Evil Breeding

feet to a girlish size six. Althea’s hair had, however, been becomingly trimmed, moussed, curled, and fluffed. Its white aura hovered around her pink scalp as if emanating from the electrochemical whoosh and crackle of logical thought beneath.
    “Bro,” said Althea, impatiently tapping long, bony fingers on the table.
    I’d finished summarizing facts and speculations about the Motherway family, Christina’s death, Peter’s murder, the background of Mrs. Dodge and the Morris and Essex shows, and the material I’d received in the mysterious mailings. Before presenting and subsequently surrendering the material to Kevin Dennehy, I’d made high-quality photocopies of everything, including the photographs. Donning eyeglasses with inch-thick lenses, Althea had peered at the picture of the servants at Giralda. At her request, I had just read aloud the note from Eva to the unknown Bro.
    “Bro,” she repeated. “Brother? Our cast of characters offers only one, does it not? We are told that the senior Mr. Motherway’s sister died in Germany. Therefore, she lived or visited there for at least part of her life. The biological father of this same Mr. Motherway was German. The surname is not. The relationship between the stepfather and stepson was close. The stepfather passed along his interest in dogs, in antiques, in art. His name, too?”
    “I wish my memory were better,” I said. “I think that Mr. Motherway actually said he’d been adopted, that his stepfather had adopted him.”
    “Two children,” Althea said. “Brother and sister. Your Mr. Motherway, if I may call him that, was adopted by the stepfather, who did not necessarily adopt the sister as well. Therefore, the sister and brother may have had different last names. Hers, presumably, was German. Her first name, too.”
    What came to mind was Brunhild. I had the sense to keep quiet.
    “Many of what one thinks of as American first names,” Althea continued, “are, of course, of German origin or are common to both countries. But let us broaden our focus to include other items in these mysterious packets, which are not, on reflection, all that mysterious after all. What are these mailings about? The Motherway family. Specifically, Christina Motherway. Her funeral. Therefore, her death. The murder of her son, Peter. Nothing cryptic there. If some items, why not all? Letters of reference from German employers for a certain Eva Kappe. Eva. An ordinary American name, an ordinary German name. Eva’s connection to the Motherways? As you have cleverly discovered, a certain Eva Kappe attended the same New Jersey high school also attended by our unique brother, so to speak. An informal note from Eva to Bro. Eva Kappe to her brother. Bro? Oh my, yes. Yes, of course! Our only brother.”
    “Bro,” I said. “Short for B. Robert. Short for brother. Althea, what Motherway wanted to paint for me was a picture of a patrician background. Princeton, tours of Europe, showing at Morris and Essex. He likes low-key name-dropping. Mrs. Dodge. Her son. Foreign judges. Even if he’d talked about his sister, he’d never have said that she was anyone’s maid.”
    “My energy is beginning to run low.” Althea does not complain. Rather, she reports. Now, she could have been a laptop issuing a low-battery warning. “Perhaps a cup of tea would help. Would you mind asking Mary? And a treat for Rowdy, too. We can’t leave him out.”
    Roused by the sound of his name, Rowdy arose and did his debonair act, which consists of dancing around with the grace of Fred Astaire before seating himself next to a lady and proffering his outstretched paw. If his victim cooperates, he kisses her hand. Althea objects to saliva. Rowdy compromises by resting his chin on her knee or on the arm of her chair while training eyes of adoration on her ancient face. His posture and expression suggest that he is summoning the courage to propose marriage. What’s interesting about the courtship behavior of Rowdy the Debonair is the contrast between the actual and the potential. In actuality, he suavely and gently pays tribute to an elderly friend. The potential is readily observable: the incisors, the canines, the premolars, and the molars of this or any other Alaskan malamute. Ponder the crushing power of those jaws. The dog could maim or kill in seconds. He could, yet he does not and will not; the distinction between the actual and the potential is strong and trustworthy. But it’s always there,