The Cracked Spine (10 page)

“She was a good person,” Edwin said, “who made some terrible choices and sometimes couldn't find her way out of those choices.” Edwin's voice cracked. He put his hand up. “I'd like tae know what happened tae my sister and if the Folio was somehow responsible. I'm not going tae tell the police about it yet, but, aye, Hamlet, I do think you should tell the police you stopped by tae see her, and let them know she was fine at the time.”

“Edwin,” Rosie said, “the Folio wasnae the reason Jenny was killed. If it was stolen then she must have told someone aboot it. She knew she was supposed tae keep it a secret. It was not the Folio's fault, Edwin.”

She was truly saying that it wasn't Edwin's fault. She was correct, of course, but her words weren't as comforting as she probably hoped they were.

Edwin sat in silent thought for a long moment before he said, “We shall take the day off today. The shop will be closed.” He looked at me and his eyebrows came together. “I'm sorry about this bad beginning.”

“Just let me know what I can do for you, Edwin.”

“I will,” Edwin said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card. “Hamlet, here is the contact information for one of the inspectors that came tae the flat.”

“I'll ring right away,” Hamlet said as he reached for the card.

But Edwin pulled it back slightly. “Hamlet, I'm not going tae ask you not tae mention the Folio, but I would like tae ask you tae think about not mentioning it. You must do what you think is right, of course, and I hope you know me well enough tae know that your job does not depend upon that choice, but it is a … delicate situation, at best.”

“Potentially illegal at worst,” Rosie jumped in. “Hamlet, dinnae mention the Folio. We'll talk tae the police aboot it later if we feel like we need tae. Edwin paid for the Folio, but we still dinnae ken exactly where it came from. Or at least we have questions. Aye?”

I did not sense that Edwin and Rosie were strong-arming Hamlet. In fact, Edwin seemed to be treading lightly, and Rosie probably didn't know how to tread any way but her way, which was surely and heavily. Still, I didn't like the way they were thinking. It seemed so obvious to me—the police could potentially find Jenny's killer much more quickly if they knew a valuable item might have been part of the reason she was killed. If owning the Folio was illegal in the first place, perhaps the police would somehow overlook that detail with the greater picture of finding a killer in mind. Or, maybe not.

“I won't mention it unless they ask about it specifically,” Hamlet said. “If they ask about it, that means they know about it. If they know about it, they might have already figured out that it could have had something tae do with Jenny's death. But I won't bring it up myself.”

“Guid,” Rosie said. Through her contributions to the conversation, she continued to cry, and tears were still rolling down her cheeks, but her focus had moved to the matter of the moment. A part of her was grieving, but another part of her was taking care of the family still living.

“Thank you,” Edwin said. He took a deep breath and released it slowly. The sadness and stress still showed in the corners of his eyes and the pull of his mouth, but a tiny sense of relief was there too. One step at a time.

“I'm so sorry, everyone,” I said. “I can tell you're all very close and this is a painful day. Would you like for me to leave the room so you can further discuss things in private?”

They all looked at me with genuine surprise, which in turn surprised me.

“Delaney, you are now a part of The Cracked Spine. You might not have the history we all have, but I picked you because I knew you would be a perfect fit. You're here and we're happy you're here. I'm sorry tae have such a tragedy be a part of your first few days, but we will get through this, and we will somehow come out stronger in the end.”

Hector, being smarter than your average dog, stood from Rosie's lap and hopped to mine. He relaxed into a flat, brown, well-brushed mop.

“See, even Hector kens,” Rosie said with a sniff.

I nodded and spent a moment hoping the adventure I had, indeed, found hadn't just become more dangerous than bold.

 

NINE

“There ye be,” Elias said as he opened the cab back-passenger door and nodded toward the bookshop. “How's awthing … e-very-thing going?”

“Little rough at the shop. I'm not working today,” I said.

“Lass, have ye been sacked awready?” Elias asked.

“No, we're closing for the day. There was a tragedy in the owner's family.”

“I'm sae sairy,” Elias said as he glanced at the store's darkened window that was still cluttered with books.

