Red Velvet Cupcake Murder (7 page)

As far as Hannah knew, Barbara had no enemies. Everybody that Hannah knew liked Barbara. She was a popular employee at the sheriff’s station, the members of the St. Jude Ladies Society relied on her, and she was a well-liked member of several other Lake Eden clubs. Barbara was helpful, courteous, and sweet. Hannah had never heard her utter a cross word to anyone. She lived modestly in the house she’d inherited from her parents and Hannah was sure that if she asked around, Barbara’s neighbors would all say they liked her. Yet someone had a motive for pushing Barbara off the roof. Whoever it was had wanted to kill her. There had to be a reason and Hannah knew she had to discover what that reason was.

Hannah flipped the cover on the brand new shorthand notebook she’d taken out of the drawer and carried it to the table. She stared at the blank page for a full minute and then she took a pen from the container that sat in the center of the table and wrote down a single word followed by a question mark.
Motive?
it read.

B
arbara’s cookies were done. Hannah rinsed out her bowls, spoons, and spatulas and put them in the dishwasher. Once she’d filled the dispenser with detergent and shut the door again, she turned it on. Then she went back to her bedroom to get dressed.

She was just attempting to decide what to wear for a visit to the hospital when the phone rang. She reached out to grab it, hoping against hope that it was Barbara again, but it was Mike.

“Hi, Hannah. I’m not calling too early, am I? I know Sunday’s your only day off.”

“No, I’ve been up for a while. Hi, Mike.”

“What’s wrong? You sounded almost disappointed it was me. Were you expecting another call, maybe from Norman?”

There was a hint of jealousy in his voice and Hannah felt good about that. The two men were friends, but they were also rivals when it came to her. There was nothing like having two men vying for her affections. It kept them both on their toes and it made her feel much younger, much more beautiful, and much thinner than she actually was.

“From Norman?” Mike repeated.

“No, not Norman. What can I do for you, Mike?”

“You can marry me, but I know that’s not going to happen anytime soon. In the meantime, how about meeting me for breakfast at the Corner Tavern?”

“Great idea!” Hannah said, and meant it. She needed to talk to Mike anyway to find out if they’d found any evidence at the scene or up on the penthouse rooftop. And, perhaps even more important, she was hungry and she absolutely loved the food at the Corner Tavern.

Once they’d set a time and hung up, Hannah opened her closet to choose an outfit. Since she would be leaving Mike right after breakfast and driving to the hospital, she chose a dark green short-sleeved top with lace at the neckline. It was comfortable, but just a bit dressy, which would be perfect for her visit with Barbara. She was about to take her favorite pair of jeans off the hook and wear those, when she reconsidered. Delores worked at the hospital on Sunday afternoons and Hannah was bound to run into her. The last time she’d seen her mother on a Sunday, Delores had criticized her for wearing jeans. She was used to being criticized by her mother, but there had been a terrible ramification after the criticism. The very next day, Delores had taken Hannah out to the Tri-County Mall to buy her some
appropriate
clothing. Perhaps some daughters would be delighted with a wardrobe purchased by their mothers, but not Hannah. Of course she was grateful that she didn’t have to pay for all those tops, slacks, and pantsuits. As she remembered, they had cost her mother a small fortune. But there was nothing Hannah hated more than spending hours at the mall, shopping.

“I’m a hunter, not a shopper,” she told Moishe, who’d followed her into the bedroom. “If I have to go out to the mall for something, I find it, buy it, and leave. I don’t go looking for a lot of other things. I think that’s better than spending hours going from this store to that store.”

Moishe closed his eye in a wink and Hannah figured that was response enough. She would have preferred the satisfaction of a yowl or at least a nod, but he looked more interested in the fly that was buzzing outside the screen than in her shopping advice.

“I’d better wear a pair of pants she bought for me,” Hannah said, reaching in the closet for the grey pair. “I don’t want another shopping trip with Mother.”

“Rrrrrowwww!”

This time the response was both immediate and loud, and Hannah reached out to give him a reassuring pet. “She’s not coming here. You’ll have the whole place to yourself while I’m gone. I’m just going to meet Mike for breakfast, visit Barbara at the hospital, and come right back here when I’m through.”

Moishe started to purr and Hannah wondered if it was a reaction to what she’d told him, or whether the purr was just a coincidence. She decided she’d prefer to think it was a reaction to the news she’d be back soon, and she was smiling as she walked down the hallway to the kitchen.

