The House of Seven Mabels jj-13

by Jill Churchill

"That's wonderful/' Jane said. "I'm so glad for you."

  "It gets even better," she said with a grin. "The patent attorney has talked to some joint-venture investors and they're considering funding me."

  Jane was delighted and put down her drink to give Evaline a congratulatory handshake. But she spilled a bit of it on her hand. "Oops, I'll have to wash my hand first."

  On entering the kitchen Jane noticed a pot on the stove that was almost bubbling over and turned the burner off. Then she washed her hands and looked around for a paper towel to dry them. Not seeing any, she opened a drawer to find a dishcloth. The first drawer was full of silverware. The next drawer down held the dishcloths. As she lifted one out, she saw something under it. A little brown leather notebook with a name stamped on it in gold. She picked it up with a fresh dishcloth.

  In the living room, Shelley was asking Evaline when she thought she'd get the patent. Evaline started to reply, but sniffed and said, "Oh, dear. I think the gravy's burning. I forgot to turn off the stove." She hurried to the kitchen and came to a sudden stop when she saw Jane.

  "What are you doing with that?"

  "Oh, Evaline, I'm so sorry. I was just looking for something to dry my hands and found this."

  "You're not going to tell anyone, are you?"

  "I have to," Jane said.

  Evaline reached for the pot, where the gravy was still boiling-hot. "No, you won't," she said. She grabbed the handle of the pot and made a swinging motion with it, but it slipped out of her hand and hit the floor. Hot, thick brown gravy splashed back on her bare legs, and she screamed.

  As Shelley ran into the room, Jane put down the little book and scrambled to the sink with a handful of more dishcloths to get them wet. "Call 911, Shelley. She's burned herself badly."

  Shelley already had her cell phone in her hand, and while she waited for an answer said, "Jane, dab. Don't wipe."

  Evaline had collapsed on the floor, still screaming-After the emergency medical technicians had taken Evaline away, Shelley asked, "What happened?"

  "She was trying to throw the boiling-hot gravy at me, and it came back on her. I'll explain in a minute, but first call Mel and tell him to call the nearest hospital and order them not to release her. She killed Sandra. The evidence is on the kitchen counter."

  Shelley dialed the police station as Jane started cleaning up the gravy from the floor.

  "I need to talk to Mel VanDyne immediately," Shelley was saying. "You can't contact him?

  Why? Never mind. Call the hospitals and find out which one the emergency people took Evaline Herman to from this address," she said, reeling off the street address and apartment number. "She's the one who murdered the woman on the case Detective VanDyne is on. Tell them not to release her."

  She hung up and said, "Jane, stop cleaning. Let's get out of here."

  They were both so shaken that they just sat in Shelley's minivan for a few minutes, trying to calm down enough for Shelley to drive. In a shaking voice, Jane explained about looking for a dishcloth and finding Sandra's little brown notebook in the drawer.

  "How did you know it was hers?"

  "It had her name stamped on the front. Did you leave the door to the apartment unlocked?"

  "Yes," Shelley said as she fumbled to get the ignition key in and start the car.

  For once in her life, she drove slowly and carefully.

  Jane had gravy all over her knees from kneeling and trying to get the gravy off Evaline, and went straight to the basement to take her slacks off. Shelley followed her. "There should be clean jeans in the dryer. Keep very quiet. I don't want Kate and Todd to know about this."

  "You're still shaking, and you're as white as a ghost. Do you want to come to my house?"

  "You're as pale as I am. Let's go sit out on the patio. I'll take the portable phone with me, so if Mel calls back, I can grab the call before one of the kids picks it up."

  They sat outside for quite a long time, speaking in low tones. "At least I had the common sense not to get my own fingerprints on the notebook."

  "Good for you. Katie's not on the phone line, is she?" Shelley said.

  "No. A little red light would come on the portable if she were."

  It was dark, and the evening was turning chilly. Jane went inside and peeked in each child's room. Katie was listening to loud music while supposedly doing her homework. Jane pulled herself together well enough to say, "Katie, don't use the phone for a while. I'm expecting a call." Katie nodded.

  Todd had his computer on and was mumbling to himself and punching numbers into the little adding machine. Jane told him he'd better stop working on the prime numbers in a few minutes and do his homework.

  "Already did it."

  "Mrs. Nowack and I are going to sit outside for a while. If you need anything, you can find me."

  She got out a couple of sweaters and on the way through the kitchen, poured two glasses of wine. "This will warm us up a bit," she said, handing Shelley one of the glasses and a sweater.

  "I'm so sorry it was Evaline," Shelley said. "I

  know you liked her. Do you think she was responsible for all the other things that happened at the House of Seven Mabels?"

  Jane shrugged. "I don't know. I'm sort of sick even thinking about it."

  "Did you open the notebook?"

  "No. I was holding it with a dishcloth and looking for a place to put it somewhere she wouldn't find it and dispose of it before we could contact Mel. But she caught me holding it. I did like her until she tried to disfigure me with the hot gravy."

