As they passed through the café, Leith spoke to nearly every customer, offering personalized comments that threatened to derail their progress.“Martha, that book on beekeeping came in!Evan, your special order from Prague is delayed again—can you believe the postal service?Oh, Danielle, tell your mother her sourdough starter saved my focaccia last week!”
By the time they reached the stockroom door, Jenna's patience had worn thin.Jake caught her eye and mouthed, “Breathe,” earning him a sharp glance that he met with a knowing half-smile.
The stockroom was a cluttered testament to Leith's organizational chaos.Books were stacked in precarious towers, some categorized with handwritten labels that made sense only to their creator: “Moon-adjacent,” “Reminds me of cinnamon,” and “Books that made me cry on page 37.”The small space was illuminated by a single window and a desk lamp whose bulb flickered periodically.
Leith closed the door behind them and perched on top of a wooden desk, sending a stack of paperbacks sliding dangerously close to the edge.“Now, what can I do for Genesius County's finest?Tax issue?Noise complaint from Mrs.Devereux next door?I've told her a thousand times that energetic book discussions are not noise pollution—”
“Claudia Kingsley is dead,” Jenna said, opting for directness.
Leith blinked once, twice, her hands stilling on the pencil she'd been twirling.
“Oh,” she said finally, her voice smaller than Jenna had ever heard it.“How terrible.”
“She was murdered,” Jake added.
Leith's eyes widened, but not with the shock or horror Jenna might have expected.Instead, she looked...confused?… disappointed?
“This is dreadful timing,” Leith sighed, shaking her head.“We have book club tonight, and Claudia was supposed to lead the discussion on the ending ofBlackbriar Hollow.She had such insightful commentary on the red herrings in chapter fifteen.”
Jenna exchanged a glance with Jake.This reaction was unusual, even for Leith, who operated on a wavelength entirely her own.
“Leith,” Jenna said carefully, “I need you to focus.Claudia was murdered.Do you understand what that means?”
“Of course I do,” Leith replied, suddenly sharp.“I'm eccentric, Sheriff, not oblivious.It means someone killed her, which is horrible and tragic and...”She trailed off, blinking rapidly.“And now I'm going to have to find someone else to bring the lemon squares.Claudia always brought the most wonderful lemon squares.”
Jenna pinched the bridge of her nose.“Tell me aboutBlackbriar Hollow.Was Claudia particularly invested in this book?”
At this, Leith brightened visibly.“Oh, it's a marvelous thriller!Set in a small town much like Trentville, actually, though with even more murders, if you can believe it!The protagonist is this delightfully flawed detective with a gambling problem and a pet iguana named Ferdinand—”
“The plot, Leith,” Jake prompted gently.
“Right, right.It's about a series of murders in a small town, but the killer uses clever tricks to make them look like accidents.A drowning in a bathtub, a fall down the stairs, a hunting mishap.”Leith leaned forward, lowering her voice.“I won’t tell you the ending, because you should read it yourself.”
“We don't have time to—” Jenna began.
“No, you're right,” Leith interrupted.“You're both far too busy solving real murders to read about fictional ones.So yes, the editor of the local newspaper did it.She had this whole complex about knowledge being dangerous in the wrong hands, and she targeted people she felt were abusing information or spreading falsehoods.Quite the commentary on our post-truth society, if you ask me.”
Jenna sighed.So far, Leith wasn’t revealing anything helpful.
“Leith,” she said, finding her way back to the purpose of their visit, “I need to know about Claudia's behavior at your last book club meeting.Did she seem worried about anything?Did she mention any conflicts in her life?”
Leith tilted her head, the pencil she had been twirling, once again finding its way into her hair.“Claudia was Claudia—cheerful, engaged, asked good questions.She had lovely conversations with everyone.”
“And who is 'everyone'?Who else is in this book club?”
For a moment, Leith looked reluctant, as if the names of her book club members were state secrets.Then she shrugged.“Well, there's Diana Moore—she's a nurse at the hospital, divorced three times, makes excellent tiramisu but can never remember to bring napkins.She's reading everything by Tana French in chronological order.”
“Go on.”
“Then there's Paul Whitaker, retired high school chemistry teacher who's writing his own mystery novel about a poisoning at a boarding school.He's stuck on chapter seven and has been for about eight months.Makes atrocious coffee, but we let him because he brings these chocolate-covered espresso beans from his sister in Seattle.”
“And the others?”Jake prompted when Leith paused to adjust a stack of books that was listing dangerously to one side.
“Meredith Chen.Accountant by day, amateur astronomer by night.Brilliant woman, terrible taste in wine, always wears the most fascinating socks.Last week they had quantum equations all over them.She's the one who suggestedBlackbriar Hollow,actually.”
“What about Bridget Henderson?”
“Oh, yes.She reads at lightning speed.I swear she finishes the book twice before the rest of us are halfway in.And she brings the best homemade cookies you’ve ever tasted.Hardly ever stops talking about her children, though.I believe they both had Claudia as a teacher.”