Mrs. Kaplan and the Matzoh Ball of Death Read Online Free PDF

Goldfarb try on some clothes for the evening
seder
. Mrs. Goldfarb tried on the earrings in question, but she decided not to wear them after all. According to Miss Zeiss, she laid them down on the small table near the door.”
    “Not a very safe place for them,” Mrs. K said.
    “No,” Pupik replied, “there I agree with you. I even remarked as much to Miss Zeiss, who was a bit embarrassed and admitted she had intended to remind Mrs. Goldfarb to put them away in a safer place, but apparently she had forgotten to do so. Nevertheless the earrings were still on the table when Miss Zeiss left for the day, about 2 P.M . It is unlikely that between the time Miss Zeiss left and Mrs. Goldfarb went to the
seder,
Mrs. Goldfarb could have ‘misplaced’ the earrings.”
    “Did Daisy say she put the earrings away before she left for the
seder
?” Mrs. K asked.
    Pupik looked at Corcoran as if to ask him whether he should answer or not, but Corcoran made no move to interrupt, so he turned back to Mrs. K and said, “I asked her that, and she says she doesn’t remember. She may simply have forgotten about them being on the table.”
    Corcoran had his mouth open as if to ask a question, but Mrs. K beat him to it.
    “And did Daisy possibly pick them up and put them in her pocket, and end up walking out of the room with them when she went to the
seder
?” she asked. “Or did she leave the door wide open as I have often seen her do, so that any Tom, Dick, or Harvey could have taken them?”
    “As you know, Mrs. Kaplan,” Pupik said in a huffy tone of voice, “we have little reason to lock doors here; apart from the occasional trinket or item of clothing reported missing, we have virtually no instances of theft at the Home. I have always prided myself on the feeling of security the residents under my charge can—”
    This last was directed at Corcoran, who had to cut Pupik off at the pass before he began to list his Boy Scout merit badges and other such accomplishments.
    “I’m sure you have a very secure establishment here,” said Corcoran, “but if you’ll finish telling us about the earrings…”
    Pupik looked like he would much rather continue his personal résumé, but he just said, “Well, that’s about all, I guess.”
    Just then the telephone rang, startling us all a bit. It was one of those loud, unpleasant electronic sounds—give me a good old-fashioned ring of the bell anytime. Anyway, Pupik reached across to his desk and answered it. After a few grunts and a wince, he put down the phone and said to us, “I’m afraid I shall have to leave for a few minutes.” To the two detectives he added, “It seems Mr. Plotnik has locked himself in the maintenance closet again and refuses to come out until I come and assure him he will not be given ‘solitary confinement’ if he ‘surrenders.’ It’s a little quirk of his, nothing to worry about, a kind of game we play.” Only it didn’t appear that Mr. Pupik enjoys playing this game. Or that he enjoys Mr. Plotnik, for that matter. Nevertheless, with a sigh he rose to leave.
    “If you gentlemen would like to continue without me, please feel free to use my office,” he said. “I might be back shortly, but sometimes these things take a bit of time.”
    “We understand,” said Corcoran, although I’m not so sure about the “we” part, because Mr. Jenkins did not look at all like he understood. “As a matter of fact, Jenkins and I have an appointment later this morning across town, so we probably should be going anyway. I think we can take this up in another day or so.” Then he turned to us and added, “Perhaps in the meantime Mrs. Kaplan—and you also, Mrs….”
    “Berkowitz,” I told him. Such nice eyes he had.
    “…Berkowitz, thank you. You both might give some thought to what we have discussed here, and it’s possible by the time we next meet you will have remembered something that will help us to resolve this unfortunate matter.” He said it in