A Farewell to Yarns

gasped, “do you know what these things cost?”
    After purchasing four of the shiny plastic disks, they moved on to a luggage store, where Shelley knew there was a sale on extremely good, frumpy handbags. That took care of Jane’s mother-in-law. “She’ll just take it back,“ Jane groused.
    “Of course she will, but she might apply the credit to a suitcase and then get the urge to go on a trip. You can’t lose.“
    “Oh, Shelley, you are a comfort to me!“ Jane said with a laugh.
    A matched set of necklace, earrings, and bracelet in very good mock turquoise and silver let Jane mark her sister-in-law’s name off her list. “That’s really pretty stuff,“ Jane said. “I can’t believe they aren’t hot at that price. She’ll love them. So would I. If Steve were alive, I’d go home and hint like mad. You know, it’s very strange not shopping for him. I actually put his name on my list when I started this and felt like a fool.“
    “Old habits,“ Shelley said astringently. “Let’s get on our way. I’m getting claustrophobic.”
    On the way home, they chewed over the business of John Wagner having a key but came tono clear conclusion, except that Jane really ought to at least mention it to Mel VanDyne. It had seemed a long day already, and Jane felt her brain turning to mush. Once home, she hid her purchases and put the roast into the oven. It had been marinating for two days in wine vinegar, cloves, and onions and smelled good enough to eat raw. It was Uncle Jim’s favorite dinner, and if he was going to drive clear out to the suburbs, which he hated, to sit through a band concert, a good dinner was the least she could do for him.
    After touching base with each of the kids, she went to her room, took off her suit, silk blouse, and panty hose, and lay down for a short nap. But her mind kept wandering around the question of the murders. She knew something important, she was sure of it, but she couldn’t land squarely on what it was. It was something she’d noticed recently.
    Something she’d seen...
     

Twenty-one
     
    “What a very interesting seasoning,“ Thelma Jeffry said with critical reflection as she chewed on a bit of roast beef.
    Uncle Jim winked at Jane. “It’s German, Thelma,“ he said. “When Jane’s family and I lived in West Berlin, her mother fixed this nearly every Sunday just for me.“
    “Jane, I didn’t know you lived there—too.“ She made it sound like they were gypsies who’d called a painted wagon their home. “Such a dangerous place to take children, I would have thought.“
    “Not really,“ Jane said breezily. “My sister and I used to play hide-and-seek on the Berlin Wall. The guards were really nice. Especially the Russian ones.”
    Thelma gasped and looked like she wanted to clamp her hands over the children’s ears to keep them from hearing about their mother’s foolishness.
    “I’m joking, Thelma,“ Jane told her reluctantly. “My sister and I weren’t born then, and The Wall didn’t exist. Mike, would you please join us?”
    Throughout the meal Mike had been rehearsing for the upcoming concert. Tapping his foot to the beat of music none of them could hear, he was intently practicing his fingering on his milk glass. He hadn’t spoken throughout the whole meal.
    “Huh? Oh, Mom, you did get the oil and water checked and put some air in the tires, didn’t you?“
    “Mike, it’s only a few blocks,“ she said, passing him the potatoes. “Mike is driving himself tonight,“ she explained to the rest of them.
    “First time out on the new driver’s license?“ Uncle Jim asked.
    “Oh, Jane, do you really think that’s a good idea?“ Thelma asked.
    “No, I’m quite certain it’s not. I don’t think he should drive until he’s at least twenty-five. But the state of Illinois says it is, and he passed his test with flying colors—and I do mean flying!“
    “Mike, why don’t you let me take you and your friends in my Lincoln?“ Thelma offered.
    Mike looked so stricken at the idea of showing up at the school being driven by his grandmother that Jane took pity. She wouldn’t just take him, she’d go in with him and want to fuss around straightening his collar and taking dozens of pictures. “No, Thelma, I promised Mike he could drive himself. He needs to be there earlier than the rest of us.“
    “I know what Steve would have thought,“ Thelma said repressively.
    “Maybe you don’t,“ Jane replied, knowing better but unable to