Motherhood Is Murder

CHAPTER TWELVE

To Do:

1. Talk to Miss No-Nonsense.

2. Get manicure.

3. Order turkey.

4. When’s Paula coming home?

5. Build up milk supply—pump, pump, pump!!!

The following day, I decided to pop in on Sara. She hadn’t returned my phone calls and I was starting to get antsy about her.

Was she avoiding me?

I packed Laurie into the car and headed to Jordan Park, which was down the street from California Pacific Hospital, where Laurie was born. This same hospital had also been the initial meeting place for Roo amp; You members, since they had all given birth to their first children and taken classes there, too. Well, all of them except Helene.

And what about these home births?

I had a hard enough time keeping my place clean; now I imagined the mess of a home birth. Blood, placenta, and goo on the baby. Good Lord. Why on earth would anyone want to do that?

Well, now, no reason to be critical. I’m sure people had their reasons—it just simply wasn’t for me.

Jordan Park is a beautiful neighborhood but lacks parking like most of San Francisco. I circled around and was surprised to see Margaret in front of her house watering the lawn. I double-parked, rolled down my window, and called to her.

She looked up, startled, then waved at me to wait a moment. She put down the hose, rushed to her garage to turn off the water, then came over to my car.

She was wearing a slip dress that accentuated her slimness, making her look as if the wind could blow her over. In contrast to the whimsical look of the dress, she had on clunky green mules that seemed to ground her. To combat the weather she had on a wool scarf and hat, although I can never understand how people don’t freeze with bare arms and legs.

She rested her hands on my car and leaned in. “Have you found anything out?”

“Not much, Margaret. I followed Alan the other day. He came directly home. Didn’t stop anywhere. Do you think he’s still having the affair?”

“It’s strange. I know. He’s been coming home on time lately and is seemingly more interested in me and the kids. I’m not buying it, though. He’s only doing that because I confronted him. I think he’s trying to get me off my guard. I can’t trust him, Kate.”

“Are you going to stay with your mom for a while?”

Her face conveyed a sudden sadness. “Yes, I’m leaving with the kids tomorrow. I haven’t told Alan, though.”

Another car rolled down the street and had to maneuver around me.

“Is it okay if I park in your driveway? I’d like to ask Sara a few things.”

Margaret looked annoyed. She crossed her bare arms in front of herself and rubbed them. “Sara? What do you need to see her about?”

“Well, I’m trying to get to the bottom of what happened to Helene.”

What did she think I wanted to see her about?

“Well, Sara doesn’t know anything.”

Another car came down the street. I waved at the driver to go around.

“Okay. Sure, park here.” Margaret motioned for me to pull into her driveway.

I parked and got out of the car, then unhitched Laurie’s car seat from the back. She was sound asleep. I tucked a knit blanket securely around her to protect her from the wind that threatened to bluster at any moment.

The exchange between us now felt halted and awkward. “I’m going to run across the street and meet Sara.”

“Of course.” Margaret reached out and patted my arm. “Do you need help with the diaper bag and gear and all?”

I smiled, reassuring her all was fine between us. “No. I got it. Thanks!”

I was a little nervous about meeting with Sara since the last time I’d seen her, at Helene’s funeral, she’d given me such an unwelcoming vibe and now wasn’t even returning my calls.

She answered the bell on the first ring. She had on a red wool sweater and fitted jeans.

“Oh, hi, Kate.” She looked beyond me then back. “Are you here alone?”

I held up Laurie’s bucket. “Just me and my monkey.”

She smiled. “Right. Yes. I got your messages. I’m sorry I haven’t called you back. Busy, busy, busy.”

After an awkward moment, she ushered Laurie and me into her enormous living room. A baby play station, complete with swing, rocking chair, colorful balls, and mirrors, dominated the room. In the center of it all sat a beautiful rosy-cheeked little girl, who graced us with a toothless smile as we entered the room.

“This is Amanda. You can put Laurie on the playmat with her when she wakes up. Amanda loves company.”

At that moment Amanda squeezed a cow on the play station. A high-pitched rendition of “Old MacDonald” started playing.

I nodded, nestling Laurie’s car seat next to my chair as I took a seat by the window. “Great. I’m sure she’ll love all the colors and sounds.”

If they don’t wake her immediately.

“Probably too little for it still. Amanda just started playing in it a few weeks ago. She’s six months now,” Sara said.

“Is she your first?”

Sara nodded.

“So you joined Roo amp; You a few months ago after Amanda was born?”

Sara looked up toward the ceiling as if trying to recall the actual date. “Let’s see. I joined, more or less, unofficially before she was born. Because I knew Margaret from across the street, the others were always hanging out at her place. So when I was about six months pregnant and full of baby questions, I started attending the playdates.” She indicated my car through the front window. “I see that you spoke with Margaret already.”

