A Quandary in Quarantine

Chapter Eleven

I arrived back home in record time, contrary to the attempt of the slushy streets to waylay me. As I pulled into my driveway, I looked over to the front window of the house Luce and her mother shared next to me. I saw Luce’s face through the curtains. I was sure by now Annie Bea would also have returned home from her Meals on Wheels delivery route, and Luce and I would have the chance to call Carson’s cousin, Stephanie about my theory, but Luce’s face looked worried through the window glass and I could feel my heart beat faster like it does when I get an inclining that something bad has happened. I quickly pulled out my phone and called Luce.

“She’s not home yet,” Luce said, immediately upon answering. “And, she has not picked up either time I’ve tried to call her cell phone.”

“What time does she usually get back from her rounds?” I asked, taking a quick peek at the clock on my cell phone.

“She’s usually back long before now - I expected her home about the time you and I hung up after you followed Eliisa.”

“You should call Deputy Drew. Let’s hang up, I’ll meet you in the back yard.”

“I got out of my car, closed the door quickly and locked it, and then rushed through the house to the back door that led to the yard. The houses on our street all butted up against a small nature preserve run by the Town’s Parks and Recreation Department, and the sides of the yards were separated by a shoulder-height fence marking each property line. The fences were made of a plasticized composite material that looked like wood, but could withstand the huge swings in temperature, moisture, and direct sunlight that an average Wisconsin year would through at them much better than real wood. This way, a homeowner could expect 50 years of life out of this material, versus the maybe 10 years they’d get from real wood. The fence that separated my backyard from Luce’s was a beautiful red cedar color and stood out against the stark white snow that still blanketed our world. I had shoveled a path from my back door to a spot just past my buried patio, that lined up with a similarly bare spot on Luce’s side. We had taken to meeting there, when it was warm enough outside. It felt slightly more connected that way. It was better than always just talking on the phone, at least. I made it out to our meeting spot in record time, but Luce was already there.

“I tried calling her cell phone again, Libby, but she still did not pick up. I’m calling Deputy Drew at the police station right now - it’s ringing, oh, hold on!” Clearly someone had picked up the line. She continued, “Yes, Deputy Drew - this is Lucy Carmichael? Yes, from the library - but I'm not calling about anything related to Irene’s case right now. My mother is missing. She has not returned from her Meals on Wheels deliveries yet, and I expected her over 30 minutes ago. She’s not answering her cell phone, either. Yes, of course, I’ll wait.”


Luce was hidden but the fence, since she was a bit shorter than I was, but I could hear her boots crunching the snow as she paced in a tight circle while she waited.

“Yes, I’m here… okay, thank you, yes, I’ll call if she shows up before then.” I heard the beep as she disconnected the call.

“Well,” she said, “Deputy Drew called out to the few officers that are on patrol and asked them to keep an eye out for my mom.”

“I’m sure she was just delayed, Luce, she’ll be fine. She’s probably pulling into the driveway as we speak - “

Just then, with timing worthy of a stage performance, we heard car tires turning off the road. Luce quickly went to her sliding door that opened into the bright and airy kitchen that mirrored mine. “Oh my goodness, it’s her!” She called back to me, then quickly went to meet her mom.

I could barely hear their conversation through the sliding door that Luce had left open, likely for my benefit. Soon they rejoined me outside.

Annie Bea looked a little shaken, and Luce had her arm wrapped around her shoulders.

“Mom, tell Libby what you just told me.”

“Well, I don’t know if was really anything, perhaps I’m just overreacting - but, on my way home from delivering my Meals on Wheels route - you know, it usually takes me right through the center of town? Well, once I passed the road that leads out of town, I noticed a car pulled out right behind me. First, I didn’t think anything of it - but the car seemed to be following me. I purposely took a different route, and made a few extra turns, trying to see if I was bonkers - or if the car really was following me. I think it was! It took every turn I did, and when I had finally had enough and came back this way? As soon as I slowed to turn into our driveway, the car quickly sped up and went around me - then went zooming off down the street. It was the strangest thing - “ she cut off.

“What, Mom?” Luce said, encouraging her to continue.

“Well, I kept my eye on the car as it passed by - you know, in the rear view mirror? And, well, I could have sworn it was Susan Taylor from the Library Board driving the car.”

“Susan?” Luce and I said together, incredulous. Honestly, after the day I’d been having, I had expected Annie Bea to finger Eliisa as the person who had followed her, or maybe even Sally, but Susan? Something did not add up.

