The House of Seven Mabels

hired, you know, until the contract we were offered is extensively amended.“
    “Don’t worry about it,“ Henrietta said. “Bitsy speaks well of your tastes. She’ll go along with what you want, I’d guess. She’s known you both for a long time, hasn’t she?“
    “Yes,“ Shelley said. “We go back years to PTA work.“
    That made everyone laugh.
    When their food arrived, they fell to eating, and conversation was solely about the food. As they were considering dessert, Jane asked, “Did anyone truly hate Sandra?“
    “Hate? I wouldn’t go that far,“ Jacqueline said. “She was seriously annoying and not very good at what she was trying to do. I think the only person who genuinely disliked her was Thomasina.“
    “We haven’t met Thomasina yet,“ Jane said. “She’s the electrician, isn’t she?“
    “And she’s very good,“ Henrietta said. “But she had her toolbox stolen and went haywire because Sandra was responsible for making sure any tools that couldn’t be hauled home every night were securely locked up. And there was that time Jackie got a serious shock when she turned the planer on.“
    Jacqueline objected. “It was nothing. Just a jolt that knocked me off my feet.“
    “It knocked you out, Jackie! Don’t be shy about it,“ Henrietta said. “You were lucky it didn’t kill you.“
    “I’m fine. And I’m sure it wasn’t anything Thomasina did wrong. The planer worked fine the day before and she was off sick the day before that. It was just another of those nasty tricks someone was playing. And I wasn’t knocked out by the shock. It was because I jumped back, tripped, and hit my head on one of the saw-horses.“
    Jane and Shelley looked at each other with alarm.
    “We hadn’t heard about this,“ Jane said, any thoughts she’d had about dessert completely forgotten.

Fourteen

    Thomasina is the one we need to meet next,“ Shelley said as they were on their way home.
    “She sounds like a good suspect, doesn’t she?“
    “She may not have been the angriest one. We still don’t know several of the others,“ Shelley reminded Jane.
    “Who are we missing?“
    Shelley consulted her sheet of workers. “There’s Carl Stringfield, the guy who works with Evaline. The big tall man we watched casually twirl a big piece of Sheetrock, slap it up against the wall and place it perfectly. And, of course, the elusive plumber.“
    “I wonder how much of what we already know Mel knows.“
    After Shelley had sorted out this obscure sentence structure, she said, “We probably know more about their personalities and backgrounds. At least that’s true of Bitsy, Evaline, Jacqueline, and Henrietta. But he’s much more likely to be up to speed on the actual evidence of whether or not Sandra’s death was a murder or a clumsy accident.“
    “I’ll try to snag Mel tonight for dinner,“ Jane offered. “After all, he’s only working one case now instead of three. He’s going to feel strongly motivated to have a bit of a real life off the job.“
    “What are you going to make for dinner?“ Shelley asked, getting to the heart of the plan. “What’s his favorite dinner?“
    “Steaks cooked medium rare on the grill. Twice-baked potatoes. Greasy, overcooked green beans. And he’ll even pick at a salad if he’s forced to.“
    “Then I’d leave out the salad,“ Shelley said with a grin. “I wonder what his terribly high-maintenance mother who’s probably eaten at the most expensive restaurants in the country thinks of his tastes.“
    Jane shuddered at the thought of Mel’s mother. She’d once spent a Christmas with Mel and ended up at Jane’s, who found her formidable and clearly hostile to the idea of her son forming a romantic attachment to a woman she hadn’t handpicked for him. Especially a widow with three children.
    Jane had prevailed earlier and driven the two of them to lunch in her disreputable station wagon, so she just had to drop Shelley off and hit the grocery store after leaving a voice mail message on Mel’s cell phone that he was invited to his favorite dinner. If that didn’t get his full attention, nothing would.
    When she returned, loaded down with groceries, there was a light flashing on the answering machine. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world,“ Mel said. “Six-thirty?“
    “We still don’t know what happened to her,“ he said when they’d finished what he said was a fabulous meal. They’d eaten in the kitchen with Katie and Todd, but had gone