From Here to Paternity

to an absent host. About that time Ms. Garner got there, heard the last of the conversation, went and puttered around the kitchen and said there was another coffee cup missing.“
    “Ah—so maybe she was having coffee with somebody who took the other cup away. Fingerprints, maybe?“
    Mel shrugged. “You never know. So the sheriff— his name is Plunkbucket, by the way—“
    “It isn’t!“
    “No, but it’s something like that. He says every time he’s ever been up here, people are roaming around the grounds with coffee cups and glasses and things, and Ms. Garner admits that’s true and the missing one might just turn up in the spring melt. Apparently all sorts of stuff show up when the snow disappears every spring.“
    “Didn’t you tell him you’re a detective?“
    “Oh, I did that. And it made the situation about ten times as bad. He resented me enough before that; then, when he found out I was not only a detective, but from Chicago as well, he really got nasty. City slickers trying to tell him how to do his job, et cetera.“
    “But did he agree to test the coffee left in the cup?“
    “Well, yes and no. He’s testing it, but only because of my threat to report him to anybody I could find to listen if he didn’t.“
    “You feel that strongly that her death was suspicious?“
    “No, I don’t. But I was pissed off by then. Some of her genealogy chums had turned up by that time, and they were backing him up like mad that it was just an unfortunate but inevitable result of her bad heart and a disastrous afternoon. They told him all about the debate and how she’d been laughed out of the room. What the hell is this stuff I’m eating?“
    “I dunno. Fruit of some kind. Don’t you like it?“
    “It’s okay. Just a funny texture. I’m hungry enough I’d probably eat broccoli if somebody put it in front of me.“
    “How did the sheriff explain the papers thrown all over?“
    “Just a fit of pique. He actually used those words, I swear. After hearing of the debate that the genealogy people kept yammering about, he figures she came back, fixed herself a cup of coffee, then got herself all worked up to a temper tantrum and threw her work around. This activity leading, naturally, to a heart attack.“
    “But, according to that scenario, why weren’t there any papers under her body?“
    “Coincidence,“ he said. “And the big slob could be right. I told him so. I kept trying to impress on him that I wasn’t claiming there was anything suspicious, just trying to convince him there could have been foul play and if he didn’t have the scene examined carefully, he might be sorry later.“
    “So who won?“
    “I guess I did. He didn’t want to look too bad in front of all the gawkers who’d already come and pawed around, disturbing any evidence that might have been there originally. So he called in some more deputies and started checking the place out properly. Too late, but better than just slamming the book shut on the woman without a second thought.“
    “You’ve done your duty, then.“
    The waiter took away their salad plates, leaving tiny palate-clearing scoops of lime sorbet, then was back shortly with a mystery soup and some little muffins with bits of leaves cooked in them. Spicy apple butter accompanied the muffins. Jane offered hers to Mel, not mentioning that she’d eaten his appetizers, and he wolfed both muffins down.
    “I’ll probably find an elk head in my bed tonight,“ he said around half a muffin.

    Mel refused to talk any more about Doris. Instead, they concentrated on their dinners. Mel’s buffalo steak turned out to be what Jane called Swiss steak—a pounded, slow-cooked meat. The waiter explained that buffalo, though growing in popularity, was a much tougher meat than cow and needed more cooking. Mel claimed it was delicious, but complained that the blue cornmeal dressing tasted blue.
    “Tastes blue? What in the world do you mean?“ Jane asked, laughing.
    “I don’t know. Just blue. I’ve never eaten blue food before. I don’t think in the cosmic scheme of things we’re meant to. How’s your elk stew?“
    “It doesn’t have much meat in it. It’s mostly vegetables and dumplings,“ Jane said. But after she’d tasted it, she realized why. The elk was a highly flavored meat and any more of it would have been overwhelming. The cattail pollen dumplings, however, were absolutely delicious, with a sweet, nutty taste unlike anything Jane had ever eaten.