Twelve Angry Librarians

Lisa didn’t respond right away. Finally she said, “I guess I can do that. What exactly are you up to, though? I have to tell you, you’re making me nervous.”

“I’d like to talk to them,” I said. “Nothing more. Maybe having them in a party situation again will stimulate their memories, and we could learn something that’s pertinent to the murder investigation. You never know.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Lisa said. “All right, I’ll make sure to talk to any of them that I happen to see. Now I’ve really got to go.”

I put my phone down feeling both excited and apprehensive. I hoped I hadn’t set up a possible disaster. Perhaps I should make Kanesha aware of my little plan. I’d have to think about that. I would have to be particularly vigilant, and I’d definitely have to keep a close watch on Diesel. That shouldn’t be too hard, because he would probably stick close to me in a group like that. If he showed any signs of stress from the gathering, I would of course take him home right away.

Probably I’d be lucky if even half of the people on my short list showed up tonight. The lure of more food and drink at someone else’s expense might suffice, if some of them were on tight travel budgets. They might rather save their per diem and pocket it, rather than spend it on a restaurant if they could get enough to fill them up at the two parties tonight. I remembered times when I attended conferences outside of Houston when I’d had to stretch my travel allowance as much as I could in order to avoid dipping into my own pockets. Particularly in the days when I had two young children who seemed to outgrow their clothes and shoes every couple of months.

My phone rang, and I saw that Helen Louise was the caller. She must be taking her midafternoon break, I reckoned. The time was a few minutes past three thirty.

“Hello, love, how are you?” I asked.

“I’m doing fine, love.” Helen Louise sounded tired, but she rarely ever would say that, at least during the workday. “We’ve had a really good day today so far. I must say, all your librarian colleagues seem to have made the bistro their favorite place to eat. Business has boomed since the conference started.”

“I’m not surprised,” I said. “The food of course is fabulous, and your prices are reasonable. They can afford to eat good meals and not worry about running their expenses up.”

Helen Louise chuckled. “All I have to say is bless them. Hungry librarians are a good thing.” She paused for a moment. When she continued, her tone was more serious. “What time do you think you might be through with the conference today? Or tomorrow? I know you said it runs through noon tomorrow.”

“Yes, it does,” I said. “I’ve got to be at a reception the library is having for attendees at the hotel from seven thirty to probably around nine or nine thirty. What’s up?”

“I want to talk to you about something,” she said. “I’m just wondering when will be the best time for us to sit down and talk when neither of us is distracted.”

“When is best for you?” I asked. “I’ll make my schedule work around yours as much as possible.”

“Thank you for that, sweetheart,” Helen Louise said. “I don’t want to impinge on what you need to do for the conference, though. I don’t think I’ll feel up to it tonight after we close, and I don’t imagine you’ll feel like talking then, either. So how about tomorrow afternoon sometime? Before Sunday evening dinner?”

“That should be fine,” I said. My curiosity about what she wanted to discuss was growing every second. Several possibilities danced around in my mind, but the one that made me terrified was the thought of illness. I knew she’d been to see her doctor the previous week for a routine checkup, and so far she hadn’t shared the results of that with me. I prayed I wasn’t going to hear devastating news about her health. “Can you give me any idea about what this is you want to discuss?”

She probably heard the note of fear in my voice. “Don’t worry, sweetie, I promise you it’s nothing terrible or scary.” She hesitated a moment. “I guess I might as well tell you now, so you can be thinking about it when you have time. I’m considering turning over the running of the bistro to Debbie and Henry and stepping back, taking more time off.”

TWENTY-FIVE

I was too surprised by Helen Louise’s announcement to respond right away.

“Charlie, are you still there?” Helen Louise asked.

“Yes, sorry,” I said. “What brought this about?” At the back of my mind I was still worried that she was ill and wasn’t telling me.

“I know what you’re thinking, and I promise you I’m not sick,” Helen Louise said. “But I have to face the fact that I’m not thirty-five anymore, and I need to slow down a bit. Otherwise I will wear myself completely out before I’m sixty. And that’s not nearly as far away as it ought to be.” She paused for a breath. “As much as I love what I do, I need more time off than what I have now.”

“I can understand that,” I said. “I’ve been thinking about that myself.”