But Annie proved difficult to find. Myrtle and Miles made a couple of unsuccessful passes downstairs in case Annie was on the move. But she was nowhere to be found.
Myrtle said, "Let's split up. I'll check outside and you can check upstairs."
Miles balked. "I'm not going upstairs. That seems rather off-limits. The family quarters."
"It's not a family. It's only Martin. But all right. I'll go upstairs and you go outside. We can text each other if we find her." Someone jostled Myrtle, spilling wine on her. "Watch it!" she snapped at the middle-aged man. He reddened, mumbled an apology, and hastily retreated. "Something always happens to my funeral outfit," she growled.
Myrtle headed for an elaborate staircase under a tremendous crystal chandelier while Miles set off through a couple of French doors to what looked to be an amazing deck with lake views.
The elaborate staircase was steeper than Myrtle anticipated and required a certain amount of athleticism to ascend. She boosted herself with her cane and it thumped on the marble as she went. She knew if anyone questioned her about being upstairs, she could easily get away with acting confused. It was an excellent trick and she'd occasionally rely on it. No one would challenge an octogenarian on that point, after all.
But no one seemed to be paying attention at all as the party downstairs became louder and louder.
Myrtle paused at the top of the stairs, slightly winded, and peered down the long hallway with what appeared to be a dozen or more doors. The place was more like a hotel than a house. All the doors seemed to be open, at least. She slowly walked down the hall.
Myrtle had passed several empty bedrooms when she came upon what appeared to be a library. She raised her eyebrows. She wouldn't necessarily have pegged Martin as a reader. She'd have to ask Carolyn, her school librarian friend, about that. Myrtle, never able to resist a library, walked in.
"Hi, Miss Myrtle," said a quiet voice.
Myrtle startled and turned around to see Annie on a leather sofa behind her.
"Oh, goodness," said Myrtle. "Annie, I'm sorry to disturb you, today of all days." She decided she didn't need her old lady act with Annie. Annie might not believe it. Instead, she said, "I heard about Martin's library and I thought I'd take a look. I can't seem to pass up a library."
Annie smiled weakly at her. "That's okay, Miss Myrtle. It's probably better for me to talk to somebody, anyway. I just came up here to be quiet for a few minutes and then things got so loud downstairs that I didn't want to go back down. What's going on down there?"
"Alcohol," said Myrtle simply.
Annie made a face. "I told Martin not to offer an open bar but he never listens to me. Well, I'm definitely not going back downstairs now." She hesitated. "Like I said, I probably needed to talk to somebody, though. I'm glad it's you."
To Myrtle's alarm, Annie burst into tears. Myrtle stood up and looked frantically around for a box of tissues. There were none to be seen, so she pawed through her tremendous purse until she found a packet of travel tissues buried somewhere near the bottom. She thrust them at Annie and made comforting sounds until Annie finally stopped crying.
"Sorry," said Annie behind several tissues. "I think it's all just hit me now. Mama's death, I mean. And I feel terrible about it—the way she died, the fact we weren't on better terms, all of it. I also feel really guilty that it didn't make me upset to hear Mama was dead. I felt . . . relieved." She stared down miserably at the wad of tissues in her hand.
Myrtle made some tut-tutting noises. "Well, of course you felt that way. Death affects everyone in different ways on different days. But I'd think your mother also would have felt badly too, if you'd been able to ask her. She'd have been sorry she hadn't developed a better relationship with you. That was more of her responsibility and less of yours."
Annie gave her a grateful look. "Do you think so? Thanks, Miss Myrtle."
They sat quietly for a few moments. Myrtle glanced around the library and thought all the books seemed to be in excellent condition. Most of them appeared to be unread, especially the books of a more-serious and literary nature. However, there were many shelves of paperbacks that looked quite dog-eared. Perhaps Martin was a reader, after all.
Myrtle said, "I did have a question for you. It's about a neighbor of yours."
Annie smiled. "Our former neighbor? Carolyn? Oh, she's wonderful. She's one of the reasons I enjoyed school and reading as much as I did. She always had such terrific recommendations for things to read. She has little grandchildren now and I bet she's developing a love of reading in them, too."
