War and Peas

everyone.“
    “Who didn’t?“ Shelley asked bluntly. Sharlene waved toward the front of the booth. “That awful Caspar Snellen, the man who was just here. He didn’t like her at all, but that was his own fault.“
    “Why didn’t he like her?“ Jane asked.
    “Oh, because he’s mean and greedy. Miss Daisy Snellen was his aunt, you see. And he thought he and his sister, Georgia, should get all the Snellen money. When Miss Daisy died, she left him and his sister a lot of money. About a million dollars each, I heard. But the rest all went to the museum. And Caspar made a big, hateful stink about it. Said Ms. Palmer had sucked up to his aunt and that Miss Daisy was senile. It was awful. He brought some kind of lawsuit and threatened to have newspaper interviews and everything. In fact, he’d done something nasty even before Miss Daisy died.“
    “What kind of something?“ Shelley asked.
    “Tried to have her declared incontinent—no, incompetent. I mix those words up. But Tom took care of that in no time.“
    “Was Tom Cable Miss Daisy’s attorney?“ Jane asked, having a lot of trouble picturing Jumper Cable in a suit and tie, arguing a case in court.
    Sharlene nodded. “And he was like an honorary grandson to her, too.“
    “So Miss Snellen’s nephew, Caspar, was the only person who disliked Ms. Palmer?“ Shelley persisted.
    “As far as I know. Well, there’s Derek, too. But he doesn’t like anyone.“
    “Who in the world is Derek?“ Jane asked.
    “He’s the assistant director of the museum. When Miss Daisy died and the board decided to build the new building and all, they thought it would be too hard for Ms. Palmer to do everything and insisted that it was time to get an assistant director.“
    “Why did Derek dislike her?“
    “I shouldn’t have said that,“ Sharlene said. “I don’t think Derek disliked her, exactly. He’s just real ambitious and I think he wanted her job. And I don’t think he liked being second to a woman. He’s a real sexist jerk. You know, the kind of man who’s always pawing and drooling over women, but you know he really despises them.“
    “Sharlene, I just realized something,“ Jane said. “You call everyone by their first name except Ms. Palmer.”
    Sharlene looked perplexed. “Her first name was Regina.“
    “But you didn’t call her that?“
    “Oh, no! I wouldn’t ever do that. It would be too personal. She was my boss.“
    “But so are Tom Cable and Babs McDonald, in a way.“
    “Yes, but they’re different.“
    “How so?”
    Sharlene thought for a minute. “I don’t know exactly. Ms. Palmer was so businesslike. And such a lady. Well, so is Babs, but she insisted that I call her by her first name. I’m not sure why it was different with Ms. Palmer.“
    “Excuse me. How do you get inside?“ Mel said from the front of the booth.
    Jane was startled. “Oh, Mel. I didn’t see you there. Come around the back.”
    She opened the tent flap and held it for him. He was carrying a canvas tote bag with the Pea Festival logo on it. He sat down on Jane’s chair and faced Sharlene. From the tote bag he carefully removed a heavy plastic bag. Holding it by one corner, he laid it on the ground and looked up at Sharlene. “Do you recognize this?”
    The plastic bag contained a small gun. It was old, ornate, and looked like a fancy toy. Or one of the “ladies“ guns that saloon madams in Western movies always seemed to have concealed in their garters.
    Sharlene leaned over to study it. “Yes—at least I’ve seen one just like it. At the museum. Where did you find it?“
    “It was left on the field,“ Mel said. “In a clump of weeds.”
    Sharlene sat up very straight and paled. “Is it—is it the gun that killed Ms. Palmer?“
    “We don’t know yet. Can you come to the museum with me now and see if the one the museum owns is still there?”

Four

    When they were alone again, Shelley said, “What was all that about first names?“
    “I don’t know exactly. It just struck me as odd that she never called her boss by a first name,“ Jane said. “I couldn’t figure out if that said something about Sharlene, or about Regina Palmer.“
    “Probably both,“ Shelley replied, picking up their paper plates and plastic cups. “She was introduced to me as Ms. Palmer, come to think of it. And she didn’t leap in and invite me to call her Regina. But then, I don’t always do that with people, either. I make clear to Paul’s employees that