“Me too.” I looked at the window too. I was the last one out. Edwin left right after he shared the news. Hamlet, Rosie, and Hector (it was again difficult to give him back to Rosie) left shortly after Edwin. With the blue key, I locked the warehouse door, and with a normal key that Rosie gave me I locked the front door. For a long few moments, I stood outside the shop wondering what to do. I'd wanted to stay there by myself and work, but Edwin had insisted that none of us work today. Finally, I found the card Elias had given me. He answered after the first ring and said he would be there to get me quickly. I thought that's what he said. I didn't quite catch the word he used for quickly.

“Hap in then,” Elias said.

When I was in the familiar backseat, he leaned over and peered in the open window.

“What do ye say, denner with the Mrs.? I told her all about the fair and fiery lass from Kansas in America and she would sae love tae meet ye. She'll have denner-pieces ready by the time we get home.”

I'd originally called him for a cab ride around town and maybe some direction on finding a flat, but it was close to noon and I was hungry. And, I was pretty sure that denner was the same thing I called lunch. Denner-pieces couldn't be too bad, could they?

“I hope she hasn't gone to too much trouble, but I would love to meet your wife.”

“Braw!” Elias said. He said it with a smile, so I thought it was probably a happy exclamation. He hurried back to the other side and into the driver's seat.

“We dinnae live too far away, but it wouldnae be a short walk,” Elias said as he started the cab.

We traveled west and then south a bit, through the building-packed downtown part of Edinburgh. I thought we'd passed some of the same buildings on the way to the shop two days earlier, but there were so many and there was so much traffic that I couldn't be sure. The modern still mixed with the old, in pleasant, interesting ways. I was still bothered and, frankly, confused by the vehicles on the left side of the road. My mind and the g-forces still fought against the reasoning of “that's just how it's done.” At moments, I felt a queasy sickness because of it. I decided I shouldn't try to drive right away.

“There's the King's Theatre,” Elias said as he slowed a few minutes later and pointed to our left. “Plays, pantomime. Aggie, that's me wife, she loves the theater. I'm nae much for it masel, but 'twas built in the early nineteen hundreds and I like the architecture.”

The brown building stood out from the smaller shops around it. It wasn't a theater-in-the-round but looked like the perfect place to catch a little Shakespeare. Perhaps that was because the bard had been on my mind since yesterday.

Elias turned right at the theater, and the neighborhood transformed into a long row of small businesses followed by fairly narrow side-by-side houses.

“Most of these are guesthooses. Aggie and I have two and we rent them oot to veesitors. Some are permanent homes and they all have their awn wee gairdens. Aggie loves to putter in the gairden.”

“Aggie's busy.”

Elias laughed. “Aye, she's busier than anyone else I ken.”

Elias pulled the cab into an open space next to the curb. I was surprised that there was only a little less traffic on this street than on the busier city streets we'd taken to get here.

“We're here then,” he said. “Aggie and I hae the two end hooses and we have a wee cottage we live in behind them.”

“It's perfect,” I said.

Like the sign on the cab, there was a wooden hanging sign in the front garden space between the two connected houses that said: “McKenna Guesthouses.”

“Follae me,” Elias said.

I followed behind him as we made our way down a space that was bigger than a close, but not really an alley, that led to the back. You'd never know it from the street, but there were more houses back here. They were smaller and more cottage-like.

Elias opened the front screen door of the first cottage we came to. “Aggie, love, I'm home and I've brought the lass from Kansas in America.”

“Good news, Elias. Bring her on back to the keetchen,” a pleasant voice called from the back of the house.

“This way, Delaney,” Elias said.

It was small—cozy, though not cramped, with plenty of windows to give the space a lit, warm feeling. We stepped directly into the living room, which was furnished with a small, well-used floral-print couch and chair, and a wall of filled bookshelves.

I gave the books a stern look. Not now. Not when I needed to make sure I was as polite as I could be.

A door was shut on the back wall of the room and a hallway led to the right. As we stepped toward the hallway a woman leaned out from about halfway down and smiled.

