Murder on a Starry Night: A Queen Bees Quilt Mystery by Sally Goldenbaum Page A

headed for a computer to find her own titles.
    A short while later, her yellow notepad filled with scribbles and two books checked out and slipped into her backpack, Po looked around for Halley. “Check the Hawthorne reading room,” a young girl at the desk told her. “I think she was helping one of the professors with his reserved reading list.”
    Po thanked her and wound her way around a bank of carrels to a smaller room off a hallway. That room, too, was filled with students at library tables, heads bent together, books open between them, and a buzz in the air that spoke of pending exams.
    Po spotted Halley over on the other side of the room, standing beside a carrel. She was talking softly to a man whose back was to Po. While she talked, she removed her glasses, then smiled shyly and leaned forward slightly to hear what the man was saying.
    Po smiled as she watched the interaction.
She’s flirting with him
, she thought with some surprise, then started to turn away, embarrassed to be eavesdropping on the librarian.
    At that moment, Halley looked up and caught Po’s eye. She gave her a small wave, said something to the man in the carrel, and hurried across the room, glancing up at the big clock on the wall.
    “I’m so sorry, Po. I didn’t realize the time.”
    “You were busy doing your job,” Po said. “It’s a little crazy around here.”
    “Yes,” Halley said in a low voice. “Very crazy. Professors are trying to get reading lists lined up for the rest of the fall semester and the kids are cramming.” With a sweep of her hand, she took in the crowded room. “Look at this, not an empty table in sight. But I love the activity.”
    Po noticed the sparkle in Halley’s eyes, missing when she was talking with Adele Harrington just days ago. Her cheeks were pink and glowing. “I can see you love what you do,” she said, and followed Halley’s gaze around the room.
    “Yes,” Halley said softly. “I love what I do. I get to take classes for free, I meet fascinating people, and I work in this amazing library. This is where I met Ollie.”
    “You miss him,” Po said, reading the wistful sound in Halley’s voice.
    “I do. And lots of others do, too. He had friends here, people who loved him.”
    Po nodded. “I know that, Halley. And speaking of Ollie, shall we get that cup of coffee? I could certainly use one. And we can talk more about your friend Ollie, too.”
    Halley agreed, and began walking toward the door.
    Po lifted her backpack over her shoulder and followed, glancing back briefly at the carrel in the back of the room and the man who seemed to have added a glow to Halley’s cheeks.
    At that moment, the man stood, picked up his briefcase, and turned to speak to a student asking his help.
    Po smiled in surprise as she looked at the handsome profile of Jedson Fellers. Goodness, she thought, one never knew.
    “A cup of coffee is exactly what I need to keep me going another couple of hours,” Halley said as she and Po settled in a booth in the small coffee shop that the college had recently constructed. It was a light and airy place with comfortable couches and chairs and a line of booths along one window.
    “How long have you worked at Canterbury, Halley?” Po asked.
    “Forever, it seems.” Halley pushed a strand of loose brown hair behind her ear. “After a few years in the library, I started taking classes, so now I combine the two. The work, of course, makes the other possible—and the college is very generous to its employees.”
    Po nodded. Halley Peterson was a hard worker, which she suspected from the first time she saw her—a hard worker and a woman of purpose. Just going back to school when you were in your mid-thirties took some gumption. “And you and Ollie became friends here, you said?”
    “Yes.”
    Halley’s face was a mirror of her soul, Po thought as a range of emotions spread out from her eyes. Sorrow, colored with happy memories. Po understood the blend