It didn’t take long to pack up the cookies in boxes. Once she’d covered the frosting with wax paper, she closed the lids and carried the boxes out to the Chevy Blazer the neighborhood kids called her “cookie truck.” There were other people in town with old Chevy Blazers, but Hannah had made hers distinctive. She’d painted it candy-apple red and there were signs advertising The Cookie Jar on both sides.

The Corner Tavern was only a few miles from her condo complex and Hannah pulled into the parking lot with five minutes to spare. She found a shady parking spot under the canopy of an elm tree and got out to check the status of the cookies she’d secured in the back. The cookies were fine and she replaced the windshield sunscreen she’d used to cover them, locked her truck, and walked across the parking lot to the entrance.

The air-conditioning was running full blast and she reveled in the cool air that came out to greet her as she opened the door of the restaurant. The interior was rustic with lots of greenery and the air was perfumed with the scent of bacon, sausage, and breakfast steaks on the grill.

“Hi, Hannah,” the hostess greeted her. “He’s here already. I gave him that table you like in the back.”

“Thanks!” Hannah said, even though the hostess had turned away to greet another big party of customers who’d come in behind her. She moved toward the main entrance, but stopped to pet Roscoe, the huge grizzly bear that stood in a fighting stance near the door. Roscoe was old, but he’d been recently rejuvenated by a taxidermy firm in Sauk Centre at considerable expense, but the patrons had taken up a collection to help in the effort. As everyone said who’d dropped a bill or coins in the collection box that had hung on the wall next to the huge grizzly, “This place wouldn’t be right without Roscoe.”

Hannah gave a wave as she spotted Mike and began to wind her way through the crowded main dining room. The Corner Tavern attracted both young and old. If you didn’t like steak, you could get chicken, fresh fish, or even a couple of vegetarian dishes. It wasn’t gourmet fare like you could enjoy at Sally and Dick’s restaurant in the Lake Eden Inn, but it was well-prepared, totally delicious, and relatively inexpensive. Even better, as far as the Winnetka County sheriff’s deputies were concerned, the Corner Tavern was only a stone’s throw from the sheriff’s station. As a matter of fact, she’d met Andrea and Barbara here for lunch only last week.

Thoughts of Barbara caused worry to cloud her face and Hannah was frowning when she reached Mike’s table. “Hi, Mike,” she greeted him, forcing a smile.

“What’s the problem?” Mike asked as she sat down.

Hannah had expected as much. Mike was a master interrogator. He picked up on every nuance in a subject’s voice and even the slightest physical signs of emotion. “I can’t decide whether I should have the steak and eggs, or the eggs and steak.”

“Very funny.” Mike reached out to take her hand. “Seriously, Hannah, what is it?”

Hannah decided to be completely truthful . . . at least to a point. “It’s Barbara,” she said. “I’m worried sick about her. Did you find any evidence of foul play last night?”

“You know I can’t tell you that.”

Their waitress came over with orange juice, coffee, and water. “Hi, Mike,” she said with a smile aimed more at Mike than at Hannah.

“Hi, Misty. How are you doing this morning?”

“Good.
Very
good. I had a
wonderful
night last night.” She gave Mike a kittenish look as she carefully set down his orange juice. Then she set Hannah’s down without looking and it would have collided with her water glass if Hannah hadn’t grabbed it.

“Excuse me, Misty,” Hannah said to get her attention.

“This isn’t orange juice. It’s milk.”

“Sorry.” By the tone in her voice Hannah could tell she wasn’t sorry at all. “I guess I grabbed the wrong glass. You want it anyway?”

“No thanks. I’ll take an orange juice, please.”

“Okey dokey.” Misty reached out to grab the milk and almost knocked it over. “So Mike . . .” She turned back to him. “Do you two need menus this morning?”

“Not me,” Mike answered, smiling at her. It was the same sexy smile that always made Hannah’s knees feel weak whenever it was directed at her. “I think I know the menu even better than you do.”

“I bet you know a
lot
of things even better than I do. Of course I know some things, too. Maybe I even know some things that
you
don’t know.”

This is incredible
, Hannah thought.
She’s flirting with him right in front of me. What am I? The invisible woman? Of course Mike probably sees her every day when he drops by for coffee. Or for all I know, he could be dating her!

