Jess Lourey - August Moon

About the Author

Jess Lourey spent her formative years in Paynesville, Minnesota, a small town not unlike the Murder-by-Month series Battle Lake. She teaches English and sociology full time at a two-year college. When not raising her wonderful kids, teaching, or writing, you can find her gardening and navigating the niceties and meanities of small-town life. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, the Loft, and Lake Superior Writers.

August Moon: A Murder-By-Month Mystery 2008 by Jess Lourey.

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

First e-book edition 2010

E-book ISBN: 978-07387-1710-4

Book design by Donna Burch

Cover design by Ellen Dahl

Cover illustration 2007 Carl Mazer

Editing by Connie Hill

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For Jen, who treats me like her little sister
even when I dont deserve it.

The next day at the library, a Wednesday, couldnt pass fast enough. When I wasnt able to stand it any longer, I gave Sarah Ruth the keys and asked if she would mind closing up for me. I had one final obligation to fulfill before I could slip undercover. I had promised Tina Id stop by her store and see what I could find out about Lydia, the employee I hadnt met yet. Itd also give me a chance to see if I could find any more out about Annika, the suspicious worker. I would much rather be putting my excellent plan into play, but I had given Tina my word.

When I stepped out of the library, the hazy hot air was as heavy as a hand pushing down on me. Everyone around me was wilting and hugging the sparse shade under business awnings. Across the street, a gaggle of children held rapidly melting popsicles, grape and orange sticky-juice running down their arms. If we didnt get relief from this weather soon, the lakes were going to be full of boiled fish.

I spotted Annika before I entered 4Ts. She was in the front display window rearranging some walleye, wood ducks, and beaded earrings. I waved as I entered.

Nice day to get in from the heat!

She smiled. Can you hold this bird for me for a minute? I need to dust these bracelets up front and I cant get to them with this plume in my way.

She passed me a stuffed duck, its glass eyes sparkling. If it werent for Tina, I would have spit once on the ground for good luck and scrambled out the door. Sure. I put my hands out and cringed, certain that the birds would smell their dead comrade on me and seek revenge as soon as I left the store. I held the bread-loaf-sized corpse gingerly, surprised at the silky softness of the feathers and how little it weighed. It had a strange airiness, a cold dead husk of a thing, and it emitted a faint-rotten chemical odor. Ever think its weird to have jewelry and stuffed animals together in one store?

She shrugged. It works. Speaking of, how do you like that yin-yang ring?

Youve got a good memory.

Just for jewelry. I love it. See this aquamarine pendant? She leaned toward me so I could get a view of the big blue sparkler around her neck. Just got it. Its rare to find an aquamarine this size.

They must pay you well. I tried to make my smile easy, but I was a terrible actor, and the bird carcass in my arms made it all that much more difficult to feign cheerfulness. Her eyes turned hard, and she snatched the duck out of my hands and turned away.

Im good with money, she said, her back to me.

Ill bet she was. I had a hunch that Tina was right and Annika was supplementing her income on the sly. A hunch was just gossip all dressed up and ready to go out, though, and I had told Tina I wouldnt report anything that wasnt concrete. I decided to fish in a different pond. You know that Lebowski girl? The one who was murdered?

That brought immediate camaraderie, as death does, and Annika and I were friends again. She turned to me, her eyes wide. Isnt that awful? She worked at the library with you, didnt she?

I nodded, my lips pursed.

That must suck. My friend Sallys boyfriend Rick had just seen her at a party the night before.

I wasnt surprised. Like most teenagers in a small town, Lucy liked to drink with her friends. There wasnt much else to do at night, and given the number of bars in each town, teens certainly saw the behavior modeled often enough. I had nothing to lose by leading Annika along, however. Yeah? Did she go to a lot of parties?

For sure. She was a total Frito Lay.

Hunh?

Easy. She was easy. And she liked to whoop it up on the weekends.

I withheld judgment. If being a partier was a capital crime, thered be no cheerleaders left in rural Minnesota. Come to think of it, there wouldnt be much of anyone left. Just the kids and people in full-body casts. Plus, I knew firsthand Lucy was a sweet person, regardless of what she did in her off time. More than the usual?

Depends on who you ask. She tensed a little, maybe sensing I wasnt jumping on board the blame the dead girl train quickly enough. Why do you want to know?

Its depressing, you know? She was so young, and now someone killed her. Arent you sad?

Well, you know what they saylive hard, die young, and leave a hot corpse. Anyhow, Lydias the one you want to ask about Lucy. They were both on the cheerleading squad.

Annika returned to her rearranging of the recently departed fauna and gold-plated jewelry, and I considered this piece of information. I was here to help Tina, but would it hurt if I could pick up some information about Lucys last night on earth? As her friend and employer, I owed her that much. I moved to the rear of the store, hoping to catch Lydia when she emerged from the employees only door. Two couples entered the front and browsed the racks. I inched closer to the rear door and knelt to sift through a basket of bangles. Thats where I picked up on some tense whispering coming from the rear room, and as I stopped making noise with the jewelry, I could make out words.