Part 16 (2/2)
”Okay.” Norman didn't look crushed with disappointment, and that made Hannah's ego twinge a bit. ”Is it something about Ron's murder?” he asked.
”Yes. I'm sorry, but I can't tell you any more than that.”
”Go ahead, Hannah, but we'd better think up a really good excuse for our mothers. Somehow I don't think that a headache will do it.”
”How about a migraine?” Andrea suggested. ”A migraine's always worked for me.”
Hannah shook her head. ”I don't get migraines, and Mother knows it.”
”No, but I do.” Andrea turned to Norman. ”Just tell our mothers that I was in such bad shape, I begged Hannah to drive me home and stay with me until Bill got back.”
”That should work,” Norman said. ”But what if she calls you and you're not there?”
”No problem.” Andrea looked triumphant. ”Mother knows I always turn off the phone when I have a migraine. I told her that I couldn't stand the ringing.”
Norman patted Andrea on the back. ”Very smart. I think you're covered. I'll go find the mothers and tell them.”
”Norman?” Hannah remembered her manners just in time. ”Thank you for a lovely evening. I had a wonderful time.”
”Me too. You'd better move it, Hannah. And take Andrea's arm and pretend you're helping her walk. Here come the mothers and they look loaded for bear.”
Andrea climbed in behind the wheel and they drove down the long, winding driveway. When they reached the bottom, she turned to Hannah. ”Where are we going?”
”To my place. You can drop me off there.”
”Drop you off?” Andrea slammed on the brakes and they skidded to a stop at the base of the driveway. ”What do you mean, drop you off?” drop you off?”
Hannah sighed. She was the one who'd gotten Andrea interested in Bill's case in the first place and she should have known that there would be trouble. ”I have to do something and it could be dangerous. I don't want to get you in trouble.”
”But you don't care if you you get into trouble?” get into trouble?”
”Of course I care. I'll be very careful. But you've got a husband and a daughter. You have to think of them.”
”I am am thinking of them and I'm going along.” Andrea glared at her. ”We're talking about Bill's promotion here. If there's any way that I can help, I'm going to do it.” thinking of them and I'm going along.” Andrea glared at her. ”We're talking about Bill's promotion here. If there's any way that I can help, I'm going to do it.”
”But, Andrea...you know that Bill would-”
”Let me take care of Bill,” Andrea interrupted her. ”Where are we going, anyway?”
Hannah sighed and caved in. There was no dealing with Andrea when she got a bee in her bonnet, and this bee was as big as a buzzard. ”First we're switching to my Suburban. I've got two of those big flashlights in the back. Then we're driving to Max Turner's house.”
”Why are we going there?”
”Because Max didn't leave for the convention when he was supposed to leave. He was still in his office at six-fifteen, having a meeting with someone. Ron saw them.”
”So?”
”So Max doesn't have an alibi for the time of Ron's death. We know he's not at the convention and no one's seen him since six-fifteen on Wednesday morning.”
”I get it. You think that Max killed Ron and then he took off. But why would Max kill Ron?”
”Think about what Norman just told us and you'll have a possible motive.”
Andrea was silent for a moment. ”I got it. You think that Ron overheard Max making some kind of shady business deal? And Max followed Ron on his route and killed him so that he couldn't tell anyone about it. But how do you know that Ron saw Max?”
Hannah frowned. She should have known that Andrea was going to ask that. ”My snitch told me.”
”Your snitch?” snitch?”
”Actually, she's more of a witness. The woman with the pink lipstick told me about it. She didn't see Max or the other person, but when Ron came back out to his truck, he told her that Max was in his office, meeting with someone.”
Andrea stared out through the winds.h.i.+eld for a long moment and then turned to Hannah with a frown. ”There's something I don't understand. Norman said that what Max did was legal. Why would Max kill Ron if his business deals were legal?”
”I don't know,” Hannah admitted. ”All I do do know is that I have to check out Max's house.” know is that I have to check out Max's house.”
Andrea put the Volvo into gear. ”You're absolutely right. Your place first?”
”That's right.”
They started off for Hannah's condo complex. They'd only driven a mile or so when Andrea started to laugh.
”What's so funny?” Hannah asked.
”You. Checking out Max's house won't be dangerous at all. Max isn't stupid. If he killed Ron he wouldn't hole up there, just waiting for someone to put the pieces together and arrest him.”
”That's true.”
Andrea took her eyes off the road to shoot her a curious glance. ”Then why did you tell me that it could be dangerous?”
”Because Max's house will be locked up tight, and Bill might just kill both of us if we get arrested for breaking and entering.”
Chapter Eighteen.
Hannah turned off the highway and onto the access road that ran past the Cozy Cow Dairy. The huge cinderblock building was deserted this time of night and its white paint gleamed in the thousand-watt glow from the security lights that had been installed on poles around the perimeter. The security lights weren't really necessary. No thief in his right mind would break into a dairy to steal b.u.t.ter or cream vats, but Hannah supposed that Max had gotten a break on his insurance by lighting the place up.
”It's creepy out here at night.” Andrea's voice was shaking slightly and Hannah suspected her sister was having second thoughts about demanding to come along. ”Doesn't Max have a night s.h.i.+ft?”
”No. There's nothing to do until the tanker trucks come in from the farms in the morning. Except for his deliverymen, n.o.body comes in until seven-thirty.”
”I feel silly, dressed like this.” Andrea glanced down at the black pullover sweats.h.i.+rt and jeans that Hannah had insisted she wear. ”Your jeans are too big for me. I had to roll the legs up three times and pin them at the waist. And this hooded sweats.h.i.+rt smells like it came out of a trash bin. Why did we have to dress up like a couple of cat burglars, anyway? Max's house is at least a half-mile from the road. There's no way that anyone will spot us.”
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