War and Peas

only the two volunteers and they were sitting out in the lobby the whole time, chatting with the woman who was working the gift shop. I already asked them.'

“Was anything taken from the office?' Jane asked.

“I don't know. It's such a mess,' Sharlene said. 'It'll take me forever to straighten it out. I better start —'

“No,' Jane said. 'Let's go up and get the room locked right now and call the police.'

“The police! Why?' She stared at Jane for a minute, then added, 'Oh, of course. How dumb of me.”

Ten

Fortunately, Babs McDonald had known about the vandalism sooner and thought faster. By the time Shelley, Jane, and Sharlene emerged from the basement, Babs had locked up Regina's office and phoned Mel. She'd also corralled everyone from the board meeting back into the boardroom and shooed the three of them in as well before taking a chair from which she could keep an eye on the violated office through the open door.

“That nice young man who's a friend of yours was on his way over anyway,' Babs said to Jane. 'I don't believe either of you has met Mr. Abbot, have you? Whitney Abbot, our architect. This is Jane Jeffry and Shelley Nowack. They're doing the preliminary data entry on the museum contents.”

Jane's first impression of him was of cool perfection. Perfect teeth, perfectly groomed John Kennedy hair, a perfectly fitted charcoal-gray, three-piece suit without a wrinkle or a speck of lint (or cat hair, which any dark garment Jane owned was sure to be blighted by) anywhere. He wasn't a big man and probably hadn't stood more than an inch or two taller than Regina, but he looked fit in an expensive handball-and sauna way.

He shook their hands — Jane noticed his fingernails were immaculate and manicured to a subtle gloss — and said, 'That's a big job. We're all grateful.' He spoke quite formally.

“Ms. Palmer's plan makes it much easier than it might otherwise have been,' Shelley said, matching his formality. 'We didn't know her, but we're very sorry about her death. It was terrible for everyone and, I'm sure, especially so for you.”

He nodded. 'An unimaginable loss.”

The remark wasn't so much cold as it was meaningless, Jane thought. But then, they were strangers to him. Why should he pour out his heart? Perhaps he was still in a state of shock. Or perhaps he was just a very reserved person who was unaccustomed to expressing his feelings freely.

There was a moment's awkward silence before the entire group turned at the sound of Caspar Snellen's voice in the doorway. 'Where is everybody?' He looked around, perplexed. 'What are you all doing in here? Having a wake or something?”

This tasteless remark seemed to just hang in the air, obscenely, for a long moment until Babs took charge. 'Caspar, you'd better come in.

We're waiting for the police and I'm sure they'll want a word or two with you.'

“Me? Why me?'

“Because you're here,' Babs said curtly. 'And Regina's office has been trashed.'

“Oh, no, you don't! You're not sticking me with it. I didn't like the bi — her, but I didn't kill her and I haven't violated her office.”

Georgia rose and took his arm, hissing, 'Shut up, Caspar.'

“Why should I? This whole gang would love to blame everything on me, and you're playing footsie with them.”

Jane observed the others. Whitney Abbot was simply staring at the brother and sister, but there was a muscle twitching in his jaw. So there was some emotion in him after all. Lisa was looking away, out through the small, dusty window that overlooked the back parking lot, as if she couldn't bear the sight of Caspar. Babs was shaking her head in disgust, and Jumper was regarding Caspar with interest, as though taking mental notes. Derek Delano seemed immune from the emotions of the others and was frankly ogling Sharlene, who was wringing her hands in despair and looking unintentionally vulnerable and sexy.

“What are you doing here, Snellen?' Jumper asked.

Caspar whirled on him. 'Jeez, Cable! What are you today?' He glanced contemptuously at Jumper's black leather jacket and pants.

Jumper grinned. 'A lot of things. An attorney. A witness. A member of the board. And a man with a few questions. I might point out to you that all of the rest of us have a good reason for being in the building. But you don't.'

“I've got the right to be here. I paid my stupid fee,' Caspar said childishly.

“Your fee doesn't entitle you to be in the staff area,' Babs said.

“I'm entitled to be anywhere I damned well please,' Caspar snapped. 'This is my great-grandfather's building and his money you're all spending like it's water. Money that should be, and will be, mine. Just because that Palmer woman sucked up to my batty old aunt—'

“Caspar!' Georgia all but slapped her hand over his mouth. 'That's enough!”

Surprisingly, he clammed up and looked at her with something that might have been fear.

“Georgia,' Babs said, 'take him out into the hall and wait with him there.”

Georgia bridled at being given an order, but apparently decided it was a good idea just the same. Gripping his flabby arm, she shoved her brother out of the room.

“Disgusting man,' Babs muttered.

“Why is he still free to roam around?' Whitney asked Jumper in a voice harsh with self-control. 'What's the matter with the police that they haven't got him behind bars? And speaking of the police, when are they going to allow us to have the funeral? This is intolerable.'

“They say they can't release the body until all their tests have been completed,' Jumper replied. 'Maybe by Thursday.”

Lisa suddenly put her face in her hands and gave a strangled sob. This so disconcerted all of them that they froze for a moment. Then Babs went over to her and led her out of the room.

Sharlene swayed a bit and sat down at the board table. Derek sat down beside her and put his arm around her. She tried to pull away from his touch and as she did so, Jumper rose and said menacingly, 'Take your hands off her, Delano.'

“Jesus!' Derek said, making an elaborate show of moving away from Sharlene. 'What's the matter with everyone? Can't a person even comfort somebody in distress?'

“Save your comfort for Georgia,' Jumper said. 'Sharlene, come with me and I'll get you a warm Coke out of that foul machine.”

They departed, leaving only Jane, Shelley, Whitney, and Derek. 'So much for keeping all the suspects together,' Derek said with a laugh. He rose and shot his cuffs. 'Well, I've got work to do. I'll be in my office if the police ever show up.”

Whitney, apparently in an effort to ignore them all, had booted up the computer and was looking over the information Jane had spent the morning entering. He was nodding approval. When Derek had gone, he closed the file and sat back in his chair wearily.

“Do you need any help planning the funeral?' Shelley asked.

For the first time, he smiled. 'Thank you. No, I don't think so. Lisa's taking charge. She's an organizer and has known Regina much longer than I have. Knew her favorite music and flowers and so forth.'

“What about Regina's family?' Jane asked.

“She hasn't much family left. Her parents are gone and she was an only child. Just a few cousins and an aunt and uncle in D.C.,' he said. 'Her uncle is a senator. Her late father was a congressman.'

“I had no idea she was from such a prominent family,' Jane said.

He merely nodded, as if it were a given that any woman he'd considering marrying would have to be. Or perhaps, Jane thought, she was misjudging him just because he looked so overly well bred.

“Doesn't always hold true, does it?' she mused. 'Good background, I mean,' she added, glancing at the doorway through which Caspar and Georgia Snellen had passed moments earlier.

“Bad apples,' Whitney said curtly. 'Happens in the best families.'