Myrtle said, "Carolyn is a terrific librarian and book-lover. But I actually meant your neighbor on the other side."
Annie made a face. "You mean Tallulah. She's dreadful."
"I ran into her at the store," said Myrtle.
"I'm sorry to hear that," said Annie with a grimace.
Myrtle chuckled. "She did seem a little peculiar. I got the impression she and your mother didn't get along very well."
"You might say that. I might say they fought like cats and dogs," said Annie.
"Tallulah didn't mention that, though. She said they didn't see eye to eye on a Yard of the Month award for their neighborhood," said Myrtle.
Annie snorted. "Sure. Maybe that was one of the minor things they argued about. But I can assure you it was a lot more complicated than that. Mama had offers from a developer for the lot that was behind her house and Tallulah's."
"That sounds like quite a spacious lot."
"It is. The developer was actually going to divide it in half and put up two homes," said Annie.
"I have the feeling Tallulah didn't much care for the idea."
"She was livid," said Annie with a faint smile. "It's kind of funny now, but it was making Mama furious the way Tallulah was behaving. Mama said it was her land to do whatever she wanted to do with and that Tallulah was just lucky Mama hadn't gotten a decent offer from a developer up until that point."
"Tallulah wanted the land to stay undeveloped," said Myrtle thoughtfully.
Annie said, "Absolutely. Mama said she wanted her privacy and Tallulah thought if the developer put these two-story houses right in her backyard that they'd be able to see right into her property."
"Tallulah could simply have installed some privacy landscaping. I have some of that at my house. Tall bushes and trees and whatnot. I have a problematic neighbor, as well." Myrtle made a face at the thought of Erma.
"Apparently, Tallulah wasn't interested in redesigning her yard. She wanted it the way it was because she grew vegetables in the summer and didn't want all the shade that would come with planting large bushes and trees."
"She was in quite a pickle, then," said Myrtle.
Annie looked startled. "You don't think Tallulah would have killed Mama over something like that?"
"I don't know. But she sure didn't want me to know the real reason she was feuding with your mother. Yard of the Month, indeed!" Myrtle sniffed. "And what will happen with the real estate deal now?"
Annie frowned. "I haven't really thought about it. I don't think Mama had actually signed the papers yet. She was speaking with the developers in the vacant lot, which is how Tallulah found out about it. I guess we're under no obligation to go through with it. But I have the feeling Martin will be all over it. In fact, he's so unsentimental, I bet he'd sell Mama's house, to boot. Then the developer could put up two more houses. She had a big lot, too."
Myrtle said, "That means, if Tallulah did murder Lillian, she didn't gain a thing. I don't believe it's something Tallulah could have counted on."
Annie shook her head. "No, of course not. It was silly of me to even think it." She paused. "Unless it wasn't planned. What if Tallulah went over to Mama's house to speak with her again about the development? Maybe Mama made her angry and she killed her in the heat of the moment. She could easily have slipped over there and back without anyone seeing her."
"You're saying it might have been manslaughter."
Annie said, "That's right." She sighed. "Although I have a tough time believing Tallulah could have done that. I mean, I never really liked the woman, but I sure wouldn't have said she was capable of doing something like that. Don't pay any attention to me. I'm just overtired and stressed out."
Myrtle stood and said, "I do hope you can get some rest soon. Lack of sleep definitely never helps. My friend Miles has been exhausted for days and he's been most out of whack."
"Thanks, Miss Myrtle," said Annie with a smile.
Myrtle found her way back downstairs where the funeral reception was even more cacophonous. The drinking was certainly loosening everyone up. She scowled at a few of the loudest offenders and they had the decency to look abashed. One was a former student of hers and he practically sank beneath a table when she leveled her glare at him.
But Miles was nowhere to be seen. Myrtle knew he hadn't found Annie, so what on earth could be keeping him?
She walked outside on the deck where there were several revelers and an entire bottle of wine. Miles was curled up in a deck chair, dead asleep despite the volume of the people next to him.
Myrtle strode up and impatiently grabbed Miles by the shoulder. "Miles!" she hissed.
