Motherhood Is Murder Part 14

Sara rolled up the sleeves of her wool sweater. 'People use her. Helene was definitely what I would cla.s.sify a taker. And Margaret is a giver. You can imagine what kind of relations.h.i.+p it was.'

'Margaret said Helene was her best friend.'

Sara sighed and shook her head in disapproval.

I waited in silence for her to continue, resisting the urge to check on Laurie and focusing only on Miss No-Nonsense. She seemed to like attention and I hoped it would urge her to open up to me.

Amanda played with some k.n.o.bs on the playmat and squealed. Both Sara and I turned to her.

'She is so cute. I can't wait until Laurie can sit up and play like that,' I said.

Sara smiled. 'It won't be long. Time flies. Amanda's only been sitting since we started water acclamation cla.s.s. I had no idea it would help with motor skill development.'

It did?

Water acclamation? Weren't infants just getting used to being out of water?

I hated to ask, but I had to know.

'Where do you take cla.s.ses?'

She looked down her nose at me. 'La Pet.i.te Grenouille, of course. Aren't you enrolled?'

'Uh. No. Not yet.'

I wasn't born with a day timer in my hand, like you, Miss No-Nonsense. I'm sure you aren't ever late for anything!

'They have a free trial cla.s.s. You should really try and make it. Your daughter will enjoy it,' she said.

Eager to switch subjects, I said, 'Sara, what can you tell me about that night on the cruise?'

She shrugged. 'What's to tell? You were there, too.'

'Do you recall being at the bar with Margaret, Helene, and their husbands?'

She frowned. 'Well, sure. We were all at the bar.'

'Do you remember anything about a drink mix-up?'

'What do you mean? Like the bartender gave us the wrong drinks or something? I don't really remember anything like that,' she said.

'No. I mean . . .'

Might as well come right out and ask it.

'Did you notice that maybe Helene and Margaret got their drinks switched? Like perhaps Helene drank Margaret's drink?'

She shook her head. 'No. I don't remember anything like that.'

Okay, so no smoking gun.

I tried a different tack. 'What can you tell me about your final exchange with Helene?'

Sara squinted. 'There's not much to tell. We were chatting on the deck then this lady b.u.mped into me and spilled her drink. I left Helene on the deck and went to the restroom.'

The timing seemed off.

'Did you stop anywhere on the way?' I asked.

Sara t.i.tled her head, her brow furrowing. 'I don't remember.'

How could she not remember?

'When you got to the ladies' room, you told me that the captain had called an all hands on deck.'

She chewed her thumbnail. 'That's right.'

'But if you came directly to the restroom after leaving Helene on deck, I don't see how there was time for her to fall down the stairs and be found and for the captain-'

She stopped chewing her nail. 'Oh. I see what you mean. I think I probably stopped to talk to Howard first. Yeah. That's right. I went to talk to Howard, but he was smoking a cigar with Evelyn's husband.' She rolled her eyes, the disdain apparent in her voice. 'And I didn't want to be there.'

'You really don't care for her.'

Sara laughed. 'To put it mildly. She's a nightmare. High maintenance. All about her. The husband is boring and her kid's a fiend. Not that it's his fault. She's just so into herself, she lets him run wild. And whenever he gets into trouble, she acts all bothered about having to do something about it.'

'I understand she was asked to leave Roo & You.'

Sara shrugged. 'She wasn't a fit with us.'

Who was? It sounded like she hadn't liked anyone in the group, except Margaret.

'Was there anyone else in the group??'

Sara shook her head. 'No. Just the four of us. It seemed to really work for a while, but . . .'

I waited again for her to continue. Laurie stirred in the car seat. Amanda tipped over on the playmat and began to cry, unable to sit herself back up.

Sara rose and crossed the room to Amanda. She picked her up and cuddled her. 'It's attention time. She needs a change and some food. Are we done?'

I rose. 'Actually, I have a couple more questions.'

Sara fidgeted and patted her baby on the back. 'Okay. Is it all right then if we move this conversation to the kitchen?'

'Of course.' I picked up Laurie's car seat and her eyes flew open. 'Oops. I think it's attention time for Laurie, too.'

'I'll show you Amanda's room. You can use her changing station,' Sara said, turning to leave the room.

