Pie

The entire village of Ipswitch attends Polly’s funeral. Alice sits at the front of the chapel with her parents. Sitting behind them is Mayor Needleman with his wife Melanie and their daughter, Nora, a classmate whom Alice finds standoffish. Charlie surprises Alice by sitting beside her, and “Alice’s mother gave Charlie a dirty look, but he didn’t seem to notice. Alice didn’t care if he sat there or not. She was too sad to care about anything anymore” (14). A tall, skinny boy with bright orange hair, Charlie had done odd jobs for Polly, although he and Alice had never been friends. At the conclusion of the service, he asks if Alice will go to the casket. Alice remains seated and watches the stream of mourners.

She notices a woman she does not recognize walking from the casket back against the flow of others. Alice also sees her principal, Miss Gurke, who, as usual, wears a dress that is too large. The principal pauses over the casket, reaching inside and then pulling her hand away.

Alice waits to rise until everyone else departs the chapel. She recalls working with Polly and telling her aunt that Ruth said Polly could be a millionaire if she wished. Polly replies, “I’m already rich in all the ways that count [...]. And so is your mother, even if she doesn’t know it yet” (19). Alice remembers making up one of her spontaneous songs, which always delights Polly, though Ruth criticizes Alice’s “active imagination” and finds her songs annoying.

When Alice finally approaches the casket, she notices that the funeral director did a worthy job. It also seems to her that something about Polly is missing, though she cannot figure out what it is.

Ruth quickly discovers that Polly donated her pie shop and attached apartment to their minister, Reverend Flowers, to use as he desires to raise funds for the church. Ruth launches into a screed, proclaiming, “She is thumbing her nose at us even from the grave” (25). Ruth’s anger subsides when Mr. Ogden, Polly’s lawyer, calls and asks to speak to Alice. He asks Alice to come alone to his office because Polly mentioned Alice in her will. Ruth and George, Alice’s father, grow excited, believing Polly left her pie recipe to Alice, who rides her bike to the attorney’s office.

George previously worked selling Hoover vacuum cleaners door to door but, with Polly’s blessing, opens a souvenir shop next door to PIE, trading with the busloads of visitors who come to Ipswitch for Polly’s pies. Though she never tries to promote her pies herself, eventually, one of the officials of the annual Blueberry Award, given to the best pie in the country, takes one of Polly’s pies and submits it. Polly wins the 1942 Blueberry Award. She humbly tries to refuse it, though her contest advocate, Harriet Melcher, insists that she attend the ceremony in Philadelphia. Her victory begins a string of 13 consecutive Blueberry Awards. Polly receives each with the same simple acceptance speech, “Thank you very much” (30). Polly also gets many offers to purchase her piecrust recipe but keeps it secret, in part because she knows that Ipswitch depends upon the outsiders who flock to town for her pies, which are not available anywhere else. She does, however, make a special arrangement for what will happen to the recipe after her death.

At the attorney’s office, Alice learns that Mr. Ogden had unsealed and read Polly’s will for the first time that morning. He tells her that he cannot explain what Polly has ordered but simply must make sure it happens as she dictated. Mr. Ogden has Polly’s cat in a mesh box in his office, explaining it took him an hour to corral the hateful feline. Alice cautions, “Don’t take it personally […]. Lardo doesn’t like anybody” (35). Mr. Ogden reads Alice the one page will, which leaves the piecrust recipe to Lardo and leaves Lardo to Alice.

Ruth expresses outrage when Alice tells her the contents of the will. She calls Mr. Ogden, who confirms what Alice had told her. Ruth cannot believe anything other than that Polly hated her. George sneezes several times since he is allergic to Lardo. He instructs Alice to take Lardo to her room and prepare a litter box for him. Alice takes a can of tuna fish. She does not have any sardines, Lardo’s preferred meal. Afraid to open his mesh box with her hand, Alice uses a bent hangar to open the zipper. Lardo rushes under her bed and remains there.

Going downstairs for supper, Alice sees her father reading the evening newspaper with a headline that proclaims, “PIE QUEEN LEAVES SECRET RECIPE TO CAT” (42). Her father tells her that Ruth has gone to bed with a headache. He shares the last of one of Polly’s lemon chiffon pies with Alice. Though it brings happy memories to her, Alice feels sad that this will be the last time she ever tastes one of Polly’s pies.

That night, Alice sees Lardo come out from under the bed and devour the tuna. She realizes he has not eaten in three days and understands that the cat also misses Polly just as she does. Alice reads until she falls asleep. She wakes in the middle of the night, hearing a noise. She turns on the light but sees nothing amiss and goes back to sleep.

The following morning, a haggard-looking Ruth cooks in the kitchen. When Alice asks her what she is making, she says she is baking a pie, announcing that if Polly could do it, nothing would prevent her from doing so as well. She intends to win the Blueberry Award that fall herself. Alice is skeptical because “as far as she knew, her mother had never made a pie in her life” (47). When Alice asks for more tuna to feed Lardo, her mother says they will take him to the pound at 10  am Alice protests, saying Polly gave the cat to her. George tells Alice not to sass her mother. When she goes upstairs to feed Lardo, Alice realizes her second-floor window is open and Lardo is gone.

When Alice runs downstairs to tell her mother that Lardo is missing, she discovers Ruth talking to Sylvia, a Look magazine reporter who has come to town to write an article about Polly. Sylvia expresses particular interest in Polly’s piecrust recipe, asking how Polly could pass it down to a cat. Ruth brushes off her questions, saying that she is starting to bake herself and intends to win the Blueberry Award. Skeptically, Sylvia remarks, “[T]he Blueberry is a rather lofty goal for an inexperienced baker such as yourself, don’t you think? There are some who've waited years to be recognized” (57). As they speak, Sylvia begins to believe that Ruth knows the piecrust recipe and intends to keep it for herself. Ruth breaks off the conversation, inviting Sylvia to interview the cat if she wants. Alice interrupts, saying that the cat has run away and they must find it. As Sylvia leaves, Ruth tells her that she looks familiar, though Sylvia says it is the first time they have met.

Because her mother is uninterested in helping her find Lardo, Alice asks herself where the runaway cat would go. She realizes Lardo would go to the pie shop and rides her bike there. Alice feels stunned to see the door to the shop ajar. When she goes inside to call the cat, she sees that someone has vandalized the shop, with supplies strewn haphazardly. Going into Polly’s apartment, she sees someone has ransacked it as well, with cushions cut apart and every drawer opened. Standing before her is a tall figure with a baseball bat drawn back to strike her. Alice falls to her knees, calling out for the man to stop. When she opens her eyes, she sees it is Charlie. He tells her he was going to the park when he saw the pie shop door open and came in, hoping to confront the burglar. Alice tells Charlie that Lardo has run away as well. They rescue Polly’s 13 Blueberry gold medals and decide to ride to Alice’s house to call the police and have lunch. The two decide to treat the burglary and the missing cat as mysteries they can solve like their heroes, TV detective Sky King and his niece Penny. On their way to Alice’s house, they see Chief Decker talking to Reverend Flowers, and they tell him about Polly’s shop.