Judith said. “Okay, let me tell you how to get into those
programs…” She jiggled a bit in the chair, fighting off nature’s
urges. When she had finished her instructions, most of which
required questions from Arlene, Judith asked if Joe was home.
“Poor Joe.” Arlene’s voice dropped a notch. “Poor man.
Poor soul. He’s fine,” she added on a far more chipper note.
Accustomed to her friend and neighbor’s peculiar contradictions, Judith grimaced only slightly. “Is he home? Can I
talk to him?”
“No. Yes. I must run, Judith. I’ve got a million things to
do, since Carl and I are leaving next week for…”
“Wait! Do you mean he’s home but I can’t talk to him or
he’s not home and I can…That is, I can’t…”
“He’s at work,” Arlene broke in. “He’s been at work since
the snow started Saturday during the night. He got called in
late Friday on a very big case. Then he got stuck downtown.
It’s really terrible here, Judith. We’re completely marooned.”
“But…you said…” Realizing it was pointless to argue, Judith sighed. “Okay, Arlene. Thanks for all your help. We
may be able to get out of here by tomorrow. It’s melting
fairly fast.”
“Not here,” Arlene said. “The wind changed last night,
coming from the south. We got another four inches, with
more coming tonight. Take care, and say hello to Serena.”
Arlene rang off.
Judith stared at Renie. “The phone works. Who shall we
call?”
“The bathroom?” Renie said with a quirky little smile.
“I forgot about that,” Judith admitted. “I can wait. Let’s
start with the police.”
“Which police? As I recall,” Renie said dryly, “that was
our first obstacle.”
“
Joe will be able to tell us who we should contact.”
“Oh, God!” Renie cried. “Are you going to tell him about
our body count?”
“I have to,” Judith said, then held up a hand as someone
answered at the other end. “Joe Flynn, please…He’s not?
But I thought…Oh…Oh, I see. All right. Yes, please have
him call me at this number. This is his wife.” Judith replaced
the receiver. “Joe didn’t get stuck downtown,” she said to
Renie. “He and Woody are out in that snazzy neighborhood
between downtown and the lake. That’s where their victim
was found.”
Renie recognized the neighborhood. “They’ve got tons of
little hills and short, narrow streets,” she said. “It’s not as
steep as Heraldsgate Hill, but it’d be really difficult navigating
in the snow.”
“At least Joe’s in a classy part of town,” said Judith, and
then she laughed, a rueful sound. “I guess he’s stuck with a
