The House of Seven Mabels

something stunning.“
    “What was that?“ Shelley asked.
    “Unfortunately, my attorney told me never to reveal it. But I moved to Chicago, where the work paid better. Rented a heated garage and lived in it for two months, working during the day as often as I could get work. And experimenting on evenings and weekends. I finally realized I could never get away from the dust, so about six months ago I rented an apartment and just spent my free time at the garage. Meanwhile I went back to the library to study up on copyrights and trademarks and found a patent attorney. And that brings me to today. Jane was nice enough to pretend to be an old friend and witness my signature.“
    Evaline beamed a dazzling smile at them, raised a fist, and said, “Whoopee!“
    “Nice girl, isn’t she?“ Jane said as they started home.
    “Hmm,“ Shelley said. “Pleasant. Not necessarily nice. I didn’t like the idea of her making money writing other students’ chemistry papers.“
    “No, I didn’t either. But, Shelley, if we’d grown up without parents, without money, and wanted to get ahead in life, we might have chosen to do something not quite right.“
    “I don’t think we would have.“
    Jane let it go. She thought back to her own childhood, spent traveling around with her diplomat father and mother. She wasn’t a good person to make such a judgment. She and her sister, Marty, had often been placed in boarding schools when it wasn’t appropriate to take children along on her father’s missions. Both of them had been rigidly trained to always be polite and gracious. It didn’t stick with Marty, though, when she got to live her own life.
    “Could we stop off just a moment at the project?“ Shelley asked. “I forgot to measure the basement. And we haven’t even seen the third floor where the gables are.“
    “Dormers,“ Jane automatically corrected her. “I guess so. I left dinner with instructions to put it all in the oven at five-thirty. And it’s that time now. Won’t be ready for at least half an hour.“
    Everyone had apparently left the job site. No trucks, no sign of lights left on, and plenty of parking space. “I brought along flashlights,“ Shelley said. “I have no idea if there are light fixtures down there.“
    The front door wasn’t locked. “No wonder anyone can wander in here,“ Jane said. “Bitsy and Sandra should lock up everything when the workers are gone.“
    “That’s just one of many things they aren’t doing right,“ Shelley said, opening the basement door and feeling for a light switch along the wall. When she found one, an old-style push-button, light flooded the stairway.
    “Oh my God!“ Jane exclaimed. “There’s a body down there!“

Twelve

    Shelley and Jane called their homes and let their children know they’d been delayed. “But turn the oven down to 225,“ Jane said to Todd.
    “What’s up, Mom?“
    “There’s been an accident at the place that’s being renovated. I’ll be home as soon as I can. I have to get off the phone now.“
    “Are you and Mrs. Nowack okay?“
    “Perfectly okay. Don’t worry,“ Jane said in the chirpiest voice she could manage, and it wasn’t easy. Shelley had already dialed 911 from her cell phone, and they could hear sirens in the distance almost immediately.
    “Shouldn’t we go down there and see if we can help her?“ Jane had asked.
    “I don’t think so,“ Shelley said, her voice shaking. “I’m very sure from the angle of her neck that she’s dead. Let’s just stay by the front door. I’m sorry I pushed that light button. I might have put a fingerprint over someone else’s.“
    Two ambulances arrived at the same moment, and Shelley told them where to find the basement door. Mel VanDyne arrived only a moment later. And very angry to see them.
    “I just finished all my work and got this call. What the hell are you two doing here?“
    “Go check out the situation and we’ll explain later,“ Jane said, understanding his frustration. They hadn’t had any time together for over a week, and were both looking forward to his getting free for a while.
    Shelley asked Jane, “Didn’t Mel know what we were doing?“
    Jane shook her head. “He’s been frantically busy for the last week. Three different cases to wrap up. Mostly all we’ve been doing has been playing phone tag. No wonder he’s mad at us. Now he’s probably going to get stuck with this, just when he was expecting a bit of peace and