Chapter 17
When we arrived home, much earlier than expected, some kind of family meeting was in full swing. Even though I hadn’t expected it, I was excited to see that Chase and Odelia were sitting side by side on the couch.
“Looks like they’re not about to divorce just yet,” I whispered.
“Maybe they’re simply putting up a front,” Brutus whispered back.
“Or maybe Odelia isn’t completely sure about her feelings for this other man,” Harriet interjected.
“And she’s betting on two horses for the time being.
” When we all stared at her, she assured us that this was typical human behavior.
“She isn’t going to leave her family over a simple fling, you guys. Get real.”
We sure were about to be thrust into the realm of reality, for much to our surprise, it was Marge who was the topic of discussion.
“Look, I was going to tell you,” Marge said. She looked nervous, I thought, and was wringing her hands freely, like a guilty person would.
“What is going on?” asked Brutus.
“I think Marge has been unfaithful,” said Harriet.
“Oh, no!” said Dooley. “What is it with this family and unfaithfulness? They’re all cheating!”
“Just take it from the top,” Uncle Alec suggested. He was there, and so was his wife Charlene, Marge and Tex, Odelia and Chase, and also Gran. The company was seated in Odelia and Chase’s living room, and for once the television had been turned off.
Looked like the meeting provided enough entertainment already.
“Look, it all started when Tex’s birthday was coming up,” said Marge, who had a dejected air. “And since he had told me about this German band that he liked, I figured I could buy him one of their CDs, you know.”
“Turbo Heartthrob,” said Tex. “They’re great.”
“Never heard of them,” Gran determined. “Are they like Engelbert Humperdinck?”
“Not exactly,” Tex confessed.
“I like Engelbert Humperdinck,” Gran insisted. “That man has got some pipes.”
“Stop interrupting, Ma,” said Uncle Alec. “Go on, Marge,” he added when both Tex and Gran promised to keep their lips zipped up tight for the time being.
“And so I started looking into this band online. And before I knew it, I was singing along to their songs and following their vlogs?—”
“What is a vlog?” asked Uncle Alec.
“A video blog,” Charlene explained. “Where you record something about your life and put it on YouTube.”
“Oh, right,” said Uncle Alec, but it was clear that he still didn’t have a clue what Marge was talking about.
“So I became a fan,” said Marge. She hung her head in shame. “I became a superfan of a German electronicore band. And instead of buying a present for my husband, I started buying presents for myself.”
“Excellent choice,” said Tex. “They’re great,” he reiterated. “You should listen to?—”
“Shush, Dad,” said Odelia. “Let Mom tell her story.”
“So one day I heard about this special edition of their latest album. A super-exclusive and super-rare fanbox. And I knew I just had to have it. It contained signatures from all the different members, but also extra tracks that no other album contained. Music that hadn’t even been uploaded to YouTube or Spotify.
The problem was that the fanbox wasn’t for sale online, where it was sold out completely.
There were still a few copies available from select stores, though.
And when I found out through a contact at the fan club?—”
“You have a contact at the Turbo Heartthrob fan club?” asked Tex, for the first time displaying a sense of concern.
Marge nodded. “A very nice young man who goes by the name Beef. He told me that there was a copy available at our local record store, at the mall. And so I decided that I had to have it. The only problem was…” She worried her lower lip with her teeth for a moment.
“Well?” asked Gran. “What was the problem?”
“Let me guess,” said Charlene. “When you got there, they told you that someone else had already bought it?”
But Marge shook her head. “I simply couldn’t face the scrutiny.
The last thing I need is for the people of Hampton Cove to discover that their librarian is a superfan of this strange band and their even stranger music.
So I contacted another member of the fan club—someone who lives locally—and asked him to buy it for me. ”
“And this other member was Arne Barkby,” said Chase, nodding.
“I knew that Arne already owned this particular special edition because he had posted pictures on the Turbo Heartthrob Discord.”
“What is Discord?” asked Gran.
“A social media site,” said Marge. “Where all the fans hang out. And so I asked Arne to get the special edition for me, and then later on I’d meet him and he’d hand me the fanbox.”
“So what is the problem?” said Gran. “I mean, what is the reason for this family emergency meeting? Just to know that my daughter loves German hardcore music?”
“Electronicore,” Tex corrected her.
“The problem is that I killed a man,” said Marge, and resumed biting her lower lip.
“You didn’t actually kill a man, Marge,” said Uncle Alec. “All you did was make sure that you got your hands on that special edition.”
“Yeah, but Harley Glad also wanted that fanbox. And because of what I did, he died. Because he couldn’t live with himself after he had lost out.
” She glanced around at the quizzical faces of her family members.
“Isn’t that what happened? Harley killed himself after he missed out on getting his hands on that special edition? ”
Chase shook his head. “Harley Glad didn’t kill himself, Marge. He was murdered. And we thought he was killed by Arne Barkby, but Arne told us he didn’t do it and gave you as his alibi.”
“I don’t get it,” said Gran as she waved her hands. “Back up for a moment, will you? What does Harley Glad have to do with any of this? Isn’t he the dead guy from the hotel?”
“Harley Glad was also a superfan,” said Marge.
“And he also wanted that special edition fanbox. Only Arne Barkby got it instead. For me. And if I hadn’t sent Arne in there, Harley would have gotten what he wanted.
” She directed a look of hope at Chase. “So what are you telling me? That I didn’t cause Harley’s death? ”
“Absolutely not. Harley was killed, probably over a guitar that he had recently acquired. A guitar that used to belong to Daniel Bozek, the guitar player of Turbo Heartthrob.”