I turned to look out the window and could plainly see my Chevy parked in Margaret’s driveway. “Yeah. I didn’t know you two were neighbors until Evelyn mentioned it the other day.”

At the mention of Evelyn’s name, anger flashed across Sara’s eyes and she glanced toward Amanda.

After a moment, she said, “I’ve lived here about four years. We’re a tight group of neighbors. Watch each other’s dogs when we vacation and pick up mail. That sort of thing.”

I looked around for signs of a dog but didn’t see any. Maybe Sara was only a dog watcher.

“Margaret befriended me immediately when I moved in. Which was great, because coming from the East Coast, I didn’t know a lot of people and Howard works a lot. He’s a general contractor. It was nice to have a friend right away.”

“She’s very nice. I imagine she’s been a good friend to have.”

Sara tilted her head and looked across the street thoughtfully. “Margaret is a good friend. Very trusting. She only sees the best in people. When she’s talking to you, it’s as if you’re the only other person in the world. She has a gift for making you feel special. The problem is she can be taken advantage of it and not know it. It’s hard for me to stand by and watch.”

“Taken advantage of how?”

Sara rolled up the sleeves of her wool sweater. “People use her. Helene was definitely what I would classify a taker. And Margaret is a giver. You can imagine what kind of relationship it was.”

“Margaret said Helene was her best friend.”

Sara sighed and shook her head in disapproval.

I waited in silence for her to continue, resisting the urge to check on Laurie and focusing only on Miss No-Nonsense. She seemed to like attention and I hoped it would urge her to open up to me.

Amanda played with some knobs on the playmat and squealed. Both Sara and I turned to her.

“She is so cute. I can’t wait until Laurie can sit up and play like that,” I said.

Sara smiled. “It won’t be long. Time flies. Amanda’s only been sitting since we started water acclamation class. I had no idea it would help with motor skill development.”

It did?

Water acclamation? Weren’t infants just getting used to being out of water?

I hated to ask, but I had to know.

“Where do you take classes?”

She looked down her nose at me. “La Petite Grenouille, of course. Aren’t you enrolled?”

“Uh. No. Not yet.”

I wasn’t born with a day timer in my hand, like you, Miss No-Nonsense. I’m sure you aren’t ever late for anything!

“They have a free trial class. You should really try and make it. Your daughter will enjoy it,” she said.

Eager to switch subjects, I said, “Sara, what can you tell me about that night on the cruise?”

She shrugged. “What’s to tell? You were there, too.”

“Do you recall being at the bar with Margaret, Helene, and their husbands?”

She frowned. “Well, sure. We were all at the bar.”

“Do you remember anything about a drink mix-up?”

“What do you mean? Like the bartender gave us the wrong drinks or something? I don’t really remember anything like that,” she said.

“No. I mean . . .”

Might as well come right out and ask it.

“Did you notice that maybe Helene and Margaret got their drinks switched? Like perhaps Helene drank Margaret’s drink?”

She shook her head. “No. I don’t remember anything like that.”

Okay, so no smoking gun.

I tried a different tack. “What can you tell me about your final exchange with Helene?”

Sara squinted. “There’s not much to tell. We were chatting on the deck then this lady bumped into me and spilled her drink. I left Helene on the deck and went to the restroom.”

The timing seemed off.

“Did you stop anywhere on the way?” I asked.

Sara titled her head, her brow furrowing. “I don’t remember.”

How could she not remember?

“When you got to the ladies’ room, you told me that the captain had called an all hands on deck.”

She chewed her thumbnail. “That’s right.”

“But if you came directly to the restroom after leaving Helene on deck, I don’t see how there was time for her to fall down the stairs and be found and for the captain—”

She stopped chewing her nail. “Oh. I see what you mean. I think I probably stopped to talk to Howard first. Yeah. That’s right. I went to talk to Howard, but he was smoking a cigar with Evelyn’s husband.” She rolled her eyes, the disdain apparent in her voice. “And I didn’t want to be there.”

“You really don’t care for her.”

Sara laughed. “To put it mildly. She’s a nightmare. High maintenance. All about her. The husband is boring and her kid’s a fiend. Not that it’s his fault. She’s just so into herself, she lets him run wild. And whenever he gets into trouble, she acts all bothered about having to do something about it.”

“I understand she was asked to leave Roo amp; You.”

Sara shrugged. “She wasn’t a fit with us.”

Who was? It sounded like she hadn’t liked anyone in the group, except Margaret.

“Was there anyone else in the group??”

Sara shook her head. “No. Just the four of us. It seemed to really work for a while, but . . .”

