Read War and Peas for Free Online

right?“ Jane said, trying to assuage his frustration.
    “Jane, I imagine everybody did exactly what they did yesterday. The only difference is, nobody took aim with a stolen antique gun and shot somebody.”

Five

    The groundbreaking ceremony was scheduled for five o’clock. At four-thirty, Shelley started packing up the sale items at their booth and Jane carted them to the mobile home. She found much of the museum staff assembled. Sharlene was tidying and packing up the costumes, and Jumper Cable was attempting, with stunning incompetence, to help her. Babs McDonald was at the miniature dining table, going over some paperwork with Lisa Quigley.
    As Jane entered with her boxes, a tremendously good-looking man stood up from the sofa, first to study her, then to offer to help her. His quick up-and-down gaze and approving smile might have been flattering, had they not been so blatantly lecherous.
    “Hi, there. I don’t think we’ve met,“ he said, taking the boxes from her and managing to “accidentally“ brush his hand against her breast in the process. “I’m Derek Delano.“ This was said with a flash of handsomely capped teeth.
    “I’m glad to meet you,“ Jane lied. “I’m Jane Jeffry.“
    “Another of our wonderful volunteers, no doubt.“ His tone was clearly patronizing.
    Jane wished she could do that haughty-eyebrow thing that Shelley was so good at. “Another volunteer,“ she said. “But I don’t know about wonderful. This box is marked ‘Pins, jump ropes, and peashooters,’ but we sold out on the peashooters.“
    “Don’t worry. Sharlene will sort it all out,“ he said.
    Jane had taken such an instant dislike to him that she found this insulting to Sharlene, though for all she knew, it was part of Sharlene’s job. “And are you a volunteer, too, Derek?“ she asked cattily.
    His frown lasted only an instant before he laughed condescendingly. “No, I’m the assistant director of the Snellen. For now.”
    He said the last words in a low voice, but across the way, Babs McDonald’s head snapped up and she glared at him. Not awfully diplomatic of him, Jane thought, offering to step into Regina Palmer’s shoes so soon.
    “For now?“ Jane repeated innocently. “What do you mean?”
    He replied, a little too loudly, “Only that I’ll be happy to do anything the Snellen Museum needs at this time of trouble.”
    Jane went back to the booth and said, “Shelley, I think you should take the next carton over and meet Derek.“
    “Who’s that?“ Shelley said, slapping transparent tape along the lid of a box.
    “Oh, just the Snellen Museum’s very own sleaze. And a perfect murder suspect.“
    “What on earth are you blathering about?“ Shelley snapped. The tape hadn’t gone on perfectly straight, the way she felt tape was supposed to do. She considered such incidents with inanimate objects as personal insults.
    “Take that box over and you’ll see.”
    Shelley returned ten minutes later—walking hard on her heels. “What a creep!“ she said with an elaborate shudder. “He called me ‘babe.’ Babe!“
    “No!“
    “ He won’t do it again,“ Shelley said, smiling a little.
    Jane repeated his remark about being the assistant director—so far. “Babs heard him, but I wanted to make certain he knew she’d heard it. Do you think we should tell Mel?“
    “You can, but I don’t think there’s any need,“ Shelley said. “The rest of them in the trailer were treating him like he was Typhoid Mary. I don’t think there’s any love lost on him at the Snellen.“
    “But there might be elsewhere,“ Jane said quietly. “Get a load of that.”
    She gestured with her shoulder. Derek Delano was approaching the booth with a woman on his arm. She was the essence of the country-club type: stylish clothes that were once called “preppie,“ a golf tan, costly sunglasses, a surgically enhanced figure and face, and expensively streaked blond hair. And in spite of it all, she looked just