Read Online The Class Menagerie by Jill Churchill - Free Book Online

draperies that were being turned into cleaning rags.
    There was a woman’s hand protruding from them.
    Her heart pounding in her throat, Jane stood rooted for a second, unable to breathe or even think. Then, leaden-footed, she went forward and gingerly removed some of the rags.
    It was, as she expected, Lila. And she was very dead.

- 7 -

    Jane hadn’t anticipated seeing Mel VanDyne until the following Tuesday, but his was the face she saw when she removed the cold compress from her eyes. She was sitting in Edgar’s kitchen, where she had very nearly fainted after telling him what was in the carriage house. Edgar had pushed her into a chair, shoved her head between her knees, and gone to look for himself, reappearing seconds later to dial the police. Then, while they waited the few minutes it took the law to arrive, he’d made her an ice pack and insisted that she slouch back in the chair and apply it to her eyes. “My mother believed in this as a cure for any shock,“ he said, his own voice trembling a little. “Hold still!“
    In quick succession, three sirens wailed to a stop in the drive, half a dozen car doors slammed. Edgar went out the kitchen door to show the police to the scene. Shelley’s control over her meeting had apparently evaporated, because within moments, the kitchen was full of women asking what was happening. Jane stayed hidden behind her cold compress, thinking like mad.
    Finally Shelley said to her, “Jane, what’s this about?“
    “Lila’s out there. Dead,“ Jane mumbled.
    A shocked silence.
    The kitchen door opened and Mel said, “Jane... Mrs. Jeffry?“
    Uh-oh , Jane thought. He’s calling me Mrs. Jeffry. Not a good sign . She removed the compress. “Yes?“
    “I understand you found the body?“
    “I’m afraid so.“
    “Is there someplace we can speak privately?“
    “Use the library,“ Shelley said.
    “Ah, Mrs. Nowack, you’re here too,“ Mel said blandly.
    “As a matter of fact, I am, Detective VanDyne.“
    They were always nasty-polite to each other Jane had first met Mel when Shelley’s cleaning lady had met a bad end in Shelley’s guest room. They had “taken exception“ to each other, to put it mildly, then and didn’t seem to be able to get over it. Jane led the way to the library amid a hum of speculation from the Ewe Lambs, and closed the door.
    Mel closed the door and then grabbed Jane by the shoulders. He looked as if he was debating between shaking her hard and hugging her. Finally he just released her, sighed, and sat down in one of the leather sofas. “So, Jane, what the hell are you doing finding bodies?“ he said with forced calm.
    “It’s not as if I meant to, Mel. I’d have been thrilled if somebody else had found her.“
    “And so would I! I hate that you were here at all where somebody’s been killed. Try to be very precise and tell me what’s going on here,“ he said, taking out a notebook and clicking a nice gold pen. Jane found herself thinking it looked like the kind of pen people only had as gifts and wondered who gave it to him.
    “Okay, Shelley went to a high school here that had a big fire and since the high school reunion is taking place this weekend, she invited some of the women in a do-gooder club they had in school to come early and plan fund-raising.“ He wrote for a moment and glanced up at her, smiling. “That was concise! Now, what have you got to do with it?“
    Jane explained how she’d been roped into helping Edgar and being Shelley’s “date.“ This wasn’t quite as concise, but she managed it fairly well.
    “Who’s the one in the carriage house? What do you know about her?“ Mel asked.
    “She’s just one of them. A nasty one, actually. She was being very unpleasant yesterday.“
    “Is that when they all came?“
    “Yes, at various times during the day.“
    “When did you last see her? The victim?“
    “You say ‘victim’ as in murder? She didn’t die of natural causes, then?“
    He didn’t even