Twelve

“Mae. Mae.”

Faintly, I heard my name being called. The shaking made me open my eyes.

“Who’s that girl sleeping on your couch?” Abby was sitting in the driver’s seat of the RV.

It took me a minute to remember what’d happened the night before.

“Abby,” I gasped and sat straight up. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m in shock. I only remember finding Nadine on the floor of the office with a knife stuck in her neck.” She blinked back the wall of tears on her lids. “I don’t even remember driving here.”

“You didn’t.” I looked at my phone. It was seven a.m. I’d only gotten about three hours of sleep, but suddenly found myself wide awake. “The girls from The Laundry Club hurried to the library once they’d heard what was going on and Betts brought us back here.”

“Who killed her? Did Hank say?” She asked, as innocent as a newborn baby.

“Honey.” I reached over and touched her. “Hank thinks it was you.”

“Me?” She started to sob.

“But I know you didn’t do it,” I whispered and looked over my shoulder at Dawn.

She was sprawled out on the twin sofa bed. One leg dangling onto the floor while the other was hiked up on the back of it. Her arms over her head. She’d slept in her black lacy underwear and bra. It was weird.

“I didn’t,” Abby insisted. “Why would they think that?”

“You did call her a fraud in front of everyone at the library yesterday and you were holding the knife when we found you.”

She blinked a few times and stared out the windshield as if she were trying to think back into her mind.

“Abby, I need to ask you.” I braced myself for either a meltdown or her going off on me. “Did you kill Nadine White?”

“No,” she gasped. The lines between her brows deepened. “I just told you I didn’t do it.”

“Then someone has gone to great lengths to make everyone think you did.” I glanced back when heard the sheets on the twin sofa bed shift. Dawn had rolled over to the side, her hiney facing out. “After Nadine dropped off your basket of goodies, what happened?”

“Basket of goodies?” Abby had a confused look on her face. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

“Valerie said Nadine was putting together a basket of signed books for you and the library to apologize and make peace with you. When Hank and I drove through downtown on our way to the Red Barn Restaurant, we saw Nadine walking up the steps of the library with a basket in her hands.” I tried to recall any details of the basket, but all I could see in my mind was her walking up and I thought about how it was the last time she’d be outside alive.

 I shook the thought out of my head. Images like that weren’t going to help anyone, especially Abby.

“What time was it?” she asked.

“It was a little after six.” I knew the time because Hank had been right on time, but Mary Elizabeth had held us up a bit. “Hank was here right at six and we were stalled a little, so it was probably between six fifteen and six thirty.”

“I closed the library a little before six, so I wasn’t there.” Abby was certain. “I was so tired and had all my work done. The library closes at six anyways. When no one was there, I knew they didn’t have time to get in and get out, so I closed up early and went home.” As she talked I reached for the notebook and flipped to the timeline. “What is that?” She leaned over the middle console and looked at the paper with stark fright on her face. “You really think I killed her?”

“I don’t, but Hank sure does. Don’t worry. I’m going to help you.” I pointed to the timelines. “Here is when we found Nadine. It was around ten.” I pointed to the lines on the timeline. “We saw her a little after six p.m. She had to have been killed between six and ten, but  Colonel will be able to pinpoint a more exact time.”

Abby continued to stare at me blankly.

“All I need from you to help clear your name is for you to tell Hank exactly where you were and who you were with.” I shrugged as though it were that simple. “You do have an alibi, right?”

“I live alone,” she stated flatly.

“Yes, but you and Ty have been seeing each other, right?” I asked.

“A little here and there, but not last night.” She shook her head and looked down at her fingers. The black ink from the fingerprinting was still visible. She let out a long sigh. “I forgot they fingerprinted me last night.” She closed her eyes. Her nose crunched up before it flared out with a big inhale. “My goodness. I remember.”

“What do you remember?” I asked.

“I remember getting fingerprinted.” She didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know.

“Then let’s start from the beginning.” I clicked the pen and pointed to her timeline with the tip. I wrote five fifty p.m. on her timeline. “Is it fair to say you left the library ten minutes early?”

“Yes. I guess.” Guessing wasn’t good enough, but I just went with it and wrote down that she’d left the library at that time.

“It was at least twenty minutes before Hank and I saw Nadine going up the steps. It was almost dark, and I remember there were some lights on. Did you remember turning the lights off?” I asked.

“I don’t know, Mae. I have a ritual every night. That includes turning off all the computers and all the lights and making sure all the books are shelved.” She was getting frustrated. “It’s pretty automatic to me now.”

“I’m just trying to help. You need to keep a level head. I’m your friend, but when they come at you for murder, you’re going to have to be tougher than this.” I had to be stern with her. She had to know what she was up against. “These are basic questions that they are going to ask you and if you waiver a bit, they will use it against you.”

“I can’t recall if I turned them off. I can say that I do it every night, but like I said it’s automatic for me.” The worry lines on her forehead deepened. “I’m sorry. I know you’re trying to help me.”

“No biggie.” I jerked my head around when I heard a knock at the door. “Hold on. I bet it’s Mary Elizabeth.”

Fifi yapped when I climbed over the console into the living area of the RV. Dawn didn’t budge. I wanted to cover her and her undergarments up, but didn’t want to wake her.

“Good morning.” I swung the door open to find Hank Sharp standing there in his official black overcoat and the fancy black shoes he wore on his work days. “Hank.”