He sleepily opened his eyes and then glanced around, looking alarmed. He sat abruptly up, blinking furiously to clear the sleep away.
"I must still be exhausted," he muttered.
"Considering you fell deeply asleep at what's turning out to be a bacchanalian event, I'd agree with you," said Myrtle tartly. "Let's get out of here. Things are out of control."
"Do you think I could get a Coke here?" asked Miles.
"I'm sure they must have them as mixers for alcoholic beverages. Although I'm not sure I want you to drive again," said Myrtle.
"Oh, I'm awake now," said Miles dryly. "Waking up in that manner made me fully alert in seconds. But I'd like to ward off another nap attack and I believe you mentioned we'd be heading over to the public library. A Coke might be in order." He glanced across the crowded, lively living room. "I'll brave the bar to find one."
"I'll meet you by the car," said Myrtle briskly.
Back in the car, Miles said, "Did you find Annie?"
"I did. She was upstairs in Martin's library."
Miles's eyes grew wide. "A library? Martin?"
"I was surprised, too, but then I remembered the fact that my friend Carolyn had been a good influence as both his neighbor and his middle school librarian. I'll admit many of his books looked as if they were there for show, but there were quite a few well-thumbed paperbacks, as well."
Miles asked, "What did you find out from Annie? Anything on her brother? I find it very difficult to believe he could purchase a lake house like that by hawking insurance in a small town."
"No, we really didn't talk about Martin much, although I sense he's not Annie's most-favorite person. We spoke more about Tallulah," said Myrtle.
Miles headed to downtown Bradley. "Is that stemming from the 'Conversation that Wasn't' at the funeral today?"
"Exactly. She clearly wanted to speak with Red. Red was even more clearly tied up with the annoying woman worried about truancy. And Tallulah was very nervous. She's hiding something and I figure it might be a guilty conscience."
"Over Yard of the Month?" Miles rolled his eyes.
"No, over something far more important to Tallulah. Annie told me her mother owned that large, wooded lot behind both her house and Tallulah's. Apparently, she'd been talking to developers for years, but never received a good offer. Until lately."
Miles raised his eyebrows. "I'm guessing Tallulah wasn't happy about having a house behind hers."
"Apparently, the developer was going to divide it into two lots. There was to be a two-story house directly behind Tallulah's and she was worried about privacy and so forth."
Miles said, "And Tallulah decided to remove her problem by removing Lillian?"
"It sounds a bit unplanned to me. After all, Tallulah couldn't count on the fact Martin and Annie wouldn't simply sell the property after their mother was gone. But Tallulah could have gone over to speak with Lillian, had an argument, and killed her out of anger," said Myrtle.
"And now she wants to confess to Red. The guilt is killing her?" asked Miles.
Myrtle shrugged. "Maybe she's had to work up the courage to confess."
Miles pulled up in front of the library. "I should have brought my library book with me." He looked gloomily at the building. "It will be overdue tomorrow."
"Renew it." Myrtle carefully swung out of Miles's car and started thumping with her cane as she walked up the library steps.
Miles hurried to keep up. "I've already renewed it. Twice."
"Well then, it mustn't be very good if it's taking you that long to read the thing. Pick something else out while we're in here."
Miles said slowly, "But then they'll see I have a book that's about to be overdue. It looks greedy for me to take out another book when I have a book at home I haven't finished."
"Don't be so fretful, Miles! Clearly, it's a subpar, very inadequate book. We've had this conversation before. You worry too much about what others think of you. Besides, Carolyn isn't the sort to pass judgement on a book on the brink of being overdue. Ask her for a recommendation. And do come on."
The library was one of Myrtle's favorite places in town. It had a delightful reading nook in front of a fireplace. The selection of books was well-curated. And it was a good place to speak with librarians who knew things.
Carolyn Segers was just wrapping up with a patron and greeted Myrtle and Miles. "Perfect timing! It's finally quiet here. How have you been?" She sparkled with a twinkly smile and a pink blouse with beaded flowers, cheerful sequined dangling earrings, and a cute pair of multicolored flats.
Myrtle beamed at her. "Oh, just fine. And I'm glad it's quiet here because Miles and I have a question for you."
