Murder Is A Piece Of Cake Part 27

"I think she means accept what happened to my sister," Emily said. "But I can't. I try and I try. I open a present, and then I think how much Molly would have liked it. She really wanted that soup tureen with the cabbage roses. When I unwrapped it, I felt so sad, I put it right back down. I can't move on-with her things or with her life. Brad says he's tired of looking at them and I'm being morbid."

Emily burst into noisy tears. Alyce set her coffee cup on the edge of the folding table and put her arms around Emily. "It's okay," she said. "You should cry for your sister."

Josie backed away slightly and noticed a deep dent in the carpet. She saw five other dents, marking a long rectangle. Did a couch used to be there? In front of the possible couch were four more dents, about the size of a coffee table.

Alyce was still soothing Emily. "I'm here if you need me," she said. "You'll get through Molly's loss in your own way and in your own time."

"Would you and Joanie come tomorrow when Brad's at work and help me sort her presents?"

"Of course," Alyce said. "What time?"

"He'll be gone by eight thirty. Say, nine thirty?"

"That works for me," Alyce said.

"Me, too," Josie said. She glanced at her watch, and Alyce caught her signal. "Do you have to pick up your daughter at school?"

"Yes," Josie said.

"We should go," Alyce said. "We'll see you tomorrow morning."

Back in Alyce's car, Josie said, "That house looks awfully bare. I wonder if Emily and her husband are short of money."

"I don't think so," Alyce said. "People in this subdivision keep their display rooms empty until they can afford the furniture they want."

"I'm pretty sure I saw dents in the carpet where furniture used to be," Josie said. "And who downsizes from a Porsche to a Kia? If she really cared about the environment, she'd buy a hybrid."

"I'll ask Connie," Alyce said. "She knows all the neighborhood gossip." Her cell phone chimed. "Sorry, Josie, I'd better take this call."

She pulled her Escalade over to the side of the subdivision street. Josie heard her say, "Did my husband and I buy a what? A surfboard! Of course not." Alyce ran her fingers through her fine pale hair. "When did this happen? Today! My husband and I are both in St. Louis."

There was a pause, then Alyce said, "I really appreciate your fraud division calling about this out-of-the-ordinary purchase."

She rummaged in her wallet. "My credit card is right here. I can call my husband and check. He usually goes out to lunch. Do you see a lunch charge for today? Sixty-three dollars at a steakhouse in Clayton, Missouri? That sounds legitimate. But not the surfboard. Someone must have gotten our credit card information. Should I cancel our old cards? Yes, please. As soon as I get home, I'll do it. And thank you again."

Alyce turned off her cell. She looked frazzled. "Can you believe it? Someone in Long Beach charged an eight-hundred-dollar surfboard to our credit card. Thank goodness American Express security was alert and called me to check."

"That's it!" Josie said. "Thank you."

"For what?" Alyce looked puzzled.

"You've just told me how I can check Phoebe's alibi," Josie said.

Chapter 31.

Wednesday, October 31 "Mom, are you pregnant?" Amelia asked.

"Am I what?" Josie was inching behind a line of luxury cars at the four-way stop by the Barrington School. As usual, her daughter waited until Josie was seat-belted in to ask an awkward question.

It was Halloween, and Amelia wore her borrowed witch costume. The pointed hat stuck up in the backseat, but she kept on the black satin cape. Her witchy-dark eye makeup was slightly smeared.

"Zoe told her mom that you were marrying a hot guy," Amelia said. "Her mom said the only reason to get married at your age is if you're pregnant and want to keep the kid."

"I'm not pregnant," Josie said.

"I know. You had me and you didn't get married. But I didn't tell Zoe that."

"Thank the Lord for small favors," Josie said.

"Zoe's mom says it's easier to just live with the guy. Once you get married, you've got to worry about lawyers and sh-"

Josie glared at her.

"Sorry. Stuff when you split."

Josie counted to three before answering. She didn't want to preach, but she didn't like Zoe or her mother.

"Zoe's mom is ent.i.tled to her opinion," Josie said. "It's not mine."

"I know. She's a ho."

"Amelia Marcus! You will not use that word."

"But Mom, Zoe came down to breakfast on Sat.u.r.day and she saw this old dude in his underwear in the kitchen. She didn't even know his name. Her mom didn't, either. She picked him up in some bar."

"That's not how I choose to live," Josie said. "It's risky for a lot of reasons." Time to step off the soapbox, she told herself. "What Zoe's mother did isn't right, but you can't call her a ho."

"A s.l.u.t?" Amelia said. There was a question in her voice.

"I don't want you using that word, either," Josie said. "Zoe's mom spent the night with a man she didn't know. They're both at fault, but society doesn't have a word for men who bed hop."

"Bed hop," Amelia said. "Good one."

"No, it's not," Josie said. "What I'm trying to say is we have no business judging people when we don't live perfect lives."

Silence. Josie made it through the stop sign and was almost to Lindbergh, a major route toward home, when Amelia bombed her with another question. "Are you sorry you never married Daddy?"

"I'm sorry I couldn't marry your father," Josie said. "I wanted to marry him. I wanted to more than anything in the world. When I found out I was pregnant, I couldn't wait to give him the good news. I knew we'd get married and live happily ever after. Except before I could tell him, your daddy was arrested with a planeload of drugs. He went to prison in Canada."

"But you still could have married him," Amelia said.

