Birthday Party Murder Read Free

Cove.
    â€œShe’s great,” said Rachel. “Same as always. You remember taking sociology in college? About inner-directed and outer-directed people? Well, Miss Tilley is the most inner-directed person I know. She just does what she does. You know, she eats the same meals for dinner every week?” Sue counted them off on her fingers. “Roast beef on Sunday, cold beef on Monday, chicken on Tuesday, shrimp wiggle on Wednesday, shepherd’s pie on Thursday, chicken à la king on Friday and baked beans on Saturday.”
    â€œActually, I didn’t take sociology,” said Pam. “And if I had, I probably wouldn’t remember it anyway. But I guess I’m inner-directed because we have spaghetti every Wednesday.”
    â€œIt just means that she doesn’t care what other people think,” said Sue.
    â€œShe’s just herself,” agreed Lucy. “There’s nobody like her.”
    â€œThat’s exactly right,” agreed Rachel. “For example, she likes to wear a certain style of shoe. She’s worn it for years. Gets two pairs every year mail order from the company. Well, they finally discontinued it. So she was looking through the catalog and these sneakers that light up when you walk caught her eye. For kids, you know. Well, she decided she had to have them. I told her they were for kids, that she’d look ridiculous. Didn’t faze her in the least. She told me she doesn’t have much excitement in her life anymore and she was going to get the sneakers. And she did.”
    Sue was incredulous. “She’s wearing sneakers that twinkle when she walks?” she asked.
    Rachel nodded. “She likes them so much she ordered two more pairs, in case they discontinue them.”
    â€œI’ll have to stop by and visit,” said Lucy. “This I’ve got to see.”
    â€œHow old is she anyway?” asked Pam. “She must be getting up there.”
    â€œActually, her ninetieth birthday is coming up.” Rachel drank the last of her coffee. “I think she’s feeling her age a little bit. Lately she’s asked me to help her go through her closets and drawers to clean things out. She’s also got a meeting coming up with Bob’s partner, Sherman. He handles most of the older clients’ wills and things.”
    â€œVery sensible,” observed Pam. “After all, she can’t expect to live too much longer.”
    â€œNinety years,” mused Lucy. “Think how much has changed in her lifetime. We’ve gone from long skirts and corsets to . . . Britney Spears!”
    When they all stopped laughing, Sue held up her hand. “I’ve got an idea,” she declared.
    They all moaned.
    â€œYou’re going to love this,” she continued, gazing off into the distance. “Why don’t we have a birthday party for Miss Tilley? A really big party, you know, invite the whole town. Have the high school band and the chorus. She could arrive on a fire engine. After all, she is the town’s oldest resident and she was the librarian for so many years, absolutely everybody knows her.”
    â€œWe could do a ‘This Is Your Life’ show,” suggested Lucy. “Bring back people from her past, successful people she encouraged.”
    â€œI don’t know if she’d go for something like that,” cautioned Rachel. “She’s pretty reclusive; she likes her routine. She wouldn’t want to miss her shrimp wiggle. Plus, she doesn’t like attention.”
    Sue waved away that objection. “This is a woman who wears shoes that twinkle when she walks.”
    â€œI bet I can get Ted to put out a special edition of The Pennysaver,” offered Pam, referring to her husband and Lucy’s boss, the editor and publisher of the town’s weekly newspaper. “A commemorative edition chronicling her whole life. It will really be a history of the town during the