The Cereal Murders by Diane Mott Davidson Page B

wiped it off.
     
     
"Do you mind?" Arch leaned away from my ministrations.
     
     
"Tell me about Macguire, the headmaster's son. And his trouble."
     
     
Arch shrugged noncommitally. "Well, he's kind of a goof-off. I mean, with a dad like that, can you blame him if he's weird? I don't think he's allowed to drive anymore. Listen, Mom, people aren't saying very nice things about Keith today. Like he deserved to die or something."
     
     
"Who's saying that, the Marenskys?"
     
     
"Oh, I guess. Them and other people." Another shrug. Arch, like Julian, wouldn't tattle if his life depended on it. "I'm telling you, Keith was a great guy. Even though he was a senior, he would talk to you. Most seniors just ignore you." Arch reached for another cupcake.
     
     
"I know, I know," I said, and felt a mother's pang over the way kids treated small-built, nonathletic Arch.
     
     
Marla sashayed up grandly. She had a piece of torte in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. She gestured grandly with her coffee cup. "Van Gogh must have had to listen to people argue about the Ivy League. That's why he came home and cut off his ear."
     
     
I shook my head. "Just go have a listen-in on the conversation between the Dawsons and Audrey Coopersmith. Caroline was going on about grade point average being less important than extracurricular activities. Audrey replied that besides volleyball, the only outside interest Greer Dawson has ever shown was in clothes. So Caroline said, now that you mention it, maybe dear daughter Greer could give Audrey's daughter, Heather, a few pointers in that department. For that matter - Caroline threw in, as long as she was on a roll - it looked as if Audrey herself could use a little advice in the fashion department." I groaned. "Poor Audrey. As if she didn't have enough to deal with."
     
     
"Don't worry," said Marla. "I told Father Olson we needed a referee for a coffee hour argument. He said, Oh, theology or ethics? And I said, academics. He nodded. Said he learned all about it in seminary."
     
     
"ReaIIy?"
     
     
But before Marla could elaborate, the head of the Altar Guild came up and asked me to start clearing the serving table, as there was going to be a meeting in the parish hall after church. Arch sidled off.
     
     
To my relief, the cheese was almost gone, the plum cake was crumbs, and the bird centerpieces had been reduced to a few slices of apple-feather.
     
     
"Oh, Goldy!" Father Olson's face glowed with pleasure. "This was marvelous! And it gave rise to such a lively coffee hour! I wonder, could you be persuaded to do a luncheon-ministry for the Board of Theological Examiners? I'm sorry to say that we can't really afford to - "
     
     
"No thanks!" I called back gaily, scooping up the last of the Gouda. "I'm all booked for the next three months." This was not entirely true. But clients have to be willing to pay for their bread. I had a child to support.
     
     
"... just don't understand why you think your daughter is the only one qualified"..." Hank Dawson was gesticulating with a wedge of Gouda. As he chided Audrey Coopersmith, his tone was judgmental. "We have looked into this extensively - "
     
     
Caroline Dawson was nodding as she stuffed the last of a cupcake into her mouth. The lapels of her red suit quivered in indignation. She swallowed and continued her husband's thought. "Why, just the other day I was speaking with the director of admissions at - "
     
     
"And you think that makes you an expert?" Audrey fired back. Her face flushed with ferocity. "You don't know the first thing about the value of an education." She paused, and I felt myself chilled by the intensity of the dark-eyed glare she directed at the bewildered Caroline Dawson. Audrey's words erupted like a spray of bullets. "You think Ben Jonson is a Canadian runner. You, you" - she paused, grasping for another insult - "you think Heidegger is a box you carry to detect radiation!"
     
     
So saying, Audrey whacked