Books of a Feather by Kate Carlisle Page A

the plaque?”
    She rolled her eyes dramatically. “All right. Sure. Whatever.”
    Just then I heard a “meow” and glanced down. Charlie was looking up at Inspector Lee while one of her little paws batted the toe of Lee’s stylish black pump.
    â€œWell, hello there,” Lee said, and stooped down to pick her up. “Aren’t you a cutie pie? Yes, you are.” She nuzzled the cat for a long moment and then seemed to realize she had an audience. She glared at me. “What are you looking at?”
    I had to fight to keep a straight face and not utter a word about gooey marshmallow centers. Instead I said, “I really can’t wait to meet your mom.”
    â€¢Â Â Â â€¢Â Â Â â€¢
    The next morning, I showed up at the bookstore, greeted Genevieve, and went right to work on the last row of bookshelves. “Where’s Billy?” I asked after a few minutes.
    â€œHe called in sick.”
    That wasn’t a good sign.
    She seemed to know what I was thinking. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to fire him.”
    Something occurred to me. “If he’s involved in something illegal, it’s possible he could be hiding from someone.”
    â€œOh God. Now you’re scaring me.”
    I wanted to kick my own butt for saying it out loud. “Look, I’m just letting my imagination run away with itself. He’s probably got a stomachache and you’ll see him tomorrow, no problem.”
    â€œYeah, maybe.” She thought about it for precisely two seconds. “I’m going to call him back.”
    â€œGood idea.”
    Five minutes later, she came out of the office. “He’s coming to work right now.”
    â€œInteresting.”
    â€œYeah. He said he had something to tell me.”
    Twenty minutes later, Billy walked into the store. His straight brown hair was still wet from his morning shower and he wore a grungy thin flannel shirt over a black T-shirt and skinny jeans. He was a sweet kid but always looked a little undernourished. I figured he could gain from a regimen of weight-bearing exercises and healthy eating.
    I waved to him and he nodded but kept walking toward the office at the back of the shop, where Gen was working. It was still early enough that no customers had shown up yet, but if anyone came in, the cheerful bells over the front door would announce them loudly enough to be heard in the office, even if Gen shut the door.
    I couldn’t help myself; I skipped down the ladder and sidled toward the back office, hoping to hear some of their conversation.It was a bad habit of mine, but how else was I supposed to find out what was really going on with the
Almanack
?
    â€œWhat’s his name?” Genevieve asked.
    There was a mumbled response from Billy.
    â€œI’ve never heard of him,” she said. “Is he a customer? Is he paying you?”
    â€œWell, yeah, he pays me a little. I mean, it’s not against the law. I’m sort of a—”
    â€œA what?” Gen demanded. “A liar? A cheater?”
    â€œNo!” Billy huffed and puffed for a moment, then said, “I’m a helper. I’m helping the store make money.”
    She laughed. “Oh, really? A helper?”
    â€œYeah. I mean, sure, he gives me a finder’s fee, but he still pays the store the money for the book.”
    â€œIs that what you were doing with the
Poor Richard’s Almanack
? Being helpful?”
    â€œYes. I mean, it was dated like a zillion years ago, so I knew he might be interested. He likes old stuff.”
    â€œIt looked to me like you were taking it out of the store.”
    â€œI wasn’t,” Billy insisted, sounding a little desperate. “I was just taking it with me into the office. I was going to call him and describe it over the phone.”
    â€œSo why did it look like you were getting ready to walk out the back door?”
    I knew the back entrance to the