Jonathon nodded. “She said she needed to go to the bathroom. I offered to go with her, but then you called me over to wrangle Mason. Remember?”
“And Archer was still working on the movie setup.”
“Let’s hope Mason died of natural causes, or both Darby and I have motive and opportunity in the murder.” Jonathon watched the movie. “This really is horrible. The spiders all look fake.”
* * *
Somehow, they got out of the Q and A session after the movie. Rarity went up to the microphone and thanked everyone for coming out.She didn’t mention Mason or any excuse. No one apparently had questions, but she did hear a few people mutter about how bad the movie had been. But others left talking about the differences in special effects in the last twenty years. Everyone left happy. Well, except Mason.
Rarity started folding up chairs as the audience left the alley. As she did, she noticed the same man from the festival booth standing and watching the signing table where Darby and Katie were packing up the leftover books as well as the event materials.
Archer brought the cart with the projector on it to the door, pausing to ask, “Is this yours? Into the closet?”
She turned to answer the question, and when she turned back, the man was gone. Probably a tourist who liked books. She shouldn’t read as much into people and their actions. Especially tonight. She would see everyone in the audience as a potential murderer. Except she’d been at the back door, and after Jonathon came out, no one had gone back inside.
She wondered about that, then realized something she hadn’t noticed earlier. The front door hadn’t been locked. She’d opened it using the doorknob when she went to find the EMTs. The deadbolt hadn’t been thrown. Who had locked the door when they’d all gone out into the alley for the event?
And who had known that Mason had been in the bookstore, alone? These were questions she needed to ask Drew. And stay out of the fray. But she knew she wouldn’t. Come Tuesday night, the part of the book club that saw themselves as sleuths would be demanding to know what she knew.
She didn’t have to tell them. Maybe Mason had gone quietly into the night all on his own. At least that was her hope.
The teardown of the event site took way less time than the setup. Probably because the older group wanted to head home and chill and the younger staff wanted to head to the street dance that was going to start in a few minutes.
Either way, she had all the chairs back in the store and the alley clean and ready for its usual purposes by nine forty-five. The group was all in the bookstore when she gathered everyone together.
“Look, something happened tonight.” Rarity paused, wondering how to say it.
“Mason Pike is a loser,” Darby said. “He has ten sets of hands. Don’t get near him unless you want to be felt up.”
“I’m sorry that happened. Maybe we should rethink our author wrangling assignments.” Rarity focused on Darby. “But that’s not what I wanted to say.”
“I know, but I didn’t want Katie to have to deal with him. Just don’t be in a room alone with him. He sees you as someone he wants to impress, so you’re probably safe, Rarity.” Darby shook out her shoulders. “It was just gross.”
“Like I said, I’m sorry that happened. And we’ll consider it next time we have a signing. But you all need to know that…” Rarity paused again, wondering how to break the news.
“What Rarity is trying to delicately tell you is that Mason Pike died in the break room. The body will have an autopsy, but for now, type of death is undetermined. I’ll need to talk to all of you, but we’ll do it tomorrow morning. I assume all of the same staff will be working tomorrow?”
“Unless Shirley shows up, then, yes, this is tomorrow’s crew.” Rarity needed to hire more staff just so she had more backup. Then she chided herself from thinking about work when she needed to be mourning a dead man.
A man she didn’t know and one who had mistreated her friend. Right now, she didn’t feel all that sorry for Mason’s death.
Archer walked home with her after locking up the bookstore. An action they did almost every night, but tonight, Mason’s death had made the walk tense. She let out a long breath. “I don’t think Mason Pike was a very nice man. You heard what Darby said. She was clearly upset at the way he treated her. I know I should be sad that he passed, but I’m still mad at him for what he did to Darby. He was a guest in my store.”
“Sometimes people don’t act the way we expect them to or even with social grace. I’m sorry you had to find him. Are you okay?” Archer squeezed her hand.
“I’m fine. I guess. I was scared about the stupid fake spider on his chest. It fell off when I touched his shoulder. I thought it was real for a minute. I even swatted it with a magazine. What if Mason had still been alive and I delayed calling 911 because I was killing a fake spider?”
“According to Drew, he’d been dead a while before the paramedics got there. I think the heat of the day and the excitement might have done him in. You know some people don’t acclimate to our climate very well.” He dropped her hand, then pulled her into a hug, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk. “It’s not your fault.”
“Then I feel guilty about what he did to Darby and I’m mad about that. I need a swim before I head to bed tonight.” She let her head sink into his shoulder for just a second. Archer was the best hugger ever.
“What if I make us some tea? You swim and I’ll hang out with Killer until you calm down a little. I hate to see you worked up.”
She nodded, hoping he could see her in the dark. “I’d love that.”
As she got into the pool, she heard voices on the other side of her fence. Terrance must be entertaining. He’d brought Killer home earlier, and now her dog was inside watching Archer make tea. She focused on her laps, letting the stress of the day float away from her and into the water. Or she tried to. As much as she enjoyed the feel of the water and stretching her body as she swam, random thoughts kept interrupting her meditation time. Finally, she gave up, hoping she’d worn her body out enough to sleep later.
While she’d been in the pool, Archer had invited Terrance over for a nightcap. And his guest. She was surprised to see Shirley sitting at her patio table with the men. “Hey, how’s everything? Are you okay?” Rarity tried not to bring up George when Terrance was around. It wasn’t like Shirley was cheating, but sometimes it felt odd.
