The Class Menagerie

is Pooky,“ Mimi said with a smile she obviously hoped would help diffuse Kathy’s emotions.
    “Pooky!“ Kathy snorted. “She’s too stupid to walk and chew gum at the same time. Nobody’d expect anything of her. Why, even that strung-out loser Avalon’s got a mob of foster kids, with handicaps yet, and she’s kept her looks, too, dammit. It’s not fair. All I’ve got is thirty extra pounds, a seven-bedroom house, and four spoiled brats. My oldest son has his own Ferrari. Hell! I should have made something of myself. Of my kids. Of the world. I wanted to, I really did. I had the brainsand the drive and the ideals. And then Harold patented that damned computer hardware thing—“
    “What kind of computer thing?“ Jane asked..
    Kathy wailed. “I don’t even know! A chip conductor or a floppy cable or something stupid! At first I tried to talk him into giving the money away. There was so damned much of it. Set up an environmental trust, I said. Make your name live in history. Like Edison, but with a social conscience. But he told me we had to think of the kids and he was right. I could see the justice in that. So he told me if I’d invest for them for five years, then he wouldn’t object if I gave the rest away. And so I learned all about the stock market—“
    “And you were good at it?“ Jane guessed. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Beth had come inside and was standing quietly by the doors to the patio. Hector was still with her, but when he spotted Jane, he made a Decline for her lap. He landed with a solid thud. Jane obligingly scratched the top of his head.
    “Good at it?,“ Kathy said, “I’m a goddamned wizard! I couldn’t lose money if I tried. I don’t invest in South Africa though!“ She looked around at them defiantly.
    “No, of course not,“ Mimi murmured, smiling over Kathy’s head at Jane.
    “—and pretty soon the five years had become six and I couldn’t stop. I can’t even blame Harold. It wasn’t his fault. It was my own! I got greedy! I sold out! And I’m nothing now but your average rich bitch. I’ve turned into my mother !“ Her voice rose to nearly a shriek.
    “You’re hardly average, Kathy,“ Beth said from where she’d been listening at the French doors. She came in and sat down, but kept a safe distance, probably for fear of being cried on. “You don’t know this, but you and I have a friend in common who’s kept me up on you. He tells me that you know more about the pharmaceutical industry than anybody he’s ever heard of. He says Barton’s and the Wall Street Journal consult with you before they comment on medical matters.“
    “You knew all along?“ Kathy said, smirking a little at the compliment and sniffling revoltingly into a tissue that Mimi had handed her.
    “I’m afraid so.“
    “So did Crispy,“ Jane said softly. “At least she knew you were rich.“
    “What did she do, help you search my room?“ Kathy asked nastily.
    “I wasn’t searching your room. I explained that to you.“ No point in adding that Crispy had, indeed, gone through her billfold. It wasn’t relevant. “She knew because of your hands.“
    “My hands?“ Kathy looked at them as if they didn’t belong to her. “So damned near everybody knew. Beth, Crispy, Lila—“
    “Lila knew?“ Mimi asked.
    “Oh, sure. That snoopy bitch knew everything. She used to be married to a private detective, she said. She bragged about how she was able to find out practically anything about anybody. Give me that cat!“
    Hector allowed himself to be transferred and hugged fiercely.
    “She told you this here?“ Jane asked.
    “Yes, yesterday afternoon,“ Kathy said, petting Hector in a manner that almost qualified as mauling. Hector brbrmeowed happily. “She was leading up to a little ever-so-ladylike blackmail. Her with her frumpy clothes and her DAR membership.“
    Jane leaned forward. “What did you tell her?“
    Kathy looked genuinely surprised at the question. “I told her to fuck off. What do you think? I’m not stupid about what I do with my money.“
    “—and?“ Jane prodded.
    “And she backed off. But it was temporary. She minced about how embarrassing it would be for everybody to know my real life and how she’d just let me think about it a while and she was certain I’d see the sense in giving her a little help over a rough spot.“ Kathy had lapsed into imitating Lila’s precise, slightly Boston accent with chilling accuracy.
    “And then