“Hullo, Delaney,” Aggie, I presumed, said as we stepped toward her and into the kitchen. “It is a pleasure tae meet ye. Welcome tae Edinburgh.” She held up a mug as if to both greet and salute me.

Aggie was short and slightly plump; round but not heavy. Her gray hair was styled just like I remembered my grandmother's had been styled. I had a flashback to when I was a child and I would go with my grandmother to the beauty parlor. Her “beautician” Clara always gave me a sucker and let me paint my own fingernails while Grandma stuck her head under the big-headed, loud dryer. Aggie wore a full apron that said, “Kiss the cook only if you plan on doing the dishes efterhaund.”

“Nice to meet you too, Aggie,” I said.

“Come, come sit and we'll have some denner. We're not going tae either kidnap or poison ye, I promise. When Elias told me about his enthusiastic invitation, I thought ye might be right tae call the police.” Aggie smiled warmly at her husband and then at me. “We're both happy tae welcome ye tae Scotland and tae our home.”

The kitchen was long and narrow, but decked out in beautiful stainless steel appliances, white cabinets, and gray countertops. At the far end was a cubbyhole with a stacked washer and dryer, but at the end we were closest to, there were a round table and chairs that reminded me of my mom's country kitchen back in Kansas.

“You're very kind,” I said as Aggie directed me to a chair.

“Not at all,” Aggie said as she put a plate with a roll and what reminded me of pulled pork on the table in front of me. A denner-piece must be a sandwich. “Ye are an adventurous young woman. I cannae imagine picking up and moving my life tae a completely different country. Did ye ken anyone here?”

“No one. Do you know much about Kansas?” I said.

“Not really,” Aggie said as she took a seat to my right. “Just what I learnt from the movie with Dorothy and Toto. Farms and twisters.”

Elias sat on my left. He removed his hat and put it on the window seat behind him. A tattoo extended down from his short sleeve. I thought it was some sort of Celtic symbol, but I wasn't sure.

“About right. Kansas is a pretty place—lots of wide-open spaces. And the people there are wonderful. You'll never find better people no matter where or how far you search, but it's not the most exciting place. I admit, before now I haven't been all that adventurous but I was looking for an adventure. And I can't imagine a better place to find one than Scotland.”

“Ye may be right,” Aggie said.

I thought I saw the edge of a tattoo on her arm too, but it was well covered by her sleeve and I didn't want to stare.

Using a fork, I took a bite of the meat. “This is delicious.”

“It's an easy denner and one of Elias's favorites. Actually, his true favorite is our very own haggis, but I didn't want tae spring that on ye just yet.”

“I'd like to try it. Someday.” I smiled.

She continued an easy pause later. “How do ye like the bookshop? Will ye enjoy your coworkers?”

“I love the shop and I think I'll feel the same about the coworkers. So far, they've been wonderful and welcoming.”

“Aggie, love, Delaney was telling me that they had a tragedy,” Elias chimed in.

“At the shop?”

“The owner's sister was killed. Brutally,” I said.

Elias and Aggie had put together their own denner-pieces and they both held them halfway in the air, as they blinked at what I'd said.

Aggie put hers back down first. “Murdered?”

“Yes.”

“That
is
a terrible tragedy,” she said. She glanced at Elias as they shared a look of concern.

“My boss's name is Edwin MacAlister. His sister's name was Jenny. I believe she had some issues with drug addiction.”

“I think I heard about that this mornin' on the television,” Aggie said. “I'm good with names. I think I mynd the name Jennifer MacAlister. Aye, they said they were investigating. I read that her building was located in a rougher neighborhood.”

“I wish I knew what happened,” I said, briefly letting my mind wonder as to why someone with so much money lived in a rougher neighborhood. But then I realized that Jenny might not have had the same sort of money that Edwin had. If that were true, the inequality might explain some of their difficulties.

“I suppose we'll hear more as time goes on,” Aggie said.

“If she lived a less than desirable part o' toun…,” Elias said. “Ye mentioned drug problems?”