"A Murder In Milburn", Book 3: Death In The Library by Nancy McGovern Page B

retriever/lab mix sat thumping his tail below them.
    “Maynard was just as anxious as I was,” Mrs. Mullally said. “What you need, Nora, is a day where you don’t think about this terrible business at all. In fact, you need a life where you don’t think about these things at all.”
    Nora shrugged. “They seem to fall in my lap, though.”
    “Pshht. You actively pursue them,” Mrs. Mullally said. “What was Harvey thinking, allowing you to go off to the library like that? I gave him a good telling off while you were unconscious.”
    “Mrs. Mullally!” Nora protested. “That’s really unfair! I made the decision myself. This isn’t the 18th century, after all.”
    “Well, you have all the sense of a ten year old, then,” Mrs. Mullally said.
    “Poor Harvey. Did you really tell him off? He didn’t deserve that.”
    “Well, I was gentle,” Mrs. Mullally said. “I’m sure it didn’t do permanent damage. Maybe you should call him over for dinner some night, and we can cook him a fantastic meal together.”
    “Maybe not,” Nora said.
    Mrs. Mullally’s sharp eyes narrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “I don’t know. Things are funny between me and Harvey right now.”
    “Funny? Has he proposed to you, then? Did you reject him?”
    “What!” Nora sprang up.
    “Oh. I mean… I just assumed.” Mrs. Mullally looked very embarrassed. “Could your honor make sure that last statement is struck off the record?”
    “Mrs. Mullally are you serious? Was he really planning to propose to me?”
    “As far as I could tell, yes,” she replied. “I suppose I’ve ruined the surprise. But honestly, everyone in town knows. May Almand was talking about it just the other day. There’s no way you couldn’t have suspected.”
    “Well, I didn’t.”
    Mrs. Mullally covered her eyes with a hand, then peeked out from between her fingers. “Any chance you can pretend you never heard me say it?”
    “I will,” Nora said, a little calmer. “In any case… like I said, things are weird between me and Harvey right now.”
    “Why?” Mrs. Mullally asked.
    “Well…” Nora told her the whole story.
    Mrs. Mullally nodded as Nora spoke, interspersing her nods with “ummhmm”s and “no!”s. When Nora was finally done speaking, Mrs. Mullally said, “You’re right. It was unfair of me to tell him off. He’s trying hard, poor boy.”
    “But you see my point, don’t you? Why didn’t he tell me about Selena? Why didn’t he tell anyone? ”
    “Why should he?” Mrs. Mullally asked.
    “Because… because it’s the right thing to do.”
    “Maybe it was,” Mrs. Mullally said. “But I could see how he might have rationalized it. He might have thought that he’s only going to attract attention, and that might ruin the project he’s worked so hard for. Besides which, it might be nothing. The sheriff himself was confident from the start that it was her crazy ex-boyfriend who’d killed her. Isn’t that right? You’re the only one who thinks otherwise even now. I’m sure if Sean himself had come to Harvey, Harvey would have told him every detail.”
    “Y-e-s,” Nora said hesitantly.
    “Interesting though. I never even remembered that Selena’s real father was from Milburn. He moved out to California so long ago. Funny because one of the reasons her mother moved here was to get away from him.”
    “Well… it worked.” Nora smiled.
    “That family’s had a bad time,” Mrs. Mullally said. “Selena’s father’s brother, what was his name now, Brick? No, Clay. Clay Jarvis. He married a nice young girl, who died of cancer, so that he was alone with his daughter Helen. His second marriage was to JJ Wallis’ Aunt Maude. We all know how badly that ended!”
    “I don’t, actually,” Nora said. “I think I might have heard the story before, but it’s just not coming to my mind.”
    “Oh, it was quite terrible,” Mrs. Mullally said. “A tragic, tragic thing. Maude got life in State prison for