War and Peas

this.“
    “Did she say who she thought wrote it?“ Mel asked.
    Lisa shook her head.
    “Did you have an opinion?”
    She looked at him. “Do I have to answer that? I had a guess, but it was just a guess.”
    Mel let her reply go. “Are you aware that this was typed on the machine in Ms. Palmer’s office?“
    “No, of course not. Are you sure?“
    “Quite sure. Who had access to that machine?”
    Lisa shrugged. “Practically anyone, I suppose. Regina only locked her office at night, and I don’t think she always did that. Except for the typewriter and answering machine and such, there wasn’t anything valuable. Valuable to anyone else, I mean. And she kept her door open during the day unless she was having a private conversation.“
    “Even when she was out of the office?”
    “I—I think so. I never especially noticed. Sharlene would know better than I do.“
    “So Ms. Palmer handed you the note?“ Mel said, shifting gears abruptly.
    “Yes.“ She looked at him questioningly and then the light dawned. “Oh, fingerprints. Yes, mine are probably all over it.“
    “And you handed it back?”
    Lisa thought for a minute, obviously having trouble concentrating. “I guess I must have. Or maybe I just put it down on her desk. I have no idea. Oh, I feel so bad and stupid about this. Would it have helped if I’d told you about it sooner? I can’t imagine how I could have forgotten it, except that so much else has happened—”
    Mel refolded the photocopy and put it back in his inside jacket pocket. “No, I don’t think it would have changed anything. Did you notice anything different about her after she got this note? Like locking up her office or taking any special care for her safety?“
    “No, not really. But then, it was the week that the Pea Festival started. Everybody’s frantically busy then. If she did anything differently, I’m not sure I would even have noticed.“ Her eyes filled with tears again and she said, “I should have paid more attention. She was my best friend. I should have looked out for her better.”
    Jane handed her a napkin from the stack beside the coffeemaker. “Lisa, we can’t always look after ourselves as well as we might, let alone other people. You can’t hold yourself responsible.“
    “I know—but still—“
    “Jane, I have a few more questions to ask Ms. Quigley,“ Mel said.
    “And you want me to get lost. Okay. I need a break anyway,“ Jane said.

Fifteen

    Proud of her day’s work and prevented from going back to the computer because Mel was using the boardroom, Jane went home early. It was an unusually cool, dark afternoon with rain clouds threatening. Remembering that trash day was tomorrow, Jane decided she might as well break down and clean out her station wagon, which was in its usual state of looking like a motorized wastebasket. She went indoors to try to recruit “kid help,“ but found three notes on the kitchen bulletin board.

    Gone shopping with Jenny and her mom
    —Katie

    At Elliott’s
    —Todd

    Joined the French Foreign Legion
    —Mike

    She rounded up her car-cleaning supplies, invited the cats to come help, went back out to the driveway, and started removing everything that looked useful or important. She stacked things on the cement by ownership: some of Katie’s notebooks that had been in there since the last day of school nearly three months earlier; Todd’s emergency backup supply of Legos in a clear plastic box; some cassette tapes of Mike’s that had been kicking around gathering dust since he got his own vehicle. She decided the movie section of the paper that was a month old was trash, as were a truly disgusting number of fast-food bags and cups.
    Jane discovered a number of perplexing things in the car. A long-overdue library book titled Lilies: The Gardener’s Best Friend. What on earth had inspired her to check that out and why, having gotten it, hadn’t she taken it inside and read it? Her garden could certainly use a best friend. The book went into the pile of things to go back into the car when she was through cleaning.
    To her embarrassment, she also found the telephone bill that had caused such a hassle. The phone company had threatened to cut her off for nonpayment and, in high dudgeon, she’d indignantly insisted that she’d never received it. They’d sent another, which included a late-payment charge that Jane had fought with a high-minded arrogance that even Shelley had admired. Jane quickly tore up