The Class Menagerie

might not have been able to hear it anyway with all those display walls in the building.“
    “Yes, but what conclusion does that lead you to, Jane? That the attacker ripped the pages out and took them along?“
    “That’s one possibility. She could have .easily slipped them into one of the barbecue fires. But I was really thinking of Crispy herself. Look, Shelley, Crispy kept the notebook for some stupid reason. To wave around in somebody’s face, maybe? But wouldn’t she take the pages out and put them somewhere safe first?“
    Shelley leaned back in her chair and tented her fingers. “Hmmm. Are you suggesting that Crispy wanted to use Lila’s notebook for blackmail, too?“
    “Not blackmail exactly. Not to get anything from anybody. But Crispy liked embarrassing people. Remember, I told you when I first met her at the airport, she said she intended to torment the other Ewe Lambs. Remind them of foolish things they’d done. Make them feel silly. I guess as some kind of revenge for not liking her and including her in high school.“
    “Okay, so assuming she kept the notebook—you’re probably right, she might well have torn the pages out. But where would she have put them? The police went over her room with a fine-tooth comb. They were still here when I came back.“
    “No, she knew the rooms wouldn’t lock and two of them had already been searched.“
    “Then where would she put them?“
    “I have no idea.“
    “Jane! You’re here. Thank heaven,“ Edgar said, bustling into the kitchen with a tray of dirty glasses.
    Jane leaped to her feet. “I’m sorry. I should be helping.“
    “Make an ashtray run, would you?“ Edgar said. He was rinsing out glasses and stacking them in the dishwasher.
    Jane picked up the decorative metal canister Edgar used to empty ashtrays into and went to the living room.
    It was about the gloomiest gathering she’d ever walked into. The air was blue with smoke, in spite of the fact that someone had opened one of the French doors. People were sitting around in dispirited clumps, barely speaking. There were only two islands of brightness. One was Pooky and her friend sitting close together on a sofa, chattering happily. The other was a group around Trey Moffat and his pretty wife and smiling baby. She was holding the infant and Trey was making baby talk and prodding it, making it laugh. The baby’s laugh was so infectious that the group around them was smiling.
    Jane strolled around, picking up ashtrays and eavesdropping. Mimi was chatting with another woman about the schedule of a traveling art exhibit. Beth was having a discussion on managing clerks’ billing hours with a man who was presumably also an attorney. Kathy was talking about capital gains with the accountant. Avalon was sitting by herself, knitting as if her life depended on finishing the garment.
    Jane took the canister back through the kitchen and set it outside the back door. Edgar was getting out the food in preparation for serving. He’d put the long library table at the north end of the living room earlier and covered it with a white lace cloth. “Did I remember the napkins out there?“ he said as he wrestled an enormous container of deviled eggs out of the refrigerator.
    “I’ll check,“ Jane said. She peeked around the door. “Yes, they’re on the table.“
    “Okay, I’ll take the melon out. Hold the door for me, then bring the meat and cheese tray.“
    Jane held the door for him, then picked up the tray she was to bring. She edged through the door carefully. The thing wasn’t heavy, but it was large and awkward. She followed Edgar through the room and said, “Where do you want the meat tray?“
    “At the other end.“
    “Meat tray-----“ Jane repeated. “Meat tray!“
    She nearly dropped it.
    Could Crispy have been saying “meat tray“ not “meet Trey“?
    And if so, what the hell could it mean?
    Jane went back to the kitchen and got more dishes to carry in, all the while mumbling to herself. Were there other variations? Meat? Did meat have any significance? Or tray? She made a third trip and a fourth and went back to the kitchen. The counter was now clear. Nothing else to take in! She leaned back against the refrigerator for a moment, thinking furiously.
    Her eyes opened very wide and she turned around to stare at the fridge. She pulled on the door, wondering if Edgar’s super-duper appliance had the same features as hers. Yes, indeed it did! A shallow drawer under the middle