Part 6 (1/2)
”I went inside to check the answering machine again, and then I walked down the alley to meet Ron. He drove me to his apartment and we stayed up all night, drinking coffee. That's exactly what happened, Hannah. I swear it!”
”Why did you go to work with him?”
”Ron was late and he didn't have time to take me home until later. I went along on his home delivery route and then we went back to the dairy and he loaded up for his commercial customers. I only went to one commercial place with him. Right after we stocked the school cooler, he dropped me off at home.”
”What time did Ron bring you home?”
”It was seven-twenty. I looked at my watch before I got out of his truck. I figured that my neighbors might be up by then, so I ducked in the alley and went in through the garage.”
”Do you think you would have noticed if anyone was following Ron's truck?”
”I don't know.” Danielle looked frightened. ”I've been thinking about it all day, but I don't remember seeing anyone behind us.”
Hannah leaned forward. If Danielle knew where Ron had been planning to go when he'd dropped her off, it could be very helpful. ”Think hard, Danielle. Did Ron say anything about where he was going when he left you?”
”He didn't say anything except goodbye,” Danielle's voice quavered and she dabbed at her eyes again. ”I tried to talk him into going to the dentist for his tooth, but I don't think he did. Ron had this thing about being totally reliable and making his deliveries on time.”
Hannah's eyebrows shot up. ”His tooth? What was wrong with his tooth?”
”I think it was cracked. He got into a fight with one of the casino bouncers when he tried to hand out some pamphlets inside. His jaw was all swollen up and it was hurting him a lot. I made him put ice on it. That's good for the swelling.”
Hannah flashed back to the last time she'd seen Ron alive. He'd been standing by his truck, cupping the side of his face. She'd thought that he looked pensive, but he could have been holding his hand over a cracked tooth. ”Was Ron's cracked tooth on the left side, Danielle?”
”Yes!” Danielle gasped and stared at Hannah as if she'd just pulled a rabbit out of a hat. ”How did you know?”
”I saw him loading the truck when I drove to work this morning and he was cupping the left side of his jaw. But I didn't see you you.”
”That's because I was scrunched down in the seat. I didn't want anyone to spot me with Ron and get the wrong idea.”
That made sense. Hannah knew the local gossips would have had a heyday if they'd seen Danielle with Ron. ”Can you describe the bouncer who hit Ron?”
”I wasn't there. It happened about an hour before I got to the casino. I think you could find him, though. Ron told me he landed a couple of good punches and he was pretty sure he gave the guy a black eye.”
”And that's all you know?”
”That's everything, Hannah.” Danielle gave a deep sigh. ”You don't have to tell Bill about this, do you? Boyd thinks I was home all night and I really don't want him to find out.”
Hannah made one of her lightning decisions and she hoped she wouldn't regret it. ”I'll tell Bill what happened, but I'm not going to use your name, Danielle. There's no reason he has to know.”
”Oh, thank you, Hannah! You don't know how much I appreciate this. I wanted to say something sooner, but-”
”I understand,” Hannah interrupted her. ”You couldn't say anything without letting Boyd know that you were with Ron.”
Danielle dipped her head in a nod. She still looked beautiful, even though her makeup was smudged and her eyelashes were stuck together in clumps from the tears she'd shed. Hannah was amazed at the difference between them. Every time she cried, which wasn't often, her nose turned as red as the light on top of Bill's cruiser and the skin around her eyes puffed up. It was pretty clear that when they'd handed out the gorgeous genes, women like Danielle and Andrea had stolen her share.
”Take a couple of minutes and fix your makeup.” Hannah gave her a bracing smile. ”Your mascara really is is running now.” running now.”
Danielle looked scared again. ”But Boyd'll come looking for me if I'm not out soon.”
”I'll find him and tell him that you got a piece of dust in your eye.” Hannah helped her up and propelled her toward the mirror. ”Don't worry, Danielle. Your secret is safe with me.”
”I know, Moishe. I was gone a long time.” Hannah scooped up the orange blur that hurled itself at her ankles when she opened her condo door. That action seemed to appease the needy feline because he started to rumble, deep in his throat. He licked her hand and Hannah laughed. ”I'm home to stay now. Just let me make one phone call and then we'll have our bedtime snack and hit the pillows.”