  "How did she think that would save her?"

  "I doubt she was thinking at all. She was lashing out at someone who'd suddenly become a threat. That's all."

  The phone rang. Jane pushed the button and said, "Mel?"

  "Are you okay?"

  "Shaken, but not stirred," Jane said.

  "I'm swamped and can't talk now, but I wanted to be sure you were home and safe," Mel said. "Go to bed. I'll call you in the morning."

  "You do have Evaline locked up somewhere, don't you?"

  "We sure do."

  "That's all I need to know."

  Twenty-nine

  Mel called jane at 8:30 the next morning.

  "Where were you when I needed to get in

  touch with you?" Jane asked.

  "On a stakeout at what Shelley calls the House of Seven Gables."

  "Seven Mabels. Why?"

  "I was thinking there hadn't been anything bad happening there for a couple of days and it was time for another event. So I got four officers to hide in and around the place."

  "Did something happen?"

  "Yep! It did. We caught a kid about nineteen prying loose one of the pieces of plywood over the windows to get inside. He'd been equipped with a gallon of gasoline and a bag of dry rags."

  "Good Lord! Who was he? What did he say?"

  "First he wet his pants. Then he told us his dad used to do a lot of jobs for Neville Burnside. When his dad died a of couple weeks ago, Burn-side contacted him."

  "So this kid with the wet crotch was responsible for all the vandalism?"

  "No. Just a lot of it. Evaline admits she rigged the electrical and did the shrimp deal to discredit Sandra. And the fake bomb toolbox and returning the purse. Everything else she vehemently denies."

  "What about Evaline's burns?"

  "She's in bad shape and will be under treatment for them for quite a while. But in a prison hospital, not the one she first went to."

  "Did she confess that she killed Sandra?"

  "Yes, but she claims it was accidental."

  "Accidental? How?"

  "I'll explain later. In fact, that's why I'm calling you. It'll be in the evening papers and I want to meet with everyone involved in the renovation at the house to give them the information before they read about it. Eleven o'clock this morning at the house. Can you and Shelley be there?"

  "Of course we will."

  "Janey, are you all right?"

 
; "A lot better knowing Evaline's not free to come after me again."

  "I'm sending an officer over in a few minutes to interview you and Shelley about last night. Are you up to it? I don't think I should be the one to do it."

  She and Shelley made their statements. The officer, a young man who looked too young to have even finished high school, much less college and

  police training, recorded what they said and told them he'd have it typed up and they'd get to read and correct anything before they signed it in a day or maybe two.

  When they arrived at the House of Seven Mabels, another problem had cropped up. A truck was parked in the driveway with big fancy windows lashed firmly to it. Jane and Shelley were allowed into the house by a uniformed police officer and told Detective VanDyne was waiting for them upstairs.

  They could hear Bitsy long before they got halfway up the stairs. She was yelling at someone. "I didn't authorize this. I'm the owner and I don't know what you're doing here."

  They walked into the room as one of two men they'd never seen before handed her an invoice. "Your contractor, Sandra Anderson, signed this. She said the windows had dry rot and placed a special order."

  Bitsy snatched the paper away from them and crumpled it. "My damned contractor is dead! And there's nothing wrong with the windows that I know about. This is just too much."

  Mel was standing in a corner of the room by the door. Jane and Shelley went to stand beside him.

  Bitsy raved on as Carl Stringfield came into the room.

  Mel said, "Mrs. Burnside, I'm afraid you're going to have to sort this out later with these gen-

  tlemen. Everybody's here and I have to tell all of you some things."

  Carl looked around and said, "Evaline isn't here yet."

  "That what we're talking about," Mel said. "Let's go to the dining room where there are chairs," he said, leading the way downstairs.

  When they were all seated, he said, "Evaline Herman was arrested last night for the murder of Sandra Anderson. She's currently hospitalized for burns to her legs."

  There was a collective gasp from everyone but Jane, Shelley, Mel, and the officer standing at the doorway.

  "Several officers and I staked out this house last night," Mel went on, "and caught a young man prying the plywood off one of the windows. He was equipped with materials to burn the house down."

  "No!" Bitsy screamed, starting to leap from her chair.

  Mel, sitting next to her, took her arm. "Mrs. Burnside, sit down, please. He claimed he'd been hired to do it by your ex-husband, who's currently under arrest and being questioned. We have accountants going through all his bank records."

  Bitsy subsided, smiling radiantly.

  "As for Evaline Berman, she attempted to attack Mrs. Jeffry in her apartment at the same time the young man was being taken away."

  "Attacked her?" Carl asked, shaking his head with disbelief.

  "With a pot full of boiling gravy/' Mel said.

  A silence fell. Mel let it stretch out for a moment, then explained, "She'd invited Jane Jeffry and Shelley Nowack to dinner to brag about her patent. Jane went to the kitchen to wash something sticky off her hand and found Sandra Anderson's notebook in a drawer. Evaline came in and saw Jane holding it, and tried to throw boiling gravy at Jane, but accidentally dumped it on herself.

