Motherhood Is Murder

Kate.?

After giving birth to Laurie just a few short weeks ago, I?d been dragged into a murder investigation. Well, maybe ?dragged? wasn?t the right word. I had launched a fledgling private investigation business. Maybe ?launched? wasn?t the right word either. I had solved a missing person?s case, and two murders.

Yes, I had solved it.

I?d also met the medical examiner.

The ME is called to a scene only when a death has occurred.

I closed my eyes and bowed my head. I felt Nick?s hand on my elbow.

?I?m sorry, Kate. Were you close??

I shook my head. ?No, I only met her briefly. She and another mom invited me to join their mommy group. Tonight I met the whole gang.?

He sighed. Something buzzed from inside his jacket pocket. ?Sorry, I have to get that.? He fished out his cell phone and hurried toward the exit.

Nick had reception, why didn?t I?

I tried to focus on my phone but there was a tightening in my chest, my eyes teared.

Poor Helene. Dead? What could have happened?

How could a fall down some steps have killed her? Had she broken her neck? Head trauma or what?

One minute she was alive and well, eating dinner with us, then suddenly she was gone.

How many children did she have? They needed their mommy.

I swallowed the lump forming in my throat.

What was behind all the looks exchanged at my table? There seemed to be some animosity between the women.

Could Helene have been murdered?

Maybe someone pushed her down the stairs.

No, that didn?t make any sense.

Certainly if anyone was trying to kill her, they wouldn?t have done it on a crowded dinner cruise, much less by pushing her down a stairwell. That would have been stupid.

Push her overboard, maybe, but not down some steps.

It had to have been an accident. Or perhaps she?d died of natural causes. But she looked so healthy!

Maybe an aneurysm?those could strike suddenly and take someone?s life even if they were young and seemingly healthy.

The medical examiner would figure it out.

Could I help in any way? Maybe there?d be a need for a PI?

Right. What was I thinking? I had no license. No way to land a case on my own. The only way I could fathom landing a case would be to enroll help from Senior PI Albert Galigani.

Galigani had been instrumental on my first case. Maybe he would let me use his license, or work for him. I?d do whatever it took to make myself legit.

I pushed the thought aside. Legitimacy didn?t matter. Helping Helene did. Although I hardly knew her, my heart grieved.

I recalled meeting her last week. I was at Angles de la Terre, the ultrachic baby store in downtown San Francisco. It was pricey, but they carried high-end products and had a great selection of items such as cradle cap cream, which I hadn?t been able to find at Target. Never mind the fact that there is no Target or Walmart in San Francisco. So after being forced to shop in a neighboring town and striking out, I made the trip downtown.

I was rewarded by the smell of chocolate wafting in from next door to Angles de la Terre. A tiny chocolatier selling only superb candy had been at the same location for ninety years. I stopped in and conducted a quality check. After all, old-time traditions need to be maintained. And who better to taste the chocolate than a San Francisco native?

Wasn?t there something about chocolate that had medicinal properties anyway?

As I roamed the aisles of Angles de la Terre, I licked what remained of the truffle off my fingers. Indeed the quality was still superb.

I pushed Laurie?s stroller down the organic cotton diapers aisle, which was flanked by signs noting MADE BY FAIR TRADE WORKERS, and felt my shoulders relax to the new age music. The next aisle held the remedies I was looking for, including cradle cap cream.

I grabbed the bottle and examined the ingredients?all natural, of course.

And ooh?aroma-therapeutic properties.

A woman, tall and slender with impeccable posture, rounded the corner of my aisle.

She stopped short of Laurie?s stroller and gazed down at her. Laurie was decked out in a frilly little pink dress with matching pink booties and hat.

?She?s beautiful,? the woman said.