Constable Molly Smith 01 - In the Shadow of the Glacier

chest. For a moment Smith was happy just to see them together. Then Lucky pulled away. Her face was pale beneath her freckles and tan.
    “What’s happened? Sam?”
    Andy’s cheeks were red, his mouth set in a tight white line.
    Lucky picked a piece of paper up off her desk, holding it by the tips of her fingers as if it were covered in dog dirt. She handed the note to Smith, her hand shaking.
    Smith took it. The paper was badly crushed.
    Boom, boom
    Too bad this isn’t a bomb
    But I don’t have enough fertilizer
    Yet
    Remember Oklahoma
    That’s what we do to traitors and deserters
    Boom, boom

Chapter Fifteen
    Smith let out a long breath. “When did you get this, Mom?”
    “It was pushed under the door,” her father said.
    “When?”
    “It was there when I opened up. I figured it was someone local paying a bill, so I tossed it on your mother’s desk. People in town sometimes don’t bother with the post office, you know that.”
    “Where’s the envelope?”
    Lucky nodded toward her desk.
    Smith looked at the envelope but didn’t pick it up.
Mrs. Smith
and the name and address of the store printed in neat black letters. There was no return address and no stamp.
    She punched numbers into her phone. Andy gathered his wife back into his arms and looked at his daughter over Lucky’s shoulder. His eyes were wet.
    “Winters.”
    “Can you meet me at my parents’ store, John? It’s important.”
    “I’m just leaving the Hudson House Hotel. Be there in five.”
    The bell over the front door jingled cheerfully. Footsteps crossed the wooden floor.
    “Tell them we’re closed, Moonlight, please.”
    But it was only Duncan, carrying two coffee mugs with snap-on lids. He was dressed in baggy surfer shorts and a sleeveless T-shirt, with Tevas on his feet. “Sorry I took so long. You wouldn’t believe the crowd at Eddie’s.” He smiled at Smith. “Hi, Molly, you look really good today. Doesn’t she always look great in that uniform, Andy?” Finally he appeared to notice their faces. “What’s up?”
    Smith held out the letter. “Don’t touch, but have you seen anything like this before?”
    Duncan put the mugs down and read. His cheerful smile faded. “That’s awful. It must have been delivered here by mistake. Why would anyone want to bomb our store?”
    Lucky gasped.
    “Duncan, would you please make my mother a cup of tea,” Smith said.
    “I don’t want tea.”
    “You need one. Duncan?”
    “She can have my coffee.”
    “I said tea.” Lucky didn’t drink coffee, and right now she needed sugar. “Dad will have one too.”
    “Okay, sure. Tea all around.” The kettle was set out beside a half-sized bar fridge in one corner of the office. Duncan had to go to the washroom to fill it.
    The bell over the door rang again. “Molly, where are you?”
    “In the back,” she called. Duncan returned with the filled kettle. “After you’ve plugged that in, go and lock the door,” she said. “And turn the sign to closed.”
    “Yes, ma’am. Whatever you say, ma’am.” Duncan saluted. Smith didn’t think the situation was particularly amusing. He passed Winters on his way out of the office.
    Smith held the letter by the corners for the sergeant to read. Lucky would have opened the envelope, taken out the letter, read it, crushed it in her hands, and tossed it in the garbage. Then Andy would have pulled it out and uncrumpled it. Later, it had been passed to Smith, who’d accepted it without a thought. It was unlikely that the fingerprints of the author would be identifiable. But there was never any harm in being careful.
    “Nasty,” Winters said.
    “Gee, you think?” Andy said. “This is a direct threat to my family and our business.”
    “I agree with you, Mr. Smith. Constable, find a bag for the letter and the envelope.”
    The kettle switched itself off. Duncan began gathering cups and tea bags, milk and sugar.
    “I’ll get a forensic examination started on this right away,” Winters said. “It’s a threat all right, but it’s unlikely that this person has either the inclination or the knowledge to carry it out.”
    “You can guarantee that, can you, Sergeant?”
    “Of course I can’t, Mr. Smith. But I can guarantee that the Trafalgar City Police will be keeping an eye on your property until we find this person.”
    “My property, fine. What about my family? What about my wife?”
    “Oh, stop, Andy,” Lucky said. She walked around her desk and sank into the chair. She