that?’
‘You smell.’
Josh hung up. Ulrika slammed the
receiver down in frustration. However, in spite of Josh’s rudeness and general
ineptitude, at least she now knew where to find the missing book. She hurried over
to the Reference books and began scouring the section marked A for Anonymous.
There were some pretty decent
books written by anonymous authors, but the only one Ulrika was interested in
was The Book of Death. Unfortunately after scouring the shelves for ten
minutes, she came up empty handed. Either Josh had given her incorrect
information or someone had borrowed the book from the library after he’d stuck
it on the shelf.
The only person who had come
into the library after Josh had left the previous night was Sanchez Garcia, the
bartender from the Tapioca. Ulrika thought back to his appearance. She had
caught him loitering suspiciously in the Reference section, then he had
borrowed a book called The Gay Man’s Guide to Anal Sex, an odd choice of book for
him, she thought. Although Sanchez struck her as being completely inept with
women, he didn’t strike her as a homosexual either. On the contrary, she’d
caught him staring at her cleavage on several occasions, and his dress sense
was shit.
She rushed back to her desk to
check the computer logs to see if anyone else had been in around the time Josh
left. If no one had, then Sanchez might just be the prime suspect in the
disappearance of the important book.
As she sat down at her desk the
telephone rang. She answered it with an impressive level of politeness
considering how irritated she was.
‘Hello, City Library.’
‘Ulrika?’
She recognised the voice. It was
Rameses Gaius. A shiver ran down her spine.
‘Hello Rameses,’ she said, her
voice betraying her anxiety.
‘Did you write those names in
The Book of Death yesterday as I asked?’
‘Of course.’
‘Read them back to me please. I
need to clarify what names you wrote.’
‘Um, oh,’ Ulrika tried to cast
her mind back to the names she had written in the book the previous day.
‘Get on with it,’ Gaius snapped.
‘Have you not seen the news? They’re saying the Bourbon Kid is still alive.
This is important. What names did you write down?’
Ulrika cringed. She couldn’t
remember the names, certainly not under this kind of pressure. ‘One of them was
John Doe,’ she said.
‘That’s correct.’
‘I can’t remember the other
two,’ she said.
‘Well look them up in the book
for goodness sake!’
Ulrika swallowed hard. ‘I can’t
find it at the moment,’ she said softly.
‘What?’
‘I think it’s been borrowed by
someone.’
‘Borrowed by someone? Since when
the fuck did you start allowing people to borrow The Book of Death?’
‘I don’t. My assistant messed
up. But I think I know who has it. I’m just going to track him down. I’ll have
it back within the hour.’
She could tell by the sound of
his breathing that Rameses Gaius was furious. ‘If you don’t get that book back
by lunchtime, I’ll send my daughter Jessica to come help you look for it. And I
gotta tell you, Jessica really doesn’t like you.’
‘Yes sir.’
Gaius hung up the phone. Ulrika
sat still for a few moments, taking deep breaths to calm her nerves. The book
was missing and she had less than two hours to find it.
‘Morning Ulrika,’ said a man’s
voice. She looked up and saw Rick from the Ole Au Lait walk past her desk on
his way out. She hadn’t even seen him come in because she had been so engrossed
in her conversation with Rameses Gaius. She didn’t like Rick any more than she
liked anyone else in town, so she ignored him until he was halfway down the
stairs and heading out of the library before she responded with a veiled “Fuck
off” under her breath.
Her top priority was to get The
Book of Death back urgently. And her prime suspect was Sanchez Garcia.
Nine
Beth had received an early phone
call from the museum’s new manager, Elijah Simmonds.
‘You smell.’
Josh hung up. Ulrika slammed the
receiver down in frustration. However, in spite of Josh’s rudeness and general
ineptitude, at least she now knew where to find the missing book. She hurried over
to the Reference books and began scouring the section marked A for Anonymous.
There were some pretty decent
books written by anonymous authors, but the only one Ulrika was interested in
was The Book of Death. Unfortunately after scouring the shelves for ten
minutes, she came up empty handed. Either Josh had given her incorrect
information or someone had borrowed the book from the library after he’d stuck
it on the shelf.
The only person who had come
into the library after Josh had left the previous night was Sanchez Garcia, the
bartender from the Tapioca. Ulrika thought back to his appearance. She had
caught him loitering suspiciously in the Reference section, then he had
borrowed a book called The Gay Man’s Guide to Anal Sex, an odd choice of book for
him, she thought. Although Sanchez struck her as being completely inept with
women, he didn’t strike her as a homosexual either. On the contrary, she’d
caught him staring at her cleavage on several occasions, and his dress sense
was shit.
She rushed back to her desk to
check the computer logs to see if anyone else had been in around the time Josh
left. If no one had, then Sanchez might just be the prime suspect in the
disappearance of the important book.
As she sat down at her desk the
telephone rang. She answered it with an impressive level of politeness
considering how irritated she was.
‘Hello, City Library.’
‘Ulrika?’
She recognised the voice. It was
Rameses Gaius. A shiver ran down her spine.
‘Hello Rameses,’ she said, her
voice betraying her anxiety.
‘Did you write those names in
The Book of Death yesterday as I asked?’
‘Of course.’
‘Read them back to me please. I
need to clarify what names you wrote.’
‘Um, oh,’ Ulrika tried to cast
her mind back to the names she had written in the book the previous day.
‘Get on with it,’ Gaius snapped.
‘Have you not seen the news? They’re saying the Bourbon Kid is still alive.
This is important. What names did you write down?’
Ulrika cringed. She couldn’t
remember the names, certainly not under this kind of pressure. ‘One of them was
John Doe,’ she said.
‘That’s correct.’
‘I can’t remember the other
two,’ she said.
‘Well look them up in the book
for goodness sake!’
Ulrika swallowed hard. ‘I can’t
find it at the moment,’ she said softly.
‘What?’
‘I think it’s been borrowed by
someone.’
‘Borrowed by someone? Since when
the fuck did you start allowing people to borrow The Book of Death?’
‘I don’t. My assistant messed
up. But I think I know who has it. I’m just going to track him down. I’ll have
it back within the hour.’
She could tell by the sound of
his breathing that Rameses Gaius was furious. ‘If you don’t get that book back
by lunchtime, I’ll send my daughter Jessica to come help you look for it. And I
gotta tell you, Jessica really doesn’t like you.’
‘Yes sir.’
Gaius hung up the phone. Ulrika
sat still for a few moments, taking deep breaths to calm her nerves. The book
was missing and she had less than two hours to find it.
‘Morning Ulrika,’ said a man’s
voice. She looked up and saw Rick from the Ole Au Lait walk past her desk on
his way out. She hadn’t even seen him come in because she had been so engrossed
in her conversation with Rameses Gaius. She didn’t like Rick any more than she
liked anyone else in town, so she ignored him until he was halfway down the
stairs and heading out of the library before she responded with a veiled “Fuck
off” under her breath.
Her top priority was to get The
Book of Death back urgently. And her prime suspect was Sanchez Garcia.
Nine
Beth had received an early phone
call from the museum’s new manager, Elijah Simmonds.
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