I unstrapped Laurie and scooped her out of the car seat. I glanced through the front window and spotted a woman pus.h.i.+ng a double stroller down the street. A collie was leashed to the stroller. The woman stopped in front of Margaret's house and fished for something in her parka. She pulled out a set of keys.

Must be the nanny coming back from the park.

I picked up the diaper bag and headed in the direction Sara had gone. There was a long hallway connecting to a formal dining room followed by an enormous marble kitchen. Bedrooms were in the back of the house, overlooking a huge fenced-in garden.

Sara was changing Amanda on a white wooden changing table.

A few months ago, my life had been so different. Before having Laurie, the only person I knew with a baby was Paula. Now it seemed that I was surrounded by pregnancies, new moms, infants, diapers, bottles, and nursery rhymes.

Sara picked up her baby from the station and placed a disposable changing pad on the table for me. I laid Laurie down and went through the same routine Sara had just completed.

'We can feed them in the kitchen. Do you need formula or want me to heat water or something?'

'No. I'm nursing.'

Sara nodded. 'I couldn't do it for very long. I found it so taxing.'

'I'm getting the hang of it.'

I followed her from the bedroom into the enormous kitchen. She placed Amanda in her highchair and proceeded to heat orange-colored mashed food on the stove.

She smiled. 'Homemade baby food.'

She was making the baby food? How do you do that? Was I supposed to make Laurie's baby food? Thank G.o.d solids weren't for a few more months.

I placed Laurie on my lap and pulled my nursing wrap out of the diaper bag.

'I understand from Margaret that she thinks her husband is cheating on her. Do you know anything about that?'

Sara looked surprised. 'I didn't know Margaret knew. She never said anything about it to me.'

'But you knew?'

She shrugged. 'What can I say? I live across the street. I noticed Alan coming home later and later. Margaret told me some mumbo jumbo about his having to work late. But good Lord, the man is a podiatrist, not a surgeon. He works clinic hours, not the emergency room. But who am I to say anything?'

'Do you know who he's seeing?'

She leveled her gaze at me. 'Does it matter? The guy's a two-timer.'

I nodded in agreement. 'It matters. An affair is hard to prove without knowing who the other party is.'

'Why does she need to prove anything? Just dump him.'

It didn't feel right to outline Margaret's suspicions to Sara, so I simply said, 'Sometimes it's not that easy.'

'Well, I know they have kids and all.'

Sara put a spoonful of mush to Amanda's mouth. Amanda promptly turned from it.

Maybe she would like Gerber's instead?

'Any idea how long the affair has been going on for?'

'Let's see, Amanda is six months now. I'd say she was probably four months or so when I first noticed him coming home late.'

Sara succeeded in stuffing a spoonful of slop into Amanda's mouth, only to have Amanda's little tongue push it back out again. Sara sighed and wiped Amanda's chin.

She stirred the food and made another attempt. Amanda turned her head.

'Guess she's not hungry,' she said, pulling the baby from the highchair.

Amanda wailed in protest. Sara sighed. 'I don't think she likes my squash pottage.' She placed the baby back in the highchair. Amanda kicked her feet in delight. Sara pulled some Cheerios off a shelf and sprinkled a handful in front on the tray. Amanda dug in with relish, wrapping her chubby fingers around each Cheerio and shoving them into her mouth with a giggle.

'What did you and Helene fight about that night?'

Her eyes darted around the room. 'We didn't fight.'

'I thought there had been a disagreement between you two . . . ?'

'Oh right. Someone with a very big mouth said that at our table, right?'

She poured more cereal onto Amanda's highchair tray. Her hand was slightly shaking and the cereal tumbled in droves over the side. She swore under her breath.

I took the moment to unlatch Laurie and burp her, hoping Sara would fill in some gaps. When she didn't, I said, 'Evelyn said Helene was canceling a construction project your husband was working on and you were very upset by that.'

The box of Cheerios slipped from Sara's hand and spilled out on the floor. 'No. No, she didn't cancel. We're still on. Set to start next week for Bruce.'

CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

Sitting Duck

To Do:

1. ?

2. Get manicure.

3. Order turkey.

4. Exercise.