  "Evaline later claimed that Sandra was trying to steal the secret ingredient in her patent. Sandra's notebook might bear that out. It contained a note about a food ingredient, and the name, address, and telephone number of her patent attorney. He's been questioned and claims she did contact him.

  "I'm afraid that's all I'm at liberty to say at this time."

  As he was finishing, there was a knock at the door of the dining room. The officer standing behind Mel opened it to the men with the truck full of windows.

  "May we speak to Mrs. Burnside now?"

  "No," Bitsy said. "Shelley, I have your contract ready."

  "Keep it," Shelley said. "Jane and I have decided we don't want the job."

  Bitsy's smile faded. "My best friends have turned into traitors?"

  "We're hardly your best friends, Bitsy," Shelley said.

  Bitsy looked around the table at the others. "Are the rest of you bailing out on me, too?"

  Carl just looked down at his hands.

  Henrietta went first. "Jacqueline and I are."

  Wesley said, "It's up to Mrs. Stanley to decide for herself, but I won't be back."

  "Me neither." Thomasina spoke up.

  "I can't afford to be involved in something like this," Joe Budley said, standing up to leave.

  Mel motioned at Budley to stay.

  Hank was getting teary. She looked daggers at Bitsy and said, "You're responsible for Sandy's death as much as what's-her-name with the gravy. I wouldn't work for you if you gave me a million dollars!"

  Bitsy said in a dead, calm voice, "That's it."

  She rummaged through her purse and pulled out a cell phone. Punching a few numbers, she said, "Jennifer? Is that you? Listen. Book me a flight to Bermuda for the day after tomorrow. First class. Hurricane? I don't care if there's a hurricane! Okay, okay, Carmel then. Best hotel. The biggest suite they have. And have champagne waiting."

  She hung up and punched in another number. "Put me through to Brian. Right now." While she waited, she ran her hand through her hair, which stood up like a bad wig.

  "Brian, Bitsy Burnside here. Stop whatever

  you're doing and draw up a quitclaim deed on the house, signing it back over to the township. And call the accountant and tell him to figure out all the workers' wages as of today. I'll be over to sign the checks and the deed in an hour. And prepare a lawsuit against my husband and his company for destruction of property."

  She flung the cell phone back into her purse and looked at Mel.

  "May I go now? I'm entitled to a fabulous nervous breakdown in luxury."

  Jane and Shelley went home, enormously relieved. "I'm glad you turned the contract down without even asking me," Jane said.

  "I realized it was hopeless and you really didn't want to do it. And I didn't, either. No matter what the contract said about money. But there's one thing I'd still like to know."

  "The secret ingredient."

  "Right."

  When Mel came back later, they appealed to him. "We promise, cross our hearts and hope to die, never to reveal the secret ingredient. But please, please tell us," Jane said.

  "Since the site is bookmarked on Evaline's computer, I can. But I hold you to the promise. She was researching the Great Wall of China. There was a lot of material about the way the stones were finished and fired. But the kicker was a remark about the mortar and how it had held

  together so well over so many centuries. Seems that bits of it had been analyzed and one of the ingredients was rice flour. Sandra had written that down in her notebook."

  Shelley harked back to Evaline claiming it was an accident. "But couldn't it have been an argument, leading to a brawl, that resulted in Sandra simply falling down the stairs?" she asked Mel.

  "Not after what she tried to do to Jane. You're going to have to testify, Jane, if it comes to a trial. Evaline is a loose cannon when she's crossed."

  Jane hadn't been listening carefully. She nearly slapped her head. "I remember what I couldn't remember! I wasn't driving myself. That's where I was going wrong. Evaline was driving."

  Shelley said, "What on earth are you talking about?"

  "Something has been niggling at the back of my mind for days. When I went with Evaline to see her patent attorney, she asked if we could stop off at the grocery store to pick something up. She came back with a heavy bag all sealed up."

  "Jane, get to the point," Shelley said.

  "I am. As we left the parking lot, I thought I saw Sandra's car coming in. Evaline said the car was the wrong shade of blue, and I believed her. But I was right. It was Sandra's car. And I also believe that Evaline knew, too. But she didn't want to let on. That's wh
y she went on about how many cars look alike. Just to get me off the subject.

  "I'll bet Sandra was following us, lurking in the parking lot and rushing into the store to consult with the checkout people about what Evaline had just bought. That must have been how she knew it was rice flour."

  "We shouldn't be surprised," Shelley said with a laugh. "Remember when the kids were babies and got upset stomachs and we had to give them rice flour pablum? If it's so good at stopping up babies, it's sure to be what held up the Great Wall of China."

  "Too bad we didn't know what the ingredient was earlier," Jane said with a laugh. Turning to Mel, she said, "Just one more domestic detail mothers know and single men don't."

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