Dom motioned to Otsuya. “Otsuya can keep an eye on her.”

  “Or you could just hire me,” Otsuya added under her breath.

  Crispin sighed and turned back and forth idly in his chair. They were beginning to win him over. Lady could tell. He really didn’t like the idea of closing the library down for an indeterminate amount of time. “Give her a call,” he said finally, in a huff.

  Dom hurried around the counter, cell phone already in hand. He had been ready for this moment. The contact information was on the computer and he seemed to know right where to go for it.

  Crispin stood. “I’m going to make sure everything is in order in the back.” He looked at Otsuya. “Would you really be willing to stay and keep an eye on her?”

  Otsuya perked up. She had never really been given much responsibility at the library before. For good reason too. She stole books. “Of course. Whatever I can do to aid you in this trying time.”

  “All right.” Crispin headed for the back room and motioned Otsuya along behind him. “Let me show you what I want her doing.”

  Lady watched the both of them go. She wondered if she should be feeling jealous or worried that Otsuya was going to steal her shot at a new relationship away. She didn’t really have any of those emotions in her, though. It wasn’t like they had even gone on a proper date yet. If Otsuya could steal him away before that then good for her. She’d liked him longer after all. All that was standing between those two were Otsuya’s morals… and, well, Crispin’s feelings. Lady wasn’t sure how Crispin felt about Otsuya. At the very least, they were good friends.

  Lady leaned against the counter and watched as Dom brought his phone to his ear. It was a few seconds before he spoke. “Hey, Agnes? Yeah, it’s me Dom. Were you still interested in a position here at the library?” There was a lengthy pause. Lady could hear talking on the other end and watched Dom twirl a pen in his fingers impatiently. “Great. When is the soonest you think you could get up here?” Another pause. “Fantastic. We’ll see you then.” He hung up the phone.

  “She’s coming, I take it?” asked Lady.

  “She is,” Dom confirmed with a nod.

  “I guess she was your second choice, huh?”

  “She was the only other choice, if I’m being honest.”

  “Sounds like she’s a good one.” Lady hadn’t heard much, but what she had heard seemed promising. “She worked at a library before. Had Chad worked at a library?”

  “No,” Dom admitted. “But we decided on him because… Well, Agnes has a strong personality. You’ll see when she gets here.”

  Lady wasn’t sure what that meant. Dom was a critical guy though. He probably thought she had a strong personality too. She didn’t think that was a bad thing. “So have you learned anything else about Chad?”

  “Not officially,” said Dom, which meant he had. He lowered his voice. Crispin almost certainly already knew everything he did, but he probably didn’t want Otsuya learning all the details. She wasn’t the best at keeping her mouth shut. “I hear toxicology came back. Seems like he was pretty wasted.”

  “Seriously?” Lady hadn’t expected that. Now that he mentioned it, she wasn’t surprised that Chad would be mixed up in illicit substances. He seemed like the type of hipster that would try anything once. “So did that kill him?”

  Dom shook his head. “They don’t think so. It wasn’t at lethal levels. Looks like it was still the heat that did it, but he was probably passed out at the time.”

  Lady winced. “So, what? He took his boat out for a late night joy ride, came back in to the dock, and passed out on the deck?”

  “I’m not sure about the joy ride part, but passed out on the deck seems likely. It would explain why he didn’t show up for work that morning. He was still probably passed out when he was supposed to be here.”

  “Still crazy to just die like that, isn’t it? Heat exhaustion in your sleep?”

  Dom nodded. “It’s definitely odd. No one is saying it isn’t.”

  “Does anyone think there was foul play involved?”

  Dom raised an eyebrow. “Why? Do you think there was foul play involved?”

  “I haven’t been here all that long and I’ve solved, like, three murders. I could watch you walk into the road and get hit by a truck and I’d think there was foul play involved.”

  “Point taken. Do you have any evidence that foul play was involved, though?”

  “I… saw something.” Lady was hesitant to call it a vision. A sign, maybe? It was hard to say. She didn’t see any harm in telling Dom about it, though. Whatever it had been. “When I was meditating with you, I saw a red salamander. When we went down to the docks, I saw it again.”