“Harley got his hands on Daniel’s guitar?” asked Marge, and we could all see that her eyes started to glitter with a holy fire. “What happened to the guitar?”
“It’s gone,” said Chase. “We assume that the killer must have taken it because it wasn’t in Harley’s hotel room. And since we talked to the guy who sold it to him, and he swears that he handed over the instrument, we know that Harley must have had it.”
“Oh, poor Harley,” said Marge.
“Look, I still don’t get it,” said Gran. “What is so bad about you liking this band, honey? Even if they don’t sound like Engelbert Humperdinck? I mean, music is music.”
“They are a little weird. And I was afraid of what people might say when they found out.”
“And also, you have been spending a lot on this band, haven’t you, Mom?” said Odelia.
“I have,” Marge confessed. “I even went to one of their concerts in New York.” Her eyes lit up. “It was amazing,” she said as she clasped her hands together. “Absolutely the best concert ever.”
“You went to one of Turbo Heartthrob’s concerts and you didn’t tell me?” asked Tex. “But honey!”
“I didn’t think you’d approve of me spending so much time on this band,” said Marge. “And buying so much of their stuff.”
“Where did you put all of it?” asked Gran, practical as always. “It’s not in the attic, because I was up there last week, and there aren’t any CDs of this Peptic Ballboy up there.”
“Turbo Heartthrob,” said Marge. “And no, I didn’t put their stuff in the attic. Instead, I put it…” Once again, she was chewing her lower lip and looking shamefaced. “I put it in Scarlett’s place.”
“Scarlett’s place!” Gran cried.
Marge nodded. “I asked her if she could store it for now. And she was so kind to say yes. But only for the time being. Until I confessed to what I’d done,” she told her husband.
“It’s fine, honey,” said Tex as he rubbed her back. “I’m just a little sore that you went to their concert without me. I would have loved to see them, too.”
“Next time we’ll go together,” said Marge.
She looked relieved that Tex was taking it so well.
“That still leaves the question of why you kept this secret from us,” said Gran. “We’re your family, Marge. You can tell us anything, no matter how weird or unusual. You can tell us everything, and we won’t judge.” She frowned. “Okay, so maybe we will judge a little, but not much.”
“Thanks,” said Marge quietly. “Oh, I know I should have said something sooner. Then maybe this whole business with Harley would never have happened.”
“Pretty sure he was killed over the guitar, Marge,” said Chase. “Only problem is that we figured we had our guy. But if you say that you met Arne Barkby soon after he left the record store…”
“I did. He gave me the fanbox, and I gave him the money.”
“Right. Well, looks like he’s off the hook.”
“I told you that they would take it well, didn’t I?” said Uncle Alec.
“Wait, you told Alec before me?” asked Tex.
Marge nodded shamefacedly. “I figured that I had killed Harley. And so I asked Alec to meet, so I could tell him what happened. And he could, oh, I don’t know, arrest me or something.”
“Like I told you,” said Alec, “you did nothing wrong.”
“But how did you know that Harley had been killed?” asked Odelia.
“I didn’t. I just figured that after he missed out on that special edition, he would take it badly. I didn’t know that he had actually died. When I found out, I was devastated.”
“No need to be devastated anymore,” said Chase. “Though I have to say that your confession has put me back to square one. If Barkby didn’t kill Harley, then who did?”
“Have you talked to Harley’s mom?” asked Gran.
“Yeah, I did. She’s convinced that her son was killed by someone from the band itself.”
“Someone from the band killed Harley?” asked Charlene.
“She figures that this Daniel Bozek fellow didn’t like that his guitar was being handed from person to person and wanted it back. And so he came after Harley. Harley refused to hand the instrument back, and Daniel Bozek killed him and took the guitar.”
“Interesting theory,” said Odelia. “And since they taught me today that you should always follow every lead, I figure you’d better follow up on that, babe.”
“Oh, I will,” Chase assured her. “First thing tomorrow, I’m looking into this guy.”
“Please be kind to him,” said Marge. “He writes all the music. Without him, there would be no Turbo Heartthrob.”
“I will be gentle,” said Chase. “Unless, of course, he is the killer. In that case, I will have to arrest him.”
“Oh, no,” said Marge, and she seemed genuinely concerned about the fate that might befall her favorite guitar player.
It looked as if the meeting was over, so I decided to add a question of my own—one that had been nagging at me ever since that morning’s incident with the burning pet flap.
“Dooley says he saw you carrying a box of matches, Marge,” I said. “And considering that the pet flap caught fire shortly afterward…”
When she stared at me in utter consternation, it was clear I’d touched a nerve.
“I mean, it’s just a pretty big coincidence, that’s all,” I muttered.
“Is this true, Marge?” asked Gran. “Did you set fire to the pet flap?”
“Of course not!” said Marge. “How can you even think such a thing?”
“Then what about the matches?” Gran insisted. “How do you explain those?”
“I just… thought Odelia might have run out,” said Marge. “So I brought mine.”
It sounded a little dubious to me, but before I could ask a follow-up question, Charlene rose and made a great show of checking her watch. “Okay, I need my beauty sleep,” she announced. “Busy day tomorrow. So I’ll leave you all to it. Are you coming, honey?”
“So did Marge set fire to the pet flap or not, Max?” asked Dooley.
I studied Marge’s face. She refused to meet my gaze.
“I’m not sure,” I admitted.
Marge then glanced at me, but quickly looked away again.
“But I’m inclined to think she did.”