“Mae,” he greeted me formally. “Can I speak to Abby Fawn?”

“Sure.” I offered him a slight smile while I ran my hand down my bed head full of curls.

“I’m sorry if I woke you.” He stepped inside when I got out of the way of the door. “What’s going on here?”

His eyes were bulging out of his head and staring at Dawn’s derriere. I grabbed the blanket and threw it over her.

“What? It’s hot!” Dawn was obviously not a morning person. She sat straight up. Her woman parts jiggled in her lacy bra as she rubbed her eyes, and the blanket fell to around her waist. “Oh. Company.” She pulled the blanket up to her chin, a slight grin on her face. “Who are you?”

“Who are you?” He asked her back.

“We can do formal introductions when you’re dressed.” I picked her clothes up off of my RV floor and threw them to her. I turned Hank around to face the kitchen sink. “The bathroom is that way.” I pointed towards the bathroom to get Dawn scooting a little faster.

“Hi, Hank.” Abby climbed over the console. “I guess you’re here for me.”

“I’m sorry, Abby.” He looked like he was in as much pain as I was that he had to be here for this. “I’m going to need you to come to the station with me. We have to question you.”

“Hank, she didn’t do it.” I started to plead with him. “Just let me talk to her today and we can come down later.”

“You killed my best friend?” Dawn appeared out of nowhere fully dressed.

“Who are you?” Hank asked a clothed Dawn.

“I’m Dawn Gentry. I’m Nadine Debrowski’s best friend.” She sucked in a deep breath. “I thought for sure Valerie killed Nadine. What? Are you some crazy fan?”

“Wait a second.” I stepped in. “The only thing Abby did wrong was find Nadine and pull the knife out of her neck.”

“I did?” Abby didn’t make matters any better. “Gosh, I did!” She gasped. “I was going to go to the diner to see Ty and I noticed the lights were still on at the library.” Her eyes grew as she began to remember. “The door was unlocked. I thought maybe I was so upset from the day’s events that I’d forgotten to close up. I looked around the library and nothing was out of place, so I headed back to the office where the switches are for all the lights and that’s when I found Nadine’s body on the floor of my office.”

“Anything you say right now can be used against you.” Hank had already taken out his notebook and begun scribbling in it.

“I ran over to her and saw that she was bleeding. I yanked the knife out of her neck.” Abby’s jaw dropped. She blinked rapidly. “I heard something.” She looked down at the ground. Her eyes darted back and forth. “I heard something behind me and then some footsteps.”

“What did you hear?” I asked wondering if it was a clue that someone else was in the library. “Someone was in there. The killer.”

“Okay. I have to stop this,” Hank interrupted.

“But she’s remembering for the first time.” I tried to stop him.

“Abby, can you please come with me?” He asked her nicely. “I don’t want to cuff you.”

“Are you arresting her?” I asked.

“You better arrest her.” Dawn stuck her hands on her thin hips. “Or I’ll get someone who will and bring this murderer to justice.”

“I’m not a murderer!” Abby yelled and began to sob. “I didn’t kill her,” her voice trailed off.

“Let’s just go down to the station and sort out some particulars,” Hank suggested. But he and I both knew he was going to charge her with Nadine’s death.

“Okay.” Abby conceded.

I stomped around Hank, grabbed Abby’s coat, and took her cell phone off the charger, giving them to her.

“I’ll call a lawyer.” I helped her get her arm through the sleeve. “Don’t say a word and I mean it. If you have to bite your tongue while they interrogate you, do it. Don’t say a word,” I warned her again.

“Okay.” She nodded and took a deep swallow.

Hank gave Dawn another good, hard look before he followed Abby out of the RV.

“Hank,” I called after him and stood on the step, shivering. “You know deep down she didn’t do this.”

“Mae, the evidence speaks for itself.” He was always by the book. “I’m sorry.”

My breath and the cold air mixed together in puffs of smoke as I took several deep breaths in and out of my nose as I watched them drive off.

Fifi was dancing around my feet to get out of the RV to do her morning business.

“Let me get my coat.” I took a few steps in and grabbed my coat off the hook and my phone off the counter.

Fifi darted out and I shut the door behind us.

Scrolling through my contacts, I had to find the one person I knew could help us. Ava Grandy.

“Mae West.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm. “I didn’t think I’d be hearing from you again. Especially in this year.”

“Ava, I need your help.” I wished I didn’t have to call her. After my ex-husband destroyed her family, I was sure she didn’t want anything to do with me. “A friend of mine is in jail. She’s being accused of a murder she didn’t commit. She needs you. I need you.”

There were a few moments of silence.

“Fine,” she finally answered, sending some relief to my soul. “Normal Police Station?”

“Yes. Thank you, thank you,” was all I could say.

“I’ll be there this morning.” She had to drive down to Normal from Lexington, where she lived. “Tell her not to say a word.”

“Don’t worry. I did.” I was glad I thought to tell Abby that before she left because she was so honest she’d just spill her guts without thinking how any of it sounded to any cop. Even worse, to Hank Sharp, who was always assessing what everyone said.

“Mae, did she do it? Really?”

“No. I think she was set up, but the evidence is really good against her. Me and Hank found her standing over the body with the murder weapon.” It looked at bad as it sounded.

“Don’t tell me this is that famous author?” She asked. I was silent. “Good grief. It’s all over the news. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”