Part 12 (1/2)
”Of course I'm laughing. I was wondering how long it would take you to change your mind. It's only ten-thirty and that means I won.”
Hannah's mouth dropped open. ”You won what? ”
”The office pool. I took the lowest number. Bill thought you'd cave in by midnight, but I figured it wouldn't take you that long. Rick Murphy said eight tomorrow morning and Sheriff Grant thought you'd hold out until noon. The others were all somewhere between that, except for Lonnie, Rick Murphy's younger brother. He had you down for two full days.”
”How many people were in on mis?” Hannah asked, not really sure if she wanted to know.
”A dozen. We each put in ten bucks, so I just won a hundred and twenty.”
”A hundred and ten,” Hannah corrected him. She was still LEMON MERINGUE PIE MURDER 107.
fuming about the fact that she'd been the subject of an office pool and her words hissed out like droplets of water skittering across the surface of a hot griddle. ”It's only a hundred and twenty if you forget to subtract your own ten dollars.”
”You're p.r.i.c.kly tonight.” Mike sounded amused.
”Of course I am. You're betting on me like a football game and I don't like it. Besides, office pools are illegal.”
”I guess you could turn us all in, but then you'd have to explain what the pool was about. I don't think you'd like to do that.”
”You're right. I wouldn't,” Hannah said, giving it up as a bad job.
”Thanks for winning me a bundle, Hannah. I'll take you out to dinner with it. If there's nothing else, I've got to run. I'll drop in to see you tomorrow and we'll compare notes, okay?”
”Uh ... okay.” Hannah hung up the phone with a sigh. She wasn't sure what she should be feeling. Of course she was relieved that Mike hadn't been upset at what he'd always referred to as her interference, but it seemed that no one at the sheriff's station had expected her to keep her word about not getting involved.
Hannah thought back to the scene of Rhonda's death. Something was bothering her, niggling at the back of her mind, and she couldn't help feeling that she'd missed an obvious clue. She went over the scene of the crime in her mind, trying to remember everything she'd noticed. The Voelker house had two entrances. They'd gone in through the front and she'd used the back door when she'd carried out the garbage. She'd gone through every one of the rooms, helping Delores tag the items she wanted. The only things that might have been clues were her pie on the kitchen table and the takeout containers and disposable winegla.s.ses in the garbage. There had been nothing else unusual or out of place, no signs of a struggle, and nothing that would lead anyone to suspect that Rhonda's body was in the bas.e.m.e.nt.
The stairs to the bas.e.m.e.nt had seemed perfectly ordinary, 108.
in good repair and clear of debris. Once she'd followed Norman down into the bas.e.m.e.nt, she hadn't noticed anything alarming. There had been the usual clutter and moldy smell, but it was a rare bas.e.m.e.nt that wasn't cluttered and moldy. The door to the furnace room had been hanging from one hinge, but since Hannah hadn't examined it closely, she had no idea whether it had pulled loose recently, or had been that way for years.
Hannah took herself through the door to the furnace room in her mind. Other than the broken jam jars on the dirt floor, there hadn't been any visible clues. Who had broken those jars? Delores, in her shock at seeing Rhonda's grave? Or Rhonda's killer, as he'd struggled with her?
”Sorry, Moishe.” Hannah reached out to run her fingers through his glossy fur. ”This may upset you, but I need to call your least favorite person.”
Hannah picked up the phone, punched in her mother's number, and a few seconds later she had her mother on the line. ”Thanks again for dinner, Mother.”
”You're welcome. It was fun seeing you and Norman together. Carrie and I talked about it on the way home and we both think you make such a nice couple.”
”Thanks,” Hannah said, leaving it at that. Delores sounded perky and chipper, and Hannah admired her mother's energy. Most women approaching their sixtieth birthday would be exhausted after working all day and going out to dinner, not to mention finding a murder victim. ”I need some information, Mother.”
”About Rhonda? I just got home and I haven't had a chance to make any calls yet.”
”Not about Rhonda, at least not directly. I need to know about those broken jam jars in the furnace room. Are you absolutely sure you didn't drop them on the floor?”
”I'm positive. I didn't even touch them. I remember stepping around them and thinking that someone ought to clean them up.”
LEMON MERINGUE PIE MURDER 109.
”Okay. Thanks, Mother. You've been a big help. I'll let you go now and I'll see you ...”
”Just a minute, Hannah,” Delores interrupted before Hannah could hang up the phone. ”I just want you to know that I'm very heartened about this thing with Norman.”
”What thing?”
”The fact that you sided with him, instead of Mike. That means a lot to a man and you made the right decision. I like Mike well enough, but he's not good husband material.”
Hannah drew a deep breath and let it out again slowly. Then she said, very carefully, ”Don't get your hopes up, Mother. Neither one of them has proposed yet. And I'm not sure what I'd say if they did.”
”Good girl, Hannah!” Delores exclaimed, giving a light-hearted laugh. ”I always told you it wasn't smart to wear your heart on your sleeve.”
Hannah knew she should leave well enough alone, but she couldn't resist. ”Andrea did and it worked for her. Everyone knew she was crazy about Bill.”
”That's different. They were young and he gave her his cla.s.s ring when she was a senior. That made them pre-engaged. And after that, they were recognized as a couple, and everyone expected them to get married. It's really not fair to compare your current situation with your sister's. Andrea never dated two men at the same time.”
Hannah clamped her mouth shut and didn't say a word. She happened to know that her sister had dated two boys in high school who'd never known about each other. It was obvious that Delores hadn't known about them either, and Hannah wasn't going to be the one to tell her.
”I've got to run, dear. I'm starting to crack.”
”Crack?”
”My face. I'm giving myself a facial and my fifteen minutes are up. If I don't wash it off now, I'll have to peel it. Goodnight, dear.”
When she'd hung up the phone, Hannah glanced at Moishe, 110.
who'd been listening to her conversation. His tail was swis.h.i.+ng back and forth, his ears were back, and he'd puffed up into attack mode. Hannah grinned and reached out to smooth his fur. ”It's okay. I hung up and I don't have to talk to her again tonight.”
But Moishe wasn't that easily soothed. His tail continued to flick and he regarded her with baleful eyes.
”Come on, Moishe.” Hannah reached out for him again. ”If you come closer, I'll scratch your ears.”
Moishe regarded her solemnly for several seconds and then he moved to the far side of the couch, putting as much s.p.a.ce between them as possible.
”I'm not the enemy here, Moishe. As a matter of fact, I saved you from seeing Mother tonight. She offered to pick me up here and take me to dinner. If I'd agreed to that, she might have come in when she brought me home. Think about it. You would have hated that!”
Hannah wasn't sure what went on in a cat's mind, but Moishe seemed to take it all in. He stared at her for several seconds and then he turned around, inching forward until his head was resting in her lap.
”That's better,” Hannah said, scratching his ears and earning a rumble for her efforts. ”I knew you'd see it my way. Aren't you glad I have my own wheels and I can drive myself? I don't have to rely on ...”
When Hannah stopped speaking and scratching his ears, Moishe lifted his head to stare up at her. His expression was as quizzical as a cat's expression could get.
”I just thought of something,” Hannah told him. ”I don't remember seeing Rhonda's car at the Voelker place. I know it wasn't in the driveway when I pulled up, and it couldn't have been in the garage. I looked through the window and it was filled with firewood.”
Hannah interpreted the expression on Moishe's face to mean, Yes? So what? and she went on. ”If Rhonda drove out there, her car would be there. But if she rode with someone LEMON MERINGUE PIE MURDER 111.
else, her car should be parked in the garage at her apartment building.”