Stork Raving Mad: A Meg Langslow Mystery (A Meg Lanslow Mystery)

bottom.”
    “All by yourself?” I asked. Mother’s contribution to household cleaning was usually supervisory.
    “Of course not,” she said. “I had a sudden surge of energy, and you’d be amazed at how much I did, but I couldn’t possibly have done it all by myself. Some of the cousins helped.”
    “Ah.” I nodded. That sounded more in character. Mother had always had a curious ability to enlist the members of her large extended family to carry out projects for her. I could envision several dozen aunts and cousins swarming over the house until it was ready for a white-glove inspection while Mother performed the truly challenging tasks like doing the floral arrangements for the dining room and choosing the objets d’art on the coffee table.
    “We should probably do the same for your house,” she said. “If you don’t think the students would be cooperative, I’m sure the family can help out. Let me make a few calls.”
    She was reaching into her pocket for her cell phone.
    “Not tonight,” I said. “Just the thought of having more people in the house exhausts me, even if they would be helping out. And even tomorrow would be too soon. Chief Burke would probably rather we wait until his investigation is over before we turn the house upside down.”
    “But wouldn’t it be nice to bring the babies home to a beautifully clean house?” she asked, still holding her cell phone at the ready.
    “Yes, just as it would be nice to bring them home to a house that contained nothing but family,” I said. “But I’m not going to throw the students out on their ears, so that’s not going to happen,either. Rose Noire promised that as soon as I leave for the hospital, she’ll get the master bedroom, the master bath, and the nursery in perfect shape. It’s not as if I’ll be spending much time anywhere else for the first few weeks. If you think some cousins would like to help, you and she can call them when I head off to the hospital. Or recruit them for a grand cleanup once the students finally leave.”
    “Or both.” Mother kissed me on the cheek and turned toward the back door. “I’ll talk to Rose Noire, dear. You get some rest.”
    “That’s my plan,” I said, as she left.
    I picked up my Tupperware doggie container and turned out the light as I left the kitchen.
    I found Sammy sitting in one of the dining room chairs in the front hall, with his chin in his hands.
    “Good news,” I said. “Grandfather’s happy to fund the canine DNA tests.”
    “Good,” he said. “Of course, we have to catch the guy first. And the way it’s going, I won’t even be able to start till tomorrow. The chief wants me to stay around and keep an eye on things here.”
    “So you’re on duty?”
    He nodded.
    I had a brainstorm. I pulled out my cell phone and dialed the police station. Debbie Anne, the dispatcher, answered as usual.
    “Hey, Meg,” she said. “How’s things there?”
    “You waiting around to help process the suspects the chief’s sending down?” I asked.
    “You guessed it,” she said.
    “Can you do something for Sammy while you’re waiting?”
    “Sure thing,” she said.
    “You know that list of vehicles the chief had you get from the DMV? Could you send it to our fax number?”
    Sammy sat up with an eager look on his face.
    “I can’t exactly share that with a civilian, Meg.”
    “I know that,” I said. “But in about five minutes, Sammy will be calling you from Michael’s office to confirm that he and only he is standing there, ready to pull the pages out of the machine.”
    “I get it,” she said. “Give me the number.”
    I did, thanked her, and hung up.
    “Meg, thanks,” Sammy said as he headed for the hallway to the office. “I can start studying the list and planning how to tackle them.”
    “Just don’t get so caught up in the list that you let any of our suspects escape,” I said to his back.
    I continued on up the stairs.
    In our bedroom, I found Abe, Art, and Michael.
    “You’re going to miss the play,” I said as I poked my head in.
    “We just wanted to have a quick powwow before the rehearsal begins,” Abe said.
    “Sorry to interrupt,” I said.
    “I would object if you didn’t interrupt,” Art said. He stood up, and the others followed suit. “You need rest.”
    “Finish your conference,” I said.
    “And you’ll want to get dressed for bed,” Abe said.
    “I can do that later,” I said. “I’m going to read for a while first.”
    Michael