Murder as a Second Language by Joan Hess

Author:Joan Hess [Hess, Joan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2013-12-17T00:00:00+00:00

11

“Inez has a date with Toby Whitbream?” I echoed. I would have added something pithy, but I was too astonished.

Caron sniffed. “It’s not much of a date, if you ask me. They’re going to Toby’s little brother’s baseball game. That’s not my idea of a good time. Inez gripes every time she has to go to her own brother’s games. She says the parents get all weird and scream at the coaches and the umpires. I’m sure this game won’t be any different, even if she’s sitting by the big-shot quarterback.”

I found a parking space at the mall. “From what you’ve told me I didn’t think she’d even spoken to him in the past. Now a date?”

“Inez is like the new girl in town. She’s been wearing skimpy tank tops, and she bought a bikini that wouldn’t cover up a squirrel. So she got contacts and highlights in her hair. So what?”

“Do I hear undertones of jealousy?”

She got out of the car. “I came to shop, not to mope.”

* * *

She wasn’t kidding. In less than forty-five minutes, she dragged me into every upscale store in the mall. My only assignment was to proffer my credit card and stash the receipts in case she changed her mind. We both carried bags back to my car and put them in the trunk. I was then told to drive to the restaurant, where I was allowed to pay for an elegant lunch comprising tall salads and artfully arranged bits of things. Even after dessert, which consisted of squiggles of mousse and a sculpted tuile, I was still hungry. Caron’s car was at the Literacy Council. I parked there and waited until she put her booty in her trunk and drove away, then went inside. All was calm, all was bright. I knocked on Keiko’s door. Once I was given permission to enter, I did so and told her I was there to gather up Ludmila’s things.

Keiko grimly handed me a paper grocery bag that contained a notebook, a purse, and a plastic container. “Thank you very much for doing this, Ms. Marroy.”

“What happened to ‘Claire-san’?” I asked with what I hoped was a warm, reassuring smile.

“I am so busy trying to get everyone organized that I forgot, Claire-san. Please excuse me. I am in a bad mood today. Kazu’s tutor sent home a note yesterday that he was not respectful. My husband and I tried to talk to him, but he was rude to us as well. He will not be allowed to play video games for a week.”

“I can sympathize,” I said. “My daughter was grounded for a weekend after she convinced her friends that she was an alien and would beam them up if they didn’t obey her. She was in second grade at the time. She spent her incarceration building a spaceship out of Popsicle sticks and aluminum foil.”

Keiko giggled. “I am not the only parent with such problems.”

I hoped that I had patched things up between us. “I’m still planning to come in tomorrow so that I can share in the potluck.

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