The House of Seven Mabels

laptop, a camera bag, and the huge kind of purse you’re talking about. The assistant had a laptop, a camera bag, and a backpack smaller than my purse, and they forced him to check through the backpack. Sort of reverse sexual harassment, I thought. I kept my purse in my lap, but they wouldn’t let him keep the backpack in his lap.“
    “You’re kidding,“ Jane said with a laugh.
    “So what do you want to talk about regarding Sandra’s purse?“
    Jane went over the conversation she and Mel had had. “It was strange to see a woman who never, ever turned loose of her purse, even when she was eating. It was obvious that she had something in it that was so valuable to her that she was never without it literally wrapped around her. I’m always losing track of mine. I dump it in the kitchen when I come home, or sometimes I carry it upstairs with me or toss it on a sofa.“
    “What do you suppose she did with it at night?“ Shelley asked.
    “Probably chained it to the bedpost or kept it in a safe,“ Jane suggested. “So what was in it that was so important?“
    “A weapon?“
    “Mel and I considered that. We also considered that she was one of those people who always felt compelled to have a lot of ready cash on hand, but when I traveled with my parents we always had our paper cash strapped under our clothes.“
    “Did you consider drugs?“
    “First on the list. That’s the only thing I think someone would steal the purse for. We also thought about a datebook and one of those big address books, but I don’t think the purses were big enough for those things.“
    “Where’s your own purse right now?“ Shelley asked.
    “I have no idea,“ Jane said.
    Shelley found it in the squashy chair in the living room. Jane started taking things out. “Billfold. Sunglasses case. A paperback book in the side pocket in case I get trapped with nothing to read. Checkbook. A packet of tissues. A box of winter-green Altoids. Breath spray. Some loose change in the bottom, two ballpoint pens, a pencil. A few crumpled receipts. Some dustballs. Hmm. A dead leaf? How did that get in here?“
    “What about the little inside zippered pocket?“
    “A pair of manicure scissors. A nail file. Lipstick. Yet another pen. A six-inch piece of yellow ribbon.“
    “What’s that for?“
    “A craft project Katie wanted to do. I was supposed to find a match for this ribbon.“
    “I’ll bet mine has the same kind of things, plus the cell phone and maybe a little box of aspirin.“
    “This purse is about the same size as hers. So what made it worth stealing and presumably disposing of?“

Twenty-two

    Mel called Jane the next morning. “Thought you’d like to know that the mystery purse has reappeared,“ he said in a weary voice. “And before you ask, there are no fingerprints, inside or out.“
    “You mean it was empty?“ Jane asked.
    “No, everything you’d normally expect was there. Lipstick, comb, billfold with several credit cards and around seventy dollars in cash and change. A pack of tissues, her cell phone. That sort of thing.“
    “Nothing unusual?“
    “What would you consider unusual?“
    “I don’t know. A length of yellow ribbon?“ Jane said, thinking back to the examination of her own purse contents.
    “No. Would that mean something of significance I’m not aware of?“
    “Uh-huh. It’s just that Shelley and I went through my purse and I had a piece of yellow ribbon in it.“
    “Why?“
    Jane sighed. “It doesn’t matter. I was just trying to match it for Katie. The point is that I had to explain to Shelley why I was carrying it around.“
    Mel didn’t reply. She could almost hear him making a silly face.
    “Where was it found?“ she asked.
    “That’s the interesting thing. It was in a paper bag, also with no prints. I absolutely hate the ease of getting disposable latex gloves.“
    “But where?“
    “Sitting on the newly poured concrete on the sunporch. The concrete had been heavily salted.“
    “Salted?“
    “Yes, apparently that wrecks the surface. Budley is furious. It’s going to have to be all torn out, taken to the dump, and done again, destroying his schedule and raising the cost at his expense.“
    “Why at his expense?“
    “Because your friend Bitsy got a bid from him and locked him into the amount and the timing. With a hefty penalty for every day late to finish the project.“
    “Wow! She finally got a good lawyer to draw it up.“
    Mel wasn’t interested in this aspect.