War and Peas

explained to us what he meant about her killing her husband.”
    Shelley looked up and turned off the drill. “Actually, Babs told us what she wanted us to know. It was certainly convincing and probably the truth, but—well, what if it wasn’t, Jane? What if it was just her sheer force of personality that convinced us?”
    Jane thought for a minute. “But her story does match what Sharlene told us about the newspaper article. Once you discount Sharlene’s romanticism.“
    “Okay, that’s right. So that leaves us with Georgia, who’s an ideal suspect.“
    “Uh-huh. She could have killed Derek because he’d dumped her—or was getting ready to. The Lover Scorned. And she must have known she was under a cloud over fudging the fund-raising. And if she had confided in Derek about some other funny-money stunts, then heard him shooting off his mouth—well—“
    “And she’s a suspect in Regina’s death as well. For much the same financial reasons.“ Shelley turned the serving fork around to work on the other end. “You know, there’s another possibility, if, in fact, Derek’s death is related to what he said to Jumper.“
    “Let me guess. Whitney Abbot.“
    “Listen, Jane, it’s possible. He’d lost his fiancée and then overheard a slimeball calling her names and commenting on her sexual preferences. He’d be justified in being real damned angry.”
    Jane got up to rinse off the platter she’d been working on. “You’re going to have to do the fancy stuff around the edges,“ she said, reaching for a dishtowel to dry the piece. “Okay, I’ll give you the point that Whitney would have found Derek’s comments offensive if he heard them, or heard about them. The problem with that theory is Regina’s death. I find it hard enough to believe that one of the people at the museum is a murderer, and impossible to consider that two people are. If Whitney killed Derek, don’t we have to assume he killed Regina, too? And if he killed Regina for some reason of his own, he’d hardly compound the crime by bumping off someone who criticized her.“
    “That’s a bit baroque, but I think I see what you mean.“
    “Oh, I almost forgot the rest. About Regina’s will. It was made a year or so ago. She left something to a couple charities, including the local public television station—which is the first thing I’ve heard about her that makes me really like her—and the rest, including the house she and Lisa shared, to Lisa.“
    “How much was her estate?“ Shelley asked.
    “Mel said about two hundred thousand dollars, plus the house, whatever that’s worth. Or more likely the equity in the house.“
    “Did she own it herself or did she leave Lisa her joint share?“
    “I didn’t think to ask.“
    “Two hundred thousand,“ Shelley mused. “A nice amount of money. Even once the taxes are paid on it. But not enough to kill your bestfriend for, especially when you have a good job yourself.“
    “Money’s a good motive, though,“ Jane said doubtfully. “And Regina would probably have done a new will after she married. What kind of house did they live in?“
    “I don’t know, but I had the impression they lived quite close to the museum, and there aren’t any outstandingly valuable properties in that neighborhood that I know of.“
    “I have the feeling we’re looking at this all wrong,“ Jane said, selecting a silver bowl with very simple, easily cleanable lines. “As if we’re asking the wrong questions of ourselves.“
    “What do you mean?“
    “Well, we’re asking who could have heard what. Who could have been where? But maybe the question is simple: who’s better off now than before Regina and Derek died?“
    “So who is?“
    “Maybe it really does have to do with the directorship in one way or another,“ Jane said. “Somebody’s going to have a new job as director—although I doubt that’s a consideration unless some unknown job applicant decided to lurk around, explore the entire museum, and create a position by killing off people. The other possibility—and this one is real—is that there’s something only the director and the assistant director knew that was highly dangerous to someone.“
    “But what could they have known that nobody else did?“ Shelley asked. “It’s not as if they were chummy. In fact, they seemed to barely get along. Derek wanted Regina’s job; Regina regretted having recommended him as assistant. If Regina knew something to someone’s