The Class Menagerie

could be misinterpreted and if so, I won’t do it.’ Especially with her career, which is her life.“
    “You’re right. Well, what about Kathy then? Suppose there was more to it than just having a lot of money. Suppose she’d been doing inside trading?“
    “I think you have to be a stockbroker to be guilty of inside trading.“
    “I just meant that as an example. Suppose she’d been doing some kind of hanky-panky with manipulating stocks. She’s certainly bright enough.“
    Shelley got up and poured them each another cup of cocoa. “Okay, I’ll buy that. But how would Lila know?“
    Jane shrugged. “I’ve no idea. But Lila was pretty smart, too, and she had run a detective agency. What a bizarre job that was for somebody so prim and proper. Anyway, she knew where and how to look for information about people.“
    “What about the others then? Like Crispy? What would Crispy have to lose? Her life and many marriages are not only an open book, they’re a book she forces on everybody who gets within shouting range.“
    “Bigamy?“ Jane suggested.
    Shelley shook her head. “They don’t stone people or lock them up for that anymore. It’s just a civil thing a bunch of expensive lawyers would sort out.“
    “What if she’s not rich at all? Maybe she’s dirt-poor and just putting on a show? The opposite of Kathy’s act?“
    “What good would it do you to blackmail a poor person?“
    Jane laughed. “Good point. I’m better with imagination than logic.“
    “Let it loose on Pooky then,“ Shelley said. They’d finished the crackers and she was licking her finger and prodding bits of crumbs out of the package they’d been in.
    “Pooky—okay, here goes. She won that gigantic lawsuit against the guy who wrecked her face, right? Suppose Lila knew that the guy actually hadn’t done it wrong, but Pooky herself did something that made it go bad? Like they say you can’t smoke after you have a face-lift or the scars won’t heal right.“
    “I hardly think they mean you’ll end up looking like Pooky if you take a drag.“
    Jane was getting impatient, but tried to hide it. “Shelley, it was just an example. What ‘if—ah, what if she’d gone home with relatively harmless goop on her face and washed it off with something that caused a chemical reaction? If Lila knew that and threatened to tell, Pooky’s suit might have been reversed and she’d have to give the money back.“
    “You picture Lila spying through her bathroom window at exactly the right moment.“
    “Shelley, you’re not playing this game right. I don’t know how she’d know, but suppose she did?“
    “I’ll give you a real weak maybe on that one. What about Mimi?“
    “Oh, Mimi’s easy. Immigration authorities. What if there’d been something fishy when her parents brought the whole family to this country? Lila might have known something that would cause all of them to be in danger of being shipped back to China. As happy as Mimi is with her heritage, I don’t think she’s champing at the bit to go back. And she’s married to a Soong. There might be something political in that.“
    “Like being married to a Smith. I’ll give you that this one’s possible. Not likely, but possible. But again, .why would Mimi kill her? Wouldn’t she just traipse off to a lawyer and ask him to fix things?“
    “Not if it weren’t fixable. Who did we leave out?“
    “Avalon.“
    “Drugs,“ Jane said quickly. “Lila seemed to be hinting that Avalon had experimented with drugs in high school. But what if she meant recently? What if she meant trafficking?“
    Shelley burst into laughter. “All run through a crafts boutique in the Ozarks? Jane, I adore you!“
    Jane tried to be miffed, but grinned in spite of herself. “Okay, but keep in mind that you’re laughing because it’s so unlikely. What better cover than the most unlikely one? Tell me that!“ .
    “Yes, yes, but it’s like trying to picture Noriega with overalls and a corncob pipe.“ They were still laughing when they heard a light tap on the kitchen door. They looked at each other, slightly alarmed. The kitchen clock said quarter of eleven.
    “Probably one of Mike’s friends,“ Jane said.
    She went to the door and pulled aside the curtain before opening it. “Mel? What are you doing here?“
    “I hope it’s not too late. I saw your lights were on.“
    “Come in. Shelley and I were just pigging out.“
    He looked a bit disappointed at the mention of Shelley,