Stork Raving Mad(78)

“Then for the duration, may I swap them for a few of those nice, straight-back chairs I saw in your front hall?”

“Be my guest,” I said.

“Sammy!” the chief bellowed.

Sammy poked his head through the door.

“Swap these chairs out for some of those in the front hall,” the chief said, shoving one of the desk chairs at Sammy.

“Yes, sir.”

“And you go and rest,” he said, turning to me. “You look exhausted, and if you don’t watch out you’ll overdo it and go into labor early.”

“Not that early,” I said. “Thirty-eight weeks. Only fifteen percent of women last this long with twins. In fact, some doctors would consider that full term for twins and would probably start pressuring us to induce.”

“Is that why you’re running around the house bringing me suspects and evidence?” he asked. “Hoping to bring on labor?”

“No, I’m bringing you suspects and evidence because I keep stumbling over them, usually while on my way to a nap or the bathroom,” I said. “Just saying that you don’t really need to worry about me. If my running around brings on labor, it’s not a disaster.”

“And maybe a good thing?” he said, with a chuckle. “Still, take care of yourself. It’s—my goodness, nearly seven-thirty.”

No wonder I was so tired. Most nights I was in bed by eight, following my doctor’s advice that if sleep eluded me I could at least rest. And most days I didn’t do nearly as much running around as I had today.

“Not much more to do here today,” the chief was saying. “Though I’d like to keep this office available in case we need to work out here tomorrow.”

“That’s fine,” I said. I waited to see if he had anything else to say. He did.

“Get some rest, Meg,” he said. “You look all in.”

“I will.”

He nodded, turned back to some papers on his—well, actually Michael’s—desk, and picked up the phone. I left and waddled through the long corridors to our front hallway.

There, I ran into my grandfather.





Chapter 25


“So, rumor has it you’ve solved the murder,” he said.

“Rumor has it wrong, as usual,” I said. “The chief is a lot closer to solving it, thanks in part to some witnesses I nagged into talking to him. That’s all.”

“Right, right,” he said. “If that’s the way you want it. Mustn’t hurt anyone’s feelings.”

No use trying to straighten him out. I was planning to go upstairs—in fact, I was lifting my foot to the bottom step—when it occurred to me that I had something to talk to him about. Two somethings. I wasn’t sure I had the energy to do it now, but I wanted to get it over with. I turned back and sat down in one of the dining room chairs Sammy hadn’t taken.

“So, are you still interested in giving the college a building?” I asked.

My grandfather sighed.

“Probably not,” he said. “I’m beginning to think it’s not such a good idea.”

“Why?”

“I don’t like to cast aspersions on Caerphilly College,” he said. “After all, your husband teaches there; I know you must feel some loyalty to the institution.”

“My loyalty to the college is directly proportional to how well they treat Michael, and right now, I’m not exactly feeling the love.” I was tempted to share Kathy’s revelations, but I still felt enough loyalty—to Michael, if not to Caerphilly—that I didn’t want to broadcast them to a potential donor. “So cast as many aspersions as you want, and I’ll throw in a few of my own. What’s your beef with them?”

“Well . . . Caerphilly’s biology department is not really in tune with the most current scientific thinking in their own field,” he said. “No real environmental consciousness. No apparent awareness of issues such as global warming or the need to maintain biodiversity. From what I can tell, they and the agriculture department have both been completely co-opted by big agribusiness.”

“Big agribusiness can afford big donations. You only just found this out?”

“No.” His shoulders slumped and he suddenly looked every one of his ninety-some years. “I knew it all along. I was hoping that through philanthropy, I could effect a positive change in their attitudes.”

“In other words, you were hoping to buy their loyalty to your causes.”

“If you want to put it that way, yes,” he said. “But if I can’t even get them to pay any attention to me when I’m trying to give them a building, it’d be unreasonable to expect them to do so after they’d already got their hands on the building. So no building for Caerphilly College.”