  Dom frowned thoughtfully. “Have you told anyone else about that?”

  “I told Ms. Poole. She said it was a—”

  “A fire elemental, yeah. You should probably go have a talk with Destiny about it. She’s the expert with that sort of stuff.”

  “Ms. Poole suggested that too.”

  “I’m heading down there in a little while. You can tag along, if you want.”

  “Sure.” It wasn’t like Lady had plans for the rest of the day. She had more or less come to the library hoping someone would lead her to where she needed to go next. Destiny was already on her list of people she needed to talk to.

  “We can’t go for a bit, though. I have to wait for Agnes to get here.” Dom sat down at the computer chair. “I should probably pull up some of the instructional documents we made for Chad… And, you know, change his name on them so it’s slightly less morbid.”

  True to what he had said, it was easy to see why Agnes had been initially passed over for the job. She was a small, cute girl. She had mousy reddish brown hair and thick black-rimmed glasses. She was on the short side, barely over five feet tall at best. Even when she stood still she was bouncing excitedly. She also had something of a volume problem.

  “I was so excited you called.” Agnes spoke fast and her normal speaking voice was the kind you’d hear someone use on a stage. “I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner. I was in the middle of shopping. I would have dropped everything and come, but my cart was already full. Then I had to go home and put everything away. I can’t leave it in the car in this heat, you know. Gosh, it’s sweltering out there. It feels good in here, though!”

  “That’s fine,” Dom said once he could get a word in. “We’re glad you could come at all.”

  “Yeah. Of course.” Agnes took a look around. “I didn’t expect you to call me back in. I heard you hired someone else, so—”

  “It didn’t work out.”

  “Is that why you closed down the library today? I don’t think I’ve ever seen this place closed. Not that I’d know, I guess. I don’t come by as often as I probably should. I used to! But then I went to college and their library was more convenient. I got out of reading after that. Which, I know, I know. It’s bad, but I’ve been trying to get back into the habit. Working here will be the perfect opportunity to start back up!”

  “Right.” Dom took a deep breath. Already, Lady could see in his tired expression that he was having second thoughts. “I’m going to go get Crispin. You wait here. I’ll be right back.”

  “Got it,” Agnes said with a nod. She turned to look at Lady as Dom walked off. “Hi,” she said with a nervous smile. “I’m Agnes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around.”

  Lady smiled back. “I moved here not too long ago. Name’s Lady.”

  “Do you work here too?”

  “No, I’m just a friend of… management. I work down at the Fisherman’s Inn.”

  “Oh! I know that place.” That wasn’t a surprise. Dark Lake was a small town. Lady assumed everyone knew most every establishment within its borders. “That’s neat. I thought about working in administration. I actually had an interview later this week for a job like that. I’m not going to take it now, obviously. I should probably call them.”

  “I, um, don’t actually work in administration.”

  “Oh.”

  Lady wasn’t sure what she could call her job precisely. There probably wasn’t a title for it. She got paid under the table when she got paid at all, so it wasn’t like she would be doing her taxes properly this year. Apprentice to a witch wasn’t an official job title. “It’s a small place. They don’t need an official administrative team. I just kind of… do odd jobs.”

  “Oh.” Agnes nodded. “Well, that sounds interesting.”

  It didn’t sound interesting. Agnes was saying that to be polite and friendly. Lady could tell.

  “I’m sorry.” Agnes’ smile fell a bit. “I’m nervous. I can’t stop talking when I’m nervous and—Am I being weird?”

  Lady immediately felt for the girl. Apparently, she was aware of how she was coming off. “No, you’re fine,” she said quickly. “So, librarian, huh? Is that what you went to school for?” Did people go to school for that sort of thing? Lady had never been to college.

  “Sort of. It’s definitely my dream transitional job.” She didn’t mention what it was she really wanted to do. It seemed like Agnes was already taking the train of conversation elsewhere. It didn’t take much to derail her. “I was really excited when I heard they were hiring. I was really shocked they called me back. I know they hired someone else. It didn’t work out?”

