“Now that’s a lie,” Peter said, shaking his head. “You tried to set me up, Kathleen. You thought I was stupid enough to fall for this little Miss Marple subterfuge.”
“Where’s Marcus?” I said. My voice shook and so did my hands still jammed in my pockets.
Peter looked at his watch. “Larry Taylor’s pretty good with his hands. He got that old pump working over at the co-op. The thing about that gas powered motor is it needs lots of ventilation.”
Both my hands were squeezed into tight fists. I needed to stay focused and keep him talking. “You did something to that…that pump. Is Marcus there? Is Maggie?”
“Maggie is in her studio. I just talked to her. As for Detective Gordon, I’ll stipulate that we’re not going to see him.” He took another step toward me.
I knew if I tried to bolt for the door he’d grab me. “Why did you kill Jaeger?” I asked. “Was he blackmailing you?”
Peter held out both hands. “Classic mystery moment,” he said. “The detective gathers all the usual suspects in the library and then unmasks the killer. I’ll give you points for the setting, but the detective isn’t coming. And I’m not answering any of your questions.”
He came at me then, but I was ready for him. I’d been watching his feet out of the corner of my eye. I darted left.
“You’re wasting your time, Kathleen,” he said. “You’re wasting mine.”
The computer area was more or less behind me and the stacks were to the right. Peter probably figured he had me trapped but this was my library. I knew what I was doing and I was mad.
“You ran me off the road the other night,” I said.
“Did I?” he said. One eyebrow went up. He took a step toward me.
I took a step back. “Stop playing lawyer,” I said. “You killed Jaeger. You pushed him down the stairs, he hit his head and you left him there to drown. What did you do? Swipe Ruby’s keys to the store?”
He gave a snort of laughter. “Speculation.”
“Fact. You didn’t hurt your hand in the parking lot at your office. You did that on the railing of the basement steps at the co-op.” I held up my hand. “Same as I did. Same as Jaeger did when he grabbed for the railing to save himself. Except my cut got cleaned out twice. I bet there’s little bits of wood still in yours. Evidence.”
“Shut up,” he said.
I took a step sideways and back. “Jaeger was blackmailing you. I think you found out he was forging more than just that will for you. You knew he’d get caught again and you weren’t going down with him.” I laughed. “You showed up. He put the evidence against you in one of Maggie’s boxes. Pretty smart.”
“Christian was an idiot,” Peter said. “A spoiled little pissant who’d never done a decent day’s work in his life. He couldn’t swim, you know. And for the record, I didn’t push him. I just didn’t pull him out.”
He lunged at me, and this time I wasn’t fast enough. He grabbed me, turning me around with his arm tight against my neck, slowly cutting off my air supply. I struggled to catch my breath.
Marcus came out from behind the new shelving unit. “Let her go,” he ordered.
Little pinpricks of light were swirling around the edge of my vision but I knew I had to take advantage of Peter’s surprise. I drove the heel of my right hand up and back with as much force as I could. It made very satisfying contact with Peter’s nose. He sucked in a wet breath and I twisted free from his grasp. Marcus grabbed my arm and pulled me back against him as Derek Craig came around the other side of the shelves.
I smiled up at Marcus and felt for the tiny, wireless transmitter under the V-neck of my sweater. “What took you so long?” I wheezed.
36
Marcus drove me over to Eric’s Place where Maggie was waiting. “Is your throat all right?” he asked.
I pulled down the visor and looked in the little mirror on the backside. There was a wide red mark on my neck, even though Peter had had hold of me for only a few seconds.
My throat felt a little raw, as if I’d been talking too much. “I’m okay,” I said. “It’s nothing that a cup of Eric’s coffee won’t fix.”
“I can’t believe I agreed to that,” Marcus said as we pulled up to the café.
“Neither can I,” I said, unfastening my seat belt.
“I’m glad you’re not hurt.”
“Do you think I broke Peter’s nose?” I asked. It had been bleeding heavily onto an old but clean towel I’d found in the staff room.
“Don’t worry about it. I don’t think you did.” He gave me a knowing look. “Unless, you wanted to.”
“No comment.”
He laughed. “You’re a pretty good actor.”
“I liked working with you,” I said, smiling up at him.
“So did I,” he said.
We stood there on the sidewalk, having a little moment. I don’t know how long it would have lasted except I started to cough. My throat was dry, probably more from fear and all the talking I’d been doing than from anything Peter had done to me.
“You need to sit down and have something hot to drink,” Marcus said.
He led the way inside. Maggie was at the counter talking to Eric. She came right over to us.
“You all right?” she asked.
I nodded.
“Go sit down,” Marcus said. “I’ll get you some coffee.”
Maggie led the way to a table by the end wall where her tea was waiting. “What happened to your neck?” she asked, squinting at me across the table.
I touched my throat. “Peter grabbed me,” I said. “I bloodied his nose.”
“Is it broken?” she asked.
I shook my head. “Marcus doesn’t think so. Am I a bad person because part of me hopes it is?”
“After what he did and what he tried to do? No.”
Marcus came over to the table then with a mug for me, and a take-out cup for himself. “I have to get to the station. I’ll call you later.”
“All right,” I said, taking the cup from him and wrapping my hands around it. “Is it all right to go back to the library?”
He shook his head. “No. Not tonight. Have your coffee. Go home.” He looked at Maggie. “Keep her out of trouble,” he said.
She rolled her eyes. “Of course,” she said. “That always goes so well.”
He laid a hand on my shoulder. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“I’m glad you’re okay too,” I said. I watched him walk out and cross the sidewalk to his SUV.
When I looked at Maggie her head was tipped to one side and she had an aw-shucks grin on her face. “You two are just so cute,” she said.
I set my cup on the table and reached for the sugar. “I’m ignoring you,” I said.
She laughed and leaned back in her chair. Then her face turned serious. “I can’t believe Peter killed Jaeger.”
“I’m not defending him. But I think he acted in the heat of the moment.”
“Peter never struck me as someone who did anything in the heat of the moment,” Maggie said.
“Getting Jaeger to forge that will was stupid,” I said, adding cream and stirring my coffee.
“So why did he do it?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he got tired of being the good guy and getting nothing for it, kind of like Ray.” I leaned my forearms on the table. “Peter took care of that great-uncle for years, but the only other will Marcus could track down left everything to some distant cousin’s kids. Peter was only related by marriage and for some people ‘blood’ is everything.”
“So you don’t think he planned to kill Jaeger?” Maggie lifted the lid of her little teapot and then looked around for Claire who nodded and held up one finger.
“No. But it’s clear Jaeger didn’t trust him. I think that’s why he put his things in your box.”
“Just in case.”
Claire came over with the hot water and refilled Maggie’s tea. “Could I get you anything else?” she asked. “Eric has a great beef stew.”