Catch As Cat Can

                "I bet you could and forgive me for not putting cookies on the table. I don't know where my mind is these days." She opened the cupboard, put some cookies on a plate, then heated more milk.

                The rain drummed steadily outside; the night was blacker than black.

                "Thank you. What I find is that most, now I said most, not all, people with money react to visual cues. They're quick to size other people up, if you know what I mean. What kind of earrings does she wear? What kind of watch does he have on and what does she or he drive? The cut of one's clothes. The cues are very, very important. The way in which one speaks. One's manners at the table. I swear that's why Southerners are so successful at fund-raising. We know how to act if nothing else."

                "Good manners beaten into our skins." Harry laughed as she had heard a constant stream of corrections from her mother, aunts, adults as a child.

                "That's one way to put it." Lottie turned in her seat toward the stove as the milk simmered."You'd be amazed to know how much I spend on clothing alone. And I'm not really a clotheshorse but I have to look good."

                "You're one of the best-groomed women I know. You, the two Mims, and BoomBoom, always."

                "Boom's too flashy." Lottie waved her hand, dismissing even the thought of BoomBoom Craycroft."It takes time, imagination, and money on my budget. After all, I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth."

                "I often wonder what life would be like if I had been," Harry mused as she finished making another delicious cup of hot chocolate. This time she shook a little powdered nutmeg on top, placing the orange rind on top of that. She'd forgotten the nutmeg the first time around.

                "We'd both be in a better place." Lottie turned back toward the table as Harry sat down."It's grinding. I love what I do but it's exhausting to pay bills, keep up appearances, pay taxes. There's so little left for me."

                "Yes, I know the feeling but we have our health, we live in one of the most beautiful places in the world."

                "That's true." Lottie breathed in, lifted her heavy cup, then put it down. Still too hot. She spooned up some whipped cream."Apart from your company, I dropped by to pose two questions to you. The first is, did you put Cynthia Cooper up to questioning me?"

                "No," Harry abruptly said."I didn't know she had questioned you."

                "You two are close. You're a, what shall I say, amateur sleuth. She came to my office and that really upset me. She could have picked another place."

                "I suppose she could have but if she was really worried or suspicious she probably would have met you somewhere else or simply hauled you in. If she came to your office it means she needed your help. I'd think that your superiors would know that."

                "Maybe. It made me quite nervous."

                "Lottie, two men have been murdered. I should think that would take precedence over any of us feeling nervous or put out."

                "Yeah, and Lottie may have poisoned one of them," Pewter catcalled.

                "Hush, Pewter. Don't call attention to us. Besides, the humans think Roger died a natural death and our smelling what we think is poison in the cracks of Aunt Tally's floor doesn't constitute proof. For all we know it could have been ant poison."

                "It wasn't," Tucker rumbled.

                "Be that as it may, let's be quiet." Mrs. Murphy half closed her eyes, pretending to sleep.

                Pewter followed suit so Tucker walked a bit away from Lottie's chair and flopped down with her head on her paws. She never took her eyes off Lottie, though.

                "It is gruesome. I know." She sighed."I never even saw that hanged man. He didn't park my car. And as for Donald, well, it's too bizarre, just too bizarre."

                "Okay, I answered your first question."

                "Thank you. I feel better. I was terribly upset when Coop came in uniform and everything."

                "Lottie, I assume you explained her presence to the people around you. You're making too much out of it."

                "You work in the post office. It's different for you. I'm judged by a different standard and I'm telling you, people are not fair, not

                for an instant. Furthermore, women are judged more harshly than men."

                "Oh, Lottie, I don't believe that."

                "I do. We're held to a higher moral standard."

                Harry considered this."Do the Ten Commandments come with gender specifications?"

                "No." Lottie frowned.

                "Then it's the same for everyone, male or female. If people want to use gender as an excuse for their behavior, have at it. The rules are the same for everyone."

                "Harry, you've been around Miranda Hogendobber too long. The real world doesn't work like that. The real world is still controlled by rich white men and it is in their self-interest to have their cake and eat it, too. So when Bill Clinton slept with every tart that came his way there was finger-wagging and fussing but finally people just figured that's what men do."

                "Lottie, as I recall he nearly got impeached."

                "I still maintain the standards are different. If I sleep around it's one thing. If Fair sleeps around, it's another."

                "Lost him his wife," Harry coolly replied, then laughed.