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Welcome to Part Three of Peninsula Community Library’s cozy November WHODUNIT!
In this four-part installment series that’s just for fun, your goal is to answer several questions by month’s end. You should submit your answers all at once at the end by November 30 via email to Library Director Vicki Shurly at [email protected]. (Editor’s Note: I even get to be part of the mystery in an upcoming installment! – jb)
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Everyone with the correct answers will be entered into a drawing for a basket of goodies! In solving the questions, you can use the internet, your knowledge of Peninsula Community Library (PCL), or whatever comes to mind! Please note that due to recent Covid-19 restrictions, PCL is currently closed for inside service, but staff is happy to help you curbside.
To refresh your memory, read “Part One – The Weapon” here, and “Part Two – The Crime Scene” here. On to Part Three below!
Part Three – The Victim
I won’t go into all the ugly details that happened when the deputy sheriff arrived with help. PCL was now a crime scene. A CRIME SCENE! Who would have ever imagined – and it didn’t even happen in the 364.1523 section! We are like a second family here as a staff! This was heartbreaking. What would we do without her? She had been at PCL for a long time.
The deputy asked me to put together a description of the staff – everyone, including the victim and myself. This is what I gave him…
Cast of characters…
Amber – Her husband is in insurance. Hmm? Big policy on a fellow staff member? Once worked as a legal secretary and has a degree in criminal justice. Seems so nice, but probably knows her way around the legal system well.
Carol – A retired teacher who does cataloging at PCL. Carol – sweet, known by everyone in the community, facilitator of the library’s book club. She picks some great titles for discussion, but did one of those murder mysteries finally push her over the edge?
Vicki – Does anyone really know what she did before she was director? Who hires someone who never worked in a library before? She hides in her office. She handles the finances of the library. Is something cooking with the books?
Mary – Engineer turned historical librarian. How are these fields related anyway? She knows PCL’s history collection better than anyone. Is there something in her past or the library’s that we don’t know?
Cathy – Real name is Mary but sometimes she forgets that. Administrative assistant. Could she be hiding something behind her given name? Was disappointed that the new library didn’t include a cat café. Is this her revenge?
Sarah – Youngest member on staff. Seems sweet, but you never know. That could be a front. Doesn’t have a lot of hours on the schedule. Has said multiple times how much she likes working at PCL. Could she be after someone else’s job?
Thena – Technologically savvy staff member. The only one who seems to remember to make changes to the Google Staff calendar. She could easily change someone’s hours to hide who was here when. Also speaks several languages – who knows what she whispers to patrons privately!
Dawn – Former head of K-12 libraries for a big school district. Retired. Now she puts together activity bags for kids whose parents are going crazy finding things for them to do during the pandemic. Knows more about libraries than any of us. Maybe even the darker sides.
Penny – Fabulous at putting together fantastically fun outfits with matching Covid masks. A former dental hygienist for the prison system. She may know her way around. Husband does environmental clean-up. Lots of places to hide the evidence.
Becky – Drives all the way across the county to work at PCL. But come on! Who would really do that for what she gets paid? Retired teacher, fluent in French. Was a director of tours and volunteers at the Music House. Maybe something is “off-tune” with her.
Cruz – Worked at the library since she was fourteen. Beloved by the community. Then she left for college, a husband and the East Coast. Now she is back. Never trusted those East Coasters. Did she bring back some East Coast power hunger? Also fluent in Spanish.
As I drove home, I thought about everything that had happened. I thought about the victim. She was fun to work with. She loved comedy films, especially those starring Will Ferrell.
An odd thought – she shared a name with the main character in a film where he played the high school dreamboat pined after by the awkward girl, an SNL spinoff. Strange what we think of under stress.
But back to tragedy … I could not believe she was gone! Yes, we were all like a second family here at PCL. It would never be the same without her.
WHO DIED?

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