The House of Seven Mabels

do with Sandra’s death, but was responsible for the other incidents?
    The house had been fully accessible to anyone who wanted to get in to put the shrimp in the ducts. He could have done it or hired someone to do it for him. After Joe Dudley took over as contractor and the locks were changed and windows boarded up, the “pranks“ took place outside. Salting the concrete. Starting the fire.
    But if Budley had nothing to do with Sandra’s death, who climbed through the dense shrubs, went down the virtually invisible coal chute, and brought the purse back?
    As she thought back, she was wrong. The toolbox with the fake bomb showed up at the house, and so did Sandra’s purse, after Budley took over.
    Did it really have to be one and only one person? Or was it some sort of conspiracy? Maybe even several people, unknown to each other, grinding their own axes?
    When Shelley and Jane had both finished their morning car pools, Jane went over to Shelley’s house with a legal pad and pen. “We’re going to make a timeline. Maybe that will show us something we’ve forgotten.“
    But Shelley sidetracked her with the anti-wrinkle cream. “Try it.“
    “Not now. I’ve already put my makeup on.“
    “No, you haven’t.“
    “I thought I had,“ Jane said, trying to remember the morning rush. The kids had both gotten up late and both their schools took tardiness seriously. “Smells good,“ she said, rubbing a little bit of it under her eyes.
    “They say within a week you’ll see a difference. If this house thing doesn’t pan out, maybe we could become reps and sell the stuff,“ Shelley said with a laugh.
    “Yeah, right. Door to door, I assume. No thank you.“
    “So, we’re making another of your legendary lists?“ Shelley asked. It was a running joke. Jane was a compulsive list maker.
    “Not exactly a list. More like a couple of charts. Okay, let’s start with everyone involved in the renovation and what we know about them. First is Bitsy. I’ll make a note across from her name regarding possible motives. An insurance scam, for one.“
    “Don’t you need another column for reasons these people aren’t the ones responsible?“ Shelley suggested.
    “Good idea. See? You’re already contributing. We mark Bitsy as the one who stands to profit the most in the last column.“
    “Are you considering Sandra?“
    “I suppose we could list her, but she was already dead before most of the things happened.“
    “Put her down anyway. The object is to be thorough, right? To jar us into some conclusions or things to find out.“
    Jane put Sandra’s name down. Under Sandra, she also added the thugs who collected the rents for the previous owners. Not by name, of course.
    “We know nothing about them and never will,“ Shelley objected.
    “But they could be behind everything that’s happened. Wanting to get their lucrative jobs back.“
    Shelley just shrugged. “It’s your list.“
    “Jacqueline Hunt is next. What motive could she have?“
    “None,“ Shelley said. “She was one of the victims, remember. She got a shock when she plugged in the planer.“
    “That doesn’t necessarily exclude her from things that happened later. Maybe revenge for someone she thought set her up for the shock.“
    “Jane, don’t you think it’s unlikely that several people are vandalizing the house and endangering others?“
    “Unlikely, but possible. Just go with the flow, Shelley. If we’re wasting time, we’ll know it when we get the charts done.“
    “Charts? Plural?“ Shelley groaned.
    “The second one is going to be the order bad things happened. So we’ll put possible revenge for getting shocked.“
    “Jane, that doesn’t make sense. Which stunt do you imagine she did? It could only be some of them aimed at Bitsy. Jacqueline is proud of her work and certainly would want to see it completed. She’s also making money from Bitsy. Why would she jeopardize a good job?“
    “Okay, okay,“ Jane said grumpily. “I’ll cross out revenge. I guess we mark nothing for Henrietta Smith, either. You could say the same for her. They work as a pair. What about Wesley Woodly, the furnace guy? He certainly had nothing but contempt for both Bitsy and Sandra.“
    “But the furnace and air conditioning are working now. And he’s been paid and is no longer on the job. Why would he care what happens to the project?“ Shelley objected again.
    “Because there’s the other side of the upstairs still to be done and the