  “In a way.” Lady wasn’t sure she was supposed to go into what had happened. “He, uh… He died.”

  Agnes’ brown eyes went wide. “Oh,” she said. For once, it didn’t seem like she had anything else to add.

  “Yeah, they’re investigating it now. The police, I mean. I don’t know if it’s been on the news.”

  “I don’t have a television.”

  “Me neither, so… Yeah.”

  “That’s terrible.” Agnes looked down at her feet. “Now I feel bad about getting excited.”

  Lady regretted saying anything. “No, it’s fine—Well, it’s not fine. You know what I mean. It’s not like any of this is your fault. It’s a blessing in disguise.” She winced. That felt like a horrible thing to say. “He hadn’t actually been working here all that long.” God, she was making it worse. “I mean, yeah, it’s really sad.”

  The door to the backroom opened and Lady had never been so thankful to see Dom. He was followed closely by Crispin and Otsuya. Crispin quickly arranged his expression into a pleasant one. Otsuya didn’t bother. She was already looking Agnes up and down, sizing her up like she could tell on sight whether or not she was worthy for the position.

  “Thanks for coming down so fast,” said Crispin, stopping in front of her and holding out his hand. “I know we gave you short notice.”

  “No,” said Agnes. She was no longer all smiles. She looked nervous instead, a bit out of sorts. “It’s fine. I’m, uh… I’m sorry for your loss.”

  Crispin glanced at Lady before looking back to Agnes. Lady just shrugged helplessly. She didn’t think Chad was a topic that was off limits. Surely it had been on the news by now or something. There had been a lot going on at the pier. With how small Dark Lake was, surely the news had reached a lot of people through gossip alone.

  “That’s… all right,” said Crispin, stumbling over his words a bit like he wasn’t sure what to say. “I didn’t know him that well, to be honest. Obviously, we’re working with the police to try and figure out what happened.”

  “That’s why we needed you down here so fast,” said Dom. “Do you think you’d be up to the task of watching this place on your own if we had to leave you for an hour or two at a time?”

  Agnes’ eyes went wide again. She looked from Crispin to Dom. “Oh, um, I—” This was clearly all a bit overwhelming.

  “I’ll be here too,” said Otsuya, though the way she said it wasn’t terribly reassuring. It sounded more like a threat. “I’ll keep an eye on you.”

  “Oh.” Agnes brightened a little. “Do you work here too?”

  “She doesn’t,” Crispin said quickly. “But she knows her way around the place. She’s a regular. I trust her.”

  Agnes looked more confused than ever, but she nodded. “I guess I could—I’d need someone to show me what to do, but… I mean, if you trust me and think I’m right for the job…”

  “You’ll do fine,” said Dom.

  Lady didn’t believe that Dom actually thought that. He wasn’t an optimist by nature. More likely he just wanted to put Crispin at ease. They needed someone right now. It wasn’t like people frequented the library. All Agnes had to be was a body at a desk. It was essentially a glorified babysitting job. It would be difficult to screw up unless she decided to rob the place. Agnes didn’t strike Lady as the sort to steal and fence rare books.

  “I’ll walk you through the basics,” Crispin assured her. “When everything calms down there will be time for proper training. That’s if you want the job, of course.”

  “Oh, I do!” Agnes managed a smile again. “I’m really glad you called me back, like I said. I’m—” Her smile fell. “Obviously, I’m sorry to hear about the guy who had this job before me. I didn’t mean to imply—”

  “It’s fine,” Dom interrupted. He motioned her along to the back. “Let’s get you set up. I have all the paperwork ready.”

  Chapter Seven

  “So, Agnes seems nice,” Lady said once she and Dom were in the car together and on their way to the marina.

  Dom glanced over at her from the driver’s seat. “She seems annoying,” he said bluntly.

  “I don’t know. She seems nice.”

  “Still annoying.”

