Page 83 of Little Empty Promises

“As a murderer, she’s awful at it,” I said.“Think about it, Foley.If she was going to hire someone to kill Cordelia, why wouldn’t she hire someone to kill her husband as well, instead of killing him herself?”

Foley turned to Whitlock.“You’re being quiet for a change.Care to chime in?”

Whitlock raised a brow.“Rosalyn hasn’t confessed to Cordelia’s murder.It seems there may be a few more rocks that need to be turned over before we know what happened for certain.”

“I spoke to Samantha yesterday, the woman who runs the library,” I said.“She told me on the day Cordelia was murdered, a strange man came in.”

“Well, this is news to me,” Foley said.“When were you going to tell us?”

“Last night,” I said.“And then you dropped the Eddy bombshell, and I decided it could wait.”

“Hang on a minute.Start from the beginning.What did Samantha say?”

“On the afternoon of Cordelia’s death, a man came into the library who Samantha found suspicious.”

“Suspicious in what way?”

“He sat in the corner, pretending to read a book while looking around, watching who was coming and going.She tried to start a conversation with the man, and he wasn’t interested.Afterward, she walked away.When she went back to check on him later, he was gone.No one saw him after that.”

“What do you know about this man?”

“Samantha gave me a description, and that’s all I have to go on right now.And there’s one other thing.At the time the man was in the library, Cordelia was talking to Johnny, the other employee.I learned this information from Samantha.I talked to Johnny about their conversation, and he let it slip that it was more of an argument.I found it interesting because Samantha didn’t describe their interaction as an argument at all.”

“Do you know what the argument was about?”

“According to Johnny, Cordelia wanted to change the way they did things at the library.He wanted things to stay as they were.He didn’t go into specifics, just something about getting the community more involved, and he didn’t think they had a large enough community to justify the funding.”

“See, it’s just as I suggested,” Whitlock said.“We’re not done investigating.Let’s kick a few more stones.We’re close to solving the case.I can feel it.”

36

I was sitting in my mother’s living room, talking to her and Harvey about the investigation.

“Well, I’ll be,” my mother said.“You think you know a person, and to think it all happened on our quiet little street.”

“Hard for me not to feel sorry for Rosalyn,” Harvey said.“If she was being abused by her husband, and she felt she couldn’t get out of the situation, she did what any animal does when it’s caught in a trap.”

“I feel the same way about the situation,” I said.“There are those who wouldn’t have sympathy for what she did, but none of us know the hell she went through with him.”

“What about Cordelia?”my mother asked.“You don't think Rosalyn had anything to do with her death, do you?”

“I don’t, and it’s where Foley and I differ.He believes she’s responsible for both murders.I don’t see a strong enough connection.”

“Well then,” my mother said patting me on the knee, “I guess your job isn’t done yet, is it?”

“It’s not, and I’m not sure where to go from here.”

“You’ll figure it out, dear.You always do.Care to stay for dinner?”

“Sure, I’m on my own tonight.”

“Where’s that strapping young man of yours?”

“Giovanni is out of town, meeting with his cousin to talk about a new business venture.He’ll be back in the morning.”

“Wonderful.I made some lasagna last night.I have plenty left over for the three of us.I’ll whip up a quick salad, and we’ll be all set.Come, help me set the table.”

I followed her to the kitchen, where I noticed the entire countertop was covered in photos.

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