Mahjonged (An Alex Harris Mystery) by Elaine Macko Page B

might put you off and you might leave this one to the cops.”
    I smiled at Meme. “Ha. No way.”
    Meme wrapped her chubby hands around her coffee mug and asked, “Are you going to make a list of suspects?”
    “Not yet. First I want to know exactly who came with whom?”
    “Oh, that’s easy. Me and Theresa came with Sam,” Meme said.
    My mother put down her Danish. “Dorothy and Francis came with me.”
    “Dorothy?” I asked, looking around the kitchen. “Where is she?”
    “Judith took her home. She didn’t want to leave her husband alone,” Mom said.
    “She probably just didn’t want to stay in this, what did you call it Meme?” my sister asked.
    “Murder house,” Meme cackled.
    “Okay. Enough. Let’s not forget someone died,” I said.
    “Sorry,” Meme said.
    “All right,” I began again, my grandmother sufficiently chastised. “Who else?’
    “Mia came with Millie and Judith and Penelope came together,” Sam said.
    “And Jean was right behind me,” Mom said. “She followed us over.”
    “Connie and Liz came together and Mary-Beth came alone. Good. Now we know who came with whom.” I put my pen down and took a sip of tea.
    “What’s next?” my grandmother eagerly asked.
    I thought for a moment, chewing on a piece of raspberry Danish while I fine-tuned my plan of attack. “ You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory. Victory at all costs - Victory in spite of all terrors - Victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival .”
    “And do you actually have a plan to achieve this victory?” my sister asked not even giving me any credit for my latest Winston quote.
    I cut my eyes at her and then turned my attention to the rest of table. “Okay,” I said, putting down the pastry and wiping my hands on a paper napkin. “Next, I want to know who sat where.”
    “But we switched players several times,” my sister said.
    “True, but I still want to know where everyone was as much as I can, especially the last hand right before Penelope was killed.”
    “I played with Mia, Millie, and Mrs. Chapman on the last hand,” Sam said.
    “That’s right. And Millie won if I remember correctly,” I teased. Sam gave me a sneer and I reached across the table and patted her hand. “I sat with Mary-Beth, Meme, and Theresa.”
    “Yep. You played with us, honey.”
    “And Mom, you were with Dorothy and Penelope and who else?” I asked.
    My mother got up and poured herself more coffee and turned the heat on under the kettle. “No, Alex, Penelope was at my table but Dorothy played with Connie and Frances. That would leave me with Penelope, Liz, and Jean, I think.”
    “How about earlier?”
    “Well, I played with Mom and Penelope at some point. Penelope played well,” Sam said.
    “So did Jean,” my mom added. “She picked up the game very quickly. As a matter of fact, I think I still owe her some money.”
    “I played with Jean, Mia, and Penelope on the first game,” Meme said.
    I shook my head and held up my hand.
    “Stop! It’s too confusing. Let’s just say at some point in the evening, everyone got a chance to play with Penelope.”
    “It was your idea, Alex.”
    “What was?” I asked my sister.
    “To go around and tell who we played with.”
    “I know. It’s just too much and I can’t keep everything straight.”
    I leaned back in my chair and ran my hands through my short hair as I glanced around the table at a sea of white-haired women, myself and Sam excluded. A thought began forming in my mind. Everyone currently sitting at my kitchen table had played at least one hand with Penelope. And despite my constant prodding for people to take their turns, a good portion of each hand involved chit-chatting.
    “I can see the wheels spinning,” Meme said with pure delight. My grandmother was my biggest fan besides being just as nosy as I am. And like me, she really enjoys a good mystery. We read a lot of them, sharing