“Well, dang.” Kelsey Lyons, one of our part-time clerks, made a face. “And I was so sure you’d be late today, what with your accident last night.”

I felt my insides crumple. For a few minutes, the coffee race had pushed Brown’s death out of my head, but now the memories came rushing back.

“She doesn’t want to talk about it.” Holly Terpening, a full-time clerk, took the coffee from my hand and nudged me into a chair. “Look,” she said. “I got up early and made brownies.”

“Brownies? Cool!” Josh Hadden, our in-house IT guy, came into the room.

Holly slapped his reaching hand. “Minnie gets first pick.”

I shook my head, smiling. Holly and Josh acted more like sister and brother than many brothers and sisters did. And, since Holly’s brownies were legendary and there was the off chance that they might still be warm, I opened the container and felt no compunction about taking the first one. “Thanks, Holly. You’re right, I don’t want to talk about it. But I will answer one question each.”

Kelsey, Holly, Josh, and I were all about the same age. I got along well with the entire library staff, but the four of us had a bit more in common with one another than with the seventy-something ultrafit Donna, or Gareth, our fiftyish maintenance guy, or even the just-past-forty library director, Graydon. The other part-time clerks were either in the early twenties range or retirement age. All of us worked together swimmingly, but mutual age is a bond that can’t be denied.

“Was it anyone we know?” Holly asked.

Via morning text messages to Ash, I’d confirmed that the name was now public knowledge. “I won’t count that as a question. He was the city’s maintenance guy. Brown Bernier.”

Though all three knew the name, none of them knew him personally.

“I was in high school with one of his sons,” Kelsey said. “But he was a senior when I was a sophomore, so we didn’t mix much.”

“Was he really wearing a bright pink shirt?” Holly asked.

Josh rolled his eyes. “That’s your question? Seriously?”

She shrugged, making her long, straight brown hair flip forward over her shoulders. “That’s what I heard. And who else is going to tell me?”

To keep them from starting a regional conflict, I said, “His shirt was multicolored. There was some pink in it, but not much.”

“Good morning.” Graydon poked his head in the doorway. “Kelsey, Holly. Do you two have a minute? I’d like some help with rearranging the boardroom. Got a call that the chamber of commerce meeting room had a water leak and they need an emergency location.”

They went off. I took a bite of brownie and set the remainder on a napkin. The baking had been a kind gesture of Holly’s, but for some reason, one bite was enough.