Silence Of The Hams

thought.
    “Oh, we just wanted to say hi, nothing important,“ Jane said.
    “You’ve heard about Emma Weyrich, I guess,“ LeAnne said, lowering her voice.
    “We have,“ Shelley said neutrally. “Awful, isn’t it?“
    “Are you still dating that detective, Jane?“ LeAnne asked.
    “Uh-huh,“ Jane said warily.
    “I guess he tells you all about his cases.”
    “Afraid not,“ Jane said.
    “Is he investigating Emma’s death?“ Le- Anne asked, undeterred.
    Jane saw no reason for concealment. “Yes, he is.“
    “How was she killed? This morning’s paper j ust said a blow to the head.”
    “Some kind of barbell thing, I think,“ Jane replied. That, too, would soon be public information if it wasn’t already.
    “I guess they went over her apartment pretty carefully,“ LeAnne said. “I wonder if they found anything—helpful.”
    Jane shrugged. “I have no idea. I know they search really thoroughly.“
    “So you don’t know what they found?”
    “Me? No. Mel wouldn’t even consider sharing inside information with me,“ Jane lied. I wish he were here, Jane thought. He’d be impressed. And very interested in LeAnne’s questions.
    “ It must be really interesting dating a detective,“ LeAnne said in a terribly perky tone.
    “It’s weird to be dating at all,“ Jane said.
    “I know! When Charles and I were separated, I dated a bit and it was strange. My ice cream’s melting. I guess I better run along. Nice visiting with you.“ On this almost hysterically chirpy note, she wheeled her cart away hurriedly.
    Shelley said, “Do you suppose she thought she was being subtle?“
    “Did you see her hands?“ Jane asked. “She was clutching the handle of the grocery cart so hard I expected it to crumple.“
    “The only thing her questions didn’t tell us was which color folder was hers,“ Shelley said.
    “Poor LeAnne,“ Jane said. “She probably had one an inch thick. Think of all the dirt she must have dished about Charles during the divorce.“
    “But Jane, could anybody as pathetically unsubtle as LeAnne commit an actual murder and manage to even get out of the room without giving herself away? After the performance we just saw, I can imagine her running out in the hallway and looking for people to tell, ‘You haven’t seen me here, have you?’ “
    Jane laughed. “There would have to be a huge amount of evidence to convince me she could carry it off. Still, for as silly as she was just being, there’s more to her than that. Just look at the dedication and determination it’s taken for them to pull themselves out of bankruptcy and get a whole new business started? Not to mention the intelligence it takes. It can’t be all Charles’s doing.“
    “Sure it could,“ Shelley said, picking up the cream cheese she’d come in for and moving toward the checkout. “And maybe that’s what she’s afraid of. That Charles was the one Emma had an appointment with.”
    Jane fell silent while Shelley made her purchase. Once they were back in the car, she said, “You could be right, you know. I hardly know Charles, do you?”
    Shelley shrugged. “No. Paul had some dealings with him years ago when Charles was still with that investment company or mortgage company, whatever it was.“ Shelley’s husband, Paul, was, among other things, the owner of a chain of Greek fast-food restaurants that he’d started from scratch.
    “What did Paul think of him?“
    “He said Charles was bright and ambitious enough, but didn’t seem to think he was spectacular in any way. A nice guy. I’ll ask him again, but I doubt he’ll have much more to add. It was about the land for one of the restaurant franchises and I think they met only once or twice over some routine details. Not a situation where you’d get to know someone intimately.”
    Jane nodded. “Shelley, would Paul have any special insights into the deli’s business?“
    “He might, but it doesn’t seem to have anything much to do with the deli anymore, does it?“
    “I don’t think so, but who knows? Conrad and Sarah have led a pretty strange life and Stonecipher might have known something about them, too.“
    “How could he? They only came back here recently and as soon as they did, they started the deli and he started his zoning war. It’s not likely they ever considered being clients of his.“
    “True. But maybe he dug up something about their past when he was trying to shut them down. Drugs or something? They lived a pretty