Free Death is Long Overdue (Phee Jefferson Book 1) by Amy Lilly

asked, hoping it was from work and not from a new girlfriend.
    "Yes." He took a long draw from his beer.  "I spent the night over at Chris Karsen's.  Phee, I might as well tell you now since there will be a press release in the morning.  Carla was murdered.  The autopsy results came back and I had to break the news to Chris.  He took it hard."
    I gave out a shocked gasp, "How?"
    "At first, they thought it was just severe food poisoning.  She and Chris had gone to the benefit breakfast over at the fire department Saturday morning.  She was the only one who became ill, so that pretty much ruled food poisoning out.  Based upon her symptoms and the contents of her stomach, she ingested some kind of poisonous mushroom.  It had to have been intentional.  With half the town at the breakfast, it's going to be next to impossible to narrow down the suspects at this point.  Heck! Your brother was there, Grant and his mom, Cincinnati, your sister and Wade were all there helping out and eating.  It is going to take me a week just to get all the witness statements."  Clint ran his fingers through his dark hair in a frustration.
    "This is awful.  I feel even more horrible because I got into an argument with both Carla and Huey last week.  I should have been nicer."  I felt lower than a worm. First, I had gotten angry with Huey and then I had insulted Carla.  They weren’t nice, but I should have been the better person.
    "I know you said you didn't like Carla, but I didn't realize you had argued with her.  What about?"  Clint took another sip of beer.
    "It's no big secret.  She wanted to tear down the library and build a new recreation center with a gym and pool.  She had already approached the rest of the town council. Carla was browbeating me to accept defeat and skulk away with my tail between my legs.  I refused and told her that just because she couldn't read, didn't mean the rest of the town was illiterate."  I grimaced at how harsh I had been.  "I guess I wasn't very nice."
    "Who else knew about your argument with her?" Clint asked.
    "Anyone who attended the town council meeting, as well as anyone who talked about it afterwards would know.  Cincinnati was with me when she accosted me on the sidewalk the other day.  Pretty much anyone in town knew that there was no love lost between the two of us.  You had already graduated, but she made my life a living hell in high school and hasn't let up much since.  She is the reason Grant and I became friends.  He came to my rescue after she played a joke on me." I shook my head.  "Sorry. I'm not much help, am I?  I wish I could narrow it down for you."
    "What about you and Huey Long?  Who knew about your problems with him?"  Clint asked.
    "A lot of people.  I wasn't quiet when I yelled at him after he made some nasty comment about how he had a library card and would like to check me out.  This was after he pinched me on my butt."  I shuddered as I remembered the hungry look in Huey Long's eyes as he leered at me.  Huey had a habit of looking at me like I was a steak and egg breakfast, and he was a starving man.                
    “Hmm..." Clint frowned. "Well, this isn't common knowledge, so you need to keep this to yourself.  Huey was the prime suspect in a series of rare book and map thefts in the area.  It appears he was going to the university libraries throughout the state and somehow cutting illustrations and maps from rare texts and selling them overseas.  Your buddy, Grant, was actually Huey's defense attorney. He was probably casing the library’s rare books and used his obnoxious behavior to ensure you wouldn’t bother him."
    "Holy Toledo!  I didn't like the man because he was always really slimy to me.  He just made me feel like he was undressing me every time he looked at me.  I never imagined he was a thief, too."  I was dismayed when I realized that he might have stolen from the town library.
    Clint placed an arm around