"Well, she's promoting it now," I pointed out.
"True." Barry nodded. "This weekend's pretty much Hedda's first public appearance since her film career ended back in the day. That's why I'm looking forward to interviewing her on stage this afternoon. I'm streaming the whole thing on my Web site and uploading a choice segment onto YouTube…"
Oh, yeah? Jack said in my head. Then why don't you ask her the sixty-four-million-dollar question: whether she knifed Irving Vreen by accident or let him have it in cold blood.
"Jack, be quiet," I shot back. "I'm in a jam here!"
"…anyway, Mrs.McClure, you can see why I was stressed about the corpse and wanted to make sure that it wasn't Hedda…" As Barry continued to yammer on, I realized that he had a book to hawk this weekend, too.
"Listen, Barry," I interrupted, "I have a thought. Since you're here now, would you mind taking the book-signing spot left by the late Dr. Lilly? You could even say a few words about her since you enjoyed her books on film history-"
"Oh, no," Barry said quickly. "I'm sorry, Mrs. McClure, but I wouldn't know what to say. I mean, I'm great at writing on the 'Net, but speaking at length right off the top of my head with nothing written down first?" He shrugged. "Not good. I'll just stick my foot in it. And my signing's already set for Sunday. Let's keep it that way, okay? I've already announced it on my site and… "
As Barry kept talking, I went back to frantically searching the crowd for Maggie Kline. It wasn't that we couldn't just cancel the noon event. Sending the crowd away would be easy to do. But it would be a shame, considering this was the first festival event our store was hosting. We might not ever get the people to come back to our store again. And we had too many books in stock to let potential book buyers slip away. I was sad about Dr. Lilly, but I still had a boy to feed and clothe and put through college.
"Ms. Kline!" I called out, interrupting the beefy Webmaster. "Excuse me, Barry. I'm not usually this rude, but I'm a little desperate right now. Ms. Kline, over here!"
As I waved the woman over, Barry's expression soured. "Why are you calling her over here?"
"What's the matter?" I whispered. "Are you two having some sort of feud?"
"No," he said shortly. "I've never even met the woman."
Maggie Kline strode over to us, an expression of curiosity on her broad face. Her features weren't delicate or conventionally pretty, yet she had a very attractive air about her, a glowing confidence. She had a fit figure, too. She was tall and slender, and despite being in her sixties, looked great in her youthful clothes.
Over the years, I'd seen older women try to dress younger and fail miserably at it-usually because their skirts were too high, their dresses too tight or too revealing of flesh that just wasn't as elastic, smooth, and blemish-free as it once was. But Maggie's red-framed glasses, snug red T-shirt, and low-waisted khaki pants made her look carefree and approachable. Even her shoes were whimsical-instead of heels or boots, she wore black Keds.
"Hello," she said, walking up to me. "Do I know you?"
I introduced myself and explained that Dr. Lilly just expired in a freakish accident. I didn't see the need to go into my theories on how and why-not yet, anyway.
Maggie Kline's face fell at my news. "That's awful! The poor woman… "
"Yes, well, you see, Ms. Kline-"
"Call me Maggie."
I nodded. "The reason I called you over here, Maggie, wasn't just to tell you the bad news. I'd like to ask a huge favor." "Name it."
"The store needs another speaker at noon. Would you mind very much appearing in Dr. Lilly's place?"
Maggie's expression went from expectant to puzzled. "I don't know," she said, clearly taken by surprise. "It's a little creepy, isn't it?"
She glanced at Barry standing beside me, as if to see what he thought of this idea. He just shook his head and shrugged.
"We have such a big crowd here," I explained, "and so many authors scheduled this weekend already. My aunt and I just felt it made sense to see if anyone would want to step in… "
Maggie shifted. "I don't know if I'm prepared. I mean, the crowd's expecting Irene Lilly to speak-"
"You wouldn't have to give a prepared speech or even say anything to the crowd about Dr. Lilly," I assured her. "My aunt will handle that. Then she'll introduce you, tell everyone about what you've written and done, and then she'll start a Q and A off and throw it open to the audience. It should be fun. And we already have your suspense novels stacked up in the Events room for you to sign."
"Holy crow," Maggie muttered, obviously put off. "You people don't miss a beat, do you? Dr. Lilly's not even cold yet, but the show must go on, huh?"
I blinked, a little stunned-and embarrassed-at Maggie's bluntness. "Oh, well… I, uh… I'm sorry you see it that way… maybe we're asking too much-"
"Mrs. McClure just wants to keep the crowd happy," Barry Yello loudly spoke up. "You don't have to bust her chops over it, Kline."
"Excuse me, Mr. Yello," said Maggie. "Did anyone ask you to speak?"
Barry folded his thick arms and narrowed his eyes. "As a matter of fact, Mrs. McClure here asked me to do exactly that before she asked you."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Do the math," said Barry.
"Oh, I see," Maggie replied. "You're saying that I'm sloppy seconds?"
"Oh, no," I cried, "that's not true at all. Please, please don't argue."
"Whatever," said Barry with a wave of his hand. Maggie put her hands on her hips. "Clearly, Yello here thinks he's hot stuff.Well, go ahead, Bad Barry… " Maggie tapped her
wristwatch. "It's almost noon now, and you obviously don't have anything better to do."
Barry looked away. "Actually, I do. I'm sorry, Mrs. McClure. I wanted to catch Dr. Lilly's speech, but now I can't, obviously… so I'll be going…"
"If you must," I said. Although my remark was meant rhetorically, Barry went on as if Maggie and I were hanging on every moment of his afternoon schedule.
"Oh, yes, I must," he replied. "There's the showing of Double Indemnity. They're only showing it once this weekend, and I don't want to miss it. Then I've got to get back to my room at the Comfy Time Motel to launch the discussion of the film on my Web site. Then I have to review my questions for Hedda Geist's appearance on the Movie Town stage. So you see, I do have better things to do."
"Fine!" Maggie Kline said. "Then zip it already and go!"
The rivalry between these two was more than obvious, but I couldn't imagine what was behind their animosity. Barry claimed they'd never met before. Was his claim a lie? And if it was, why would he bother lying about it?
"All right, Mrs. McClure," Maggie said after Barry left. "I'll step in for you…for Dr.Lilly, I mean. I guess it's the least I can do, considering you bothered to stock my books."
"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!"
"Really, it's no big deal. I just had to get used to the idea. The shock of hearing about that poor woman and all… so where do I go for this public appearance?" She glanced around. "This is the first time I've been in your store, so you'll have to show me the way."
"Of course." I led Maggie through the archway and into the Community Events room. "If you don't mind my asking," I said as we walked, "what's the beef between you and Barry? He said he'd never met you before, but you two were talking as if you did know each other."
"Oh, we know each other-over the Web. We've just never met in person. Yello's taken shots at everything I've written- TV, movies, books. I've fired back with my own review of his ridiculous Bad Barry book. He's an absolute jerk, in case you haven't noticed."
I didn't know what to say to that. So I just quickened my steps to the front of the room and introduced my aunt to Maggie.
While they were talking, I thought about what Maggie had just said. Barry Yello struck me more as young and awkward than an "absolute jerk." In her own way, Maggie herself was rather a difficult personality. On the other hand, she could have a legitimate grievance. I'd never read Barry's reviews of her novels and teleplays. They could have been unduly vicious and personal. The World Wide Web didn't always bring out the best in people.