  Lady couldn’t really argue with that. She did seem like someone it would be difficult to spend more than several hours with. Still, she did like her more than she had ever liked Chad. Though that felt mean-spirited to think now. “Do you plan on keeping her around after all of this?”

  “If it’s up to me, yeah. Barring anything disastrous happening, I think she’s capable of doing the job. I mean, she worked at a library before, and we definitely need someone around. It’s not like he had candidates lined out the door. Honestly, if she doesn’t work out, I’m not sure what we’ll do.”

  “You could always give Otsuya the job.”

  Dom snorted at that. “That a ghost is the next best person for the job probably says a lot.”

  ***

  The marina was open. At least it looked that way. It wasn’t blocked off. There was still some police tape up, but there was no barricade. Dom was able to pull the car up closer before parking.

  Destiny saw them pull up and waved from the docks. She was in her usual shorts and bathing suit top. It might as well be her work uniform. Lady was curious to see what she dressed like when the weather got colder.

  “How’s it going?” asked Dom when they reached Destiny at the lake’s edge.

  Destiny glanced over her shoulder at the pier. “Oh, you know. Same old, same old. The boss is taking the day off. I’m in charge. The police came by once, but other than that it’s been pretty quiet.”

  “Have you heard anything?” asked Lady.

  Destiny shook her head. “I’m not sure why I would. You guys probably know more than me.” She motioned to Dom. “It’s not like they brought me in for questioning. I didn’t even find the body. I just work here. They did move the boat. Some guys came earlier with the police. They searched the area then moved the boat in there.” She pointed to a building further along the lake. “We don’t keep any other boats in there right now. I guess they wanted to keep the boat out of the elements. In case, you know, they needed to search for more evidence later or something.” She shrugged then looked to Dom. “Did you come down to check your sigils?”

  Dom nodded. “I figured I’d better. If any of my eyes picked up something, I probably owe it to Chad to report it or whatever.” He didn’t sound terribly enthused about that.

  Destiny motioned him on. “Well, don’t let me stop you. You know where they are.”

  Lady watched Dom walk off toward the pier, where the nearest eye was. He drew his eyes all over town. If Dom had an element, that was his. He could see things through his sigil. Lady didn’t understand how it worked exactly. She figured it was some form of very specific, localized divination. She watched as he went to the first sigil and put his hand on it. He closed his eyes.

  Lady turned her attention back to Destiny. It wasn’t like Dom needed her help with what he was doing. She couldn’t have helped even if she wanted to. “Hey, I had a question.”

  “Yeah?” Destiny looked from Dom to Lady. “Shoot.”

  “What do you know about salamanders?”

  That got a laugh from Destiny. “You mean like the amphibious ones? I don’t know. I don’t really see them around the lake. They’re cute, I guess.”

  “I mean like the elemental ones. Everyone I’ve talked to says they’re fire elementals… for some reason. I figured they’d be water, if anything, but…” Lady shrugged. “Whatever. Everyone says I should talk to you since fire is kind of your whole deal.”

  Destiny nodded sagely. “Yeah, it is my deal.” She smirked. “I feel you on the whole fire thing. I never really got it either. But, yeah, salamanders are in my wheelhouse. Why?”

  “I saw one.”

  “Oh?” Destiny raised an eyebrow. “When?”

  “Yesterday. I saw one when I was meditating, right before you called about Chad. Then, when we came here, I saw one on the side of the boat. It was red and… I don’t know. I figured it had to mean something given how he died and all.”

  Destiny’s gaze went far off and thoughtful. Behind her Dom removed his hand from the sigil he was at. Lady watched as he moved on to the next. It was hard to tell if he had seen anything worthwhile yet. She wanted to ask but restrained herself. He would tell them when he was ready. Asking him now would only annoy him, and Dom already seemed tired and particularly grumpy today.

  “Have you seen one today?” asked Destiny.

  “I haven’t really been looking for them.” Now that Destiny brought it up, Lady couldn’t help but give her surroundings a cursory scan for salamanders. “I guess it might be worthwhile to meditate and see what I see.”

 

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