The Mentor – Part 4

The next morning as she and Carolyn walked to school Allyson saw a blue light coming from Mackenzie’s store.  A moment later Mac unlocked the door and turned on the OPEN sign.  Her hair looked several inches longer and she wore a cast on her right hand. She saw the girls and waived. 

“Hi Mac,” said Carolyn.  “What happened to your hand?”

“Uh, oh, I broke it about 3 weeks ago.  It’s doing fine.”

“Well, we’d better get to school.”  Allyson grabbed Carolyn’s sleeve and they raced down the street.  When they were out of site of the bookstore they stopped to catch their breath.

“Now that was intensely weird.” said Carolyn.  “How come she just started to wear a cast if she broke her hand 3 weeks ago; and what about that hair?  I know it has grown at least 3 inches since Saturday.”

“Well she could have gotten extensions, but that cast has been on her hand for a while.  It looks smudge and worn.  I think we should get together with Tim and investigate Mac; she’s hiding something.”

“Tim likes you.”

“What!  No, he’s my sister’s boyfriend.”

“Yeah but he really likes you.”

“Uh alright, but we need to find out who Mac really is and why she knows so much about us.  I know; I’ll start with Mr. Myers.  He owns her building.  He’s a friend of my dad; maybe he knows something about Ms Mackenzie Peterson.”

That afternoon Allyson stopped into Myers’ Realty company and spent almost an hour talking with Sheila the receptionist about the stores on the square.  When the subject turned to Peterson’s Rare Books and Curios, Sheila offered little help.

* ** *** ** *

Tim sat at a computer in the library running a search on Mackenzie Peterson.  He frowned as all attempts returned no matching results. 

“Any luck?” Allyson asked as she sat down beside him.

“No, not really; these people are all either too old, they don’t sell books or they live in some other country.”

“I got her address in Chicago.”

“Great, maybe that will tell us something.”

Tim typed in Mac’s address.  He from city planning records he went into the history of the property.  He took a deep breath and scowled again.

“What’s wrong?”

“Are you sure this is the right address?”

“Yeah, it’s the one Mac gave to Mr. Myers.  I peeked at the file while Sheila was waiting on another customer.”

“Too bad; according to this, the property where Mac lived has always been a vacant lot.”

“So she lied about her address too.  Who is she and why she knows so much about us?  I think we should follow her when she leaves the store tonight.  It will give us more clues.”

“Why don’t we meet in the square at 6:45?  Mac’s store closes at 7:00.”

“Great, I’ll bring Carolyn.  She has a stake in this.”