A Quiche Before Dying

are you down there? Mrs. Nowack’s here,“ Katie yelled down the steps.
    “Be right up.”
    When she came back up the steps, Shelley and her mother were sitting at the kitchen table. “Jane, dear! What’s wrong?“ Cecily asked, getting up and putting her hand on Jane’s forehead. “You’re as white as a sheet.“
    “Where’s Katie?“ Jane asked quietly.
    “Upstairs. Heading for the shower. What’s wrong?“
    “I’m going to tell you what I’ve done. I’m sure I’m right, but I hope desperately that I’m wrong. I know who killed Mrs. Pryce.”
    Shelley had paled slightly, but her voice was strong. “Do I guess from your expression that it’s not Bob Neufield?“
“Oh, I feel like shit about this! Sorry, Mom.“
    “I’ve heard the word before, chickie. Sit down and tell us about it.”
    Jane opened Mrs. Pryce’s book. “Read page one twenty-eight and think about the little birdcage. Oh, and don’t anybody try to get in the guest bathroom. I’ve locked the flowers in there.“
    “I’m sure this is going to make some kind of sense,“ Shelley said, looking at Jane as if she’d snapped her last twig.
    “The blue flowers are monkshood. Very poisonous.“
    “Poisonous!“ Shelley yelped.
    Cecily was reading the page Jane had directed her to. She looked up slowly and passed the book to Shelley. “Yes, yes. I think maybe I see what you mean. But who...?”
     

20
     
    Jane didn’t expect to hear back from Mel during the morning. She knew he’d be too busy to call her. By noon, however, she was getting fretful. Her concerns about the murder, however, had to be put aside when, right on schedule at one o’clock, Thelma Jeffry’s battleship gray Lincoln cruised into the drive. Jane hurried out to greet her youngest son—and of unfortunate necessity, her mother-in-law.
    She took one look at Todd as he tumbled out of the car and gasped. “Todd! You must have gained ten pounds!”
    He hugged her hard. “Yeah, Gramma let me eat anything I want. It was great, Mom-old-thing.“
    “Sure she did,“ Jane said through a forced smile. Thelma Jeffry, an angular, hard-edged woman, believed the way to any man’s heart was to turn him into Porky Pig. “Thelma, you look like you’ve survived the ordeal,“ Jane said, coming around the car and helping her out.
    “Oh, naturally. Children are quite pleasant to travel with if you’ve got your own wits together,“ Thelma purred. The implication was clear: Jane had no wits to speak of and certainly never had them together. But Jane was glad to see that there were lines of fatigue around Thelma’s eves, and she looked awfully pale for a woman who’d just spent a week in Florida. “Cecily, how nice to see you,“ Thelma said.
    Jane’s mother had come out onto the porch. Todd ran and practically tackled her. Thelma watched this reunion with a cold eye.
    Todd treated them to a solid hour of excited chatter about his trip, while Thelma sat stolidly listening. It was clear she was loathe to abandon him to his mother, much less his other grandmother, but was exhausted and longing to go home. She finally gave up the fight and left.
    “Mom’s leaving Monday. Do come to a big Sunday dinner, will you?“ Jane asked Thelma as she tottered out to her car.
    “That would be nice, dear. I do always enjoy hearing your mother talk about her... ‘globe-trotting’ life.“ She made it sound as if Cecily moved from campground to campground in a rusted-out pickup truck with a canvas tent in the back.
    Todd met Jane as she went back in. “Mom, do you think Nana would mind if I went over to Elliot’s? I got a lot of stuff to show him.“
    “I’m sure Nana would understand. Ask her yourself, though.”
    A few minutes later, Jane and her mother were watching the driveway again. “Mike’s due in about fifteen minutes. I’ll be glad to have him back. Mom, I’m going to miss him horribly when he goes away to college. I depend on him so much.“
    “He’s come through losing his father with flying colors, hasn’t he?“ Cecily said.
    Jane nodded. “But it’s not just the things he does. Mowing the lawn, carrying heavy things, fixing the dishwasher, all that male stuff. More important, he likes me. He and Todd both do. They think I’m a neat person who’s worth talking to occasionally. But Katie—“
    “It’s just her age and hormones. One day she’ll be a lovely young woman and she’ll be your best friend. Like you’re mine . .”
    Jane felt tears