Murder at the Book Fair Read Free Page B

But find one he did, and we hopped out and headed where everyone
else was headed, or the place where people were leaving with both arms full.
    We followed the crowd, walked in
the front door, and past where everyone was paying for their purchases. Well,
not everyone was checking out. Once we got past the registers I got a look at
the layout. It was built like an arena, with seats all around the perimeter,
and with authors and tables covering most of the floor space. All of the tables
had books stacked high enough that I knew that Lou and I weren't too late. When
I scanned the room I found four long lines, many short lines, and a few authors
who looked like they wanted to hide under the table because no one was wanting
their autograph. Actually, most of the authors looked content just being there.
Later in the day it would hit them, that they hadn't sold out of the books they
brought, but then some of them would be happy to sell just a few. I figured the
long lines were four mystery authors, and the short or no lines were people who
wrote less interesting books. I wondered if either of the mystery authors were
Mary Higgins Clark or Lee Child. I made eye contact with someone who looked
like the reason she was there was to answer the rookie's question. She walked
over to assist me.
    "I notice that there are four
long lines, but two of them have no author there to sign books."
    "Those are for the people
waiting for Coach Cal or Coach P. They should be here shortly."
    Living in Kentucky, I had heard
those two names just enough that I knew both of them coached basketball, but I
had never gotten interested in the sport, so I wouldn't know either man if he
descended upon me. I contemplated asking another question or keeping my mouth shut.
I decided to err on the side of no caution.
    "Which line is which?"
    "You're not from around here,
are you? And evidently you don't know much about basketball. The long line
where everyone is wearing blue is for Coach Cal . He coaches at Kentucky . The line where everyone is
wearing red and black is for Coach P. He coaches at Louisville . They are big rivals. They are
always trying to get the best of one another, although neither of them will
admit it. Coach Cal heard that Coach P was bringing his son Richard with him.
Richard is also a college basketball coach. When Coach Cal heard about that he invited
Ashley Judd to sit with him."
    I wasn't about to ask her who
Ashley Judd was, but I assumed he or she was a successful basketball coach
somewhere. 
    "And we know how rabid both
fan bases are, so we made sure that both coaches have the same amount of books
to sell. We didn't want one faction saying their coach sold more books."
    "What if one coach doesn't
sell all of his books?"
    "You really aren't from
around here, are you?"
    I wanted to change the subject, so
I asked another question, hoping it wouldn't be as stupid as my first one.
    "Who are the two older people
with long lines on each side? Did they use to coach basketball?"
    "No. The woman over to the
right is Loretta Lynn. The man on the left is Nick Clooney. Both of them have
written a book and were gracious enough to join us this year. Have you heard of them ?"
    "Half of them."
    "Which half?"
    "I know Loretta Lynn is a
singer. She was popular back when I was a kid. I have no idea who the guy
is."
    "He's George's dad."
    "Oh," was all I could
manage to say. When I got home I planned to Google George Clooney and see who
he was.
    "Is George here today,
too?"
    "I wish. You don't hear any
ladies screaming, do you? Well, some of the older ones are infatuated with
Nick. It's obvious where George got his looks. Is there anything else I can
help you with?"
    "Just one. Is there any
particular way we're supposed to walk around this place?"
    "Just go whatever way you
want. I see someone handed you the KBF catalog. There is a seating chart in
there, in case you are looking for someone in particular. And there are signs
on the end of each row, in case you