The Miss Fortune Series: Overdue (Kindle Worlds Novella) Read Online Free PDF Page B

what?”
    I told him how a few minutes later Gertie, Ida Belle and I headed to the children’s section so I could lead story time. Carter’s professional demeanor cracked ever so slightly, his bottom lip quivering.
    “You were leading the children in story time?”
    “Yep.”
    “And how did that go?”
    “Well, there was a projectile vomiting episode from one of the little girls, but other than that, it went well.”
    He cleared his throat, pushing the smile away from his mouth.
    “That reminds me, Lucy,” Gertie said, “I crashed your Harry Potter display to avoid the upchuck.”
    “What?” Lucy brought her hands up to her face in horror.
    “But Ida Belle fixed it.” Gertie glanced at Ida Belle. “Didn’t you?”
    “Pretty much. Harry’s right arm’s a little shorter than it was. Well, a lot shorter. He can only hold five of the seven Harry Potter books now.”
    Lucy closed her eyes and shook her head. “It took Chrissy and me an entire weekend to papier–mâché Harry.”
    Gertie shrugged. “Well, maybe you can ask the boy wizard to wave his wand and make it grow back.”
    Ida Belle shook her head. “The wand’s in pieces.”
    “Unbelievable,” Lucy hissed.
    “You’re lucky I’m not suing the library,” Gertie said. “Those Harry Potter books are thick. I may end up with a permanent dent on my chest.”
    “Could we get back to the investigation, please?” Carter said. He nodded to me. “Okay, so a girl threw up, Gertie destroyed a papier–mâché Harry Potter, and then what?”
    I told him how I used the quiet safari to get the kids to calm down, and while on that safari we came upon Waddell slumped over. Carter moved in close to the desk and examined it. He picked up a wrench from the desk and held it up.
    “We put that there,” I said.
    “It was his prize for being quiet,” Gertie added.
    Carter’s eyes widened.
    “While I called the EMTs, Gertie held the award ceremony. We did it for the kids’ benefit,” I said. “So they’d think he was asleep.”
    “I don’t suppose I can have the wrench back.”
    He held it out for her and she took it, dropping it into her purse. Carter used his phone to snap several photos of Waddell and the area surrounding the desk.
    “Poor Waddell,” Lucy said. “Why on Earth would someone do this at a library?” Was she casting an accusing eye at me?
    “Well, we’ll know more after the hospital runs some tests. If he becomes alert he can tell us what happened,” Carter said. “In the meantime, could your staff compile a list of the patrons they recall wandering around back here? Maybe someone saw something that could help us determine what happened to Waddell.”
    “Are you thinking someone tried to murder him?”
    “I just want to get a head start on an investigation, if need be.”
    “Lucy?” a voice called from the front of the library.
    Ida Belle rolled her eyes. She mouthed, Celia , and shook her head.
    “Be prepared to be blamed,” Gertie said.
    “We’re back here, Celia,” Lucy called out. “I took the liberty of calling our mayor,” she explained to Carter.
    He sighed. The last thing he’d want was Celia butting in. “A man was found unconscious in the library. Do you really think it’s something to bother the mayor with?”
    “She’s the leader of our city. I think she deserves to be apprised…” Lucy dropped her voice, “if it was an attempted murder.”
    Carter pursed his lips. “We won’t know what happened to him until the doctors run some tests. For God’s sake, the man’s still alive. Let’s not bury him prematurely.”
    Celia came around the corner. In the six weeks that I’d been in Sinful, she’d suffered through the murders of both her daughter, Pansy, and her formerly long-lost husband, Max, as well as almost becoming a murder victim herself. Even though I had helped save her life, that never stopped her from somehow blaming me for every misfortune that befell anyone in Sinful.
    “How’s he