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priority.
    Lindsey left her office to find the library cleared and Officer Kirkland talking to Beth while the other officer talked to Ms. Cole and Ann Marie. Emma Plewicki was talking on her cell phone, and Lindsey suspected by the set of her jaw that she didn’t like what she was hearing.
    â€œFine, but call me the minute you learn anything,” Emma said into the phone. She pressed the front of her phone and shoved it into a holder on her belt.
    â€œBad news?” Lindsey asked.
    â€œGriffiths says there’s a backlog of bodies at his office,” she said. “Mine is in the queue but it may take them longer than usual to ID him.”
    Lindsey glanced around the library, noting that it was all but empty. It appeared that everyone but Mr. Schwartz, who had resumed his seat with his paper, had fled. She couldn’t blame them. There was a part of her that wished she could escape the building, too, but then again, she wanted to be here in case Jack turned up.
    â€œYou ready for a few questions?” Emma asked her.
    â€œSure, fire away,” Lindsey said.
    â€œWhy did you have your crafternoon meeting in a different location today?” Emma asked. Her tone was abrupt and no nonsense, and Lindsey had the paranoid thought that maybe Emma knew about Jack and was testing her. But no, that couldn’t be.
    â€œUm . . . it was cold in there, you know, our usual room,” Lindsey said. She hated lying, but given that she had already told the same fib to her best friend, she couldn’t really bust out the truth now, could she?
    â€œWas the window open when you went in?” Emma asked. Her sharp brown eyes were studying Lindsey’s face, making her feel uncomfortable.
    Logically, Lindsey knew that Emma was just encouraging her to try and remember all that she could, but knowing that she was being less than truthful made Lindsey’s skin prickle and she felt as if she had guilt written all over her face.
    â€œYes,” she said. She rationalized that Jack had told her the window was unlocked, so it could be construed as being open and was therefore not a complete fabrication.
    â€œThen what did you do?” Emma asked.
    â€œI decided to switch the location for our meeting and locked up the room, planning to check back later,” Lindsey said. Truth. “And when I went back, I found the body.” Also, truth.
    Emma frowned at her. “The first time you were in the room, did you close the window?”
    Lindsey refused to lie as it could only lead to more lies so instead, she went for vague, which judging by the politicians she saw on the news these days, was probably the best way to handle it.
    â€œI don’t know,” she said. “I meant to, but it must have slipped my mind what with rushing off to change rooms and such.”
    Emma didn’t look convinced and Lindsey couldn’t blame her. An awkward moment passed between them, which mercifully was interrupted by the front doors sliding open and two men rushing into the building.
    â€œLindsey!” they cried her name in unison and hurried forward.
    Emma glanced from them back to Lindsey and then grinned at her. In a teasing voice, she said, “Yeah, well, I could see how you might forget to shut a window when you have so much on your mind.”
    Lindsey gave her a weak smile in return and had to squash the urge to hug the stuffing out of both Robbie Vine and Mike Sullivan as they hurried toward her. They were saving her hide more than they would ever know.
    â€œAre you all right?” Sully demanded. He reached her first and hugged her close.
    â€œWe heard there was a nasty incident in the library,” Robbie said as he waited for Sully to release her and then hugged her himself. When he would have lingered, Sully pulled him off by the back of his collar.
    â€œNo taking advantage of the situation,” Sully said to Robbie. “We agreed.”
    â€œSorry, mate, it’s