heard back from your crime-scene investigators? Was the tape still there, in Patty’s VCR?”
“Yeah. Watched it when you were calling home. Didn’t make y’all look too swift, but that’s about the sum of it. Can’t see as it was worth bloodshed. Though maybe it was a last straw . . . a trigger. Anyone at the meeting strike you as bein’ on the edge? Ready to snap?”
“Everyone did.”
“Nothing stood out?”
“There was the unseen voice I didn’t recognize who called us amoral. And one time when everyone kind of gasped.”
“At what?”
“I don’t know. Something Jane Daly or Emily Crown said. My attention had wandered.”
He rose and gestured for me to follow him. “I’ll replay it for you.”
“That’s hardly standard police procedure, is it?”
He shrugged. “You’re a material witness. You know these people. Maybe you can tell better ’n me when someone’s hittin’ a nerve.”
He led me to a second room where four officers were watching us on tape. They did a double take at me. To my chagrin, they were watching my aren’t-I-funny . . . not section. Tommy explained that he wanted me to watch this without distractions, and the others left the room. He fast-forwarded till we reached the section I’d missed.
Emily and Jane were in the corner of the high school cafeteria. The camera appeared to be resting at the opposite side of the table. Jane was saying, “. . . because she doesn’t
want
you to lose weight. I’m telling you, she’s so competitive, she needs to have something over everyone else.”
Emily sighed. “And now she’s going to win yet another award. That’s Perfect Patty for you, isn’t it? She’s so freaking perfect that it would never even occur to her that she’s bringing us mere mortals to shame in comparison.”
Jane rolled her eyes. “You can say that again. Try holding down a job for ten years that you and everyone else knows Patty could do better than you with one arm tied behind her back.”
The screen image shook as if the camera had been jostled. Oblivious to whatever caused the camera motion, Emily cried, “That’s exactly how she makes
me
feel! The truth of the matter is, Patty is as insensitive and egotistical as they come.”
I caught my own breath at that, just thinking how Patty must have felt hearing that from her so-called “best friend” in front of a half dozen witnesses.
“If she ever once tried to—” Emily must have noticed then that the girl with the hidden camera was within earshot, for she stopped. She put on a smile and said, “Oh, hi, kids. Still trying to get your little camera?”
“Yes.”
Jane smirked and crossed her arms. Again, the posture gave me the image of her as a gnome. If she commented, it was not recorded. Instead, the final scene with Patty began, and Tommy stopped the VCR.
“Any thoughts?” Tommy asked me.
“Well, it doesn’t look to me like a motive for murder, but just shows how . . . bitchy we can be sometimes when we think nobody is looking. Patty herself took the brunt, so if anything,
she
should have been infuriated. Though I’m sure Jane and Emily’s getting caught talking about her behind her back was horrid for them, too.” I winced, remembering how I’d been guilty of talking behind Patty’s back just this morning. I sank my face in my hands. “How did this happen? Patty was such a terrific person, and her last day on this earth was spent learning that all her friends resented and betrayed her.”
The next morning, my first thought upon waking was that I’d had a terrible dream but that everything was fine now—Patty was alive and well. But as I became fully conscious, I remembered the whole story and realized that Patty was dead. I pulled my pillow over my face, thinking there was no way I could face the day.
Jim was already showered and getting dressed the next time I opened my eyes. He saw that I was awake, knelt beside me, and stroked my hair. “You’re coming to church,
“Yeah. Watched it when you were calling home. Didn’t make y’all look too swift, but that’s about the sum of it. Can’t see as it was worth bloodshed. Though maybe it was a last straw . . . a trigger. Anyone at the meeting strike you as bein’ on the edge? Ready to snap?”
“Everyone did.”
“Nothing stood out?”
“There was the unseen voice I didn’t recognize who called us amoral. And one time when everyone kind of gasped.”
“At what?”
“I don’t know. Something Jane Daly or Emily Crown said. My attention had wandered.”
He rose and gestured for me to follow him. “I’ll replay it for you.”
“That’s hardly standard police procedure, is it?”
He shrugged. “You’re a material witness. You know these people. Maybe you can tell better ’n me when someone’s hittin’ a nerve.”
He led me to a second room where four officers were watching us on tape. They did a double take at me. To my chagrin, they were watching my aren’t-I-funny . . . not section. Tommy explained that he wanted me to watch this without distractions, and the others left the room. He fast-forwarded till we reached the section I’d missed.
Emily and Jane were in the corner of the high school cafeteria. The camera appeared to be resting at the opposite side of the table. Jane was saying, “. . . because she doesn’t
want
you to lose weight. I’m telling you, she’s so competitive, she needs to have something over everyone else.”
Emily sighed. “And now she’s going to win yet another award. That’s Perfect Patty for you, isn’t it? She’s so freaking perfect that it would never even occur to her that she’s bringing us mere mortals to shame in comparison.”
Jane rolled her eyes. “You can say that again. Try holding down a job for ten years that you and everyone else knows Patty could do better than you with one arm tied behind her back.”
The screen image shook as if the camera had been jostled. Oblivious to whatever caused the camera motion, Emily cried, “That’s exactly how she makes
me
feel! The truth of the matter is, Patty is as insensitive and egotistical as they come.”
I caught my own breath at that, just thinking how Patty must have felt hearing that from her so-called “best friend” in front of a half dozen witnesses.
“If she ever once tried to—” Emily must have noticed then that the girl with the hidden camera was within earshot, for she stopped. She put on a smile and said, “Oh, hi, kids. Still trying to get your little camera?”
“Yes.”
Jane smirked and crossed her arms. Again, the posture gave me the image of her as a gnome. If she commented, it was not recorded. Instead, the final scene with Patty began, and Tommy stopped the VCR.
“Any thoughts?” Tommy asked me.
“Well, it doesn’t look to me like a motive for murder, but just shows how . . . bitchy we can be sometimes when we think nobody is looking. Patty herself took the brunt, so if anything,
she
should have been infuriated. Though I’m sure Jane and Emily’s getting caught talking about her behind her back was horrid for them, too.” I winced, remembering how I’d been guilty of talking behind Patty’s back just this morning. I sank my face in my hands. “How did this happen? Patty was such a terrific person, and her last day on this earth was spent learning that all her friends resented and betrayed her.”
The next morning, my first thought upon waking was that I’d had a terrible dream but that everything was fine now—Patty was alive and well. But as I became fully conscious, I remembered the whole story and realized that Patty was dead. I pulled my pillow over my face, thinking there was no way I could face the day.
Jim was already showered and getting dressed the next time I opened my eyes. He saw that I was awake, knelt beside me, and stroked my hair. “You’re coming to church,
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