Arsenic And Old Books

Mrs. Long strode in while I turned on the lights. She made for the chair in front of my desk and sat. Diesel and I walked at a normal pace to my desk. I removed his leash, and he climbed onto the windowsill. I sat and faced Mrs. Long. “What can I do for you, Your Honor?”

“I want to know why you refused to let my son and his aide take the pictures they wanted earlier today,” she said, her tone becoming more heated with each word. “I know perfectly well the binding of that diary was just fine, and the pictures Mr. Kittredge wanted to take would not have damaged the book in any way.”

“That was my decision to make, Your Honor,” I said, hoping to stonewall her until Kanesha or a deputy arrived. “When you signed the deed of gift and handed over the diaries, you basically gave the right to make decisions about their care to me.”

“That deed of gift can be revoked,” Mrs. Long said sharply, “as can any future donations to this college. I don’t appreciate your interference, Mr. Harris.”

“I regret that, Mrs. Long,” I said. “I don’t see why Mr. Kittredge and your son can’t use the scans of the pages instead.” The moment I said it, I had the guilty feeling I had forgotten to e-mail the file to Mr. Kittredge. “The scan isn’t any different from a digital photograph. In fact, it might be better, depending on the camera’s resolution.”

“You neglected to send the file to Mr. Kittredge,” the mayor snapped. “Really, I don’t understand this obstructive attitude of yours.”

“I apologize for forgetting to send the file,” I said, “but I have been busy today. I simply got distracted and forgot. I’ll send it right now, if you like.”

She glowered at me. “Yes.”

I turned to the computer and switched it on. “This will take a couple of minutes.”

She did not reply, but I could feel the heat of her gaze on me. While I waited for the computer to boot up, I found the card Mr. Kittredge had given me earlier. As soon as I could open the e-mail program, I prepared the message, attached the file, and sent it. I swiveled my chair to face the mayor. “There, it’s done.” I longed to tell her that if her son and his campaign staff made use of the contents of that diary, they would only be embarrassed, if not sued. But I couldn’t.

“Good,” the mayor said. “Now I want to see that diary. I want to assure myself that it wasn’t damaged after I turned it over to you. You might as well show me the others as well. My husband and I expect these diaries and anything else given to the archive to be handled with the utmost care.”

The more she said, the harder I found it to hold on to my own temper. If I wasn’t careful, I’d let something slip in anger, and Kanesha would have my hide if I did that. If only Kanesha would walk through that door. I was trying to think of a way to stall the mayor, but I wasn’t sure I could keep lying and doing it convincingly enough.

“Good afternoon, Your Honor, Mr. Harris.” Kanesha spoke from the doorway and almost made me jump out of my chair. Thank goodness the cavalry arrived in time.

Mrs. Long twisted in her chair. “Deputy Berry, I didn’t expect to see you here, but it’s just as well that you’ve come. Mr. Harris is not cooperating with me, but perhaps you can persuade him, if I can’t.”

Kanesha regarded the mayor coolly. “Not cooperating? In what way?” She advanced farther into the room.

“I asked him to show me the diaries that my husband and I donated to the archive, and so far he is refusing to do so.” The mayor shot me an angry look.

I didn’t try to defend myself. Instead I waited to see what Kanesha would say.

“Mr. Harris, I really think you should let the mayor see the diaries,” Kanesha said in a gently chiding tone. When the mayor turned to give me a smirk, I saw Kanesha wink.

“As you wish,” I said.

Diesel had remained quiet so far, and that didn’t surprise me. The tension in the room was palpable, and I knew he was uneasy. Before I left the room to retrieve the three diary volumes from the storage room, I rubbed his head and told him everything was okay.

Mrs. Long and Kanesha waited in silence while I went next door. When I came back, diaries in hand, they didn’t appear to have moved. I set the archival boxes on my desk and carefully began to extract each book. When they were all on the desk in view of the mayor, she got up from her chair and moved closer to them.

“Please, if you intend to handle them,” I said, “wear these.” I pulled a pair of cotton gloves from the drawer and handed them to her. I took a pair for myself as well.

“Very well,” she said as she accepted them. She frowned. “There are only three volumes here. Where are the other two?”

“We can get to those in a moment,” Kanesha said smoothly. She joined the mayor in front of my desk. “Why don’t you go ahead and check these three first?”