“Sure.” She stood and picked up the magazine. “I have to go to Golden Acres now,” she said, and left.
Hannah and I were alone in the gray confines of the library. We talked about Lizzie for a moment, then I told Hannah what I had so far learned about Tom’s murder, which was almost zero.
She was one of those people who asked just the right questions at just the right moment. “Who feels like the killer to you?” she asked.
“If I had to guess this moment, I would say Junior Bradley.”
“Why?”
“He was the last known person to have a violent confrontation with Tom.”
“Hmm. I wouldn’t get attached to that one theory, though, right?”
“I won’t. I’ll keep looking.”
“Merry, I know you worry that I have Tom on a pedestal, and that I don’t know much about life, but I know more than you might think. Tom was upset about his father’s disappearance, yes. He and Dinah were arguing a lot in the last few months. But there were other things going on in his life, too, something from a long time ago that he had just discovered was not quite as he thought it was.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know,” she said regretfully. “He looked ashamed, and wouldn’t tell me what had happened.”
He knew about her hero-worship of him, probably, and didn’t want to tell her unsavory details that might damage how she saw him. I thought for a long minute. “Was there anything else you were talking about at that point?”
“I was, uh . . . wait! I remember!” Her small face was turned up into the light, long lashes fluttering as she closed her eyes. “We got into a conversation about parents, and I was telling him how much I appreciate mine. I don’t know what I would have done in my life without such a great dad. Tom looked . . . ashamed.” She cocked her head to one side. “I don’t know why.”
“Maybe he was ashamed of something to do with Rusty?” I thought about it. Had Rusty’s hasty disappearance had to do with his own son?
“There’s something else,” Hannah said, eyeing me with discomfort.
“What is it, Hannah? You can tell me anything.”
“Tom was working for someone, doing something he wasn’t proud of, but he needed money, he said.”
This sounded promising. “What was it?”
“He was following someone for a lawyer. But he wouldn’t tell me who he was following.”
“What lawyer? Andrew Silvio, maybe?” I asked, but she just shrugged. Were there any other lawyers in Autumn Vale? Was I limiting myself by only considering this town? I remembered my conversation with Silvio, who told me about a lawyer in Ridley Ridge with whom Melvyn was working on the lawsuits between him and Rusty. “He didn’t give any indication who he was following, or why? Or what he found out?”
She shook her head.
“Can you think of anything else at all?”
“No. I’m going to ask around, though. I see lots of people every day, and no one will think twice about me asking questions, because everyone knew how I felt about Tom.”
The wistfulness in her voice about broke my heart. “Be careful, Hannah,” I warned. “Maybe it would be best if you just left this up to me. There is a killer out there, and we can’t let ourselves be blinded by anyone.”
“I’m not helpless,” she said with a frown.
“I know you aren’t. Just be careful.” I stood and said, “Is there somewhere here I can change my clothes? I have to go bake muffins, and a skirt suit just doesn’t cut it, so I brought jeans and a T-shirt with me.”
A few minutes later, dressed down for baking, I decided to call Shilo. I stood out on the street and held up my cell phone. Not working today. I eyed the sky, noting the low ceiling of clouds that obscured the ridge above Autumn Vale, and wondered if that had something to do with the spotty reception. Dinah had suggested Wi-Fi for better cell reception, but I wasn’t sure that would help me. In truth, I didn’t really understand anything about it. I’d need her to write that stuff down so I could ask an Internet representative without sounding like an idiot.
I walked toward Binny’s Bakery, just as someone whooshed past me on a bicycle. Isadore Openshaw? It was indeed her, heading toward the bank, her books piled in the wicker basket of her bike and a white paper bag from Binny’s Bakery on top. It reminded me of the scene from Wizard of Oz with the mean woman on the bicycle threatening Toto.
While Binny served her customers, I tried to get accustomed to using commercial ovens and baking all my muffins at once. It was faster, but I had to watch them the whole time, because I just wasn’t sure if the temperatures were the same as using a home oven. I let them cool and tried to get ahold of Shilo again. I finally got her using Binny’s store phone. My friend sounded chipper. She was in Ridley Ridge, helping McGill stage a house he was trying to sell. I told her I was going to deliver the muffins to Gogi then head back, and she said she’d meet me at Golden Acres.