Chapter Five #2
Nora looked pleased with herself. “After the hurricane, I decided I needed more ways to find out what’s going on in town.
I bought a police scanner. It’s been endlessly entertaining.
At any rate, it was terribly tragic. Awful.
” She waited a few moments before saying, “Though I can’t say I’m entirely surprised. ”
“Oh?”
“That’s right. Margaret Brennan was not a well-liked woman. She never seemed to want to be a well-liked woman. She couldn’t seem to keep herself from injecting her opinion into everything. I saw her at the grocery store one time, telling some poor woman why she’d just chosen the wrong pasta sauce.”
Sam gave a small smile. “A woman who knew her own mind.”
Nora waved her hand in the air. “And what good does that do you when nobody wants to spend time with you?”
“Do you think Margaret was lonely?”
Nora shrugged. “She’d driven everyone away.
She didn’t have any friends. She had to have been lonely.
But she couldn’t stop herself. She offered her opinion whether anyone wanted to hear it or not.
” She gave Sam a summing-up look. “This book club you went to. Was it last night, then? Was Margaret there?”
Sam tried to deflect the question. “What makes you think she was?”
Nora rolled her eyes. “It’s obvious, isn’t it? The police were over at Twice-Told Tales right after the shop opened for the day. Margaret was found dead in there. It seems she must have been in the store overnight.”
Sam said slowly, “Yes, the club meeting was last night. I don’t really know anything about what happened. Actually, you probably know more than I do, considering you’re listening to your scanner.”
“Hmph. If you say so.” Nora paused. “I went to that book club a few times, myself.”
“You’re not still a member?”
“Nope,” said Nora. “The books really weren’t for me. Not the kind of stuff I like to read. I remember some of the members there, though. Gerald was one of them. I don’t really remember his last name.”
“Parker.”
Nora’s eyes narrowed. “You and your excellent memory.”
“Me and my excellent notes. That’s how I learn.”
“Whatever. Anyway, I saw him at the bank the other day. I told him he looked absolutely miserable.”
Sam hid a smile. “Wow. He must have really appreciated that.”
“He should have. Maybe that was a reminder to him that he needed to smile at his customers more.”
Sam asked, “What does Gerald do at the bank?”
“He’s a teller. But the man really does seem to have something on his mind. Was he that bad at book club last night?”
“Not really,” said Sam. “Of course, I don’t know him well. He was focused on getting the dues paid. If he’s a bank teller, it makes sense he’s the club treasurer.”
“I’m not sure why you even need dues for a book club.”
Sam said, “From what I gather, they sometimes have special meetings where supper is served. And I think there’s a party or two during the year.”
Arlo gave a little tug at his leash, and Sam reached down to rub him.
She was ready to keep walking, too. She changed the subject to something Nora rarely liked talking about.
Dating. That might wrap up the conversation more quickly than a mysterious death at a bookshop.
“Say, how’s everything going with you? Any news on the dating front? ”
Nora scowled. “It’s terrible out there, Sam. I advise you jumpstart your relationship with Aiden. You wouldn’t want to try to find someone else.” She peered at Sam. “You’re still in the friend zone, aren’t you?”
“Perhaps. What happened with your date?
“You wouldn’t believe it,” said Nora. “This one listed himself as an adventurous foodie and an excellent conversationalist.”
“He sounds like a good pick.”
“He sounded that way. But then he showed up twenty minutes late, wearing a fanny pack. Not one of those new, trendy ones, mind you. A beige number, circa 1987.”
Sam tried to look sympathetic while Arlo sniffed a particularly interesting bush.
“The second red flag happened when he spent the entire appetizer course explaining his cryptocurrency investment strategy. In detail. I don’t even know what a blockchain is. After forty minutes of explanation, I still don’t.”
Sam said, “That sounds pretty bad, I have to admit.”
“And here’s the kicker. When the entrees arrived, he pulled out a Tupperware container from the fanny pack.”
“He didn’t,” said Sam, genuinely curious now, despite herself.
“He did! He said restaurant portions were ‘financially irresponsible’ and he always brings containers to maximize value. Then he asked our waiter, the poor waiter Sam, to split his entrée in half so he could pack up his lunch for tomorrow.”
Sam could only shake her head. “I’m sorry,” she said again.
“I excused myself to the powder room and seriously considered climbing out the window. But I’m not as flexible as I used to be, and it was a second-floor bathroom.”
Arlo looked up at Nora with what appeared to be sympathy.
Nora gave a barking laugh. “Even Arlo feels bad for me. Maybe I should just get a dog.”
Sam bit back a smile. “What happened when you got back to the table? I’m assuming you did go back to the table.”
“Oh, he was explaining to the couple seated at the next table why they should also be bringing Tupperware to restaurants. They looked terrified. I told myself I had a sudden migraine and left.”
“Was he upset?”
Nora snorted. “Absolutely not. The man apparently can’t pick up on subtext at all. He asked me when we could meet up next time. As if! There is no next time, Simon with the fanny pack!”
“Understandably,” said Sam.
Nora’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “I suppose you’re doing your thing, aren’t you?”
“What thing is that?”
“Investigating,” said Nora. “I see that gleam in your eye. Just like Nancy Drew.”
“I’m a bit older than Nancy. And no, I’m not investigating, per se. I’m just poking around. I leave investigating to the professionals.”
Nora tilted her head to one side. “If you say so. The evidence suggests otherwise. Are you planning on talking to Gerald-the-bank-teller? Using the excuse of a financial transaction?”
Sam was about to refute this when she stopped. “Actually, I do have a check that came in.”
“Well then.”
Sam said, “But I ordinarily deposit checks through the app.”
“Pardon?” Nora frowned.
“The bank has a phone application I can use to deposit checks.”
Nora was shaking her head before Sam had even finished speaking. “I wouldn’t trust that, Sam. I like a physical bank and actual people handling the check. Plus, it gives you the perfect time to talk to Gerald about whether he killed Margaret Brennan or not.”
Sam gave Nora a wry look. “I don’t think pressing somebody about a murder at their work place is a great idea.”
Nora shrugged. “It’s not as if he can escape the questioning. It sounds practically perfect to me.” She considered it a bit more. “Although you could catch him during his lunch break. It could be a natural meetup that way.”
“Natural? With me stalking the man to the deli?”
Nora said, “No deli for Gerald Parker. He prefers bringing a brown bag lunch from home. He sits right outside the bank on a bench with a book every day. I toot my horn at him when I go by.”
Probably terrifying the poor man in the process. “I don’t know when his lunch break is.”
“Sure you do,” said Nora impatiently. “The bank closes every day between one and two. For heaven’s sake, Sam. Surely, you must realize that.”
“No. Because I do all my banking on the app.”
Nora’s tone was severe. “You must stop that right away. Go to the bank fifteen minutes before they reopen at two. Speak with Gerald, then cash your check. Problem solved.”
Sam hadn’t thought it was a problem. But Nora was so pleased with herself that she immediately agreed to the scheme before finally breaking away from her neighbor with a cheery wave and taking an eager Arlo on the remainder of his walk.