He wasn’t pulling any punches. “We didn’t follow him, sir. My friends and I were taking the dogs for a walk and decided to come into the library on a whim.”
“There’s your first lie. We already checked the security feed and it shows you peering through the front door. When Mr. MacDuff walked past, you came inside.”
“Chief Dredger, we came in despite Angus’s presence, not because of it. It took some courage because only two weeks ago he tried to kill someone in my presence. This morning, he threatened me in my own store.”
“It seems like after seeing Mr. MacDuff, you’d turn around and walk far and fast.”
“We were in urgent need of reference material for a course the mayor mandated. I’m sure she’ll attest to the fact we’re scheduled to start this very afternoon. I don’t know about you but I hate meeting Her Worship unprepared.”
“Red herring,” James Barrow said. “They’re slippery.”
“Officer Barrow, save the editorializing,” Drew interrupted. “Why don’t we start at the beginning, Miss Brighton? I’d like to know more about what happened this morning.”
“Could we start at the very beginning? As in two weeks ago, when Angus tried to kill his son-in-law in Mayor Longmuir’s office? I was maid of honor for his daughter, Cassie. There was a struggle and Angus fell and hit his head. Paramedics took him away and I expected him to be detained for the foreseeable future. Attempted murder should get a man more than two weeks, wouldn’t you agree?”
Doubt crossed Drew’s face and suspicion Chief Dredger’s. Jimmy Barrow gave a snort of derision, which earned him a flick of Drew’s fingers. The younger man moved back a few paces.
“There’s no record of Angus attacking anyone at City Hall,” Chief Dredger said. “Are you sure you’re all right? Perhaps we should call the paramedics.”
“Fine with me,” I said. “They were there, along with other witnesses. Cassie and Blaine Parkin, my cousin Liberty and the mayor herself.”
“Don’t forget me,” Bixby said. “Plus Minerva and the little rugrat you saved. We all had starring roles in City Hall Theater.”
I managed to ignore my dog but it wasn’t easy.
“Dredger’s right, Janelle,” Drew said. “Angus has a clean record.”
“Curious.” Bixby continued editorializing and he couldn’t be silenced as easily as Jimmy Barrow. “A clean record and a clean mind. You must be right about what happened while Angus was detained.”
“The police haven’t been summoned to the mayor’s office in months,” Chief Dredger added. “Your story is full of holes.”
As were the bookshelves where my sunflowers had sprouted. Sinda hadn’t been able to slip back and heal them. If the tide didn’t turn, I’d be adding a few more.
“Question the other witnesses, then. As for this morning, we were in my store minding our own business when Mr. MacDuff came by to threaten me.”
“All of us, in fact,” Sinda chimed in. “He ordered us to stay away from his daughter. His rant was somewhat deranged, if I may say. And when he left, he was very erratic. It was almost as if he were drunk at ten o’clock in the morning.”
“My security cameras will confirm that,” I said. “It was likely the talk of Main Street.”
“Stranger things have happened in Wyldwood Springs,” Chief Dredger said. “But that makes it even odder that you would come in here half an hour later knowing Angus couldn’t have sobered up.”
“Like I said, we were hoping to flip through some books before class and felt safe in a public building.”
“It’s not like we were alone,” Ren said. “There were plenty of other people here.”
Chief Dredger’s skepticism didn’t fade. “You all popped into the occult section, saw the deceased and then Miss Brighton fainted?”
“I managed to check on his health status before fainting. It was overwhelming. Imagine how awful this will be for Cassie. After the wedding, she was estranged from her father and now they’ll never get a chance to heal the rift.” I stared over at the aisle in question. “Do you mind if I ask how Mr. MacDuff died? Was it a heart attack?”
“Unknown,” Drew said. “There will be a full autopsy, of course.”
I lifted a hand to my forehead. “Is there any chance of poisoning? Because it isn’t like me to faint in a crisis, as you’ve noted. My head felt like it was about to explode.”
“Unlikely,” Drew said. “Your friends were there, too, and would surely have been impacted.”
“Perhaps the security cameras will give you a better idea,” Sinda suggested. “Although there’s no reason to suspect foul play, I presume.”
The two chiefs glanced at each other, and Drew elected to speak. “The interior cameras were offline. But you’re right, there’s nothing to suggest foul play.”
“Yet,” Chief Dredger said. “It’s a shame we only have footage from the cameras at the entrance and a very strange theory about targeted poison that’s left you fine, by your own account, Miss Brighton.”
There was a melodious chuckle in my head. “How nice. The only footage frames you. Quite literally.”
“I’m glad you find this amusing,” I snapped.
Out loud.
I said it out loud.
And then I hiccupped.
The two chiefs glanced at each other again, perhaps confirming the other hadn’t convulsed with hilarity.
That’s when Drew called the paramedics.
CHAPTER NINE
Renata patted my arm as we walked along Main Street about an hour later. “It wasn’t that bad.”
