Shelby took the book and clasped it to her chest. “Thank you so much. You’re just too kind! May I walk you out?”
Hadley shot a hostile glance toward me. “That would be nice of you.” She stood up. “Nell, I hope you won’t continue to spread this nonsense about me having anything to do with this whole mess. Remember what I said.” She turned and stamped out the door, trailed by Shelby. Chloe had returned, looking like a scared rabbit. “Chloe, where were you? Never mind. Call for the car-now!”
Chloe fished a cell phone from her purse and issued an order to someone to bring Hadley’s car around immediately, while Hadley disappeared into the hall, followed by Shelby. I was pleased to see that she had seized the opportunity to escort Hadley out of the building.
Shelby was back within three minutes and threw herself into the chair Hadley had vacated. “Saints alive, but that woman is a piece of work! Thinks the sun rises and sets from her, um, posterior. How’d she ever get to be so popular?”
“Got me. I’d bet she’s got handlers who make sure her public appearances are strictly limited. They wouldn’t want her to reduce a child to tears, which I’ll bet she could do in under a minute.”
“I hear you. What on earth did she want with you?”
“She thinks I persuaded Arabella that the events at Let’s Play were somehow connected to Hadley-like a crazy stalker or something. I never did anything of the kind, except to suggest to Arabella that there were possible motives that didn’t involve her or Let’s Play. But Hadley wasn’t happy when the police showed up at her place, asking questions.”
“You think she’s involved in some way?”
“Before now, I thought it was just one rather remote possibility, but having met her, it seems a whole lot more likely than I previously thought. Do you really want that book of hers?”
“I thought maybe I’d donate it to my church-they’re having a rummage sale soon.”
“That sounds about right to me. Poor Chloe. I can’t imagine working for someone like Hadley.”
“What, you never had a boss from hell?” Shelby asked.
“I’ve worked for some rather, uh, challenging people, and they weren’t always pleasant, but I’ve never taken that kind of abuse from anyone, and I wouldn’t stand for it. How about you?”
“There’ve been a few interesting interactions. But not with you, of course-you’re a peach.”
“Of course I am.” I grinned at her. “But you have my permission to swat me if I start showing signs of morphing into a Hadley. Her take on Arabella was interesting, though. I may be way off base, but I think Arabella is exactly what she seems to be-a very sweet woman, who loves children and loves making her museum welcoming. Whereas Hadley is a crass and pushy, uh, dame who oozes insincerity. I’ll take Arabella any day.”
Shelby stood up. “Well, if the excitement’s over, I’ll get back to work.”
“Oh, Shelby? Thanks for interrupting us. I might have said something regrettable if you hadn’t walked in.”
“That’s about what I figured. I thought I’d lay on a little southern sweetness and save you from Hadley-and yourself.”
Eric hovered uncertainly near my door, and Shelby smiled at him as she passed by. I gestured to him to come in. “Did you want to say something?”
“I feel bad that I distracted Chloe. She looked like she wanted to burst into tears, so I took her down the hall for some coffee. But I probably made things worse, because then Miss Hadley was annoyed at her.”
“Don’t worry about it, Eric. I gather Hadley is annoyed at everybody, all the time. I wonder how Chloe stands it.”
“She needs the job. She told me that it sounded so perfect when she saw the ad. I guess Hadley can turn on the charm when she wants to, long enough to hire someone, but it didn’t last.”
“Did Chloe say how long she’s been working for her?”
“Six months, maybe? But I’d bet it won’t be for much longer. Chloe’s already taking antianxiety medication, and she says she’d rather do anything else than work for that woman any longer. Chloe was an English major, which is why she thought working for an author would be so cool.”
I felt an immediate pang of sympathy. As a former English major myself, I knew how bleak the prospects were outside of academia. “Let me talk to Melanie. Maybe we have an opening here where she’d fit. You know, you learned quite a bit about Chloe in a short time.”
“She looked like she needed a friend. I know what that feels like,” Eric said simply.
“Good job, Eric.”
CHAPTER 14
The next morning I woke up thinking about electricity again. I needed more information, and I didn’t think the kind of questions I had could be resolved by reading a short publication or even by a quick Internet search. I had reviewed the basic concept of electricity, but I couldn’t even say whether ordinary current-as opposed to high-voltage wiring-was enough to kill someone. The big question was: how do you electrocute someone?
I was troubled. When I had mentioned to James that the victim at Let’s Play could just as easily have been me, I hadn’t been joking. In fact, I’d already found out that I didn’t know enough to guess whether the flaw in Willy’s wiring had been set to shock indiscriminately-that is, whoever was first to touch it would be zapped-or targeted to a specific person. And the timing was odd. If someone had wanted to do harm to a random patron, wouldn’t they have waited until the exhibit was open? Maybe the culprit hadn’t wanted to risk harming a child? I shuddered at the very thought of a child getting hurt.
My next question was, who could have rigged this up? Not me, and I figured I represented an average person. An electrician could have, sure. But was there someone who fell between ignorant me and a trained professional, who would know how to manage it? And how would that person have gained access to the wiring for the Harriet exhibit? That might have been the easiest part: as I had told James, plenty of construction people had been wandering in and out of Let’s Play lately, and it was unlikely that anyone would challenge their right to be there-which suggested slack security or a charming naiveté among the staff of the museum.
But that was outside my purview. However, I was the president of an institution that occupied an aging building, and who knew how many electrical problems were just waiting to happen to us as well? I recalled that we’d had the building assessed a few years earlier, in contemplation of a renovation project that had withered for lack of serious funding. I could dig out those records and see what the results had been. Luckily, as the new kid, I was entitled to take a fresh look at our problems in that area-as long as it didn’t cost the Society anything. I could probably locate the person who had done the original evaluation and have him walk me through the reports, if I asked nicely. I could inquire about what wiring changes we might need for modern surveillance systems and computer connections, as we hoped to improve our security. We might be able to afford those things someday, and I would look responsible if I investigated them now, rather than waiting. And I could ask all sorts of dumb questions about wiring along the way. It was a plan.
My enthusiasm carried me through breakfast and the train ride to the city, and into work. Once again Eric was at his desk waiting for me, looking like an eager puppy.
“Mornin’, Nell. Great day, isn’t it?”
“I hope so. Hey, I’ve got a challenge for you.” I could have sworn his ears pricked up, and if he’d had a tail he would have wagged it. “A couple of years ago, or less than five, anyway, the Society commissioned a structural evaluation of this building, to see what we needed to fix and how much that would cost, and to put together a wish list of smaller construction projects that we could undertake if we ever found the money. We called it something like The Ten Year Plan. Do you think you could track that down for me?”