The House of Seven Mabels

“When the first workers arrived, they didn’t even notice the pitting of the surface until they tried to throw the paper bag away and the bottom stuck to the surface and there sat the purse. Thank God nobody touched it.“
    Jane dragged herself back to thinking about the purse.
    “Mel, were there any receipts in the purse or billfold?“
    “Not a one. Why do you ask?“
    “Nor a notebook or note cards for writing things down? Like a shopping list?“
    Mel was slow to reply. “No,“ he finally said. “Janey, thanks for thinking of that.“
    “Do you think it means something?“
    “It might,“ he admitted. “A purse is a bit like a man’s jacket pockets or billfold, I imagine. I’m always finding notes to myself and beat-up receipts when I take a jacket to the cleaners or my billfold starts bulging. I have to go. I’m glad I filled you in on what’s going on. Your take on things is interesting.“
    “You’ve never admitted that before.“
    “Why would I?“
    “Just to be nice,“ Jane said with a laugh. “Like you are today.“
    “Only today?“ he asked. “It’s probably just because she was overorganized about keeping her purse free of debris.“ Before she could reply to his attempt to back out of the compliment he’d given her, he said, “I have someone here who wants to talk to me. See you later.“
    Jane picked up her own purse from the kitchen chair where she’d put it and discovered a side pocket she and Shelley had overlooked. It contained a paper clip, yet another ballpoint
    pen, and two very old grocery lists written on scraps of paper, one sheet apparently torn from a blank page in the back of an old paperback book.
    She threw these away and called Shelley.
    “We got a compliment from Mel a few minutes ago. On a purely domestic thing I mentioned we’d done.“
    “Do tell!“ Shelley exclaimed.
    “His call was about finding the purse that’s been missing.“
    She recounted what he’d said about the contents and what questions she’d asked.
    “Jane, he’s never really appreciated our views before, you know. It’s terrific that he finally realizes that we know ordinary everyday domestic things that might be important.“
    “To be honest, Shelley, he tried to weasel out of having admitted that, then cut me off to talk to someone else.“
    “Of course he did. He’s a man, after all,“ Shelley advised. “I assume they found it outdoors.“
    “Why would you assume that?“ Jane asked. Shelley had spoiled her next bit of information.
    “Because Bitsy had all the locks changed. And Budley, you, and I have the only duplicates. One of the four of us must show up early every morning from now on to let the workers in.“
    “It’s not going to be me, and it shouldn’t be you. We’re not being paid, or even contracted to be paid yet.“
    “Good point.“
    “Besides, she didn’t give me a key,“ Jane continued.
    “She gave me yours. This was the first chance I’ve had to pass it along. So where was the purse found?“
    Jane told her.
    “More vandalism,“ Shelley said with a sigh. “I’m starting to wonder all over again if Sandra really was murdered. Nothing else that’s happened actually hurt anyone.“
    “The planer hurt Jacqueline,“ Jane argued.
    “But only because she jumped back and hit her head against something. It wasn’t meant to harm her, according to Thomasina.“
    Shelley went on. “All the other catastrophes are just nasty. The damage to the Sheetrock, the shrimp in the furnace pipes—excluding, of course, the two women who were nauseated. The salting of the fresh concrete and the fake bomb in the toolbox are other good examples. They all merely caused trouble and delays.“
    “Even if nobody was seriously hurt, the next such incident might go awry,“ Jane objected. “And anyone working there or even sneaking onto the site will probably go on doing things until they get their way.“
    “Say that again.“
    Jane repeated her statement.
    “That could be what it’s all really about,“ Shelley said. “Who stands to profit by this? Bitsy’s ex-husband? Just to destroy her project that he thinks he’s actually paying for out of the divorce settlement? Or Joe Dudley, who ended up with a job he seemed to have needed?“
    “Shelley, that doesn’t make sense anymore, unfortunately. I can see that he might have tried to sabotage the job to get Sandra fired, so he got a second shot at making money on Bitsy. But why would he