“You realize, Val, that there are no female electricians, right? Who the hell are we going to hire?”
“There’s got to be a female electrician somewhere,” I said.
She snorted. “Maybe on Mars.”
I sighed.
“You’re going to have to break the no-men rule,” she said.
“And here we have that trust thing again,” Susan said.
“Did I miss something?” Louise asked.
“Not really,” Susan said.
Louise went to the fridge and removed two Cokes and a Hires root beer. She set the bottles on the counter, then fumbled for the bottle opener.
“I’m interrupting something, aren’t I?” Louise asked.
“Just Val trying to rope me into a job I don’t want,” Susan said. “It’ll probably give me nightmares.”
I looked her.
“You mean answering the phone doesn’t?” Louise asked.
Susan sighed. “Worse nightmares.”
“Ah hell,” Louise said. “Nothing can get worse than mine. I’ll do it.”
I glanced at her. She’d been around almost as long as Susan. Louise was my unofficial foreman on the remodeling.
“Do you read shorthand?” I asked.
“Is there a woman alive today who doesn’t?” she asked, and she was serious.
“You mean besides Val?” Susan asked.
“Oh, gee, sorry,” Louise said. “Yes, I read shorthand.”
“You’d have to keep all of this confidential,” I said.
“Not a problem,” Louise said, and I believed her. She had kept everything confidential so far.
“Good,” Susan said. “She can do it.”
I shook my head. “I have a lot of material. I need both of you to work on it.”
“Mysterious Val,” Louise said. “Let me take the drinks to my crew and I’ll be back.”
She slipped out of the kitchen, clutching the bottles between the fingers of her right hand.
“You’ll have to work in my place,” I said to Susan.
“Oh, God, Val, that’ll drive you nuts,” Susan said. “I’d offer to take this home, but I don’t want my kids near it.”
“I don’t blame you.” I couldn’t bring myself to tell her that there was a chance that what was on these papers had gotten Langham killed. “That’s why I want you here.”
Susan frowned, thinking. “Then what about the vestry? It has a desk and good lighting. And no windows, so no one would know we were there. Besides, none of the girls go upstairs.”