“Just for you, Caspar,' Jumper said wearily. 'Come to snoop on the board meeting?' Not expecting an answer, Jumper sat down and started glancing through the pile of papers Sharlene had prepared.
“What a snotty kid you are,' Caspar said. 'How you ever got a law degree is a mystery to me. Come to think of it, I might just take a little time and investigate your credentials.'
“Oh, give it a rest, Caspar,' Jumper said disgustedly.
Babs appeared with Eli Bascomb in tow. 'Oh, Jumper, I'm glad you're here,' she said. 'Eli and I were just discussing a change in the federal withholding and I wanted to consult with you on it. We have a new option on how to compute. .”
They went into a huddle, ignoring Caspar entirely.
Lisa returned a few minutes later, chatting in low tones with Whitney Abbot. Jane caught a few words about music selections and assumed they were finalizing the plans for Regina's funeral. Both the architect and the publicity director appeared to be entirely unaware of or uninterested in Casper's presence. Jane glanced at him. He was looking around, trying to catch someone's eye, hoping for a fight, it seemed.
Shelley came into the room with a wad of paperwork and said, 'Oh, I'm sorry. Are you having a meeting?'
“We're about to,' Babs said, 'but please stay. In fact, I think it would be nice if you and Jane were present.”
Shelley glanced at Jane questioningly, and Jane shrugged her shoulders in ignorance.
An elderly man Jane had never seen before joined the group a minute later, and Babs, Jumper, Lisa, and Whitney greeted him warmly. It seemed, from what they said, that he was one of the honorary members of the board.
Shelley had sidled over to where Jane was and pulled up a chair. 'What's going on?' she hissed.
“Board meeting. That's all I know,' Jane whispered back.
The room was getting crowded, so Jane turned off the computer and she and Shelley moved their chairs into the corner to make it easier for the others to move around the table. Babs rose and looked out into the hall. 'Sharlene? We're about to start. Is Georgia attending the meeting?'
“Yes, she's in the bathroom,' Sharlene said, rushing in with her steno pad.
Georgia trailed along a few minutes later, looking downright haggard. There wasn't a chair left at the table and she stood and glared at her brother for a second.
“I'm entitled to be here!' he said defensively. 'You're not allowed to sit in my chair, though. Move it,' she said harshly.
Caspar looked like he was going to argue the point, but he changed his mind and got up to lounge against the copying machine, sulking.
Babs glanced at her watch and stood up at the head of the table. 'The meeting of the board of the Snellen Museum is called to order,' she said crisply.
“Move to dispense with the reading of the minutes,' Jumper said automatically.
“Second,' Eli Bascomb said.
“Objections?' Babs asked. 'Passed. Our first order of business is my report on hiring a new director. I'm very glad to say I believe I've found a perfect candidate.'
“Already?' Georgia said.
Jane and Shelley exchanged surprised looks.
Babs nodded. 'The candidate is within one credit of obtaining the necessary degree, so I'm recommending appointment as acting director, with the permanent appointment to be made upon completion of the remaining credit. The candidate has a comprehensive grasp of the workings of this museum and staff and a superlative employment record. Sharlene, would you be interested in the job?”
There was a stunned silence, then the sounds of Sharlene's steno pad and pen hitting the floor. 'Me? There must be some mistake—'
“No, dear. The only mistake was Regina's not telling me how close you were to completing your degree.'
“But that can't be right,' Sharlene said. 'I was just taking the courses Ms. Palmer suggested—'
“Believe me, I've checked this out very thoroughly,' Babs said. 'You're lacking only one history course. Now, will you accept the job?'
“I–I—' Sharlene glanced around the table as if waiting for someone to tell her the answer.
Jumper Cable, who'd obviously known about this in advance, grinned at her and nodded.
“Yes — yes, I will,' she said, blushing furiously.
“Do I hear a motion?' Babs asked.
Twenty-four
Was Sharlene really so astonished to learn that she was within one semester of being qualified to be the director of the Snellen? Could anyone have taken all those years and years of night-school courses and never once wondered what they added up to? Had she never seen her own transcript? Never looked at the course catalog and realized she was close to getting a degree? Even as sweet and obedient as Sharlene was, had she never questioned why Regina was choosing the courses she did? Sweet. Sharlene was sweet. But there was a core of toughness in her, too. She'd stuck out a demanding job for many, many years. She'd taken a great many classes, not all of which could have been interesting to her, and done well in all of them.. And she'd done the same with her job. No one had ever suggested having any problems with her. It wasn't easy creating that kind of persona — the perfect secretary, on top of everything, producing perfect board packets, knowing how everything from the coffeemaker to the laser printer worked, making sure all phone calls were returned, taking care of dozens of disparate little chores. That took real strength. She appeared to be fluffy, but under the fluff there had to be a core of steel.
Jane hated suspecting Sharlene of anything wicked. But the fact was, somebody had cleared a path for her to leap from secretary to director. And who was more likely, in a purely logical sense, to do that than Sharlene herself — the clear beneficiary of those deaths? Trying to shake off the thought, Jane studied the others in the room. Unless there was a nearly invisible maniac on the loose who was an unknown factor, one of these people had killed two of their own group. Yet it looked like a handful of other groups Jane had been part of — PTA boards, the church fund-raising council. Good, generous people who gave their time and energies to the boring details of keeping a valuable organization running.
They were discussing a traveling exhibit that might be available to them at the time the new museum would open, but which had to be committed to now. Whitney was being questioned about the building schedule, possible glitches in the timing. Jumper was being questioned as to the financial and legal liabilities if the building was not one hundred percent completed when the exhibit arrived. There was serious talk about security, insurance, promotion, and parking facilities. Everyone at the table appeared to be giving his or her full attention to the matter.
Nevertheless, one of those intense, committed individuals was a coldblooded killer.
Eli Bascomb was out of the running. Babs had gotten in touch with him in Alaska, so he was presumably too far away to have been zipping back and forth. And the elderly honorary board member wasn't a likely candidate, either, as Jane had never laid eyes on him at the museum and it was hard to imagine him having the strength or stealth to lurk around without being spotted.
But what of the rest? Jumper was bright and charming, but had an obviously eccentric streak. Babs, too, had a strong personality and her own set of morals. She had admitted killing her husband and made clear she had no regret whatsoever. Lisa had taken on a whole new professional field that didn't particularly interest her, but had done it because it was the sensible thing — and had done it well. That showed strength of character and determination.
So did Whitney's presence today. He was apparently giving his full attention and considerable expertise to the discussion of the traveling-exhibit and building-completion dates while his fiancee lay in a coffin at the funeral home. That couldn't be easy.
Even Georgia, more recently bereaved, was participating in the discussion, asking intelligent and pointed questions. Only Caspar Snellen, surly and wary, leaning against the copy machine and glaring at all of them,
