Norman grinned and shook his head. “I’ve never been a big fan of the occult.”
“It’s the live people who can hurt you, not the dead ones.” Andrea’s voice was hard. “Nobody has to worry about Boyd Watson now.”
Hannah nodded, knowing that Andrea was thinking about the abuse that Danielle had suffered. She shot her sister a warning glance; it wasn’t their secret to tell, and hastily changed the subject. “If you’re not busy, why don’t you drop by my condo after the contest, Norman? We haven’t had a chance to talk for a long time.”
“That’s true.” Norman looked pleased as he nodded. “I’ll be there, Hannah.”
The buzzer at the window sounded and Norman slid back the glass panel. “Hi, Doc. I’ll be with you in just a second.” The he turned to Andrea and Hannah. “I have to get back to work. My one-thirty’s here.”
“Doc Knight?” Hannah asked, hoping that it was. She might be able to ask him a few questions before Norman got out his drill.
“No, Doc Bennett. We worked out a deal. I do his dental work and he does mine.”
Hannah was thoughtful as they walked out of the clinic. She’d never considered it before, but a dentist needed his own dentist, just like a doctor needed his own doctor. As they crossed the street and headed toward Hal and Rose’s Cafe, Hannah wondered if a cookie baker needed another source of cookies, but she quickly rejected that idea. She liked her own cookies. She’d spent hours perfecting the recipes. Perhaps she was being a bit conceited, but she didn’t see any reason to eat an inferior cookie when hers were the best in the state.
Chapter Eight
Hal and Rose’s Cafe was across the street from the Rhodes Dental Clinic, at the northwest corner of Main Street and Second Avenue. The old yellow-brick building had been erected in the forties, and Harold and Rose McDermott were the second owners. There was a six-room apartment over the cafe, and the McDermotts lived there. You could count on Rose to start bragging every winter when the weather turned cold because she could use the inside staircase and she never had to bundle up in her parka and boots to go to work.
Hannah pushed open the door and they stepped into the cafe. The air was fragrant with the scent of pot roast, and Hannah was almost sorry she’d eaten. Flavored with a bouquet of bay leaf and rosemary, and surrounded with whole onions, potatoes, and carrots, it was one of Hannah’s favorite dishes.
Rose was a good cook and served simple food. In addition to hamburgers, fried to perfection on the grill, her staples were pot roast, turkey dinner with all the trimmings, and ham with homemade scalloped potatoes. She also served open-faced sandwiches, your choice of beef, turkey, or ham. Each sandwich came with a scoop of mashed potatoes and gravy on top. The original owners had placed a sign over the cash register. It read “Good Cheap Food,” and Rose lived up to that promise. Hannah couldn’t think of any other restaurant in Winnetka County where a customer could order a hamburger, fries, and what Rose called her “bottomless cup of coffee,” with as many refills as you wanted, for two bucks.
The lunch crowd was long gone, and the wooden booths that lined the sidewall were deserted, but there was the usual crowd at the long wooden counter. Ed Barthel was sitting at one end, his stool swiveled so that he could peer out the plate-glass window and watch the ladies flocking into Trudi Schuman’s fabric shop for their quilting club meeting. It was pretty obvious he’d driven his wife, Helen, to town for the meeting, and he was passing the time with a cup of coffee, waiting to drive her back home.
Lake Eden’s mayor, Richard Bascomb, was holding court at the other end of the counter. Richard was a good politician, a handsome silver-haired man in his fifties with a real genius for small-town politics. Hannah had to admit that he was a good administrator. Lake Eden had run smoothly since he’d taken over the office. But there was something about the mayor that she didn’t like. She guessed it was his insincerity. Mayor Bascomb pretended to be everyone’s good buddy, even if he’d never met them before, and he was always on the lookout for a good political contact. He’d come over to her serving table when she’d provided cookies and coffee for his last fund-raiser, and while he had praised her for doing such a good job, he’d been looking over her shoulder to spot the other, more important people in the room.
As they walked toward the counter, Hannah heard several loud groans from the back room. Someone must have made a killing in the poker game that started when the cafe opened in the morning and didn’t end until Rose doused the lights and told everyone that it was closing time. The room in back was Hal’s domain. He loved to play poker, and he called the back room his “private banquet facility”. As far as Hannah knew, there had never been a banquet served behind the curtained door, but there had been plenty of beer and coffee, and the cigar humidor was always well stocked. Any local poker player was welcome to join the game. The “private” designation was Hal’s way around the law that prohibited smoking or gambling in a public restaurant.
Andrea nudged Hannah and gestured toward the large colored posters that were tacked to backs of the wooden booths. “Rose could use a good decorator. See the dates on those farm auction posters? Some of them are over twenty years old.”
“Maybe she’s hoping they’ll turn into antiques?”
“They will, but not for another fifty years. And even then, I can’t imagine who’d want to buy them.”
Luanne Hanks came out of the back room, carrying a half-filled carafe of coffee. When she saw Hannah and Andrea, she set it down on the warmer plate and hurried over to them. “Hi. We’ve still got ham and turkey left if you want lunch.”
“Just coffee,” Hannah answered her. “Is it too much trouble if we sit in a booth?”
“Of course not. Go sit down, and I’ll be right there.”
Hannah and Andrea took a seat in the booth and waited for Luanne to bring their coffee. It didn’t take long. Luanne rounded the corner carrying a tray in less than a minute.
“Black for you.” Luanne set a mug down in front of Hannah. “And you take cream, don’t you, Andrea?”
“How did you remember that, Luanne? I’m hardly ever here.”
“Tricks of the trade.” Luanne smiled modestly. “Are you sure you don’t want something to go with that coffee?”
Hannah shook her head. “We’re sure. Do you have a second, Luanne? We really need to talk to you.”
“Sure. Rose just skinned upstairs for a minute, but she’s back now. What is it?”
“We need to ask you about your dental appointment. You saw Norman at eight on Tuesday?”
Luanne looked surprised. “Yes. I chipped a tooth on Monday night, and Dr. Rhodes filed it off for me. He’s a really good dentist, and I was in and out in fifteen minutes. I didn’t even need Novocain.”
“So he just filed off your tooth?” Hannah asked, exchanging glances with Andrea. It didn’t sound as if Luanne could be the woman who’d called Boyd.
“That’s right. I was going to ignore it I really hate to go to the dentist. But I kept catching my tongue on it, and Rose noticed. She made me go.”
Hannah nodded. Another suspect eliminated. “Were you Norman’s first appointment of the morning?”
“No. Another lady came in early, but she was already gone when I got there.”
“He told you that?” Andrea asked.
“Not exactly. But there was a scarf on the back of the chair, and I handed it to him. He said his first patient must have left it, and he’d give it back when she came in for her next appointment.”
“But you don’t know who his first appointment was?”
“All I know is that she bought my scarf.” Luanne sighed deeply.
“Your scarf?”
“The one I was going to buy for my mother. You must have seen it, Hannah. Claire Rodgers had it in her window at Beau Monde. It was dark green cashmere and it had three beautiful pink roses embroidered on it. My mother really liked it, and I was saving up to get it for her Christmas present. I guess I should have put it on layaway, but it was so expensive, I didn’t think anyone else would buy it.”
“Thanks, Luanne.” Hannah smiled. She had the information she needed. If the scarf was that expensive, Claire would be bound to remember who’d bought it. “How’s Suzie?”
“Growing like a weed. She’s walking really well now. Drop over and see us sometime. You two are always welcome.”
“We will,” Hannah promised. Luanne was doing a wonderful job raising her daughter alone. It had to be difficult because she was supporting her widowed mother, too.”
