“Yes.”
“I’m not going to go into details. I’m just going to say I ran across the film this morning, and I asked Norman to develop it for me.”
“But they’ll want to know where you found it.”
Hannah shook her head. “No, they won’t. When they see the prints and realize that they’re pictures of Boyd Watson’s murder, they won’t look a gift horse in the mouth. It’s like this, Andrea. If Bill and Mike knew we did something illegal to get that film, it can’t be used as evidence against the killer. But if they don’t know, they can use it.”
“I get it. But will Bill and Mike be smart enough to figure that out?”
“I’ll give them a big hint.” Hannah glanced out the windshield and spotted Mike and Bill coming out of the garage. “Here they come. Open the glove compartment and hand me the pictures of Boyd’s murder. They’re in a separate envelope.”
“You don’t want all of them?”
“No. Leave the other ones there. And try to pretend you’re still too upset to talk much and take your lead from me.”
Andrea opened the glove compartment and handed her the murder pictures. Hannah had just stashed them in her parka pocket when Bill walked over to the passenger door and pulled it open. He hugged Andrea with one arm, and asked, “Are you all right, honey?”
“I… I think so. I just feel kind of… of shaky.”
Hannah breathed a sigh of relief. Andrea was trembling again, even though, a second earlier, she’d been as calm as could be. It was too bad she couldn’t nominate her sister for an Academy Award. Andrea deserved it.
“Hannah?” Mike opened Hannah’s door. “I need to ask you some questions.”
“Okay.” It was a good thing she didn’t have to pretend to be too rattled to answer. Andrea was a much better actress than she was. “Your place, or mine?”
Mike grinned at that, but his grin faded fast. Murder was serious business. “Come back to the cruiser. It’s a lot warmer than your truck. Aren’t you ever going to get that heater fixed?”
“It’s fixed. It’s just not very efficient.” Hannah got out of the Suburban and motioned to Andrea. There was no way she was going to take the chance that her sister would confide in Bill if she left them alone in the truck. “Come on, Andrea. We’re all going back to the cruiser to warm up and spill our guts.”
Chapter Nineteen
The moment Mike opened the back door of the cruiser, Hannah shoved Andrea in and followed on her heels. Bill and Mike had no choice but to get in the front, and that was the way Hannah had wanted it. Since her sister was in the back with her, it would give Hannah the opportunity to nudge Andrea if she really started to spill her guts.
Mike turned around in his seat to look at Hannah. “You knew Lucy. Why do you think she was murdered?”
“I don’t know,” Hannah answered quite truthfully. She didn’t know. All she had was an educated guess.
“How about you?” Bill asked Andrea. “Can you think of anyone who had a reason to kill Lucy?”
“I… I’m not sure. Maybe. You tell them, Hannah.”
“She’s talking about the person who ransacked Lucy’s apartment,” Hannah rescued her sister. “We just came from there. All the drawers were pulled out, and everything was dumped on the floor. It looks like somebody broke in to search for something. That’s why we came out to the garage. We wanted to see if Lucy’s car was gone.”
Bill’s eyes narrowed, and Hannah knew he was remembering the night they’d broken into Max Turner’s house. “How did you get into Lucy’s apartment? Or shouldn’t I ask?”
“You can ask,” Hannah answered quickly, before Andrea could even think of opening her mouth. “Vera Olsen gave us her key.”
Bill looked confused as he turned back to Andrea. “But why did you go up to Lucy’s apartment?”
“Because we hadn’t seen her all day. I even asked you if you’d seen her, remember? And… and we were worried about her.”
“You told me you wanted to ask Lucy about the pictures she took of Tracey.”
“I did.” Andrea shivered slightly. Hannah knew she had to be acting because the heater of the county cruiser was running full-blast and the backseat was on the warmer side of toasty. “At least that’s the way it started out. And Hannah needed to talk to her, too.”
“Why did you need to talk to Lucy?” Mike asked Hannah.
Hannah seized the opportunity and ran with it. She knew she’d never have a better chance. “I wanted to ask her about my suspicions.”
“What suspicions?”
“Suspicions about Boyd Watson’s murder. But a trained professional like you wouldn’t be interested in anything I just happened to stumble across, would he?”
Mike winced, and Hannah knew her barb had hit its mark. He’d remembered the words he’d used when he’d warned her not to meddle in his case.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have been quite so hard on you,” Mike admitted. “Would it help if I offered to eat my words?”
“Not really.” Hannah shook her head. When a person like Mike ate his words, it was recycling. She’d just hear them again, in a slightly different form.
“Come on, Hannah.” Mike reached back to pt her arm. “I really need your help on this. Can’t you just forget what I said and tell me what you know?”
Hannah knew that it was about as close to an apology as she’d get and decided to accept it. “All right. But how about if I show you instead of telling you?”
“Show me? Did you stumb…” Mike cut himself off, and it took him a moment to rephrase what he’d been about to say. “Did you uncover some evidence?”
Mike was learning, and Hannah decided to reward him. She handed him the three prints of Boyd’s murder. She’d see what he thought before she gave him Norman’s blowup of the killer’s cuff link. “I don’t know if it’s evidence or not, but it could be the reason Lucy was murdered. Take a look and see.”
Mike snapped on the dome light, Bill slid over for a closer look, and they examined the photos together. Then Mike asked, “Did Lucy take these pictures?”
“They were taken with her camera.” Hannah repeated what Norman had told her. “I don’t know the exact time, but I’ve narrowed it down to between Wednesday at five and Thursday morning at daybreak.”
“Do you think they’re pictures of Boyd Watson’s murder?”
“Definitely.”
Bill looked doubtful. “It’s not exactly definite. The time frame fits, but they’re so dark, it’s impossible to tell for sure.”
“That’s right,” Mike agreed. “They’d never stand up in court, Hannah. If you have the negatives, our photographer might be able to lighten them up.”
“He can’t.” Hannah shook her head. “This is as good as it gets, Mike. Norman developed the film for me, and he’s great in the darkroom. Your guy can try, but he won’t be able to do any better.”
Bill’s eyes narrowed. “Wait a minute. When did Norman have time to develop this film?”
“This morning. It was right after I found it. That’s all you want to know.”
“You gave Lucy’s film to Norman Rhodes?” Mike sounded shocked.
“That’s right. I didn’t know what was on it, and I knew you’d ask a lot of questions if I brought it out to the station. It was easier to take it to Norman.”
“But how did you manage to…” Bill stopped himself, just in time. “Do we want to know how you found Lucy’s film?”
“No. That’s not important.”
Bill looked a little nervous about her answer, but he didn’t press it. “An you think that Lucy shot this film?”
“I’m ninety-nine percent sure, but I didn’t find her in time to ask her. This is just a hunch because I’m not
