Grime and Punishment

wouldn’t have proved anything anyway. Just confirmation of your suspicion. By the way, you might be interested in knowing that Edith isn’t doing any of her jobs this week. She called in and said she was having a bad spell with a wisdom tooth.“
    “Ahh, so you think she’s figured the same thing and is scared?“ Jane asked.
    He acted as if he hadn’t heard the question. Turning his attention back to Shelley, who’d started tapping her spoon lightly on the table while staring thoughtfully out the kitchen door, he said, “We’ve checked on all the service vehicles seen that day in the neighborhood. All were legitimate. Furniture deliveries, plumbing repairs, and so forth. There were also three people seen walking the block that we know of. One was a woman collecting for charity, another was an insurance adjuster working a fire-damage claim, and the third was a paper boy home from school with chicken pox, but out making his collections. All of them were exactly what they claimed to be. The only other people known to be near this house were the ladies who brought the food.”
    He left it at that for the moment, giving them time to draw the obvious conclusion.
    In an intellectual way, Jane was gratified to have her own suspicions confirmed. At the same time, she felt her heart constrict. It was one thing to jabber about something like this with Shelley; it was altogether a different matter when an officer of the law all but told them one of their acquaintances was a potential murderer. She wanted badly to go back to the old wandering-maniac theory.
    In spite of the cherry sweater and the bright shaft of sunlight coming through Shelley’s sparkling windows, Jane began to shiver. This wasn’t a game and it didn’t matter if VanDyne liked them or not. He had to know the truth. “Shelley, tell him about the pearls.“
    “No, Jane.“
    “What pearls?“ VanDyne asked.
    “Shelley had a strand of pearls that were stolen,“ Jane said. “She didn’t want you to know because she didn’t want her husband to know they were gone.“
    “Jane, I wish you hadn’t said that. I told you I knew who took the pearls.“
    “Who?“
    “Paul.”

Fourteen

    “Your husband stole your pearls?“ VanDyne asked.
    “Technically, they are his and no, he didn’t steal them. He took them—to be cleaned and appraised,“ Shelley explained. She was actually blushing, something Jane had never seen happen. “I told Jane earlier I was supposed to have put them in the safe-deposit box and I didn’t. I discovered after the murder that they were missing, and I didn’t want my husband to know I hadn’t taken care of them.“
    “That’s why you didn’t tell me when I asked if anything was missing?“ VanDyne asked. He was a little curt. Almost disgusted.
    “Because of that and because I had no idea when they disappeared. They could have been gone for a year. Jane, that’s what Paul was calling about a few minutes ago. I guess I kept staring at that drawer, and he noticed. He called to tell me not to worry.“
    “Were they real?“ Jane asked.
    “No. High-grade fakes, though. With some value just because they’re good antique imitations.“
    “I beg your pardon, ladies. But is this really pertinent?“ VanDyne asked.
    “It is to me,“ Shelley replied sharply.
    After a long pause, he bent and picked up a briefcase and removed a stack of papers. “Now, I’d like to go over these statements with you—“
    “Statements?“ Jane asked.
    “From the women who came here that day. You were a witness to some of them arriving.“
    “I’ve already told you everything I know.“
    “Yes, but I thought going over it might help you remember more. Something insignificant you didn’t think to tell us maybe? Now, I spoke to Mrs. Williams last night—”
    Something about the awestruck tone in his voice when he mentioned Suzie’s name made Jane and Shelley both smile. “Did you learn any new words?“ Shelley asked.
    “A few,“ he admitted. “She’s quite a woman, isn’t she?“ There was both admiration and something like fear in the statement. “She says she’s a buyer for the local branch of Marshall Fields.“
    “Lingerie and foundations, as I suppose she told you,“ Shelley said.
    “Yes—ah, well, uh. Now, Mrs. Williams says she forgot to bring her dish over before she went to work, so she took an early lunch hour and ran home and then over here. She thinks that was about eleven.“
    “I wouldn’t know,“ Jane