Of Mysteries and Musings - Harris & Iris
Harris thought a quick trip to the bookstore would be a nice break. He wanted to see if the new Iris Mauve book was out. With the recent happenings around the city he hadn’t been keeping track of the release dates very well. But he could easily settle for any mystery book. Specifically ones involving crimes. His favorite part was figuring out who was the culprit. He was usually right, too.
A blonde woman cheerfully greeted him as he entered the store. Harris raised his hand and replied, “ ‘Afternoon,” before walking through the rows of bookshelves.
Puzzlement settled into his features as he searched the store for the mystery section. They had rearranged things since the last time he’d been in. It didn’t help that he refused to ask the employee for help. He didn’t want to bother her. She had her own work to do after all.
Harris was amidst suffering in silence when the beautiful blond approached him, asking if he needed any help. He smiled sheepishly as he answered, “Yes, actually. I’m looking for the mystery section. Seems things got turned around since my last visit.”
Iris always loved helping customers when it was slow. She felt as though she could relate to her patrons more without other distractions.
When the officer asked for one of her own novels, (and not the trash gets published) Iris couldn’t help but beam a little. “Oh, her newest one was released about a month or so ago. I can go show you the section where our mystery novels are.”
Iris led the way to the back section of the store, where the musk smell of old books and paper thickened. They arrived to a shelving unit labeled Mysteries where the books alphabetized with such care by the authors’ names. Iris herself wasn’t a person to brag about her writing talents, so she tried to keep it from strangers. Only a few people knew that she wrote novels (her boss, brother and a few regulars to name a few) and even less knew about Irene Waters.
“Here you are!” Iris exclaimed, pulling out a blue book, its cover adorned with different species of flowers. “It’s called, Strangers of the Flowers.” The bookkeeper’s voice raised in excitement. “It just about a detective trying to solve a series of murders all linked together by flowers left by their murderer. It’s my favorite of hers so far.” She handed to the book over to the police officer so he can flip through it himself.
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