MURDER at CRAWFORD HOUSE (Allie Griffin Mysteries Book 3) by Leslie Leigh Page A

went to school for."
                  "Oh, American Literature."
                  "Ah, a bookworm."
                  "Guilty."
                  "Well then, have you visited the Gordon library?"
                  "Not yet, but I intend to."
                  "So do I," said Rachel Forrester. "I figure I'm going to escape into some pages for a while after breakfast."
                  "You might as well," said Jürgen, "there's nothing else to do here. Until the police come. Then there will be plenty to keep us interested."
                  No one responded to that remark, which turned out, upon further reflection, to have multiple layers of meaning to it.
                  "Well, I just stole – oh, excuse me, ahem – I meant to say I just borrowed a book that I plan on rediscovering." He winked at Larry, who smiled back.
                  "Which one?" said Allie.
                  " The Sun Also Rises ."
                  Molly Townsend put down her coffee cup. "I detest Hemingway. Always have, always will. Larry knows this too, poor dear. It's been a sore spot before. But I absolutely refuse to indulge him and crack open one of those wretched works."
                  Larry simply looked down, with not even the ghost of an amused expression on his face.
    #
                  After breakfast, Allie and Del returned to their room.
                  "So, I need to ask," said Allie. "Am I crazy? Or did we see Bertie pass by our room last night after dinner, before I went to use the bathroom?"
                  "You're crazy, but you did see him. I did too."
                  "Ok, well, Jürgen said he saw Bertie pass his room and then heard the bathroom door close. He heard water running. For a long time, he said. Then, a few minutes later, he heard a second set of footsteps walk past his door again. Then he heard another set of footsteps, this time he said they were smaller. They passed his door, they stopped at the bathroom, they jiggled the doorknob, finding it locked, and then walked past his door again. Do you notice anything odd about this?"
                  Del thought for a moment, and then shook her head. "I don’t think so."
                  "Think. Picture it. According to Jürgen, he only heard the bathroom door close once. The second time he heard anything happening with the door it was someone jiggling the doorknob. We saw Bertie pass our room."
                  "Ok... and..."
                  "Del! He only heard the door close once. If that was Bertie, and then Bertie left the bathroom to pass our room, who did that second set of footsteps belong to? Don’t you see? Everything Jürgen described happened in the time span between Bertie entering the bathroom and yours truly going there and finding it locked. Bertie left, passed our room, then a second set of footsteps went to the bathroom, only this time, that person didn’t bother to close the door. And yet, someone with smaller footsteps goes to the bathroom door and finds it locked. Now do you notice anything odd?"
                  Del chuckled with amazement. "I can’t believe it. This is really weird."
                  "You're telling me. I'm willing to bet that the second set of footsteps that Jürgen heard was Bertie returning to the bathroom. The so-called smaller steps belonged to the person who, contrary to what Jürgen believes he heard, didn’t find the door locked – instead they locked the door themselves. Yours truly then goes past Rachel's room and finds the door truly locked, with poor Bertie inside, either dying or dead. God I hate to think of that."
                  "It's not your fault."
                  "I know; it's just a sick feeling I get when I think about it. So, the question