“Thanks, Lindsey,” Mrs. Duncan said. “You were a big help.”

“Anytime,” Lindsey said. “But remember, next time a photo will do.”

Mrs. Duncan grinned. She put her jar back in her big bag and left the library.

“Is it gone?” Lindsey glanced behind her to see Jessica peering around the corner of the shelves.

“Yes, both the snake and Mrs. Duncan are gone,” Lindsey said. “It wasn’t poisonous.”

Lindsey held up the pamphlet to show Jessica, but she put her hand up and waved her off.

“I don’t even like pictures of snakes,” Jessica said.

“Oh, sorry,” Lindsey said. She went and re-filed the pamphlet. She stopped by the desk on her way back to her office. “Let me know if you need backup again.”

“Thanks,” Jessica said.

Lindsey took a few minutes to walk around the library and make sure everything was as it should be. The Internet-accessible computers were full. The cushy chairs in front of the newspaper and magazine racks were also full. There was a chess match going on in the corner, and several families occupied the children’s area.

She watched as two kids put on an impromptu show in the puppet theater while several toddlers were using the alphabet area rug to stack up the large oversized foam blocks. When a younger toddler came over and smacked down the towers, the cries of outrage were fierce but the mom of the offending toddler was right there, and she got him to apologize and help repair the damage he’d caused. Lindsey wished that all conflicts could be resolved so simply.

There was no sign of Milton when she passed the circulation desk and went into the workroom, where her office was located. Ms. Cole was assisting a patron with a fine, and if she had any opening-night jitters about the play, they didn’t show. Lindsey found herself speculating about Milton and Ms. Cole, but then she shook her head. Curious as she was, it was none of her business.

She went into her office and decided to try and work on her presentation to the Friends of the Library. She wanted them to consider broadening the summer reading program to include prizes for whole families; after all, having parents and grandparents model good reading behavior for kids was probably the most effective way to up the community’s involvement, especially if prizes were involved.

She was just going over her proposal when Heather poked her head into the office. “Hi, Ms. Norris. I was just wondering—did Dylan call out?”

Lindsey glanced at her phone. The flashing light that indicated a waiting voice mail was solid, so no messages.

“No, not to my phone, at any rate,” she said. “Did you check with Ms. Stanley?”

“Yeah, she said she didn’t hear from him, either. He wasn’t at school today,” Heather said. She hesitated and then added, “His mom called my house last night around midnight, looking for him. She called Perry’s house, too. As far as I know, he never went home. I’m worried about him.”