Moishe followed her out to the kitchen and watched as she poured herself a gla.s.s of white wine from the green gallon jug of Chablis that sat in the bottom of her refrigerator. It was far from fine wine and Hannah knew the difference, but it was cheaper than Sominex or Bayer P.M. She opened the cupboard to grab one of the antique dessert dishes that her mother had given her as a Christmas present and filled it with Moishe's favorite brand of vanilla yogurt. Her mother would be horrified to learn that the only one who'd ever used one of the cut-gla.s.s dessert dishes was the cat who'd shredded her stockings.
”Okay, we're all set.” Hannah clicked off the kitchen light and let Moishe precede her into the living room. He hopped up on the coffee table and waited for Hannah to set down the dessert dish. ”You can start, Moishe. I'll drink my wine while I talk to Bill.”
Hannah watched as Moishe began to lap up the yogurt. She didn't know if it was usual feline behavior since she'd never shared her home with a cat before, but Moishe had perfected the act of eating and purring simultaneously.
Bill hadn't arrived at the fundraiser by the time she'd packed up, and Hannah a.s.sumed that he was still at his desk, doing battle with the quadruplicate forms that were required by the latest paper-reduction act. She punched out the number of the sheriff's station and was rewarded when Bill answered on the first ring.
”Bill?” Hannah frowned. Her favorite, and only, brother-in-law sounded tired and out of sorts. ”It's Hannah. I managed to identify the woman with the pink lipstick, but I can't tell you who she is.”
Bill's reaction was loud and predictable, and Hannah set the phone down on the table. She knew she should have been more careful about the way she'd phrased that particular bit of information, but she'd exceeded her tact quotient for one day.
When the volume of irate squawks had diminished somewhat, Hannah brought the phone back to her ear. ”Listen up, Bill. This woman doesn't have anything to do with the murder. I'd stake my life on it. And she split up with Ron right after they stocked the school cooler. The only way I could get her to tell me anything at all was to promise that I wouldn't reveal her ident.i.ty.”
The squawks were fewer this time around and Hannah settled for merely holding the receiver away from her ear. When they stopped, she continued. ”I can't break my promise to her, Bill. You know how the people in Lake Eden are. If the word gets out that I betrayed a confidence, n.o.body'll trust me enough to give me the time of day.”
”I don't like it, but I guess we'll just have to play this your way.” Bill sounded mollified. ”You can talk to this woman again if we need her, can't you?”
”Of course I can. She was cooperative and she's very grateful that I'm keeping her ident.i.ty a secret.”
”You'll probably get further with her if she thinks of you like a friend. Remember, Hannah, I don't want you to tell anybody that you're in on the investigation. You can talk to Andrea, but that's it. I'm not writing your name on my reports. I'm just referring to you as my snitch.”
”Your snitch snitch?” Hannah took a sip of her far-from-premium wine.
”A snitch is a person whose ident.i.ty is protected by the investigating officer. You must have learned that from those detective shows you're always watching.”
Hannah rolled her eyes at Moishe. ”I know what a snitch is. Why can't I be your undercover agent?”
”My undercover agent?” That made Bill laugh, but once he realized that Hannah wasn't laughing with him, he backtracked fast. ”All right. Consider yourself my undercover agent. What else have you got?”
”The woman with the pink lipstick told me that Ron got into a fight at Twin Pines last night. She thinks he cracked a tooth because his jaw swelled up. Remember when I told you I saw him cupping his jaw this morning?”
”Right. You said you thought he was thinking about something important. I've got it right here in your interview notes.”
”Well, I was wrong. His tooth hurt and that's why he had his hand on the side of his face.”
There was a moment of silence and Hannah heard a pen scratch. Bill was taking notes. Finally he said, ”That makes sense. Did this woman know who Ron fought with at the casino?”
”No, it happened before she got there. I'll try to find out for you, Bill.”
”I know I asked you to nose around, but this isn't a game, Hannah.” Bill sounded worried. ”Ron was murdered in cold blood and the killer won't hesitate to take you out if he thinks you're on to something.”