Characters
Either it's murder, or this library has a very strict overdue policy.
— Det. Steve Crosetti • Homicide: Life on the Street
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
The speaker offers two explanations, with the second making a library's overdue rules absurdly severe. Murder and a strict lending policy are placed side by side as if they were comparable possibilities. That calm framing gives the dark joke its force.
Context reviewed