“Horrible child,” my aunt said, giving me a brief, hard hug. “The important thing is you’re safe and sound.”

After politely declining an invitation to enjoy the backyard’s sunshine, I sat with my aunt and Otto in their almost-as-sunshiny kitchen, with coffee and cookies at hand, and I talked. They were already aware of many of the things Tabitha and I had already found out, but not everything, and it took me some time to fill in the holes and smooth out the details so it all made sense.

When I was done talking, and they were done asking questions, we sat quietly, letting the tick of the wall clock fill the space.

The whole thing was awful. It was awful that Drew had killed people for the sake of his pride, awful that Brown’s and Emily’s lives had been cut short, awful that Lindy and Emily’s husband were now alone, and who knew what terrible things might be caused, weeks or months or years from now, by the ripple effects of one man’s actions.

I sighed, wishing for anything to make sense of it all. Or if not sense, at least . . . something.

Finally, Otto stirred. “I’ve taken a thorough look at Cody Sisk’s finances.”

“Oh? Any conclusions?”

“All things considered, he’s doing fine. As I mentioned before, he expanded rapidly, but he did so in order to take advantage of an unusually low price for a prime location for his type of business. What he needed was some capital.”

I frowned, my ears picking up on the past tense. “‘Was’? Did he come into some money?”

“In a manner of speaking.” Otto smiled. “He decided to saddle himself with a minority partner who has absolutely no knowledge of bicycling or kayaking, but who does have financial experience.”

“Interesting.” I pushed the cookie plate in his direction, offering him the last one. “And does that partner happen to be sitting at this table?”

Otto didn’t say anything, but he took the cookie, which to me was answer enough.

“Since we’re speaking of life-altering events,” Aunt Frances said, “I’ll add to the list. I’ve decided to retire from teaching after the school year is over.”

“About time,” I murmured.

“What’s that?”

“Congratulations!” I said, smiling brightly.

“Thank you.” She looked from Otto to me. “I think.”

I continued to smile and my face started to hurt. “Let’s just say I’ll believe it when I see it.” To forestall any further discussion, I told them about the sudden wedding of Mia and Josh, about which they were pleased, though a bit puzzled. And then I told them the other big news.

“Graydon gave me the okay to hire another part-time bookmobile clerk. One who’ll drive.”

My aunt’s eyebrows went up. “You’re going to trust someone else to drive your bookmobile?”

“Yes,” I said resolutely. “I am and I will.”