A Quiche Before Dying

too.'

“The fact is, she didn't want to take the responsibility for ratting on her sister, so she dumped the moral dilemma in Jane's lap,' Shelly said, cutting another paper-thin slice of pie. 'What about the name, though? How did Maxine Harbinger get to be Naomi Smith?' She glanced at VanDyne.

“Maxine was her first name, like Ruth tried to claim it was hers, but some foster parent along the line didn't like it and called her by her middle name, Naomi. It stuck. She married briefly and got the Smith,' he replied.

Thelma shook her head. 'The woman set out tohave her sister's crime revealed and then tried to claim that she herself was the murderer? I think she must have been insane.'

“No,' Shelley said. 'She was very canny. I think she believed that Jane would keep quiet about the clues once she figured them out. That way, Ruth would have eased her own conscience by 'telling' someone, but Naomi wouldn't suffer the consequences. When it didn't turn out that way, she was horrified by what she'd done and wanted to protect Naomi. It wasn't such a bad plan, actually. Jane might well have felt so sorry for Naomi that she might have kept it to herself. And without her insight, the police would never have figured it out.'

“Oh, I wouldn't be so sure of that,' Mel said firmly. 'We were on the track already.'

“Mom!' Katie screeched from the family room. 'Make them stop!”

Jane ignored her daughter and focused on Mel. 'I beg your pardon? You had no idea! Admit it!'

“We did, too. We were checking out everything we could about everyone, including tracing to see whether Naomi's illness was real. One of the office staff was worrying away at the fact that a woman who lived in a middle- class suburb of Chicago had a blood disease that's only found in the tropics and in severely undernourished people. He'd discovered that she'd suffered from it all her life, and was already trying to find a birth certificate to see where she was born.'

“Yes, and in another three years he might have figured it out if somebody had put a framed copy of the right page of Mrs. Pryce's book in front of him,' Jane said indignantly.

Mel grinned at her. 'Maybe sooner than that.”

Thelma looked from Mel to Jane and back to Mel. She had a look of dawning suspicion.

Jim Spelling watched Thelma's eyebrows draw together, and he grinned at her wary expression.

Jane turned to Cecily. 'It was all because they lost their mother. It's made me awfully glad I still have mine.'

“Mom! They're terrible!' Katie screamed closer at hand.

Mike came tumbling into the room. He had Todd in a headlock. Todd was laughing hysterically and flailing his arms, trying to land a fist in his older brother's crotch.

Jane put her head in her hands. 'Such a refined household,' she moaned.

“No, that's not the way,' Mel said, getting up and coming around the table. He pulled Todd away from Mike to demonstrate a better hold. 'See, if you can get his shoulder this way, he can't use his arms—'

“Hold it,' Uncle Jim said, coming to his feet. 'That's all wrong. You've got it backwards. Here, let me show you.' He grabbed Mel to demonstrate.

Thelma was making feeble little cries of alarm and disapproval.

Jane and Shelley looked at Cecily. 'Don't they ever grow up?' Jane asked.

Cecily shook her head. 'If your grandfather were here, he'd be right in the middle of it, knocking people around with his walker.”

Jane got up. 'Outside! All of you!' She started shoving them toward the door.

As they headed through the family room, Mel came back to Jane and whispered, 'I've got some great holds I could show you later. How about it?”

And with the gentlest of fanny pats, he was off to join the others in the backyard.

“Why, Jane,' Thelma said when Jane came back to the dining room, 'your face is red as a beet. You're not coming down with something, are you?”

Jane smiled.