“I…I’m not really sure,” she stutters. “I was certain the place was empty when I left for lunch.”
“But you didn’t check?” I ask.
“No, I was upstairs cleaning most of the morning, so he could have come in when I was occupied, but I usually hear the bell.” She looks over at Dad for confirmation, and he pats her shoulder.
“Had he been to the library before?” I watch her for any obvious tells. I can see she’s nervous, but most people would be uncomfortable after finding a dead body.
“I don’t think so, but I didn’t get a very good look at him. There was a lot of…of blood.” She swallows, and her face gets a little green. “Would you excuse me for a moment?” Before I can answer, she gets up from the chair and bolts from the room as fast as her heels will carry her.
Dad lets out a loud huff. “Not everybody is used to seeing headless corpses, Frankie.” Dad drops himself into the chair Belinda vacated.
“Not everybody leaves traces of magic on headless corpses, Pop.” I keep my voice low but deadly serious.
He makes a scoffing sound of dismissal, but then gazes right into my eyes. “What are you saying?” His brows are pinched over his hazel eyes.
“I’m not saying anythingyet.” Dad leans back in the chair and withdraws into himself. The way his eyes are moving from left to right makes me think he’s going over everything in his head and trying to piece things together. Problem is, we don’t have all the pieces to the puzzle yet.
“I’m sorry I kept you waiting,” Belinda says softly, and my dad leaps out of the chair before ushering her over.
“It’s no bother, thank you for going over this again.”
Belinda nods and straightens her back, as if she’s pulled herself together and is ready to talk again. “I can honestly say I don’t think I’ve ever seen the man before yesterday. He’s not one of the few regulars I’ve gotten to know since taking over, and it didn’t strike me as a student from next door.” I take note of the fact that she’s referred to the victim as “it” more than once, dehumanizing him.
“Let’s go back to how he may have gotten in. You said you don’t think he arrived while you were there. Do you have any idea how he may have gotten inside the building?”
Belinda curls her fingers in, making a fist over her thigh. “I’m not sure. I’ve only been employed by the library for a short time. I’ve tried to familiarize myself with the entire building, but it’s fairly large.” Her voice is as confident as I’ve heard her, and she seems like she genuinely doesn’t know how he got into the library.
“I noticed all the furniture had been removed from the upper level, was that your doing?”
“Yes, I’ve been making room for a technology grant we received. We’re getting a computer lab of sorts.” That lifts one corner of her lips in a little smile, but it’s quickly replaced with a frown. “I may need to rethink the location now. I don’t know if I will ever be able to go up there again without seeing…”
“It’s okay, Bee, we’ll sort it out later.” Dad rubs her shoulder.
“Did you touch the body at all, physically or with magic?”
Dad snaps his head forward to scowl at me. I ignore him and keep my eyes on Belinda.
She leans back the slightest bit, either to get closer to my dad or to get farther away from me. “No, no I don’t think so.” Her voice is shaky, uncertain. She glances up at my dad. “Are we almost done? I don’t think I was ready for this.”
“Ms. Miller, would you be more comfortable at the station, maybe with a lawyer?” I offer.
“Am I under arrest?” Her horror filled whisper has Dad responding before I can.
“No, no, absolutely not,” he soothes, dismissing her worry.
I, however, can’t be as confident. “Not currently. I understand this isn’t comfortable, but his family and loved ones deserve answers, and unfortunately for you, you are our only known witness and we need your cooperation to help us solve his murder.”
“Murder? How do you know he was killed?” Belinda looks down at her lap briefly before meeting my stare.
“Unless this was a case of spontaneous human explosion, which I’ve never heard of, I don’t see any other explanation. Do you?”
“Do you have any more questions, Frances? Real questions?” Dad gives me the eye, warning me I’m on thin ice. Well, tough titties, mister. He’s the one who brought me back here, and now it seems we’re both paying for that mistake.
“It’s important that you tell us everything, so take a little time and think about everything that happened yesterday. Nothing is insignificant. This kind of traumatic event can make our minds process things strangely. We need to make sure you’re not leaving anything out.” I stand slowly. “Come down to the station tomorrow afternoon, and we can get everything sorted. If you think of anything else in the meantime, I’m sure you have my dad’s number.”
“Come down to the station?” she echoes, but it’s clear she’s questioning why she would need to go to the station.
I lean down and tap the red recording icon on the phone, then return the device to Dad. “If you wouldn’t mind sending that over to me, I would appreciate it.” His lips pinch together, but he jerks his head once in a nod.