"No, I couldn't," Josie said, gently. "I told you why. He was a dealer. He flew in drugs. That attracts big money and bad people. I didn't want you growing up in that environment."

"Were you sad?" Amelia asked.

"I cried for weeks. I thought my life was over. The only thing that kept me going was you. Your grandma was very angry. She said I ruined my life when I dropped out of school. She wanted me to give you up for adoption."

"Grandma wanted to give me away?" Amelia asked.

"That was before she knew you," Josie said. "Now, I think she'd give me away first."

Amelia laughed, but Josie could tell she was stunned by this new bit of information.

"Grandma was embarra.s.sed because I wasn't married to your father," Josie said. "We told everyone I was engaged to a pilot who was shot down in the Middle East."

"You lied," Amelia said.

"I did," Josie said. "I was wrong. I convinced myself I did it for Grandma, so she wouldn't have to listen to Mrs. Mueller. But I did it for me, too. Then your father got out of prison when you were nine and everyone knew he was alive."

"He drank," Amelia said.

"Nate had a drinking problem, yes," Josie said. "He developed it in prison. The prisoners made their own illegal alcohol and he was addicted. Nate had problems, Amelia. Lots of problems. Despite them, he was a good man and I loved him so much."

"Did you know he was selling drugs?" Amelia asked.

"No," Josie said. "I knew he had a lot of money-cash money-but I never made the connection between his money and selling drugs. Looking back, I can see the signs were there. But I didn't want to look. That's why I don't think it's fair to judge people like Zoe's mom."

They were nearing Highway 40. They'd be home in less than ten minutes, unless there was a major traffic jam. Amelia slid in another tough question. "Now that you're marrying Ted, are you going to get pregnant?" she asked.

"No," Josie said. "Ted and I talked about it, and we don't want more children." She grinned at her daughter. "Why have another child when we already have perfection?"

"Whatever," Amelia said.

Josie was relieved when they finally reached Phelan Street. Amelia squeezed in one last question as Josie parallel parked the Honda in front of their flat.

"Why is Mrs. M beastin' Grandma?" she asked.

"Where?" Josie said. She straightened out the car and turned it off.

"On the porch," Amelia said. "Grandma must be decorating it for Halloween tonight. She's got the jack-o'-lanterns on the steps and the plastic skeletons on the railings.

"Mrs. M is arguing away and Grandma is giving it right back."

The two older women looked like gladiators in pantsuits. Mrs. M's helmet of hair didn't move, but her arms windmilled and her face was stroke red. She was pointing her finger at Jane. Josie's mother refused to back down.

"Stay here," Josie said, "while I find out what's going on."

Jane and Mrs. M didn't notice Josie's approach. She listened to them verbally duke it out from the walkway.

"The post office doesn't have to do anything of the kind," Jane said.

"Well, it's ridiculous to deny me service," Mrs. M said. "They could send another mailman."

"We have a woman delivering our mail," Jane said. "Her name is Corrine. For your information, she's a letter carrier. Corrine is allergic to poison ivy."

"I'm not asking her to put my mail in the mums," Mrs. M said. "All she has to do is deliver it to my mailbox, which is four feet nine inches away from the poison ivy. I measured it myself."

"Some people are deathly allergic," Jane said. "They don't even have to touch it. They can catch airborne poison ivy."

"Then the post office can send a mailman who's not allergic," Mrs. M said.

"Or you could get off your bottom and get your mail at the post office yourself," Jane said. "Why waste my tax dollars catering to you? Better yet, why don't you get rid of that stupid poison ivy and then Corrine can deliver your mail?"

"Because I have to catch those thieves," Mrs. M said. "The safety of the neighborhood depends on it."

"My son-in-law installed a system in my plants to catch them," Jane said. "It's safe and good for the environment. It won't hurt the mail carrier or the crooks."

"I don't see any system," Mrs. M said.

"That's the beauty of it," Jane said. "All you see are my mums."

"Hah!" Mrs. M said. "I bet it's not even there."

Josie cleared her throat. "Afternoon, Mom. Is there a problem?"

"Not for me," Jane said. "But our mail carrier is highly allergic to poison ivy. Corrine refuses to come up on Mrs. Mueller's porch until she removes that poison ivy she's growing around her mums. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going inside to get ready for the trick-or-treaters."

"You'll be sorry when you wake up and all your mums are gone," Mrs. M said.

"My son-in-law's system will work," Jane said. She slammed her front door. Mrs. M stalked off to her home and firmly shut her own door.

Josie waved Amelia into the house and when she stopped laughing, she called Jane. "Good for you, Mom. You stood up to Mrs. M."

"Was I rude, Josie?" Jane asked. She was having second thoughts now.

"You were perfect, Mom," Josie said. "Want to join us for dinner before the trick-or-treaters arrive?"

"Thanks, dear. I want to rest until the children start ringing my doorbell."

After the revelations on the ride home from school, Amelia was subdued. She stayed in her room and played with Harry. Josie made her daughter's favorite comfort food, macaroni and cheese. They ate dinner in near silence.

"You're so quiet," Josie said, running her fingers through her daughter's fine red-brown hair.

"Nothing to say," Amelia said. "Did I really ruin your life?"

"No, sweetie. You're my reason for living."

"But you dropped out of school to have me," Amelia said. "You don't want me to do that."

"No, I don't," Josie said. "Life is easier with a college degree. I can go back to school now if I want. Maybe we could go to college together."