Mudlark by Sheila Simonson

to do with the
leftover crab?"
    "Refrigerator." I said into the receiver, "I beg your pardon, Matt. Jay distracted me. What did you
say?"
    He replied, rather plaintively, that I had asked him to call.
    For a moment I couldn't remember why. "Oh, the break-in." I explained what had happened and asked
if he'd noticed anything, but he was so preoccupied with Lottie's condition he couldn't remember. He said he'd
think about it and hung up.
    By then my guests were clearing the table and shuttling dirty dishes into the kitchen. Ruth's pie, to
which I added the option of vanilla ice cream, made a big hit. Darla explained the secrecy that shrouded her
family's source of huckleberries. I hadn't realized they were a wild fruit. No wonder they cost a bundle.
    Tom said, "Those are LaPorte huckleberries."
    Darla flushed. "Yes, I meant Grandma's patch, not the Sweets'. Mom and my sister know where it is, but
I was away at college before Grandma would take Mom and Ella to it. Grandma says there are black bears out there,
but Ella didn't see any sign. Maybe I'll go picking with them next year."
    Tom waved a fork. "If the bears let you."
    Darla made a face at him. Freddy looked from her to Tom and back with something like wonder. It had
probably never occurred to him to tease Darla.
    When the pie had vanished, Freddy raised the question of the computer. He wanted to start working on
it right away.
    Tom raised his eyebrows. "Tonight?"
    "Sure. Right now."
    "Okay--after the dishes are done."
    Freddy groaned.
    I said magnanimously, "That's all right, Tom. Jay will do the dishes."
    Bonnie said, "You wash, Jay. I'll dry." And they did.
    Darla went with Tom and Freddy, and I shelled the uneaten crab, of which, owing to the popularity of
my soup, there was plenty. A whole crab is a lot of crab. I wondered if crab soufflé was hard to make.
    The computer crew had taken the components of Tom's system upstairs to the extra bedroom when the
phone rang again. It was the insurance adjustor, and he wanted to talk to Tom.
    I went up and led Tom to the telephone in the master bedroom so he could have a little privacy. Darla
and Freddy were deep in technical conversation over the bones of the computer. I left them to it and went back
downstairs.
    Jay and Bonnie had finished the dishes, so I brewed more coffee and made Jay a pot of herb tea. We took
our mugs to the breakfast nook. The storm was easing. I could see a light at the Cramers'. Poor Matt had to be near
distraction.
    Jay said he'd drop by the hospital the next morning with flowers. Lottie liked flowers. Jay had one more
committee meeting. Then he was free until after the holiday. I told him he could rip out the living room carpet.
    "Thanks a lot." He smoothed his mustache. "I'd almost rather go talk to the sheriff."
    Bonnie was watching us with the interest unmarried people sometimes show in spousal
exchanges.
    I stirred my coffee. "Do you have to help with the investigation?"
    "Only if I want the largest department in the area to feed students into my training program." His eyes
narrowed. "What's the matter, Lark?"
    "Conflict of interest?"
    "You mean prejudice. I doubt that my advice on the preservation of physical evidence can be twisted
one way or the other. If he's guilty, he's guilty. I don't think he set the fire."
    Bonnie was fiddling with her glasses. "Tom didn't kill anyone."
    Jay opened his mouth.
    I jumped in. "If you say 'anybody can kill' one more time, James Dodge, I'm going to be seriously
bored."
    Jay smiled. "Lark's dangerous when she's bored, Bonnie. I think it would take a lot to make Tom kill, but
I don't know who the other suspects are, so I'm not making judgments."
    "I am. He didn't do it." Bonnie shoved her glasses on. "I guess we'll just have to find a fall guy. How
about Darla?"
    "No motive," I said regretfully.
    Footsteps sounded in the hall and the door opened. It was Tom. Bonnie blushed. I waved a hand at the
coffee maker. "Help yourself."
    He poured a mug. "They found a