He had mixed feelings about how far they should take their own investigation, but he wasn’t difficult to sway. He had stronger feelings than she did about what had happened with Chad, after all.

  Agnes was standing at the counter with Dom when they arrived. He seemed to be teaching her something or another. She stood there very attentively, nodding at every other word he said. She was the last to notice when Lady and Crispin approached.

  “Everything go okay down at the station?” asked Dom.

  Agnes looked up startled. “Oh, hi!” she said, first to Crispin and then to Lady.

  “Hi,” Crispin returned awkwardly. “It went fine,” he said to Dom next. “I’ll tell you about it in the back.”

  Dom nodded and turned to Agnes. “I’ll be back.”

  “Okay.” Agnes looked around herself and at the empty countertop. “Is there something I should do in the meantime?”

  “What?” Dom glanced back distractedly, the door to the back room ajar. “I don’t know. Just sit tight for a minute.” With that, he was gone.

  Agnes swallowed and rocked back onto her heels awkwardly before turning her attention to Lady. They were alone in the library now. “So, um, how are you today?”

  “All right.” Lady leaned against the counter with a smile, trying to put Agnes at ease. “Long day. Had to do some shopping for the inn. I went to the police station with Crispin.”

  “That does sound pretty busy.”

  “It was about Chad.”

  “I figured.”

  Lady had hoped Agnes would be a little more inquisitive. She needed to try another approach. “So, how are things with you?”

  “Oh, you know.” Agnes smiled weakly. “They’re fine.”

  That didn’t sound like the truth. Lady focused on that, tried to use it as an in. “Are you sure?”

  “Huh?”

  “It doesn’t sound like things are fine.” Lady assumed a more serious tone, a quieter tone. “I know we don’t know each other that well yet, but I want you to know that you can talk to me, if you need to. I’m still kind of a stranger to Dark Lake. I like making friends here, and you seem like you’d be a cool one.” She meant that. She did like Agnes. She wanted them to be friends. “If something is wrong… I don’t know. Maybe I can help. At the very least, I can listen.”

  Agnes stared at her. She smiled again, this time a bit more genuine. “It’s okay,” she said, but she sounded hesitant. “It’s really no big deal. I’m fine… It’s just…”

  “Just what?” Lady pried.

  Agnes shook her head. “I appreciate the offer. It’s fine.”

  She wasn’t going to open up without more prompting. “I… When I went to your house, I noticed that your brother… Well… Is this about your brother?”

  Agnes bit her bottom lip and adjusted her glasses. She sat down in the rolling chair behind the computer. “Yeah,” she admitted. “I’m sorry.”

  “Why are you apologizing?” asked Lady, genuinely confused.

  “I’m sorry you had to see him like that. I know the kind of impression he makes.”

  “That’s not your fault.”

  “It started in high school.” Agnes sighed. “I really wish there was something I could do about it. It wasn’t this bad before I went to college. Sometimes I think I shouldn’t have left.”

  “He’s really not your responsibility.” Lady knew she didn’t know all the details of Agnes’ situation, but she knew that much. “You have to live your own life.”

  “I know, but he… He just does so much for me.” Agnes smiled weakly again, sadly. “I know he’s a mess, but he’s always been a really supportive older brother. When Dad remarried he helped me work through my feelings about it. He’s the one who encouraged me to go to college. When I came back, he’s the one who encouraged me to apply for this job… Sorry.”

  “What are you sorry for this time?”

  “I don’t know. It feels weird when I talk about how happy I am to have the job. I know I wasn’t Crispin’s first choice.” Agnes looked down at her hands. “I feel guilty because… Well, I was really upset when I didn’t get it. I didn’t want to apply, but Ben pushed me to. He knew I wanted it, so I did. I went for it. And then I didn’t get it, and—It sounds lame, but I holed up in my room for a few days. I just… It’s lame.”

  Lady shook her head. “It’s not lame. I get it. You put yourself out there. It sucks when you try something new and you fail. It feels like you were right to doubt yourself, makes you kinda reluctant to try ever again.”

  Agnes looked up at that, relieved. “Yeah. It was like that.”

  “I think everyone feels that way sometimes. Some more than others, obviously.” She knew Agnes already had trouble opening up about things. She was obviously someone who felt insecure a lot of the time. “And I get that you were happy when you got the job. That’s cool too. The circumstances under which you got it sucked, but you still deserve this.”

