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Back Murder Past Due Save as PDF
Chapters (36)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Acknowledgements
  4. ONE
  5. TWO
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE

“Too bad Ezra didn’t put Godfrey in the hospital,” Willie said, his face dark with hatred. “Or in the grave, where he belongs.”

SEVEN

SEVEN

Willie was so often the target of Godfrey’s bizarre practical jokes in high school, it didn’t surprise me that he harbored intense feelings against his old nemesis.

But wishing Godfrey dead?

“That’s a bit strong,” I said, trying to keep a mild tone.

Willie sucked at his prominent front teeth—an irritating habit—as he glared at me. I remembered that Godfrey started calling Willie “Bugs” because of those teeth. The nickname stuck, unfortunately for Willie.

“Godfrey’s a colossal jackass, and you know it.” Willie slapped a hand down on his legal pad. “He made you look like a fool more than once.”

“Yes, he did,” I said. “I don’t like him either, but that doesn’t mean I wish he was dead.”

“More fool you, then.” The contempt in Willie’s voice surprised me. “You don’t know everything he’s done. No one does. But I do.” He stood, pushing his chair back with a violent gesture, grabbed his pad and pen, and stalked out of the room.

The nickname “Bugs” was cruelly apt, because physically Willie was a rabbit-like specimen. Godfrey and I both towered over him, and I knew Willie resented us for that. Godfrey hadn’t been content with physical domination, however. He enjoyed tormenting Willie because Willie always reacted. That simply egged Godfrey on.

I wasn’t the only one who tried to make Godfrey leave Willie alone, but Godfrey wouldn’t—or couldn’t—stop.

Having Godfrey in Athena was bringing back too many unpleasant memories from the past, and I had an uneasy feeling more unpleasantness lay ahead, as long as Godfrey stayed around. I wondered briefly what Willie had been talking about when he said “everything he’s done.” Probably his own list of grievances against Godfrey, and I had no doubt they were legion.

I left the staff lounge and was about to mount the stairs when a voice hailed me. I turned to see Peter Vanderkeller, the library’s director, standing in the doorway to his office suite.

“Afternoon, Peter,” I said. “Did you want to see me?”

“Yes, please,” he said before he turned and disappeared.

I suppressed a sigh of irritation and followed him. Conversations with Peter on occasion lasted an hour or more. Melba rolled her eyes at me as I passed her desk—her signal when our boss was in one of his odd moods.

“Please shut the door behind you,” Peter said when I entered his office.