Miles turned red and started stammering.
Myrtle gave him a reproving look. "I really meant we had a question about Martin, Miles. But since you've clearly leapt to conclusions, why don't you ask Carolyn for a book recommendation?" She turned to Carolyn and said, "Miles is rather anxious because he's about to have an overdue book. The book hasn't been engaging, though, and he wondered if you had a good recommendation."
Miles quickly added, "And I'm bringing the overdue book tomorrow to return it. And pay the fine."
"Which will be all of a few cents." Myrtle rolled her eyes.
Carolyn said, "Don't worry, you're not the only one with overdue books! What kinds of books do you like reading?"
Myrtle said, "I think the problem is that he's attracted to really boring books and then he runs into trouble finishing them. Maybe he needs the kind of book he usually doesn't read and doesn't like."
Miles looked at Myrtle coldly. "Or maybe a really riveting book that is something I would read."
"What do you usually enjoy?" asked Carolyn.
"World War II nonfiction," said Miles. "But nothing too dry."
"Would you be open to reading some good World War II fiction?" she asked, tilting her head thoughtfully.
Miles looked a bit startled, as if he somehow hadn't realized there might be such a thing. "I'd could try."
"And if it's a bit gritty from time to time is that all right?" asked Carolyn.
Miles nodded. "It's war, after all."
They followed Carolyn into the stacks and she pulled out The Boat Runner by Devin Murphy. "See what you think," she said.
Miles looked a lot more relaxed now. "Thanks," he said with a smile.
Myrtle said, "I actually had a question for you, Carolyn. I'm sure you've heard about poor Lillian's death. Actually, you might even have been at the funeral reception for a little while, but it was so crowded it would have been easy to miss you."
Carolyn shook her head. "I sure did hear about Lillian. Such an awful thing. I couldn't make the funeral or reception because I was working."
"I know you used to be next-door neighbors up until fairly recently. I was wondering if she might have been a difficult person to be neighbors with," said Myrtle.
Carolyn said, "Oh, she wasn't too bad. She did such a wonderful job with her yard and it always looked lovely. And I was very fond of her children. Martin was a great reader."
Myrtle said, "Why do I have the feeling that he was a great reader because of you? Lillian didn't strike me as much of a reader."
"Maybe I helped a little. He'd always come knocking on my door when he was a little guy and would go through all the children's books I'd have out. Then he'd solemnly borrow one and take it for a couple of days and trade it out for something else."
Miles frowned. "This is Martin Johnson, right?"
Carolyn said, "It might sound a little surprising, but it's true. And Lillian always had a soft spot for Martin."
"Not so much for Annie, though?" asked Myrtle.
Carolyn looked a little sad. "Unfortunately, I think they had something of a more complicated relationship. Lillian could be very stern and not only with her daughter. I also overheard Lillian being rather rough on her employee when she'd come over."
"Sounds likely," said Miles.
"Was Martin any different as he grew older?" asked Miles. "He somehow doesn't seem the bookish, sensitive sort anymore."
Carolyn said, "He has a pretty grandiose lifestyle now, hasn't he? No, I didn't see any signs when he was younger that he'd turn out quite as he has. He did run with a rough crowd in middle school, though. I never heard of his getting into any trouble, though, even though the other boys did. I think Lillian kept on top of both of the kids."
Myrtle asked, "And how about Tallulah? What do you know about her?"
Carolyn considered this before diplomatically answering, "She's apparently quite an excellent golfer. At least, that's what I hear. And she did keep a nice yard."
Myrtle said, "We've heard she and Lillian had a disagreement recently."
Carolyn frowned and said, "I don't really know about any argument, but I can only guess it had to do with the land sale Lillian was planning. She told me about it one day when I saw her in town. She said she'd had quite a good offer from a developer and had been trying to sell that parcel of land for ages. When she was telling me about it, though, I couldn't help but think Tallulah couldn't have been too happy about it. After all, some of that land was directly behind her house."
There were suddenly a lot of chipper, small voices and Carolyn said, "Oh, we'd better get your book checked out. Storytime just let out and soon they'll all be with their mamas at the circulation desk."