  “Thanks,” said Agnes. “Seriously, thanks.”

  “You don’t—” Lady stopped as something occurred to her. A thought had entered her head. She didn’t like it, but it was impossible to ignore. “Where’s your brother right now?”

  Agnes shrugged. “I don’t know. At home, I guess. Why?”

  Lady took a step back from the counter. She tried to think of what she could say, how she could look further into this without tipping Agnes off about her suspicions. A few options went through her mind. She liked none of them. “Can we talk about something?” This was probably a bad idea.

  Agnes raised an eyebrow. No doubt she was puzzled given that they were already talking about something. “Yeah. Of course.”

  “Something serious.” Lady couldn’t help but look toward the back room. She hoped neither of them came out in the next couple of minutes. She didn’t want to be interrupted for this.

  “I guess?” Agnes glanced toward the back room as well.

  “Let’s go over here.” Lady motioned Agnes toward the large wooden tables at the corner of the library opposite them. They were there for sitting and reading or researching. It was somewhere where they could sit, have a little bit of privacy.

  Agnes looked uncertain, but she followed. They sat together on the same side of the table, chairs angled so that they could look at one another. “What’s this about?”

  Now that she was moments away from telling her, Lady was beginning to have second thoughts. “This might make you upset with me. I mean, it’ll definitely upset you, but… I like you, Agnes. I want to be your friend. I don’t want to sit here and try to manipulate you. It feels wrong.”

  “What are you talking about?” Agnes’ voice was a little breathy. Lady was making her anxious with all this beating around the bush.

  “Do you know if your brother and Chad were still in contact? I know that they knew each other from high school. Your dad told me.”

  “I don’t think they—What does this have to do with anything?”

  “Does your brother deal drugs?”

  Agnes paled. “I don’t—”

  “It’s okay, Agnes. The drug thing isn’t a big deal. I just need to know.” Drugs weren’t a big deal, relatively speaking.

  Agnes looked doubtful, but she answered her anyway. “I think so, yes. I don’t think he does it all the time, but… Yes. He definitely does sometimes to make a little money on the side. You… you aren’t asking because you—”

  “What? No!” Lady got that out of the way quickly. “That’s not why I’m asking. I’m asking because… Do you think there’s any chance that he was selling to Chad?”

  “I don’t know. I stayed out of that part of his life. They knew each other, so… I guess he could have as soon as he could have sold to anyone, but—” Agnes stopped then, her eyes going wide. “You aren’t implying that—What are you—” She started to stand, but Lady shot out a hand, placing it on her arm to try and keep her there.

  “Please, wait. Let’s just talk about this for a minute. Can you sit down while we talk about this for a minute?”

  Agnes settled back into her seat, but she looked restless. Lady needed to make her point quickly if she wanted Agnes to stick around long enough to hear her out. “I believe you. He’s probably not a bad person.” She had a hard time believing anyone was completely without good traits. Even so, she was saying that entirely for Agnes’ benefit in order to soften the blow for what she was going to ask her next. “Do you think it’s in any way possible that he might be partly responsible for what happened? Do you think he would have done something reckless to try and help you get the job you wanted?”

  This time there wasn’t anything Lady could do to keep Agnes seated. Fortunately, she didn’t storm off. She did, however, begin to pace up and down the length of the table. Lady had to keep swiveling in order to keep facing her. “That’s—I don’t know why you would—No. No! He isn’t a murderer. He makes a lot of bad decisions, but murder isn’t something that would even cross his mind! That’s ridiculous!”

  “His judgment is clouded sometimes, isn’t it?” asked Dom.

  Both Lady and Agnes spun around. Dom and Crispin had approached at some point. They both stood a few feet away, Crispin hanging behind his friend. He looked more sheepish about interrupting them than Dom did.

  “His addiction,” Dom clarified. “It clouds his judgment sometimes, doesn’t it?”

  Agnes flushed. “That’s…” She took a couple of steps away. “Does everyone know everything about me?” Her gaze turned to Lady for just a moment and Lady felt a stab of guilt. “I don’t… I’m sorry Crispin, but I don’t think I can keep working here.” Her voice broke as she turned. She walked quickly toward the door then broke out into a jog.

  Lady stood and moved to go after her. “Agnes!” She hesitated.

  “I wish you’d told us you planned on confronting her,” Dom muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. The sounds of the doors opening and closing echoed off the high ceiling of the library.

 

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