War and Peas

professor from the local junior college, but he’s traveling in Europe this summer, doing research for a paper. Then there are a half-dozen honorary board members. They aren’t voting directors, but they’re community leaders whose support is important, and their opinions are pretty highly valued.“
    “So right now, the appointment of a new director lies with Jumper, Babs, and Georgia.“
    “Only Jumper and Georgia, theoretically. Babs is the president of the board and votes only in case of a tie.“
    “Let me guess,“ Shelley said. “Jumper would probably vote against Derek’s appointment. Georgia would probably vote for it. And Babs would break the tie.”
    Lisa thought for a moment. “Yes, but... I think parliamentary procedure allows the president to break a tie, but doesn’t require it. So Babs might refuse to cast the deciding vote and make everybody wait until the other two board members return or can be reached to cast a vote by mail. I imagine they’ll just appoint him acting director while they search for a new person entirely. Unless—”
    The word hung in the air for a moment until Jane asked, “Unless what?“
    “Unless Derek’s arrested for murdering Regina,“ Lisa said.

Eight

    “Do you think he killed her?“ Shelley asked Lisa seemed to suddenly realize that she’d gone too far. “No, no. Not at all. I shouldn’t have even thought that, much less said it. I’m really sorry.”
    Shelley brushed aside her objections. “It’s natural to wonder when something so terrible happens to someone you love. Do you believe the shooting was deliberate?“
    “It had to be, didn’t it?“ Lisa said, her voice catching. “The police said the gun came from the museum. That had to be deliberate, stealing the gun. And it’s hard to imagine why anybody would take it on purpose, then shoot someone with it by accident.“
    “Who could have taken it?”
    Lisa shrugged helplessly. “Anybody, I guess. Well, anybody who knows where the keys to the cases are kept, and that’s anyone who’s ever worked here. Regina was awfully trusting of everyone and wasn’t concerned with theft. In fact, the board had to overrule her objections to updating and improving the security system.“
    “I suppose the police fingerprinted the display case,“ Jane said.
    “I guess they must have,“ Lisa said. “But they might have found a ton of prints or none at all. The kids who come here love that display. They all lean on it and touch it. Besides, we had a leak from the sink in the upstairs rest room last week that made a big stain on the wall behind the case. We had to wrestle it out into the middle of the room. It took half the staff to move it out, then move it back when the painting was finished. And in the meantime, it was in the traffic path, and I imagine many people who visited the room touched the display as they squeezed past. But if the—the person who did this awful thing had any sense at all, he cleaned off all the prints.“
    “And you think that person was Derek Delano?“ Shelley asked.
    “No. No, I really don’t.“ Lisa obviously regretted her earlier remark about him. She put down her fork and fiddled around pulling her hair back and reclipping a tortoiseshell barrette while she thought. Finally she said, “Derek is ambitious and nasty and has an ego the size of Texas, but I don’t think he’s truly mean-spirited. And he’s very bright and well educated. I believe if it had gotten through to him that he probably wasn’t ever going to be director of the Snellen, he’d have just altered his plan and gone somewhere else to move his career along. I don’t think he especially liked or disliked Regina, either. I’m not sure he can like or dislike people. I think he categorizes them as useful or not useful.“
    “And Georgia Snellen is useful?“ Shelley asked.
    “Oh, you’ve seen her hanging on him? I guess either she’s convinced him she is or—well, to be vulgar—she’s useful, and handy, in other ways.”
    Jane had been working her way through her salad, which was very good, while Shelley and Lisa talked. Now she closed the clear plastic container and started tidying up the table. “Was there anyone who did dislike Ms. Palmer?“ she asked.
    “Well, Caspar Snellen never bothered to disguise his feelings, but other than that, I don’t know. Anybody else who found fault with her would be unlikely to tell me about it.“
    “And why did Caspar Snellen dislike her?“ Jane