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To his satisfaction his wife was in the kitchen, engaged in the preparatory stages of dinner, and after he kissed her on the temple, he immediately launched into a few choice remarks on a government that frowns on the hiring of contract killers for the purposes of dispensing with annoying young doctors who think they can just swoop into your town and take over your business.

Marge, instead of listening and nodding from time to time and generally displaying the kind of understanding and supportive attitude a harried husband likes to see in a wife at times like these, suddenly asked,“What do you think the meaning of life is, Tex?”

Tex was momentarily taken aback. He’d just been grasping for a third synonym of ‘jackass’ and was forced to perform the mental equivalent of a screeching halt.

“The meaning of life?” he asked, directing a look at Marge of utter bewilderment. He noticed now, for the first time since he’d arrived home, that Marge had a sort of worried expression on her face. A deep frown that told him she was brooding on something.

She took a seat at the kitchen table.“I’ve been talking to Vesta.”

Uh-oh, Tex thought. It was never a good idea for anyone to talk to Marge’s mother, who, in his expert opinion, probably should have been admitted to Bellevue decades ago.

“She interviewed me, and asked me a lot of questions that really made me think. Her first question was about the meaning of life, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.”

“I’m sure she didn’t mean anything by it,” he said. “You know what your mother is like. She’s one of those scatterbrained people you really shouldn’t pay too much attention to. Next she’ll ask you about the history and usefulness of the cuckoo clock, or the difference between a red ant and a black ant. Just another day for her.”

“But all her questions were like that. What’s the meaning of life? What is real happiness? How can we make this world a better place? What is the soul… All very profound and important topics. And the strange thing is that I couldn’t formulate an answer to a single one of them. I was absolutely stumped. And I’m the town librarian!”

“I would be stumped if your mother asked me about the meaning of life. A trick question, if you ask me.”

“Mh,” said Marge, not convinced.

“One question I can answer is the third one. How to make the world a better place. By removing people like Jaqlyn Jones from it. Do you know he had the gall to invite us to the garden party he and his wife are throwing?”

“Oh, that’s right. I forgot to tell you about that. I got the invitation yesterday. Jaqlyn’s wife dropped it off personally.”

“Did you tell her in no uncertain terms where she could stick her invitation?”

“I did. I told her we’d definitely be there.” And after delivering this bombshell, she got up and walked out of the kitchen.

Tex stared after her disappearing form, his jaw dropping.“But, honey!” he said finally, and followed her into the living room.

But before he could say more, Marge had turned and said,“Haven’t you ever wondered if there’s more to life than getting married, having kids and buying a house, Tex? Well, I have. And I think I’ll join my mother tonight when she visits Master Omar.”

“Master who?” he asked, the conversation starting to prove a little challenging.

“Master Omar. Mom says he’s the only person who’s got all the answers, and I, for one, am dying to hear what he has to say.” She gave him a hopeful smile. “Will you come, too, Tex? Please? I just know it’ll be good for us. It’ll give us something to talk about.”

“We have plenty to talk about. Jaqlyn Jones, for one, gives us plenty of food for…”

But she was directing a look at him that told him he was on the wrong track. So instead of gibbering on about Jaqlyn Jones, instead he found himself nodding dumbly.

“Oh, Texie,” said Marge, attaching herself to his arm and kneading it affectionately. “You won’t regret this. Vesta says you can ask any question you like and Master Omar will surprise you with the profoundness of his response. So you can ask him whatever is on your mind. The meaning of life, the location of the soul. Absolutely anything.”

A sudden thought had occurred to Tex. He still had no idea who this Omar person was, or why he suddenly featured so prominently in Vesta’s life, but it was true that he was a man in search of profound answers. A seeker, so to speak. So he nodded slowly, and said, “You know? I think I have just the question to ask this Master Omar of yours.”

Marge smiled.“See? We all have questions, and maybe the time has come to ask them.”

In Tex’s mind only one question stood out, though, burning hot in its intensity, and it was indeed one of those important questions that keep a man awake at night, tossing and turning. Namely how to get rid of a certain young doctor named Jaqlyn Jones.

Chapter 6