The Memorial Hall Murder by Jane Langton

going to leave all the debris in the basement till next spring. Next April sometime they’re going to gut that whole part of the basement and turn it into new office space. That Donald Maderna works fast. He had people in there all night long, getting the place ready for public use once again.”
    â€œThat was quick work, all right. You mean I can use my classroom again tomorrow? Say, that’s great. Now, just tell me where and when the Overseers meet.”
    â€œUniversity Hall, right there behind the statue of John Harvard in the old Yard, the Faculty Room on the second floor. Monday morning. Now, the question is, what time? Usually the Overseers don’t get together until two, but President Cheever is calling for a joint session with the Corporation, so we’re starting early so we can go on with the reports of the Visiting Committees later on. You’ll be present at a historic occasion, I guess, Mr. Kelly, a joint session of both groups. I mean, I never heard of them meeting together before. But President Cheever has a building project he wants to bring up before everybody at the same time. I gather the Corporation already turned it down, but I guess in the President’s opinion that didn’t exactly settle the matter. In fact, I understand it came up before the faculty last week. Anyway, our meeting is supposed to begin at nine-thirty, but I think if you came along about ten o’clock, we could squeeze you into the agenda. Is that all right with you?”
    â€œThat’s fine. I’ll be there. And I’ll see about the funeral. I’ll call you back this afternoon, Mrs. Chamberlain.”
    â€œWell, good for you. You’re a peach.”
    NORTH CAMBRIDGE FUNERAL PARLOR
    Dignified Personal Service
    FINEST FACILITIES
    Centrally Air-Conditioned
    PRE-NEED PLANNING
    Air-conditioned, noted Homer. That was important. You wouldn’t want the body of your loved one to smell on a hot day. Pre-need planning was probably a good thing too. More efficient. Pre-griefstricken folks could make plans to get their nearest and dearest into the ground a lot faster when the sad moment finally arrived.
    Homer poked around the building and found Mr. Ratchit in a small office at the back.
    â€œOh, sure,” said Mr. Ratchit. “He’s all yours. We’ve got the permit from the Board of Health. The Medical Examiner saw him at the place where he was blown up, Whatchacallit Hall, that big church there. And they had the autopsy already.”
    â€œMemorial Hall. It’s not a church. It’s a Civil War memorial.”
    â€œWell, it looks like a church. Say, you know, that individual was obese. I mean, he was heavy.”
    â€œWell, he was pretty tall too, right? I never met the man,” said Homer gloomily. “I mean, when he was alive.”
    â€œTall, oh, sure, he was tall. But flabby. I mean, he was flabby. Well, you know, really repulsive. I look at it this way. God gives you a magnificent body, right?” Mr. Ratchit arched his narrow chest and spread his scrawny arms. “So you ought to take care of it, right? But look what some people do with it.”
    â€œWell, yes, I suppose so.”
    â€œYou should of seen his hands. I mean, like I’m really interested in hands. Well, this guy’s hands were soft. White and flabby. Pudgy, really soft. The hands of an extremely obese individual. Take a look at my hands, for instance. No, go ahead, feel. Feel those calluses? That’s work, man. Hard work. With a spade, with a hoe. Hard physical work. I mean, I really believe in good hard physical exercise. You take your average sedentary person, they’ve got hands like bread dough. Sitting there at a desk all day.”
    Homer shrank down in his chair and sat on his hands, feeling his stomach brim over his belt buckle. “Well, actually, I don’t think Ham Dow sat at a desk all day, exactly. But I suppose he didn’t go in much for real