Grime and Punishment

I’m sick of it.“
    “You better not get too sick of it, not with that man suspecting us.”
    Shelley just rolled her eyes at this. “Take Mary Ellen’s bowl back while I put the rest of them in the car.”
    Tucking the heavy, slippery bowl firmly under her arm, Jane went across the street and rang Mary Ellen’s doorbell. She answered it a moment later. Today she was in a charcoal jogging suit that set off the blond in her hair beautifully. Didn’t she ever look bad?
    “Jane, come in.”
    Jane walked through to the kitchen and set the bowl down carefully. “I’m sorry, the plate on top got broken. It was my fault. I’ll get you a new one.”
    Mary Ellen smiled. “You can’t. And I don’t want you to. It was just a grocery-store giveaway. You know, you buy ten dollars’ worth of stuff and get the plate for a quarter. I’m glad to see the end of it. Sit down, will you?“
    “Thanks, but I can’t. Shelley and I are taking all the dishes back.“
    “What’s happening, Jane? I saw that man in the red car over there a while ago. Do they know who did it yet? I haven’t seen anything more in the paper about it, and I didn’t like to bother Shelley by asking questions. I know she must be awfully upset.“
    “They don’t seem to know much,“ Jane said. She wasn’t sure whether the theory of it being the wrong victim was supposed to be a secret or not. Probably not, or VanDyne wouldn’t have told her, but still... “Did he come talk to you?“
    “The detective? Yes. He seemed to expect to find that I spent the whole day with my nose glued to the front window, spying on the neighbors. He was disappointed, I think, at how little I knew about everybody’s comings and goings.“
    “You didn’t see anything or anybody unusual that day?“
    “No. I work in the den all day, and that window faces the side yard. Unless I’m passing through the living room to do laundry or something, I never see what’s going on in the street.”
    Jane started back toward the front door. “How’s your arm?“
    “Feeling better. The doctor gave me some stuff for pain, and I’m getting used to it and don’t bash it into the furniture so often now.“
    “Do you need me to take you to the store or anything?“
    “It’s nice of you to offer, but Ed’s been real good about helping out. He’s even been cooking.“ She wrinkled her nose, indicating wordlessly that the intent might be noble but the results questionable.
    “How long do you have to keep the cast on?“ Mary Ellen looked surprised. “I have no idea. I didn’t even think to ask.”
    There was a beep in front. Shelley was honking for Jane to get a move on. “Gotta run, Mary Ellen. I’m really sorry about the plate. Are you sure—“
    “Positive.”
    As Jane climbed into the minivan, they saw Suzie Williams come up the street and pull into her driveway. “What’s she doing home?”
    Jane glanced at her watch. It was only five before eleven. “Maybe an early lunch hour. Let’s find out. We can get rid of one more dish.”
    Suzie came to the door scowling, but brightened when she saw them. “Let me guess! You’re the committee for public decency, come to straighten me out.“
    “You probably need it,“ Jane said. “What are you doing home at this time of day?”
    Suzie motioned them in and headed for the kitchen with Jane and Shelley in her wake. “I’m taking the rest of the day off. Cramps. I’m so sick of this filthy female plumbing. Cramps, at my age! It’s all so goddamn useless. I mean, what the hell good is a uterus anyway when you’re through having kids? Ovaries are okay, but a womb? It’s just a damn nuisance. If hysterectomies weren’t so expensive, I’d buy myself one. Coffee? Coke?“
    “You’re not that old,“ Shelley said.
    “I’ll be thirty-eight next month, kiddo, and if I got pregnant now, I’d shoot some guy in the balls and then put the gun in my mouth. Jesus God, have you forgotten how miserable babies are? Remember sterilizers, diapers, colic, unexplained fevers in the middle of the night that scare the shit out of you and disappear by the time the doctor’s on the case?”
    Suzie and Shelley chatted for a few minutes of the almost forgotten horrors—and joys of babies. Jane was quiet, trying to observe Suzie and her house as if she were a stranger. She’d known Suzie for years and liked her outspoken, vulgar way of expressing herself and the energy she brought to anything she did or talked about. But what