“Let’s go,” Tabitha said, standing abruptly. “They’re not listening, can’t you hear it? They already have their minds made up that we’re useless females who are wasting their precious time. Let them get back to what was so incredibly important that they don’t have a moment for anything else.”

She swept out of the room. This time, Hal jumped to his feet and hurried after her, but she wasn’t having any of it.

“Come on, Minnie,” she said, holding the lobby door open. “You and I have things to discuss.”

I sent Ash a vaguely apologetic look and went with her. Outside, the wind was just as strong as it had been ten minutes earlier. “Round Table?” I asked.

She nodded, and in hardly any time at all, we were cozy in a booth with hot coffee in front of us.

“Hal and Ash,” I said. “They could have just been playing devil’s advocate.”

Tabitha looked at me. “Do you really think so?”

“No, but I felt an obligation to offer the possibility.”

She laughed, and a small tightness that had been inside me loosened. Tabitha was fine; there was just something going on between her and her husband that they needed to work out. And after umpteen years of marriage, I figured they’d get there without my help.

“Let’s talk through our suspects again,” Tabitha said. “We need to determine which of them has connections to the city.”

And so we reviewed and considered everything we knew about all five suspects, and rejected both Bob Bernier and Cody Sisk as suspects. And, reluctantly, the increasingly violent Warren Jorgenson. That left us with two people who fit all our qualifications.

“Drew Parnell,” I said.

Tabitha nodded. “And Ariella Tice.”

“The man on the yellow bike was Drew.”

“And it was Drew,” Tabitha said, “who pointed us to suspect Ariella in the first place, as far as Emily’s death went.”

I frowned. “The way I remember it, Cathy and Isaac first mentioned the altercation between Ariella and Emily.”

“Hmm. You could be right. Drew pushed us in that direction, though.”

True enough. We sat there a moment, thinking our own thoughts.

“Right.” Tabitha sighed. “Well, you have librarian duties. But there are a couple of things we need to know before we can get any further with this.”

“Motive,” I said.

“And proof.”

“We’ll find it,” I said, nodding, and feeling my face set into serious lines. “Don’t worry, we’ll find what we need.”

Tabitha smiled faintly. “When you talk like that, I believe every word.”

I nodded again and hoped she was right.

Chapter 16