“I talk to the people of course. Judy gave me the info.”
“I don’t know if I like the sound of this,” Tammy said. “I think maybe something bad could happen.”
“I’m sure everything will be just fine. I’m just going to talk to them and ask them questions. They’ll probably be more than willing to answer. It was probably just an innocent little game. They probably had no idea of the bad consequences that can happen.”
“Are you going to tell them that someone was murdered?”
“Well yeah, I want to ask them if they knew Tabatha.”
“You think maybe one of them could have killed Tabatha?”
“It could have happened. But it’s unlikely, right? I mean, were any of them at your wedding? They had a combined bachelor bachelorette party.”
“It was the night before my wedding? Can I see the names of the attendees to this soiree?” She wiggled her fingers.
I raised an eyebrow at her request, but then ultimately handed over the paper.
She studied it for just a couple of seconds and then looked up at me. “I know this girl. Phoebe Fox was at my wedding.”
Her words almost took my breath away. “She was at the wedding? Did she know Tabatha?”
Tammy shrugged and handed me the paper back. “I don’t know. I guess you’ll find out. What if she’s the killer?”
“If Phoebe’s the killer, then I hope to get a confession from her.”
“That’s a lofty aspiration,” Tammy said with a chuckle. “Maybe you should take Brannon for something like this.”
“I’ll handle it.”
Tammy smirked. “He’s not too busy. This is his job. You just don’t want him to go. You want to solve this all by yourself. Why do you want to do that?”
That was a good question. Why did I want to do it? Actually, I didn’t have an answer for that. Maybe that was something that I should think about. Tammy was right. I didn’t want him to go because I wanted to solve this on my own. Without any help. So that I could say that I did it all on my own. But why was that? Why did I want to compete? This wasn’t my job after all. It was Brannon’s job. I was just the librarian and haunted tour guide. Don’t get me wrong. I loved what I did. I didn’t want to be a detective. At least not that I realized unless it was a subconscious thought.
“So when are you going to call them?” Tammy asked.
“As soon as possible. I’d like to schedule a meeting today. Now that I know she was at your wedding, then Phoebe Fox is definitely at the top of the list.”
“Would you like me to go with you?”
“Maybe it’s better that you don’t because if you’re there and she knows you, then maybe she won’t talk. By the way, how do you know her?” I asked. “You know her well enough to ask her to your wedding.”
“Actually, I didn’t really know her well enough to ask her. Her mother is my mother’s best friend. We’ve really never been that close.”
“Why don’t I remember her?”
“I think you remember her. We hung out that one time at the tavern, remember?”
I looked at the name again. “Oh, yes. Now I remember. That was quite a few years ago. Right out of college. I don’t recall seeing her at your wedding though.”
“It was a bit chaotic at the time.”
“I’m going to give her a call now and I’ll let you know what happened,” I said, waving the paper.
“Please do so. Are you going to tell her that we’re best friends?” Tammy asked.
“I don’t think I will, but I’ll just see what happens,” I said. “I’ll be back in just a few.”
On alert of any sign of the ghost, I headed away from the desk toward my office so that I could talk in private. After rushing down the darkened hallway, I closed the door behind me and contemplated even marking the call. I’d locked the door just in case Ms. McMillian decided to barge in with another request as crazy as the last one. If Tammy came back here and tried to open the door and discovered it locked, she would totally panic.
I sat down at my desk and stared at the paper, trying to plan what I’d say when I made the calls. It was kind of an awkward call to place considering I didn’t know Tabatha well and I wasn’t an investigator on the case.
Finally, I picked up the phone and decided that I needed to stop procrastinating and just call. I touched the screen and immediately panicked when I hit that last number. It was ringing now. Should I hang up? No. I absolutely needed to do this. However, I felt as if I wasn’t ready and I might stumble over my words. What was the worst that could happen though? She’d tell me no? I guess that was pretty bad. If I couldn’t get her to talk to me, then where would I go from there? I was contemplating this thought when the woman answered the phone. For a moment, I was speechless.
“Hello?” she repeated, slightly louder this time.
I guess she thought perhaps I hadn’t heard are the first time.
Chapter 13
Finally, in a cracked voice, I said, “Is this Phoebe Fox?”
“Yes,” Phoebe answered. “Who is this?”
She seemed already annoyed with me, which wasn’t a good way to start off this conversation. I’d better get right down to it before she hung up on me.”
“This is Ripley Van Raden. You don’t know me, but I wondered if I could ask you some questions?”
“Why would I answer questions to a complete stranger? Who are you and what kind of questions?”
This wasn’t going well. I needed to turn things around quickly. There was only one true answer to give her. I had to lie. Well, it wasn’t a lie because I was investigating the murder. She would probably assume I was a detective or even come out and ask. How would I ever solve the murder acting this way? I had to try to sound confident. Right now I was completely failing at this. Silence filled the line. My anxiety spiked.
“Hello?” she asked.
“This is Ripley Van Raden. I’m the librarian and I just have some questions.”
“Yeah, okay, I guess I can talk to you. A librarian?” She raised an eyebrow. “The detectives already talked to all of us at the wedding. You’re a librarian and not a detective?”
I knew she was going to ask that question. I hadn’t given my answer much thought. I said the first thing that came off the top of my head. Maybe it was better not to put much thought into it.
“I’m a private investigator.”
“You said you’re a librarian,” she said with confusion in her voice.
“Well, private eye is my side gig.” Ugh. I hated lying. Nevertheless, it was necessary.
I’ve been hired to find the killer.”
“Isn’t that what the police are supposed to do?” she asked.
“Well, I’m just there to make sure it gets done,” I said.
She hesitated again and I knew she was completely suspicious of the story. Apparently I wasn’t nearly as good at lying as I thought. I held my breath waiting with anticipation for her answer. I was almost positive that she would tell me no and then hang up on me. Leaving me in the same predicament and unsure where to go from there.