Free The Cluttered Corpse by Mary Jane Maffini

basket with the graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows, and, of course, the dogs into the Miata when my cell phone rang.
    â€œDallas is throwing up,” Sally shrieked. “And Madison and Savannah are starting to complain about their tummies.”
    Howls and wails echoed on the line.
    â€œOh boy. What can I do?”
    â€œNothing, thanks, Charlotte. But it won’t be a good night here. I’ll be doing the bucket-and-mop routine. And the kids will need my attention. We’ll get together when they’re better.”
    â€œI’ll call Margaret. Let me know if you need anything. I’ll come by.”
    A loud wail erupted in the background. Sally said, “Nope. It’s probably wildly contagious. I don’t want you on my conscience. Gotta go.” She hung up with a clatter.
    â€œThat was a close call,” Margaret said when I reached her. “Imagine if we’d been there. Yuck.”
    â€œNo kidding.” Of course, poor Sally was there, without any help.
    â€œI can use the time at the office. Let me know when the new night is. Oh yeah, and, Charlotte, are you going to call Pepper?”
    I left a message for Pepper saying that the so-called shower had been postponed. As soon as I hung up, I realized that Pepper might not get that message from her work phone in time. That is if she intended to go to Sally’s. Maybe she’d been yanking my chain. She does like that game.
    Now what?
    Once I’d known Pepper’s home number by heart. But now I had no idea what it was. I figured most police officers don’t list their phone numbers for obvious reasons. They don’t want perpetrators to have their addresses. But I knew where Pepper lived. Nick Monahan had told me one time when he’d spotted me before I spotted him. He’d leaned in, stared down the front of my blouse, and breathed the news as I backed away from him. That was Nick. The perennial horny adolescent. Only now he and Pepper had bought a house on Old Pine Street.
    â€œHow about that,” I’d said. “Just like a grown-up.”
    â€œI hear ya,” he’d said with a sigh. “I’m not so crazy about the house thing. But Pepper sure wanted it. And what Princess Pepper wants…”
    My eyes had already glazed over when he told me about the separate lot and the double garage he’d had specially built for his car and his truck. “That’s the reason I went for the place. Got it all,” he said. “Made of brick. Motion detectors. Dead bolts. Video surveillance. Alarms. No son of a bitch is going to mess with my blah, blah, blah…Anytime you want a drive, Charlie, let me know.” He waggled his eyebrows.
    As if I could give a crap about Nick the Stick’s Mustang convertible and his Dodge Ram and his fear that they would be stolen from under his nose. All to say, I’d missed the detail about the house number in the fog of boring words.
    The good news was, I was sure I could figure out which one it was. This was a pleasant but ordinary street. How many houses would have a separate lot with a brick garage with such elaborate security on them? I could swing by the new house on Old Pine and tell Pepper. I wouldn’t have to let her know how I knew where she lived or that Nick had told me about his precious garage and big toys and asked me for a drive. Any word that I’d been within a block of Nick might set her off. If she wasn’t home, I could leave a note. I was pretty sure she wouldn’t have shown up at Sally’s anyway, but this way I could pretend to be nice. Or at least nicer than I was.

    Pepper was wearing a pricey pair of skinny jeans and a cream cashmere sweater when she answered the door. Her shiny blonde layers looked perfect. She was heading somewhere, for sure.
    I was glad I’d taken the time to put on capris and a filmy flowered blouse.
    â€œNice place,” I said politely.
    â€œWhat are you doing