“We need to call Deputy Drew back, now, Mom - “

Luce pulled out her phone again and began dialing. “I had him mobilize the entire police force to find you - then you just showed up. I have to have him call off the dogs… Yes, Deputy Drew - it’s Luce again. I know, and you will not find her either - because she’s here with me at home. She drove up just after I got off the phone with you, but I think you should come over here anyway. Something sort of strange happened to her on her way home, which is why she was late… Yes, we’ll be here, of course. Just come through the side gate, we’re socially distancing over the fence,” At this, Luce’s eyes found mine - and there was a hint of a smile there, “Yes, with Libby.”

“What was all that about?” I asked, as she hung up the phone again.

“Oh, nothing, Deputy Drew just asked if you were here.”

“He probably wants to question me again about Irene.” I had a feeling he still had me at the top of his list, though I could not understand why. “But, I’m glad he’s coming. I can tell him about what I saw today, too.”

*****

The three of us waited together for Deputy Drew to arrive. Luce had gone back inside her house briefly and made steaming hot Americanos for both her and Annie Bea, and I opted for a cup of chai tea.

The weather had made a slight turn towards spring in the last few days, so although it was still cold and snow still covered the ground, when you wore your down jacket, tall fur lined boots, hat and mittens, and stood directly in the sun - it wasn’t half bad outside. When Luce had told me to start watching for the first pairs of shorts and flip-flops when the temperatures hit 40, I’d laughed. But, after the last few brutally cold months, I could understand why people rejoiced and worshiped the sun gods as soon as the temperatures rose above freezing. It almost did feel like spring was coming, almost.

Even though I could not actually see Annie Bea or Luce from my vantage point, we continued our conversation.

“Mom, are you sure it was Susan you saw following you?” I knew what Luce was thinking, with every bit of evidence we’d gathered pointing at a connection between Irene and Eliisa, it was very odd that Susan was now targeting Annie Bea for some reason. We needed to keep her talking.

“Well, I believe so,” Annie Bea said slowly. “I mean, I only saw her in the rear view mirror, but I think I recognized the car from seeing her drive around town. It was a dark colored car, pretty small -“

“Can you think of any reason she’d be following you, though?” Luce asked.

“Well, she and I did have a bit of an argument a week or two ago. I’d almost forgotten, what with everything else going on. It was actually about you, Lucy, dear.”

“ME?” Luce said, incredulous. “Why would you be arguing with a Library Board member about me, Mom? That could be very bad for my career, you know.”

“Well, yes, but I overheard her talking with Sally and I felt compelled to come to your defense, actually. So, maybe you will thank me once you hear the story, dear.”

“Spill it,” Luce said. I could tell she was a bit on edge still though after hearing this news.

“I was volunteering my regular shift at the library, and I was shelving a cart of books in the Adult Fiction section. I was minding my own business, and just then Sally and Susan walked into the stacks about two rows away from where I was working. I didn’t mean to listen in on their conversation, but I was pretty confident they had thought they were alone, otherwise they would not have been speaking so freely. Anyway, for awhile, I was only marginally aware that they were there, and not really focusing on their words, but then I heard your name, Lucy. Sally said she thought that you were somehow tracking your statistics inaccurately, because there was no way the numbers Maggie had reported for your story times could possibly be so high.”

I looked at Luce and she was blushing deeply.

“I knew it was because you are just a rockstar at your job, and so I said as much to Sally and Susan. They accused me of playing favorites, because I was your mom. I suggested they go talk to Maggie directly about the stats, or maybe take the time to actually attend some of your programs, so they could see for themselves how amazing you are, dear.”

Now Luce was a shade of red previously only seen on beets and ripe tomatoes, and I had to laugh. Luce was pretty amazing, and she did pack the room whenever she held a story time.

“So, what happened then?” I asked, trying to deflect some of the focus off Luce, and give her a chance to recover.

“Well, they did. Talk to Maggie, I mean, but they dragged me along with them. So there I was, stuck in Maggie’s office with them while they painstakingly went over all your reported stats for the past year. It was a bit embarrassing really, but of course, Maggie had your back and actually suggested the same thing - about them attending your programs, I mean, so they could see your talent for themselves. Maggie was sure that would solve the issue, so she sent us all on our merry ways. After we were out of her office, Susan and Sally sort of cornered me and snidely suggested that they would be watching me in the future. I think they thought I was a bit too big for my britches or something. Like I said, I basically forgot about it until today - it was so ridiculous, really, petty in the light of everything else that has been going on. But, I suppose Susan could have been following me to intimidate me.”

“Well, I think you should defiantly include this bit of information when Deputy Drew gets here. She’s harassing you, Mom.” Luce had regained composure. I nodded my agreement; members of the library board had no right to act like this. Knowing that Susan and Sally had ganged up on Annie Bea that way - I wasn’t sure how Luce was so composed. I thought, if it had been my mom, I would already be on my way to Susan’s house to confront her directly. But, cooler heads prevailed, and we waited on the authorities.