War and Peas

paperwork, and that allowed Regina and me to finally start spiffing up the exhibits themselves.'

“What a huge amount of work!' Jane said.

“Yes, and sometimes it seemed to go so slowly. But almost always in the right direction. Of course, there was one summer that the city was putting in a new sewer line and the street was closed. I think we had about fourteen hearty souls the whole season who went to the trouble of climbing through the construction rubble to get here.'

“How discouraging!'

“Yes, but Miss Snellen was wonderful. When she realized that the museum really could be an attraction, not just a personal hobby of hers, she got behind us with the funding. She even manned the gift shop a day a week, though standing for long periods was hard for her. She encouraged Regina to write articles for various publications that would make the Snellen, if not a household name, at least a name that a few history buffs had heard of. I remember the first time somebody actually came from out of town specifically to visit the museum. We were so excited that we nearly buried the guy in attention.”

Lisa paused and looked away as Shelley came in with their lunches, and said, almost under her breath, 'There were good times.”

The longing in her tone broke Jane's heart. 'There will be lots more good times,' she said. 'Just think how exciting it'll be when the newmuseum starts taking shape and when you are moving things.'

“Yes, you're right,' Lisa said with, a sigh. 'But Regina won't be here to see it.'

“But she'll be with all of you in spirit,' Jane said, cringing inwardly at the cliche but unable to think of anything else comforting to say.

Shelley set out their food, distributed napkins and plastic forks, and said, 'Who will be in charge now? Will you become director, Lisa?'

“Oh, no! I hope not. It wouldn't suit me at all. I've come to really like my job and I do it well, I think. There's a lot of really boring detail work that goes with the directorship that I'd hate. Correspondence and bookkeeping.'

“I guess that's why you have an assistant director, to step in if necessary,' Shelley said. 'Will Derek Delano be given the position, do you think?”

Lisa didn't answer right away. Then she said cautiously, 'I suppose he might.'

“I hope he isn't,' Shelley said frankly. She drizzled dressing over her salad.

“Why is that?' Lisa asked.

Shelley looked up at her. 'Because he's obnoxious.'

“Well. .' Lisa began.

“Look,' Shelley said, 'I realize you have to work with him and I'm not trying to jeopardize your professional relationship, but that man's a jerk and you must know it. Were you in the trailer yesterday when I returned that box of gift-shop stuff and he called me 'babe'? That's just not the way to treat a woman you don't know, and a volunteer at that. If the museum put him in charge, they'd have a sexual harassment suit on their hands in a week.”

Lisa looked stunned at Shelley's bluntness, but acknowledged her remarks with a nod. 'I'm afraid you're right. And I know Regina would have agreed.'

“Why? Did he try that stuff on her, too? His own boss?' Jane asked.

“Yes, 'tried.' But it was so blatant—' Lisa hesitated again.

Shelley was on a roll and wouldn't let it go at that. 'What was so blatant?'

“Well, he was after her job. Everybody knew that. He didn't even bother to disguise it. He was always mentioning how she'd be moving on to bigger and better museums once the Snellen was in its new building and she'd made her name in the profession. At first he flirted with her, which was really inappropriate. Then, when she rejected his requests for dates, he got sulky, and when she became involved with Whitney, he started making remarks that skated awfully close to being sexual innuendos. I'm sure Derek thought Regina found him attractive in spite of all the evidence to the contrary and would push the board to appoint him in her place when she left.'

“So she was leaving the museum?' Jane asked.

“No, she wasn't. I was saying what Derek thought. He was wrong, but nothing could convince him of it.'

“I don't get it,' Shelley said. 'If she was his boss and he was so obnoxious, why didn't she fire him? Or explain it to the board of directors, if they're the ones who do the firing?'

“Pride,' Lisa answered. 'That's all. Regina could be awfully stiff-necked at times. She'd searched high and low for an assistant, interviewed a mob of candidates. Somehow Derek managed to behave in the interviews and she recommended him to the board. She just couldn't bring herself to admit to them that she'd made a mistake. And it might have actually been hard to get rid of him. He's superbly well qualified, academically. More so than either Regina or I when we came here.”

Jane nibbled at her salad, reflecting that it was interesting how Shelley's bluntness often encouraged people to talk about things they'd never normally say, especially to strangers. Lisa Quigley hardly knew them, yet Shelley had her 'talking shop' in minutes. Of course, part of it was probably the fact that poor Lisa had unexpectedly lost a good friend as well as a coworker.

“Don't you suppose the board knows what he's like?' Jane asked. 'Babs McDonald strikes me as a sharp woman.”

Lisa kept poking at her salad as if she really wanted to eat but couldn't quite bring herself to it. 'Yes, Babs must realize. And I imagine Regina talked to Jumper about it. She depended a lot on his judgment.'

“Then it doesn't sound like there's too much danger of Derek being appointed director,' Shelley said. 'Who else is on the board?'

“Jumper, Babs, Georgia Snellen — do you know her?'

“We do,' Shelley said curtly. 'We saw her at the Festival. With Derek.”

Lisa looked for a minute like she was going to question Shelley, but went on instead. 'Then there's an accountant Jumper recommended a few years ago when Miss Snellen died and we suddenly had a large endowment. He's in Alaska right now, visiting his brother who's a park ranger or something.'

“Is that all?' Jane asked.

“No, there's a history professor from the local junior college, but he's traveling in Europe this summer, doing research for a paper. Then there are a half-dozen honorary board members. They aren't voting directors, but they're community leaders whose support is important, and their opinions are pretty highly valued.'

“So right now, the appointment of a new director lies with Jumper, Babs, and Georgia.'

“Only Jumper and Georgia, theoretically. Babs is the president of the board and votes only in case of a tie.'

“Let me guess,' Shelley said. 'Jumper would probably vote against Derek's appointment. Georgia would probably vote for it. And Babs would break the tie.”

Lisa thought for a moment. 'Yes, but. . I think parliamentary procedure allows the president to break a tie, but doesn't require it. So Babs might refuse to cast the deciding vote and make everybody wait until the other two board members return or can be reached to cast a vote bymail. I imagine they'll just appoint him acting director while they search for a new person entirely. Unless—”

The word hung in the air for a moment until Jane asked, 'Unless what?'

“Unless Derek's arrested for murdering Regina,' Lisa said.

Eight

'Do you think he killed her?' Shelley asked Lisa seemed to suddenly realize that she'd gone too far. 'No, no. Not at all. I shouldn't have even thought that, much less said it. I'm really sorry.”

Shelley brushed aside her objections. 'It's natural to wonder when something so terrible happens to someone you love. Do you believe the shooting was deliberate?'

“It had to be, didn't it?' Lisa said, her voice catching. 'The police said the gun came from the museum. That had to be deliberate, stealing the gun. And it's hard to imagine why anybody would take it on purpose, then shoot someone with it by accident.'

“Who could have taken it?”

Lisa shrugged helplessly. 'Anybody, I guess. Well, anybody who knows where the keys to the cases are kept, and that's anyone who's ever worked here. Regina was awfully trusting of everyone and wasn't concerned with