Silence Of The Hams

one and in the other without being noticed unless you crashed into the trash and drew attention to yourself.“
    “Mrs. Jeffry?“ a voice called shrilly.
    “Oops, I have to get back to work,“ Jane said, getting up hurriedly. “Mel, you’re not going to poop out on chaperoning with me tonight, are you?“
    “Nope, I’ll probably fall asleep standing up, but I’ll be here.”

    “Shelley, the police aren’t getting anywhere,“ Jane told her an hour later. Jane was folding a pile of table napkins as Shelley finished ironing each one.
    “Come on, Jane. He was just grousing to you about his job. And he’s not the entire police force. You have no idea what else they know that Mel’s got no reason to tell you about.“
    “Like what?“
    “Like fingerprints on the rack for example. Maybe they, already know who did it and Mel is just trying to get additional information to enhance their case, not prove anything. Hey, you’re supposed to fold them, not wad them up.“
    “Hmm, I didn’t think to ask him about fingerprints. But I can’t believe he’d be acting so discouraged if that were the case.“ She meticulously refolded the napkin and held it up for Shelley’s inspection.
    “Better. Look, Jane. Suppose for some reason you had to interview everybody at the grade school graduation and find out where everyone was for every minute. Can you think of anything more tedious and boring?“
    “Okay, I’d be cranky, too. But according to him, it’s a lost cause because of the doors and that little trash barrel area behind there.“
    “All right. He’s got the lousy assignment. So what?“
    “So I think it wouldn’t hurt if we could give him some useful information. You know perfectly well people will be a lot gabbier with us than with him.“
    “You know how he feels about you butting in,“ Shelley said, laying out the last napkin on the ironing board and spritzing it with water.
    “What I have in mind isn’t butting in. It’s just being neighborly. We really should make a sympathy call on Rhonda Stonecipher. We’d do that anyway, even if Mike didn’t work at the deli and I wasn’t frantic to see this thing solved.“
    “True,“ Shelley admitted.
    “And we ought to send flowers to Sarah Baker at the hospital, and it would be much nicer if we delivered them in person.”
    Shelley finished pressing and unplugged the iron. She set it on the kitchen counter and folded up the board. “That’s a little iffy. But you’re the one who’s going to have to explain it to Mel, not me.“
    “Unless we learn something interesting, there won’t be anything to explain,“ Jane said.

    * * *

    They arrived at the Stonecipher house at the same time as a florist’s delivery truck. Tony Belton came to the door, accepted the flowers, and looked at Jane and Shelley as if he’d never seen them before. He was in a suit today and had adopted an appropriately mournful look. With his stunning pale blue eyes, he did it well.
    Jane introduced herself and Shelley, reminding him that they had sons on the soccer team he was coaching, and said, “We just wanted to tell Rhonda how sorry we are.“
    “Come in,“ he said. “She’s just meeting with the funeral people. I think they’re almost finished. Would you like some coffee or a soft drink? Or something to eat? There’s a whole houseful of food.“
    “You go back to Rhonda,“ Shelley said, looking around. There were flower arrangements shoved everywhere and boxes of food where there weren’t flowers. “We could put some of this away for you.”
    He looked around at the chaos piling up and smiled with gratitude. “That would be great. You sure you don’t mind?“
    “Not a bit,“ Jane said. “We’d be glad to be of some use.”
    Tony disappeared, and Jane and Shelley got busy straightening out the neighbors’ offerings. They carried all the food items to the kitchen, and while Shelley rearranged the refrigerator to make room for some casseroles, Jane set the flowers around the living room as artfully as she could. When Jane rejoined her friend in the kitchen, Shelley was shaking her head in wonder. “I’m going to wrap these two hams and put them in the freezer. Why on earth would anybody send hams to the family of a man who died under a pile of them?“
    “It wasn’t really a pile. And maybe they didn’t know. There’s probably another freezer in the basement or garage,“ Jane said quietly. “They’ve got everything else. This kitchen could