Motherhood Is Murder

A motive for Sara, Miss No-Nonsense. What if Sara had known Howard was having an affair but didn?t know with whom? Let?s say she suspected Helene. Certainly Helene could have been acting suspicious because she was having an affair, only not with Howard.

Sara had been on the cruise. They?d had a fight. The wet dress, the spilled drink, it was all starting to add up.

Had she seen Celia that day?

Celia hadn?t mentioned seeing Howard or Margaret to me; maybe because she?d been covering up her affair. Had she seen Sara, too, and just not told me?

I stood. ?I gotta go. I need to talk to Sara.?

Kenny grabbed the chess pieces and threw them into the box. ?My work here is done,? he said proudly. He popped up and joined me on the walk home.

We said good-bye to each other as we approached our houses. I let myself inside and found Jim in his underwear watching the morning news with Laurie secured in the crook of his arm. I took Laurie from him and nuzzled her. She fixed her blue eyes on me and cooed.

?Did you get me anything?? Jim asked hopefully.

?Uh . . . yeah, I did.?

Jim smiled.

?But I ate it.?

He laughed. ?Look.? He indicated the television. ?There?s a huge protest downtown,? he said. ?Tons of arrests.?

?Since you?re not dressed, does that mean you?re staying home today? No meetings??

Jim nodded. ?Yeah. It?s crazy out there. I?m staying here with my little sasquatch and her mommy.?

?I need to run an errand. I want to follow up with Miss No-Nonsense, see where she was on the fifteenth.?

Jim?s brows furrowed. ?All right, but be careful.?

?Should I stop on the way and order the turkey??

Jim smiled. ?I?m a step ahead of you. I already preordered it online.?

I sat outside Sara?s house and contemplated my strategy.

Could I come right out and ask her about Howard?

How sure was I that Celia and he were having an affair? If they weren?t and Sara was completely innocent, I?d be sticking my nose where it didn?t belong. On the other hand, Celia was still alive. If Sara was plotting something, better to be safe than sorry.

I rang Sara?s doorbell. She opened the door and squinted at me.

?Oh, I wasn?t expecting you.? She had on a bright orange T-shirt and jeans with paint splotches across the front. She stood in the doorway and kept me on the stoop.

?Sorry I didn?t call first. Do you have a minute??

She glanced behind her, into what I knew was the living room. ?Just one. Go ahead.?

I imagined baby Amanda at her huge play station, flailing around.

?Uh. Yeah. Okay.?

Why wasn?t she letting me inside the house?

Why was Miss No-Nonsense dressed in a dirty old T-shirt?

?Sara, can you tell me where you were on November fifteenth? Did you happen to see Celia Martin that day??

I waited for her reaction to Celia?s name, but she simply scratched at her chin. ?Was that last week? What day? Who?s Celia??

?It was a Tuesday. Celia is a midwife. She did Margaret?s birth and now she?s helping Evelyn . . .?

Sara scrunched her nose in distaste at the mention of Evelyn?s name. ?Oh. Yeah. The midwife.?

?I understand Howard was the general contractor that remodeled the birthing center.?

She frowned and blinked rapidly a few times. ?Oh . . . uh . . . uh-huh.?

She hadn?t known.

Her husband had taken the job on the side and hadn?t told her. Even Margaret knew about the job. I guess the mommy group wasn?t as close as they had pretended. Venom, lies, and betrayal all around.

Sara composed herself and asked, ?How can I help you??

?Where were you on the fifteenth, Sara? Did you see Celia??

?No. Why are you asking??

?Someone poisoned her with the same drug that killed Helene.?

Sara swallowed and appeared frozen. ?Is she all right??