Motherhood Is Murder

My heart dropped.

She sat a little straighter. ?I did see Celia, as a matter of fact. I saw her at the little sandwich shop near my house.?

Darn!

I had been hoping that Margaret would have been nowhere near Celia. Now she?d had access to both Celia and Helene. Although since she had so readily admitted seeing Celia, she could hardly be guilty, could she?

?Celia was with Howard,? Margaret continued. ?You know Sara?s husband, right? I thought it was strange?them being together, but I remembered she hired him to do the midwife center. So they were probably having a follow-up meeting.?

I covered my mouth with my hand.

Could Howard be the married man?

Did Miss No-Nonsense know about or suspect his infidelity? I recalled her outrage about Alan cheating on Margaret and her outspoken opinion that Margaret should leave the ?two-timer.? I wondered how she would feel now that the shoe might be on the other foot.

?Margaret, that day outside your house I told you I was going to speak with Sara, and well, it might have just been me, but it seemed like you didn?t want me to talk to her.?

She sighed. ?I figured you were going to ask her if she knew about Alan?s infidelity and . . .? She shrugged. ?I guess I was embarrassed. You know airing dirty laundry in front of the neighbors.?

I glanced at my watch. ?When are you expecting your mom??

I dreaded telling her about Alan?s affair with Helene and wanted to be sure that I didn?t leave her alone and vulnerable to taking anything. I wanted to be sure someone would be with her before I left.

Margaret glanced at a handsome cuckoo clock standing in the corner. ?Maybe in about fifteen minutes, why??

?You were right. Alan was having an affair.?

Margaret nodded, her eyes welling with tears. ?I knew it. I knew it.? She bit her fist and her eyes glazed over.

I waited for her to look at me. When she seemed to have collected herself, I continued, ?Margaret, this is going to be difficult to hear but I found out he was seeing Helene.?

Her mouth opened and closed. One leg shot straight out as if she wanted to get up then she seemed to rethink it and fell back deeper into the bean bag. ?What? No, no! That can?t be right! Why would you say such a thing??

?I heard it straight from Alan. He told me he and Helene were going to move away together. She was canceling plans for her home extension.?

?He was going to leave me? They were going to move away together??

I couldn?t bring myself to tell her about their plans to get custody of her children. What did it matter now anyway? She?d been through enough.

Instead, I said softly, ?That?s what he said.?

Margaret wept silently.

I listened to the ticking of the cuckoo clock.

After a moment she wiped her eyes and said, ?Helene never . . . why? How could she do that to me, Kate? How could he do that??

The weight of the betrayal was stifling the room.

?I also was able to confirm that Helene was indeed poisoned,? I said.

Margaret sat straight up. ?Alan did poison her? But why??

?I don?t think Alan did it. No. I don?t think it was Alan,? I said.

Margaret searched my eyes. ?Who else then? Was it Bruce? Did he know about the affair? I feel so stupid. Was I the only one buffaloed??

I was silent. A car drove by, filling the room momentarily with light. As the car passed, the room was covered in dark shadows again, lit only by the table lamp beside me.

?Do you think Bruce killed Helene?? she pressed.

I opened my palms to her, inviting her theory.

?Why would he kill her?? Margaret asked. ?He was barely home?practically never even noticed her. Was it pride?? She rose off the bean bag and started pacing. ?Let me guess: Killing her was a cheaper solution than divorce. She would get half of everything and my husband, too.?

She stopped pacing and stood before me. ?Why did she do it, Kate? She could have had anyone. She was pretty and desirable and unattached?well, I mean, relatively. I know she was married but they didn?t have any kids. She could have just started over with someone else. Someone who wanted kids. Why did she have to take my husband??

?You think Bruce didn?t want kids?? I asked.

Margaret nodded. ?Well, I don?t know but Helene wanted them so much and he just didn?t seem to be interested.?

?What about the adoption then??