Page 91 of The Librarians

Hazel, mirroring Sophie, also leans forward, her hands spread. But unlike Sophie and her perfect burgundy manicure, Hazel’s unvarnished nails are nearly white from how hard they are digging into the oak veneer of the dining table—the only real sign of tension on her part. “Perry and whoever else might have searched the stacks. But we have thousands of books that are not out on the shelves or on carts waiting to be shelved.”

Astrid sucks in a breath. “The donations?”

“Precisely. Kit entered the library holding a box and exited holding the same box, apparently. But what was in the box? The library’s CCTV cameras, back when they still worked, covered the public terminals and other areas where patrons gathered. But they didn’t point toward the corridor where donated books are dropped off.”

And if Kit’s hoard has been sitting among the donated books all this time…

“This is where I need help from you two.” Hazel looks from Sophie to Astrid, and back again. “I’ve sorted the three huge boxes of donations that came in last Tuesday and have no more reason to be in the storage room during normal hours. Can you lend me your keys so I can go after hours?”

“You mean, at night?” Astrid ventures.

“Tonight, if possible.” There is a hint of lunacy in the brilliance of Hazel’s eyes. “Now that I know Perry’s death is linked to Kit, I can never sleep easy again unless I get to the bottom of it.”

Astrid bites on her knuckles. “Are you sure that’s safe?”

“It’s the library. It doesn’t have any valuables and I won’t be visible to anyone outside when I’m in the storage room.”

“Should I come with you?” Astrid squeaks.

“You two have to work in the morning; my hours don’t kick in until afternoon.” Hazel loads a cracker with cheese but does not eat it. “Will you let me borrow your key?”

Astrid licks her numb lips. “Umm, if it’s okay with Sophie, I can, but I have to make a request, and that’s the reason I want to come with you. You know that the CCTV cameras haven’t worked for a while at the library, but there are a bunch of other peripheral things that are not working as intended. The door to the Den of Calories, for example—it doesn’t lock anymore.”

“I’ll lock the front entrance when I go in. Then it doesn’t matter if the Den of Calories can’t be secured.”

It feels really stupid to be talking about the mundane realities of municipal housekeeping when there are tens of millions of dollars and multiple lives at stake. “But that’s just it. That’s the problem. You see, the front entrance used to log when it’s keyed open and locked. But a few months ago—maybe forty days of one-hundred-ten-degree weather messed it up last summer—it broke so that it no longer logs when you open it, only when you lock it.”

Hazel looks at Astrid blankly.

“What Astrid means is that if you don’t lock the front door, then nobody will know you’ve been there overnight,” says Sophie. She takes a deep breath. “Here, I give you executive permission. Go tonight, if you need to. And then just leave. Don’t bother locking up. I’ll make sure I’m the first person at the library tomorrow morning so nobody else will know it’s been opened at night.”

“All right.” Hazel rises slowly, as if struggling against a great weight. She once again settles her hands on the table, to steady herself. “Guess I’ll be off, then.”

Chapter Twenty-five

Conrad’s house

Two nights earlier

With three minutes left in the fourth quarter and with the visiting team having already given up, Ryan turns off the TV.

Jonathan, once again looking in the direction of the alcove, turns his head at the ensuing silence.

“I was right, wasn’t I?” Ryan murmurs. “You never lost your wallet tracker here.”

Jonathan flushes, even though it’s far from the worst thing Ryan can say. “I—it’s possible.”

“Did Hazel come withyou, and not with Conrad?”

“That—is also a possibility.”

Ryan perks up. “So there could have been a shoot-out between you and Conrad tonight?”

“I didn’t bring a firearm—it would have been a one-sided gunfight, if Conrad wanted one.”

Ryan snickers. Then he looks at Jonathan for a long moment. Jonathan stops breathing. Is he going to ask whether Jonathan was also lying about the apology?

The click of a doorknob turning: Hazel and Conrad drift in from thealcove. Hazel appears dazed, as if a sinkhole had cracked open and she’d driven right into it.