War and Peas

over the scene of a crime.“
    “But wasn’t trying to steal the pea a crime?“
    “Not the way he sees it. He says his great-grandfather developed it, and it’s rightly his. He reluctantly includes his sister as a potential beneficiary. Besides, rummaging around in that cabinet isn’t a crime that was likely to involve a crime lab and fingerprints. It was just snooping.“
    “Did he find the pea?“
    “Jane! Who cares? Like anybody could grow a fifty- or sixty-year-old pea! It’s just another loony idea of his.”
    Jane didn’t want to argue seed viability, especially since she was completely ignorant on the subject—not that such considerations always stopped her—but she said, “Still, did he find the pea?“
    “He claims he didn’t.“
    “Good. If that pea exists and if it could grow and if it could be patented, it shouldn’t belong to him.“
    “Given all those ifs, I’m not sure you’re right, legally. But it doesn’t matter. I don’t care about the amazing pea—I care about the real murderer being caught. And Rolly’s just trying to swirl his cape and show off that he can solve a murder investigation from the privacy of his own bathroom.“
    “Rolly’s the officer in charge? And he’s still sick?“
    “I was overstating it a bit,“ Mel admitted.
    Jane smiled smugly. He was always accusing her of this sin. But she didn’t let her satisfaction creep into her voice. “What about Regina’s death? How does Rolly figure that?“
    “Sheer dislike, frustration, and annoyance on Caspar’s part. Regina had, in his view, tricked him out of a fortune that should have been his, and after exhausting all his legal recourses, he just went berserk and killed her out of spite. I don’t buy it. Caspar Snellen is a coward. His method of operation is annoying lawsuits. He’d brought at least a dozen of them against various people in the last ten years and collected rather nicely. He’s one of those people who deliberately trip on escalators and then sue the hell out of the department store.“
    “You’re kidding!“
    “He never wins, legally. Because the stores always settle rather than going to the trouble and expense of going to court. He’s done well at it. Fifty grand here, seventy-five there.“
    “Doesn’t sound like a man who would shoot a woman out of spite,“ Jane said. “If he’s that good at the legal shenanigans, he could have exercised his spite by inundating the museum, and Regina, with frivolous suits.“
    “That’s my thinking, too,“ Mel said. “I don’t discount the fact that he could kill. But not for the motives Rolly’s come up with. Either the motives are wrong or the suspect is.“
    “Or both,“ Jane said.
    “Most likely both,“ Mel agreed. “Oh, something else you’re sure to ask me about sooner or later—Regina’s will. She left almost everything to Lisa Quigley. The house they lived in, some stocks and bonds.“
    “When was it written?“ Jane asked.
    “About a year or so ago,“ Mel said. “Nothing to her family?“
    “Nope,“ Mel replied. “She was an only child, parents both dead. There is an aunt and uncle who seem to be pretty well off in their own right. There were a few other bequests, too. The public television station, the Salvation Army.“
    “Nothing to the museum?“
    “No, but the will was written after Daisy Snellen died. She knew the museum had already been extremely generously endowed.“
    “That makes sense,“ Jane said. “How much of an estate are we talking about?“
    “About two hundred thousand, plus the house. Uh-ho, I’m being paged. Talk to you later.”

Twenty-two

    Jane finished cleaning up the kitchen, bellowed at the kids that she was going next door, and went to report in to Shelley about her call from Mel.
    “What in the world are you doing?“ Jane asked. Shelley had covered her kitchen table with a piece of plastic and had some tools, brushes, rags, bottles, and a bunch of tarnished silver serving pieces laid out.
    “I’m polishing silver. For the last time ever!“ she exclaimed. “Paul’s mother is a great believer in silver, as you know. I’ve never figured out if it’s an especially Polish thing or just her private obsession, but she keeps giving me these things and I’m expected to keep them polished and on display at all times. But I’ve had one of those Life-Changing Revelations. She called this afternoon when she got home from a trip and told me that her hip is still giving her trouble