Hannah pressed her lips together to keep her thoughts silent. She didn’t have an exclusive relationship with Mike . . . or Norman either, for that matter. All three of them were free to date other people. She had no right to complain if Mike dated Misty, no right at all. But that didn’t stop the sharp jab of jealousy that ran through her.

It’s only because she’s ignoring you and she’s rude
, Hannah’s mind said.
That’s why you don’t like her
.

But Hannah knew it was also because Misty had a Barbie doll figure and Mike obviously enjoyed the way she was flirting with him.

“Back to what we were talking about before Misty,” Mike picked up the conversation once Misty had taken their orders and left. “And by the way, she flirts with all of the guys like that. It’s kind of cute and it doesn’t mean anything.”

“Right,” Hannah said, although she had her doubts. “I asked you if you’d found anything incriminating at the scene last night in the rose garden or on the penthouse roof.”

“And I said I couldn’t tell you that.” Mike pushed his orange juice over to Hannah. “Take mine. I don’t really want it anyway and Misty will forget all about bringing yours. We gave her our orders and she’ll put them in, but she can only keep one thing in her mind at a time.”

Hannah picked up the orange juice and took a swallow, even though she no longer wanted it. Mike had been nice enough to give it to her and she’d drink it in appreciation. “Let me get this straight. If you found something incriminating at the scene, you couldn’t tell me. Is that right?”

“That’s right. You know that I can’t discuss police business with you.”

“I know that,” Hannah agreed quickly. “But you just told me that it
is
police business. And that means you found something incriminating.”

“I hate it when you do that!” Mike gave her a long-suffering look. “No, it doesn’t mean that we found something incriminating. All it means is that we found something that
could
be incriminating and we have to investigate it.”

“You’re equivocating.”

“And you’re probing into something that’s none of your business.”

They glared at each other for a moment and Misty took that exact moment to bring Hannah’s orange juice. “Oh, pooh!” she said, her head swiveling from one to the other the way it would if she were watching a tennis match. “Two somebodies here are mad at each other, huh?”

Hannah couldn’t help it. She started to laugh. She’d never heard anyone put things in quite that way. A moment later, Mike joined in and they laughed even harder when Misty made a circle by her ear and then tapped her head, in the age-old sign for crazy.

“I’m sorry,” Mike said when Misty had left again. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you.”

“I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have yelled, either.”

“Okay. Let’s forget it. It’s just that I hate it when you try to trap me with words, especially when I’ve been up all night and I’m tired.”

Hannah reached out to take his hand. “I understand, but I really need to know what’s going on.”

“Why?”

Hannah hesitated and then she blurted it out. “Because Barbara called me at four this morning and told me that someone tried to kill her. She didn’t tell me who and I’m not really sure it was Barbara. I’m going to go visit her at the hospital after breakfast and try to find out more.”

“Will you tell me if you do?”

“Yes. Will you tell me what evidence you found last night?”

“Yes, but it’s not really evidence. We found a couple of things that didn’t look right, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. They could also be compatible with an accident.”

“But you don’t think it
was
an accident.”

Mike hesitated, and then he shook his head. “Nope. A couple of the barricades were moved out of the way so that someone could get closer to the edge of the roof. They’re heavy and I really don’t think Barbara would go to that trouble just to see if she could spot her house from up there.”

“Then you know that she wanted to try to see her house from the penthouse garden?”

“Oh, yes. She mentioned it to several people. The idea of seeing her house from above intrigued her.”

“Tell me about the barricades that were out of place. Andrea and I moved one earlier so that she could show me the lake. It took both of us to do it because it was heavy. Were the barricades that were out of place too heavy for Barbara to move?”

“No. Barbara’s a strong woman. It would have taken a big effort, though.”

“What else made you suspicious?”

“The barricades were dirty. They’d obviously been used in the construction and some of them even had grease on them. It doesn’t seem likely that Barbara would have moved them in her party clothes.”

“That’s true.”

“There’s another thing, too. There was dirt on Barbara’s hands, but you’d expect that. She landed in the rose garden. But there wasn’t a trace of grease. I had Doc check.”

“Is there anything else?”

Mike shook his head. “Not really. We’re still waiting for the crime lab to do its thing, but I doubt it’ll be very helpful. If someone planned to kill Barbara, they were probably very careful not to leave anything behind.”