The House of Seven Mabels

robe and staggered out of the bathroom. The foot felt better. The shoulder no longer ached. Maybe she'd be okay.

The first message on the answering machine was Mel. He had a window of freedom at lunchtime. Did she want to eat with him? She renamed his call immediately and took him up on the offer. 'But let's eat here. My foot is hurting and I don't want to put on shoes.'

'What did you do to it?'

'Walked seventeen miles behind Shelley yesterday at the Merchandise Mart in shoes I hadn't worn for a long time.'

'Come on, Janey. Seventeen miles?'

'It seemed like it. But I have plenty of food in the house for a change. So drop by whenever you're free.'

The next two calls were both from Shelley. 'Where have you gone? Are you feeling better today?'

Then a little later: 'I went by the House of Seven Mabels and they're tearing the sunporch down. They'll be starting a replacement tomorrow. Bitsy's trying to save a bit of money by making it smaller, but I think she's wrong. I need you to back me up before they pour the new foundations. If she's going to have a sun-porch, it needs to be generous. Or she shouldn't replace it at all. Oh, and Bitsy still doesn't have the new contract. I can see that your car's in the garage. Why are you hiding out?'

Shelley was the only person she knew who could conduct an entire conversation with an answering machine.

Jane returned the call. 'My foot hurts again and so did my shoulder, so I was taking a long, hot bath,' Jane told her.

'What did you do to your foot?'

'Walked around behind you. I'm not even putting shoes on today.'

'Oh, Jane. I'm so sorry. I wouldn't have hauled you along if I'd known that would happen.'

'Mel's coming over later. I'm making deviled ham sandwiches. Give me ten or fifteen minutes so I can dress, and keep me entertained while I work on them.'

'You want me to do it for you? You should have your foot up, not walking around the kitchen.'

'It's my secret recipe. I have to do it myself. And the foot is feeling better.'

Jane threw on jeans and a T-shirt and ran a comb through her hair. That last haircut was worth paying a fortune for at the day spa. She didn't even have to blow-dry it. It just fell into place. The investment had paid off.

She was doing a rough chop of the ham in the Cuisinart when Shelley showed up with a handful of paperwork. 'Your hair looks great. I may have to try out that day spa myself. Want me to start your coffee?'

'Oh, please do.'

'Bitsy says the contract's almost okay,' Shelley said as she worked. 'Bitsy will supply the digital camera. She'll give us an advance on the furnishings she approves from the pictures. She's willing to give us a ten percent commission on the receipts we file. It's not enough. I'm going to see if I can bump that up to seventeen and a half percent. It's a fair amount and she'll still be getting a bargain on everything. I've checked around and I think it's a reasonable commission.'

Jane sighed as she started putting exactly the right amount of finely chopped red pepper into the mix. 'Shelley, I'm sick at heart to leave you high and dry, but I simply can't face that place again.'

'The Merchandise Mart, you mean? I already knew that. I've never seen you look so drained and pathetic. I'll do it myself and consult with you over the pictures I take before I show our choices to Bitsy. I don't mind a bit if you'll take

care of the color combinations. You're far better at that than I am.'

'In spite of my turning the front hall into a dungeon?'

'Your only mistake,' Shelley said generously. 'Could have happened to anyone. I thought it was going to look good, too. What's that you're putting in that ham now?'

'A tiny breath of curry powder. Then I mix it with mayo. Spread it generously on toasted slices of baguettes just before serving.'

'Sounds divine. What are you having with it?'

'I thought about an egg salad, but it's too much like the texture of the ham. Maybe a really big hearty spinach salad with onions and bacon and just a few chopped eggs.'

'Excellent choice. I'll get the eggs boiling for you and wash the spinach. Are you going to gird your loins — I've always wondered what that really means — and ask Mel about the investigation into Sandra's death? Has he found out anything about her?'

'He hasn't said. I'll test the waters,' Jane said, putting the ham mixture in a bowl and adding the mayo. 'If he's still cranky, I'll let it go for now and catch him when he's not so busy.'

'Go sit down in the living room and get that foot up on a chair. I'll put everything away in the fridge for now and you can finish it up later.'

Jane took her advice and settled in on the sofa with her right foot up on the back of it. Shelley

had been right. She shouldn't have walked around on it. She asked Shelley to go upstairs and find the mystery she'd been reading. 'I think I left it in the bathroom.'

Shelley brought it down. 'It's a little damp, I'm afraid. I'll leave you alone until after Mel's gone. Is it okay if I tell Bitsy you agree with me about the size of the sunporch?'

'1 do agree. If she's going to replace it, she should do it right or not do it.'

Mel was impressed with lunch in spite of his saying it was a girly choice. But awfully good and filling. 'Sorry I've been such a crank for the last week, Janey. Having to cover the rock concert and then this damned house the next day put me over the edge.'

'I understand. How'd you get away today?'

'I delegated.'

'You delegated?' Jane said with a laugh. 'I thought you didn't believe in ever doing that.'

'I don't, but I'm giving it a try. Comes from getting older and more tired, I guess. Go out to the living room and put your bad foot back up. Shouldn't you have it X-rayed again?'

'I'll see what a day off it does before I put myself through that again. I don't ever want to be in a cast for the rest of my life.'

Mel graciously loaded the dishwasher for her. Of course she'd have to redo it when he was gone. There was something genetic about men

that didn't let them understand why glassware really should go on the top rack. Her late husband had once gone through a brief spell when she was pregnant with Todd when he was trying to be helpfully domestic and cracked several pieces of her favorite glassware from the drying process. She'd never let Mike load it, and Todd could do so only with Katie's supervision.

When Mel was through, he came and sat at the far end of the sofa and massaged her good foot. The massage made even the bad one feel better.

Since he was mellowed out by lunch and delegating, she asked, 'Have you found out anything about Sandra's background?'

'A little bit. It was hard to trace her. The name change wasn't official. She'd just decided to take back her mother's maiden name.'

'Shelley and I had the impression that she had been married. When we met her the first time, Bitsy said something about her once being Mrs. Somebody. They seemed to make a joke of it. So she was once married?'

'Yes. To a man who severely abused her, to the point that she was hospitalized several times. Makes you understand why she became such a rabid feminist, I have to admit.'

'Do you know where he is? Could he have found her and killed her?'

'No. He's serving a life sentence for murdering his third wife and their two-year-old child. He beat them to death two years ago.'

Jane suddenly hurt all over.

The phone rang, and Mel looked at Jane's shocked face and said, 'I'll get it for you.'

'Yes,' he said when he answered. 'This is Van-Dyne.'