Mulch ado about nothing

Stephanopoulas?“ Shelley said.
    “I certainly did, but what I’m most anxious to look at is Miss Winstead’s garden,“ Jane said. “I felt that the other gardens we’ve visited really said something about the gardeners’ personalities.“
    “Oh, dear! Then I’m in trouble,“ Shelley said. “Mine isn’t even really mine. It’s out on loan.“
    “So will mine be,“ Jane said smugly. “I followed your bad example and called the nursery. My garden ‘arrives’ tomorrow afternoon. And I have a water feature!“
    “Jane! You didn’t! What fools we’re making of ourselves. I’m really regretting my pretense. The others are going to see right through us and despise us.“
    “Why? It’s not as if we won’t enjoy having nice things for people to see. And we might both want to keep them all instead of letting them go back to the nursery.”
    Shelley looked embarrassed. “I’ve been looking around and had already decided I’m going to keep the stuff I rented. The yard looks so nice now.“
    “What wimps we are,“ Jane said. “I’ve already committed to keeping the little fountain. I saw it when Mike showed me around the nursery last week and longed for it.“
    “Then you should have it,“ Shelley said authoritatively.
    Jane’s calf muscle was cramping, and she shifted around to get more comfortable. “Does it strike you as strange that the only ones of us who found something to like in Ursula’s garden were you and I and Miss Winstead?“
    “Naturally we liked some of it because we’re open-minded,“ Shelley said. “But yes, I was surprised to see Miss Winstead taking notes.“
    “Don’t you wish you could have seen the notes?”
    Shelley looked at Jane and asked, “What are you suggesting?“
    “Maybe her notes weren’t exactly about the garden. That’s all. Maybe they were about Ursula herself.“
    “Why would you think that? Oh, if she were a suspect...”
    They both fell silent for a moment, then Shelley said, “You have half an excuse to be speculating wildly, what with the foot, and the crutches, and Kipsy Topper and all. But there’s really no reason to think anybody in the class had anything to do with hurting Julie even if Mel insists they’re second-string suspects.“
    “I suppose you’re right. But Julie Jackson knew some of them. Dr. Eastman for one. She worked out the schedule with Stefan Eckert. Her own sister joined the class. And Miss Winstead has been in touch with her as well. What if one or even all of the others also knew her? We’re all in the same neighborhood and have been for a pretty long time. Even I had met her at a city council meeting and remembered who she was.“
    “But isn’t it more logical that one of the men she was always being seen with is more likely?“ Jane smiled. “Maybe so, but we don’t know who they are and can hardly gossip about them. Anyway, this is taking my mind off The Dreaded Kipsy and my foot.”
    Mike was late again. At eleven o’clock as Jane was wondering how to get upstairs with her book, her last cup of decaf coffee, and the clean towels for her bathroom, Katie stormed down the steps. She was livid with sibling rivalry. “Mike’s not that much older than me.“
    “Not much older than I... “ Jane corrected her. “Why can’t I come and go whenever I want like he does?“
    “Because you’re younger. And, much as I hate to say it, a girl. Could you help me carry up some of these things?“
    “Mom! You’re positively medieval! I’m not a dumb little girl. I’m a young woman. If you just got me a can of Mace and a cell phone, I’d be perfectly safe anywhere.“
    “You forgot to mention the car to get anywhere,“ Jane said sarcastically.
    “No, I didn’t. You bought Mike a truck. Why not me?“
    “Because you’re too young. And you’re not as good at driving yet as he was when I got him the truck.”
    This was the honest truth. Katie wasn’t making progress with driving safely. She was too busy looking around at boys walking down the street, checking her lipstick while driving. Forgetting to lock the car. Forgetting to put on the parking brake. Dumping chewing gum in the ashtray. But Jane hated being that honest.
    For one thing, Katie was in a snit and jealous of her big brother, and would think it was an excuse for depriving her of her rights.
    For another, Jane’s own background wasn’t anything like Katie’s. She hadn’t learned to drive until she was almost twenty, because her diplomat