“Yes,” I said. “Ryan’s a good guy. Is he a friend of yours?”

She made a sour face. “No, I’ve never met him, but I’ve heard everything I need to know.”

What I knew was that he’d been a loyal bookmobiler for years. That Eddie liked him. That I liked him. That the only time he’d had an overdue book was when he’d had a horrible case of the flu. That he always offered to carry heavy book bags for other patrons. That he held the door for everyone.

“Oh?” I asked. “What’s that?”

“You haven’t heard?” Her eyes were wide. “He robbed a bank. He killed a security guard. And I bet he’s the one who killed that summer guy!”

The insides of my stomach suddenly clenched tight. “No one has proven anything,” I said. “The police are looking for him, yes, but at this point no one can say for sure what he did or didn’t do.”

“He ran,” she said loudly. “Only guilty people do that.”

Actually, I could think of lots of reasons to run, but I doubted my temporary neighbor would listen to the list. “He’s innocent until proven guilty.”

She snorted. “Don’t be naive. He ran and they’ll catch him. And then they’ll put him in jail where he belongs.”

“How can . . .” I stopped. I’d been about to say that Ryan reread the entire Jan Karon series every year, and that no one who did that could possibly be a hard-core killer, but what was proof to me probably wouldn’t have convinced anyone except book lovers.

I nodded vaguely and picked up the top sheet of instructions, and she started talking to the person across from her.

After breathing a small sigh of relief, I let the type on the page fuzz in front of my eyes. So the town gossips had already tried, convicted, and jailed Ryan, for robbery and two murders, had they? I sat up straight and put my shoulders back.

Well, then I’d have to work even harder—and faster—to prove Ryan’s innocence.

*   *   *

The next morning was a typical early April day in northern lower Michigan: too warm to ski but too cold to do anything else outside.

“What are you talking about?” Deputy Ash Wolverson asked. “Just above freezing is a great temperature for lots of things.”