Arsenic And Old Books

Jordan looked down at the cat. Diesel gazed expectantly up at her, thinking his treat would soon be forthcoming. “Sorry, boy,” she said. “Next time make sure you drag Charlie in here before lunch, okay?”

The cat meowed, and Jordan and I shared a grin. All he probably understood was that he wasn’t getting a treat. He continued to stare up at Jordan, however. He was an optimistic cat.

“I’ll try to remember,” I promised.

“Why don’t y’all come back up by the register?” Jordan cocked her head in that direction. “I’ve got a few things set aside for you that I think you might like.”

That was all I needed to hear. Service like this was the reason I loved shopping at the bookstore, rather than online.

From the shelves behind the main counter Jordan retrieved a stack of five paperback books, each of them the latest entry in series I enjoyed.

“They showed up just this morning,” Jordan said. “I was going to call you earlier but I got busy.”

“Guess I must have sensed somehow that I needed to stop by.” I smiled to show my appreciation. “I’ll take them all.”

While Jordan was ringing up my purchases, I decided to do a little fishing. “You certainly have a wide range of customers. Right before you came back to say hello, I thought I spotted one of the writers from the paper and one of our political hopefuls chatting together.”

Jordan frowned. “Really? Which ones? I haven’t seen Ray Appleby in a couple of weeks. He usually takes time to talk when he comes in.”

“Not Ray Appleby. A young woman named Kelly Grimes. I thought I saw her talking to Jasper Singletary.”

“I don’t know her. I think I’ve seen her name in the paper, though,” Jordan said. “I went to school with Jasper.” She paused. “In fact, we dated in high school, but he was a little too intense for me. Too driven.”

“Is that so?” I said, realizing how inane a remark it was even as it left my lips.

Jordan didn’t appear to notice. “I heard he had a girlfriend, but I don’t know what her name is. The friend who told me didn’t know, either, only that Jasper was finally involved with someone.” She giggled. “Frankly, we were all starting to think he was gay, because nobody ever saw him with anyone but all those guys who seem to follow him around everywhere.”

“He seems to be working pretty hard to get himself elected,” I said as I handed over my credit card. “If he’s still as driven as he was in high school, then I’d say he probably doesn’t have much time for a personal life.”

“True.” Jordan swiped the card in her machine and then handed it back to me. I signed the receipt, and she bagged up the books. “He was always pretty single-minded. Wouldn’t let anything—or anyone—get in the way of his goals.” She giggled again. “Evidently I wasn’t one of his goals, though back then I sure wanted to be. He’s a hunk and a half.”

“If you say so,” I murmured. Jordan had the reputation of going through men like some women go through shoes, but I didn’t know whether there was any truth to the stories I’d heard. Melba had never said a word against her, and I took that as a sign that the rumors were simply that: rumors.

Jordan frowned suddenly. “Kelly Grimes, you said?”

I nodded.

“I heard that name somewhere recently,” she said slowly. “In the paper, like I said, but I heard someone talking about her not that long ago.” She leaned against the counter and crossed her arms over her chest. “This is going to bug me until I remember.”

“I know. It’s irritating when you’re trying to dredge something up.” I thought my fishing expedition might reel in a bit of information after all. I hoped she could recall what it was she’d heard.

Diesel meowed loudly to remind me that he was there and in desperate need of attention. Jordan laughed as I scratched the cat’s head.

“I’ve got it,” she said suddenly. “I know where I heard her name.” She glanced around us, perhaps to see whether anyone else was in earshot. Evidently satisfied we couldn’t be overheard, she leaned toward me.

“It was the other day at the Chamber of Commerce breakfast,” she said. “I overheard the mayor’s secretary gossiping about her to one of the other business owners. That Grimes girl is stalking him like a cat in heat looking for a tom.” She shrugged. “That was it. I never did hear who the him is.”

ELEVEN

I could have satisfied her curiosity on that point, I thought. Then I realized I couldn’t be sure.

At first I would have assumed the mayor’s secretary was talking about Beck Long, given that Kelly Grimes told me they were secretly engaged. When I considered what happened at the bakery a little while ago and here in the bookstore only a few minutes ago, however, I had to reexamine the situation.

Jasper Singletary and Kelly Grimes had more than a passing acquaintance with each other. That much was obvious. I recalled Helen Louise’s remark about the CIA and the silliness of what we observed. Perhaps espionage wasn’t so far off the mark after all.