Free Murder at the 42nd Street Library: A Mystery (Thomas Dunne Book) by Con Lehane Page A

have gotten a card. It’s still worth checking.”
    “That’s your job, right?”
    “You could give me a rundown on those who have access.”
    “Everyone using the Yates collection.”
    “I’m more interested in library employees.”
    “Why?”
    “That’s not something I can tell you.”
    Ambler told Cosgrove he’d see what he could find out. He held onto the phone deep in thought for a moment after Cosgrove disconnected. “More interested in library employees?” That meant something. Mike didn’t speak carelessly; everything he said during an investigation was calculated, had a specific purpose. He had his sights on someone in the library. He didn’t need Ambler to find out who had an access card to the reading room that housed Harry’s office; he could get a list from the library administration. He wanted Ambler to know he had a suspect.
    *   *   *
    Late Wednesday morning, before lunch, Ambler decided to confront Harry. “I need to talk to you.” Ambler closed Harry Larkin’s office door behind him. The collections director was on the phone. He waved Ambler to a seat, shushing him at the same time.
    “I see,” Harry said, his head bobbling. “I understand.” When he hung up, he turned to Ambler. “Nelson Yates is on a bender and missing. That was his wife.”
    “Missing?”
    “They had an argument yesterday, so she left. When she returned late this morning, he was gone.” He lowered his eyebrows and squinted at Ambler. “Two people from the library brought him home drunk Monday night—a man and woman. She thinks he might come here to the library to see you—something about his daughter.”
    “If she knows where he’s going, he’s not missing.”
    “He has dementia. She doesn’t know what he’ll do. What’s this about his daughter?”
    Ambler told Harry about the missing daughter. “Yesterday, before his run-in with Max Wagner, I asked Benny to search some databases and see if she comes up.”
    Harry frowned. “I’m not going to talk about Benny. It’s a union matter now; I’d get my head handed to me. You should stay out of it, too, as you should stay out of this business between Max Wagner and Nelson Yates. I told Mrs. Yates about our conversation with Nelson. She said Nelson isn’t competent. She has his power of attorney and can make the decisions about the collection.”
    “We both talked to Nelson. He was perfectly lucid. And she’s—” He started to say Nelson’s wife had been conspiring with Max, but realized he wasn’t supposed to know and would betray Adele’s confidence if he said anything.
    Harry waited for him to finish. When he didn’t, he said, “Let them work it out. I swear the Yates collection is cursed.”
    “Why didn’t you want Benny to tell the police Max Wagner had an argument with James Donnelly before he was murdered?”
    Harry frowned. “I’m sure Max told the police about the argument … if there was one. The murder is a police matter, not an intellectual exercise for you. You have more important things to concern yourself with.”
    Something ominous in Harry’s tone stopped Ambler cold. “You mean the reading room closing?”
    Harry’s tone softened. “It’s out of my hands. You need to persuade the president and the trustees that the crime fiction collection benefits the library, show that it’s well-used, and used by important people, that it inspires donations and benefactors—”
    “Important people, Harry?”
    Harry’s cheeks turned bright red; he averted his gaze. “That’s not what I mean. You know what—” He looked at his watch. “I’ve got a meeting. Please, if Nelson Yates contacts you, call his wife.” He wrote down a phone number and handed it to Ambler. “I’m late.” He brushed past Ambler but paused at the office doorway. “I’ll do what I can on the reading room. I know what it means to you.”
    When he was gone, Ambler stood in front of his desk thinking about what his supervisor had said. Was it