She even got the board of directors to pay for my tuition. On-the-job training, she called it. When I got my certificate from junior college. ." She paused, a sob stuck in her throat for a minute, then took a deep breath and plowed on. "When I got my certificate, there was a ceremony. Ms. Palmer not only came to it, but she brought Babs McDonald and even Miss Daisy Snellen, who hardly went out at all by that time. It was like having a family there that was proud of me.”

Jane was getting choked up herself. "How lovely!" she said in a shaky voice. "And how proud of you they all must have been.”

Sharlene nodded. "I think they really were.”

Shelley, considerably less sentimental than Jane, said, "Sharlene, you said she was wonderful to you. I see what you mean, but did everybody like her as much as you did?"

“Everybody respected and admired her. Well — almost everyone."

“Who didn't?" Shelley asked bluntly. Sharlene waved toward the front of the booth. "That awful Caspar Snellen, the man who wasjust here. He didn't like her at all, but that was his own fault."

“Why didn't he like her?" Jane asked.

“Oh, because he's mean and greedy. Miss Daisy Snellen was his aunt, you see. And he thought he and his sister, Georgia, should get all the Snellen money. When Miss Daisy died, she left him and his sister a lot of money. About a million dollars each, I heard. But the rest all went to the museum. And Caspar made a big, hateful stink about it. Said Ms. Palmer had sucked up to his aunt and that Miss Daisy was senile. It was awful. He brought some kind of lawsuit and threatened to have newspaper interviews and everything. In fact, he'd done something nasty even before Miss Daisy died."

“What kind of something?" Shelley asked.

“Tried to have her declared incontinent — no, incompetent. I mix those words up. But Tom took care of that in no time."

“Was Tom Cable Miss Daisy's attorney?" Jane asked, having a lot of trouble picturing Jumper Cable in a suit and tie, arguing a case in court.