Twelve Angry Librarians

The hotel manager barely acknowledged us. He brushed past Lisa into the room, and one of the policemen and the other hotel staffer went right behind him. The other police officer motioned for Lisa and me to step aside, and he drew us a few feet down the hall.

Now began the routine I had come to know better than I ever wanted to. The officer, who looked vaguely familiar, spoke gently to Lisa, having identified her as the 911 caller. He appeared to know who I was already, and I tried to remember when and where I might have met him.

The hotel manager stumbled out of the victim’s room, his face pale and his mouth twisted in a grimace. He looked at me, and his eyes narrowed. “I might have known you’d be involved in this somehow.”

I didn’t appreciate the man’s attitude. I tried to keep my tone even as I responded. “I wasn’t the one who found the body. I’m here only because Ms. Krause, who did find it, called me and asked for me to come. She was naturally quite upset.”

The manager’s gaze softened as he observed Lisa in conversation with the police officer. “Sorry,” he muttered. “This is all too much. First that man dying right in the middle of a luncheon, and now this.”

The other policeman and the hotel staffer exited the room. He indicated he would remain outside the door until the county crime scene investigators arrived. The policeman who had been talking to Lisa had the rest of us move about ten feet down the hallway before he stopped. He started to question Lisa further, but the elevator doors pinged open, and several uniformed men and women stepped out. Some of them carried bags and equipment. After a quick word they passed us and headed down the hall.

Accompanied by three deputies, Kanesha Berry stepped out when the doors of the second elevator opened, and her gaze seemed to focus right on me. I knew she wasn’t happy to see me here, but neither was I all that pleased to be here myself.

She greeted the police officer. “I’ll take over from here.” He nodded and left us to join the group down the hall. She directed the three men with her to keep anyone from getting close to the crime scene. Then she addressed the hotel manager.

“Mr. Hampton, I’m afraid we’re going to have to take over that part of the floor until the preliminary crime scene investigation is finished. The room will have to be sealed off. Is it a room with a connecting door to another room?”

Hampton looked at his staffer, who shook his head.

“No, it’s not,” he said. “How long do you think all this is going to take, Deputy Berry? Our guests in this area aren’t going to be happy about not having access to their rooms.”

“Yes, I realize that,” Kanesha replied. “We will do our best to finish what we need to do in a timely manner, but that could still take several hours. I’m sure people will understand.”

Hampton nodded. “Of course.”

“Please wait here until I’ve had a chance to examine the scene. Then I’ll need to talk to all of you.” Kanesha walked on down the hall, and I watched as she entered the victim’s room.

We waited in silence for nearly twenty minutes before Kanesha emerged from the room. She paused in the hall to have a brief conversation with another officer, then she rejoined us.

“Thank you for waiting. Mr. Hampton, I need a space to use while we are conducting the investigation. What do you have available?”

The manager and his staffer consulted for a moment. “One of our conference meeting rooms on the second floor is open. I believe it will serve your purpose.”

“Good. Can you take us there now, please?” Kanesha nodded to me and Lisa. “I’d like you both to come with me, Ms. Krause, Mr. Harris.” She motioned for one of her men to join us. I wondered why Haskell Bates wasn’t with her. He was one of her senior deputies.

“Certainly, Deputy Berry,” I said. We followed her and the others to the elevators. The deputy brought up the rear.

No one spoke again until we stepped inside the conference room. Kanesha moved immediately to the head of the large table inside. “Would you gentlemen mind waiting at the other end of the room while I talk to Ms. Krause?” Kanesha indicated a chair to Lisa while Hampton, his associate, and I did as Kanesha requested. The deputy remained with Kanesha, standing off to the side behind Lisa.

The room, I estimated, would comfortably fit thirty people—space for half of them at the table, and the other half in chairs around the walls. A good size, but not so large that I couldn’t hear Kanesha’s conversation with Lisa.

Kanesha took her through the same questions I asked Lisa earlier, and Lisa responded with the same answers.

Then Kanesha went further than I’d had time to do. “How well did you know the deceased? Ms. Muller?”

“Not all that well,” Lisa said. “I mean, I knew her as a colleague from another library. We served on a couple of committees together in the past five years, but we weren’t friends. Only acquaintances.”

“So your only contact with her was on a professional basis?” Kanesha asked.

“Yes,” Lisa said. “Exactly.”