I waited again for her to continue. Laurie stirred in the car seat. Amanda tipped over on the playmat and began to cry, unable to sit herself back up.

Sara rose and crossed the room to Amanda. She picked her up and cuddled her. “It’s attention time. She needs a change and some food. Are we done?”

I rose. “Actually, I have a couple more questions.”

Sara fidgeted and patted her baby on the back. “Okay. Is it all right then if we move this conversation to the kitchen?”

“Of course.” I picked up Laurie’s car seat and her eyes flew open. “Oops. I think it’s attention time for Laurie, too.”

“I’ll show you Amanda’s room. You can use her changing station,” Sara said, turning to leave the room.

I unstrapped Laurie and scooped her out of the car seat. I glanced through the front window and spotted a woman pushing a double stroller down the street. A collie was leashed to the stroller. The woman stopped in front of Margaret’s house and fished for something in her parka. She pulled out a set of keys.

Must be the nanny coming back from the park.

I picked up the diaper bag and headed in the direction Sara had gone. There was a long hallway connecting to a formal dining room followed by an enormous marble kitchen. Bedrooms were in the back of the house, overlooking a huge fenced-in garden.

Sara was changing Amanda on a white wooden changing table.

A few months ago, my life had been so different. Before having Laurie, the only person I knew with a baby was Paula. Now it seemed that I was surrounded by pregnancies, new moms, infants, diapers, bottles, and nursery rhymes.

Sara picked up her baby from the station and placed a disposable changing pad on the table for me. I laid Laurie down and went through the same routine Sara had just completed.

“We can feed them in the kitchen. Do you need formula or want me to heat water or something?”

“No. I’m nursing.”

Sara nodded. “I couldn’t do it for very long. I found it so taxing.”

“I’m getting the hang of it.”

I followed her from the bedroom into the enormous kitchen. She placed Amanda in her highchair and proceeded to heat orange-colored mashed food on the stove.

She smiled. “Homemade baby food.”

She was making the baby food? How do you do that? Was I supposed to make Laurie’s baby food? Thank God solids weren’t for a few more months.

I placed Laurie on my lap and pulled my nursing wrap out of the diaper bag.

“I understand from Margaret that she thinks her husband is cheating on her. Do you know anything about that?”

Sara looked surprised. “I didn’t know Margaret knew. She never said anything about it to me.”

“But you knew?”

She shrugged. “What can I say? I live across the street. I noticed Alan coming home later and later. Margaret told me some mumbo jumbo about his having to work late. But good Lord, the man is a podiatrist, not a surgeon. He works clinic hours, not the emergency room. But who am I to say anything?”

“Do you know who he’s seeing?”

She leveled her gaze at me. “Does it matter? The guy’s a two-timer.”

I nodded in agreement. “It matters. An affair is hard to prove without knowing who the other party is.”

“Why does she need to prove anything? Just dump him.”

It didn’t feel right to outline Margaret’s suspicions to Sara, so I simply said, “Sometimes it’s not that easy.”

“Well, I know they have kids and all.”

Sara put a spoonful of mush to Amanda’s mouth. Amanda promptly turned from it.

Maybe she would like Gerber’s instead?

“Any idea how long the affair has been going on for?”

“Let’s see, Amanda is six months now. I’d say she was probably four months or so when I first noticed him coming home late.”

Sara succeeded in stuffing a spoonful of slop into Amanda’s mouth, only to have Amanda’s little tongue push it back out again. Sara sighed and wiped Amanda’s chin.

She stirred the food and made another attempt. Amanda turned her head.

“Guess she’s not hungry,” she said, pulling the baby from the highchair.

Amanda wailed in protest. Sara sighed. “I don’t think she likes my squash pottage.” She placed the baby back in the highchair. Amanda kicked her feet in delight. Sara pulled some Cheerios off a shelf and sprinkled a handful in front on the tray. Amanda dug in with relish, wrapping her chubby fingers around each Cheerio and shoving them into her mouth with a giggle.

“What did you and Helene fight about that night?”

Her eyes darted around the room. “We didn’t fight.”

“I thought there had been a disagreement between you two . . . ?”

“Oh right. Someone with a very big mouth said that at our table, right?”

She poured more cereal onto Amanda’s highchair tray. Her hand was slightly shaking and the cereal tumbled in droves over the side. She swore under her breath.

I took the moment to unlatch Laurie and burp her, hoping Sara would fill in some gaps. When she didn’t, I said, “Evelyn said Helene was canceling a construction project your husband was working on and you were very upset by that.”

The box of Cheerios slipped from Sara’s hand and spilled out on the floor. “No. No, she didn’t cancel. We’re still on. Set to start next week for Bruce.”