"Broussard, John A - Kay Yoshinobu - Death In The Reading Room" - читать интересную книгу автора (Broussard John A)

"Nope. Not a cent. Everything goes into his education and library trusts."

"So that leaves Tom."

"Right. First time he ever set foot in the library, by the way. Tom was never a bookworm."

"What about the time of death? Does that help any?

"Not a bit. Prelim shows Miller probably died shortly before the police arrived, but he could have been stabbed just about any time after ten. The knife grazed his heart, and he had a heart condition that further complicates things. A lot of internal bleeding, but no way of determining how long it was between the stabbing and his actual death."

"What's next?"

"Back to the library in the morning, just to make sure Shirley hasn't remembered anything new, and then off to talk to each of the suspects. Big day ahead. Want to come along?"

Sid grinned. "I'd like to, because it's always exciting to see you in action, but I've got a court appearance early. Could make it to those interviews, though."

"With luck, Shirley might remember something that proves Tom's innocent, and we won't need to interview anyone."

* * *

Shirley Cheung seemed as eager to help today as she had the previous day. "The more I think about what happened to Mr. Bork, the sadder I feel. He so much liked the library. And he really loved books. He used to come here every time the Friends of the Library had a book sale. He donated a lot of books, himself, and helped us process our discards for the sale. You should have seen the way he would shake his head over the damaged books we had to get rid of.

"And, my goodness, he was almost apoplectic over one book he found that was all marked up. He said he would really give a piece of his mind to whoever would treat a book like that. He was so angry, I was afraid he was going to have a heart attack. You know he did have a bad heart."

Kay asked Shirley if she could take another look at the books that Miller Bork had been using at the time of the murder.

Shirley hesitated for a moment, and Kay smiled as she said, "Relax, Shirley, this isn't an FBI investigation."

"I guess...." Shirley replied with a shrug. "I guess it's all right. Librarians always cringe at the thought of people checking on what other people read." With a wan smile, she added, "I guess Mr. Bork won't mind." It took her only a few minutes to locate the books and bring them to the desk where Kay was checking over her legal pad.

Shirley was the first to notice it. She interrupted Kay as the latter was turning the pages of one of the automotive books. "Someone has cut some photos out," she exclaimed.

Kay immediately picked up on the statement. "It's very carefully done. A razor, or maybe a sharp knife. Who checked it out last?"

The computer brought up Lyle Chen's name.

* * *

"It was easy after that," Kay said to Sid after she had called the police and returned to her office. "Miller either found out who had checked out that book or he was bound to do so. Anyhow, he was pretty angry about it when he arrived at the library that morning. He must have spoken to Lyle when Lyle arrived. Maybe the fact that it was a book on automobiles tipped Miller off. In any event, that meant no scholarship...unless Miller died before he could talk to his trust about the book. Lyle clearly had a motive for the killing."

The phone rang. Kay answered, listened a few moments, then thanked the caller and hung up. Turning to Sid, she said, "He confessed. His room was plastered with cutouts from books and magazines--all of them racing cars."


JOHN A. BROUSSARD was born in Cambridge, Mass in 1924 and graduated from Harvard and the University of Washington. He taught on the college level for twenty years and wrote non-fiction and reviews before turning to fiction; he's sold about ninety short stories recently. John's first novel, a fantasy called MANA, was published in November by Pulsar Books, and DEATH OF THE TIN MAN'S WIFE, his first novel featuring series characters Kay Yoshinobu and Sid Chu, is now available in e-book or traditional format from Shyflower Press. You can find more information at www.fictionwritings.com.

Copyright (c) 2001 John A. Broussard