The Unkindness of Ravens M. Hilliard (popular novels txt) 📖

went to lunch, I heard some man asking about the murder and the history of the manor. He spent a long time in the hall studying the antique windows. He even asked if there were any floorplans for the manor. I pointed him to Local History section, because I was helping someone else. I’m sure he went upstairs. I did run up and check later but I didn’t see him. When we’re busy in here it’s hard to keep an eye on everything.”

There. If she’d seen me, I’d given her a reasonable explanation, and if she’d seen the man in the upstairs hall, she had someone else to focus her suspicions on. And I’d worked in the question about floor plans.

“I saw him.” she said. “But only from a distance. He didn’t come into the archives to ask about plans or anything else. Just as well. There’s nothing. The building has been added to so often they wouldn’t be meaningful anyway. I’m sure you’re doing your best, Greer. That’s why I stopped by. I wanted to let you know I’ve checked all the windows upstairs and closed and locked whatever I could. You should only have to do a quick sweep when you close. The archives, of course, are already locked.”

I thanked her and said goodnight. Too bad Millicent was on my suspect list. She was a walking encyclopedia of life in the village over the last sixty years. She’d be a great resource if she weren’t a potential killer.

As the day drew to a close, I grew more and more anxious to get everybody out so I could try to figure out what Sadie had seen and if she had been visible to whomever was going up the stairs. I was also itching to get home and study the notes Joanna had made on that article. I was sure they were important. The usual late rush appeared, but at five o’clock sharp I sent the page to lock the doors and waded into the fray at Circ. When we had cleared everyone out, I sent the page home and turned to Anne Marie.

“Why don’t you go ahead? It’ll take me a little while to get organized, and it’s been a long day.” I caught Mary Alice’s eye and quickly glanced toward the yellow bean bag chair.

“Are you sure?” Anne Marie said. “I don’t mind waiting. The place must get a little creepy when it’s empty, especially at night.”

Mary Alice gave a little snort.

“Greer is no Nervous Nellie, and neither am I. All of us are used to finding our way around the manor, even in the dark. Between the weather and the wiring, we lose power a couple of times a year.”

“True,” I said, “empty buildings don’t bother me. Mary Alice still has a couple things to do, and if you put that cart back in the office I can finish in no time.”

“If you’re sure it’s okay,” Anne Marie said, looking out at the lengthening shadows, “I do have plans tonight.”

“Off you go then. We’re used to this—it’s usually only two people to close.”

Anne Marie took charge of the book cart and left. I organized reference while Mary Alice finished shutting down Circ. I went to the window and saw Anne Marie’s tail lights as she exited the parking lot.

“She’s gone,” I said to Mary Alice.

She glanced at the clock.

“It’s later than I thought, Greer. My sister-in-law is coming to dinner and I have to stop at the market. I can only stay a few minutes.”

I thought I’d have Mary Alice play sidekick in my re-enactment. Now I’d be investigating on my own. A little zing of excitement shot through me.

“I don’t think this can wait,” I said. “If you could set the lights the way they were on Tuesday while I get my things from the office, it would be a big help. Then I’ll only be a few minutes behind you.”

She hesitated, but briefly.

“You’re right, it shouldn’t wait, and we’ve had everything locked up for a while. You should be fine. You drove today, didn’t you? You won’t be walking home? It looks like rain again.”

“I have my car and I’ll be quick. I have something to do tonight, too,” I said, thinking of the photocopied article.

“All right.”

By the time I collected my belongings, Mary Alice had adjusted all the lights and was headed for the door.

“Just like Tuesday night,” she said, “and I’ll call Sam when I get home.”

I left my things at the Circ desk. There was a low rumble off in the distance. The predicted storm moved in quickly, and the light began to fade. Good. The darker it was in the hall, the better my chances of figuring out what Sadie could actually have seen. And if Sadie could have been seen. I looked at the motion sensor panel. According to the blinking lights, I was alone.

I’d been lying when I told Anne Marie I didn’t mind being alone in an empty building. It wasn’t that I didn’t mind—I actually loved it and always had. As I stood alone in the middle of the large room, I felt the illicit thrill that comes with being somewhere you shouldn’t be, at a time you shouldn’t be there, for reasons of which no one would approve. One day I’d picked up a book by Lawrence Block and met Bernie Rhodenbarr, gentleman thief, and I knew I was not alone. I wasn’t The Burglar in the Library, but I was the Girl Detective on the Prowl.

I walked into the hall and studied the portraits. The dead Ravenscrofts weren’t a lively looking bunch, but Sadie had seen something that made her think they moved. I had just gone to the other side of the hall when something shifted in my peripheral vision. I turned and confronted a woman’s pale face, a frock-coated man looming over her. I gasped and stepped back, and the image receded. A mirror. I went closer. It was old, this mirror, wavy