“Emma Weyrich," Shelley mused. "We should have guessed. She's not the young bimbo I had imagined, but—"
“More of an early middle-aged bimbo," Jane agreed. "But a health nut like he was, and an employee constantly in his company.”
Jane pulled into the parking lot of the dry cleaners. It was the Dohertys' new establishment, the one Stonecipher had been trying to shut down. Jane always patronized them because they were a nice couple who deserved all the business they could get. She was curious to know if they'd heard yet about the real cause of Stonecipher's death, but a teenage girl who was their Saturday helper was at the front counter.
When they were back in the car, Shelley said, "So what's the goofy reason for making a natural death look unnatural?”
Jane eased into traffic and headed toward the library. "To make Conrad look bad. To try to hurt his business by linking him to Stone-cipher's death."
“But there's no reason to think Conrad did it just because it happened at the deli."
“I know. But if somebody like that Foster Hanlon person found Stonecipher dead and was still steamed about losing the battle with Conrad and what he imagines is the lowering of property values, he might figure that making the deli look like a dangerous place might hurt Conrad's business enough to shut him down. It doesn't make sense, but it could be the way a nasty old thing like Hanlon would think on the spur of the moment. I admit it's pretty thin, but the fact is I was frantic about Mike working there when I thought it was a murder. Other people might avoid going there for the same reason.”
Shelley nodded. "It's possible. Or maybe Conrad had some other enemy who'd like to see him fail. For that matter, maybe Sarah or even Grace was the target, so to speak. I can't imagine disliking either of them. The old Sarah was very well-liked and the new versionof her is as bland as a mouse. But I didn't know her well when we were young and don't know her now either. The same goes for Grace. I like her, but really don't know much about her. She mentioned a nasty divorce. Her former husband could be a real vindictive sort."
“But since it's not murder anymore, I don't suppose we'll ever know," Jane said.
She got out of the driver's seat, opened the back door, and gathered up her library books from the floor of the station wagon. "You need anything here? Are you coming in?"
“No, I'm going to sit here and think. You know, Jane, instead of losing interest in this now that it's not a murder case, I find my curiosity piqued. Why risk being hauled in for an imaginary murder? I can't fathom it."
“Me neither. If the autopsy guy hadn't been up to par and it went on the record as a murder, somebody would have been in a lot of trouble. They'd have probably been convicted of a murder they really didn't commit. It was a huge risk. I'll only be a minute. One of these is overdue and I have to pay the fine.”
When Jane came back out of the library, Shelley was standing by a trash barrel, the now-empty car ashtray in her hand. She was staring into space.
“You just can't resist cleaning up things, can you," Jane said, jiggling her elbow.
Shelley got back into the car and fitted the ashtray into place. "What if making his death look like murder was meant to get someone else in trouble?"
“Like how?"
“I'm not sure. The idea's still coming together." She thought for a minute. "Okay. How's this? If I really disliked somebody at the deli opening and in innocently wandering around, looking the place over, suppose I came across a dead Stonecipher. I might think, ah-hah! My great enemy Suzie Q is out there wearing that sweater that sheds all over the place. If I push this rack over and make it look like Stonecipher was killed and then shove some of that sweater fuzz under the rack, maybe the police will think she killed him and she'll be in a lot of trouble."
“How would you know how the dead Stonecipher had died? Or even that he was dead, and not just in a faint? And why would you risk being seen coming out of the storage room not only once, but twice?" Jane asked. And then she laughed. "Not to mention having to go pluck Suzie Q's sweater in full view of a crowd of people.”
Shelley didn't look chastened. "Hmm. Guess that one won't fly. Where are we going next?"
“Shoe repair."
“Not the taupe heels again. Jane, why don'tyou break down and buy new shoes to replace them?"
“Because I love those shoes. If I could get exact duplicates, I would. You know that commercial where the women are playing basketball in their high heels? I could do that in these shoes. If I ever had the desire to play basketball. Which I haven't."
“I did that once," Shelley said.
“Played basketball?"
“No. Got smart when I realized I loved a green plaid blouse better than I'd ever loved a piece of clothing. I went back to the store and they still had one in the same size. I bought it, put it away in the cedar chest, and wore the first one for a couple years until it was almost in tatters. I finally threw it away, feeling terribly smug that I had a replacement. But when I got out the next one, I discovered that it had aged just as fast as the one I'd worn. I wore it twice and it fell apart in the wash. I was crushed.”
When Jane had once again entrusted her beloved shoes to the repairman, they headed for the giant discount store where Jane intended to buy a lampshade to replace the one the cats had clawed. But the Saturday parking lot was so full they gave up. "Did you see those perfectly healthy, agile yuppies park in the handicapped place and bound out of their car?" Jane fumed.
Shelley grinned. "My mother gets so mad about that. She had some little cards printed up that she puts under the windshield wipers of people like that. The card says: 'The handicap is mental, I assume.' "
“We must have some of those made up!" Jane exclaimed. "If we can't shop, we'll have to eat, I guess."
“Sad but true. Where?"
“The new deli would be great, but we couldn't talk freely there. How about that little salad shop next to the mall?”
When they were seated at a table at the back of the salad shop, Jane said, "I have a real treat for you. A gift from the gods. You know who Patsy Mallett is?"
“Of course. The amazing woman who runs the graduation party."
“Yes, the gift is from her. But I'm afraid there's a bit of a price."
“What kind of a gift comes with a price?" Shelley said, studying the menu.
“Most gifts, I've found," Jane commented. "Anyway, here it is—" She told Shelley the Henry-VIII-and-his-paired-ambassadors theory of committee management.
Shelley was so stunned that she just looked blankly at the waitress when she arrived at the tail end of the explanation.
“What'll you have?" the young woman said."I–I don't know. Anything," Shelley said.
“She'll have the chicken Caesar, extra Parmesan," Jane said, "and I'll have the taco salad, no guacamole."
“Jane, this is wonderful! A real forehead slapper. So that's how she accomplishes so much and keeps tabs on everything. Wow! I can't wait to try this out. I need to sit at this woman's feet—"
“That's the payoff part. You're going to. I volunteered us to work on next year's graduation. You choose the committee. She's calling me Monday to set up a time for us to meet her and talk about it."
“It'll be worth it. How'd she happen to tell you this?"
“She wanted me to pass something along to Mel. About Emma Weyrich. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Quit rubbing your hands together that way about the Domineering Woman's Guide to Bossing People Around and listen to me."
“Okay, okay. I'm with you."
“When the graduation ceremony was over, Emma Weyrich made a point of grabbing me and saying she wanted to talk to me."
“What about?"
“She wouldn't say. All very hush-hush. I said I was sorry about her boss dying and she just brushed it off, which I thought was strange then. Anyway, I didn't know then‑ and I'm certain she didn't either — that Stonecipher had died of a heart attack. I thought later that she might have wanted to talk about someone she suspected of killing him. Either that, or she was trying to beat us into shaping up again. She was real rude and abrupt and told me to come to her apartment at four o'clock today, just like it was a dental appointment or something."