The Merchant of Menace

didn’t know Mel was here,“ she said.
    “And so am I, Mrs. VanDyne,“ Shelley said, coming out of Jane’s bathroom where she’d been checking out the view from another window. Her grin was wicked.
    Jane almost laughed. Addie must have heard them come upstairs and was checking out just what Mel was doing in Jane’s bedroom in the middle of the morning.
    Mel, of course, didn’t get it. “Oh, hi, Mom. I thought you were sleeping in.”
    She laughed patronizingly. “You know I never sleep late. I’m so used to being up early to work.”
    Was that a dig at me? Jane wondered. Or am I looking for digs?
    Shelley, Mel, and Addie went back downstairs and Jane stayed behind to bang on the kids’ bedroom doors, alerting them that it was time to get up. If she let them start sleeping late this early in the vacation, they’d be staying up all night and keeping her awake.
    When she rejoined the others in the kitchen, Mel and Shelley were sitting across from each other at the table, not speaking. It was a vaguely ominous silence.
    “Mel’s asking about Bruce Pargeter,“ Shelley said.
    “Oh,“ Jane said, remembering the horrifying story of the sinkhole that he’d told them. She quickly weighed her options. Bruce hadn’t sworn them to secrecy, nor would she have kept a secret that might have unraveled a murder. On the other hand, Bruce had implied that his family’s story wasn’t something he wanted spread around and she didn’t want to spill it in front of Addie. It simply wasn’t any of her business. Or anybody else’s unless it was relevant to Mel’s investigation.
    She took a deep breath and said, “Mel, Bruce told us something about an experience he had with Lance King. I’m sure he’ll tell you if you ask him. But I don’t think Shelley and I have any right to blab about it unless he refuses to talk to you.”
    Addie, who was pouring herself a cup of coffee, spoke up. “Jane, my son is a detective investigating a serious crime—the murder of a man who had been in your house only a few minutes before his death. You haven’t any right to withhold information from him.”
    Jane felt a violent flush crawling up her neck and heard Shelley’s sharp intake of breath. But Mel saved them.
    “Mom, Jane is being honorable. As she always is. Which is one of the many reasons I love her.”
    Jane started to get teary. Addie, however, gasped and turned pale at the word “love.“ She opened her mouth to speak, then snapped it shut, set her coffee cup down with exaggerated care, and marched out of the room and upstairs.
    “She didn’t know?“ Shelley asked.
    “I don’t know how she couldn’t,“ Mel said, confused by his mother’s storm of emotion, repressed as it was.
    Shelley mouthed, “Men!“ and Jane smiled. Mel wasn’t fretting about his mother. He’d gone back to their map of the block. “Who’s here? Oh, the little girl. What’s her name?”
    “Pet. Patricia Dwyer,“ Jane said.
    “Why weren’t her parents here? Or did they leave earlier?“
    “Her father’s a widower. Does something with computers and was working under a deadline, I guess. He didn’t bother to respond to my invitation. Just didn’t show up.“
    “She wasn’t going home to an empty house, was she?“ Mel asked, alarmed.
    “No, she said he was working at home. I don’t know if he has an office outside his house or not. He’s terribly careful of her. That’s why she has to be walked home after dark with an adult watching. And she can’t accept rides. He even does those braids she wears. He’s going to have a rough time when her hormones and independence kick in. He must be a good dad, but he’s not much of a neighbor.“
    “I think maybe he’s just awfully shy,“ Shelley said. “Sometimes shy people seem arrogant and aloof when they’re really not.“
    “Didn’t Suzie say she knew something about him?“ Jane asked. “You might ask her about him.”
    Mel didn’t seem too interested. He was studying his list. “I’m afraid of your friend Suzie,“ he said with a preoccupied half-smile. “Did you say she was in the basement with the men?“
    “Naturally,“ Shelley said with a smile.
    “And there’s Ginger, of course, who isn’t on the map,“ he mumbled as he fought to roll up the wrapping paper map. It had silly-looking Santas on other side. Jane wondered why she’d ever bought it. It’s appropriate, in a way, she thought, but he’s sure going to look ridiculous having it on his office