Mabel ...

  "Albert, did you see the hoarfrost this morning?"

  "Clarence!  What a rude thing to say about Mabel!  Why on earth would you call her a whore?!?!?!"

  "I wouldn't dare!  But I wasn't even talking about her!  I was talking about the frost on the flowers in the garden this morning.  Why on earth would YOU assume I was talking about Mabel?  Didn't you date her at uni?"

  "I misunderstood you.  And no, we never 'dated,' we just ... never mind.  We did not date.  I wasn't aware that the temperature was going to drop overnight.  It is a bit odd, isn't it, for this time of year?"

  "Global warming, I think.  Who did you date at uni?  I was certain it was Mabel."

  "It wasn't.  And it is none of your business.  Do you suppose that the frost could have killed those spiders?"

  "Oh no.  Spiders are really fascinating creatures.  They don't necessarily hibernate, but they will hide in protected areas, like under logs or fallen leaves.  Then they can go into diapause when the temperatures drop."

  "Like suspended animation?"

  "More or less.  Only the egg sacs will.  It is a suspended development.  The 'adult' or 'children' will simply find places to hide that protect them from the cold.  We'll have to go out and bury Mary, won't we?"

  "Do you suppose there is anything left of her?  Wouldn't they have eaten her?"

  "Actually, no.  And while 'our' spider did make a rather spectacular egg sac, I've been doing some research since that evening and discovered that she wouldn't have laid her eggs 'in' Mary.  She, however, may have eaten Mary."

  "Wait.  Are you saying that what we took out to the forest may not have actually been Mary?"

  "It may have been what was left of Mary.  Did you actually see the spider when you went into the basement?  How large was it?"

  "It was QUITE large.  I would say that it may have been the size of a large dog.  If it had been the size of a normal spider, I doubt very much that the officer or I would have even noticed it.  Or that he would have reacted in the dramatic fashion that he did."

  "Hmmmm.  Interesting.  I would like to go see if we can find Mary.  I'd be interested in seeing if we can tell how she died."

   [Loud knocking on the front door ...]