tea.
“What was all that about?” Mike asked her.
Hannah looked up from the pan she was using to heat the milk. “What was what about?”
“The hot chocolate.”
“It’s simple.” Hannah used a wire whisk to stir the milk so it wouldn’t burn on the bottom of the saucepan. “Danielle’s got a terrible cold, and she probably hasn’t been eating right. The sugar’s pure carbohydrate, and she needs the calories. And the caffeine and endorphins in the chocolate will keep her from getting too depressed.”
“Not that. I mean, why did you want me to follow you into the kitchen?”
“Oh.” Hannah mixed the sugar and cocoa together in a bowl and poured in some of the hot milk. “I needed to talk to you alone, and it was a good excuse.”
“What about?”
“I’m worried about Danielle. She’s hanging on by her fingernails. You don’t have to drag her out to the station tonight, do you?”
Mike shook his head. “I’ve got what I need for now, and she’s too sick to answer any more questions.”
Hannah stirred the mixture in the bowl until the sugar melted and the cocoa turned into a paste. “I’d better stay with her. Her mother lives in Florida, and she doesn’t have any other family close by. She shouldn’t be alone at a time like this.”
“Danielle won’t be here. I checked with Doc Knight, and he’s got room at the hospital. I’m going to move her there.”
Hannah added the chocolate paste to the heated milk in the saucepan and blended it with the whisk. Doc Knight had examined Danielle right after he’d arranged to have Boyd’s body transported to the morgue. “Does Doc think Danielle’s that sick?”
“No, but I don’t want her talking to anybody, and the hospital’s a good place for her. I’ll question her again tomorrow morning.”
Hannah turned to him in alarm, her hand stopping in mid-whisk. “Is Danielle a suspect?”
“The spouse is always a suspect.” Mike didn’t quite meet Hannah’s eyes. “You’d better stir that before it burns.”
As Hannah started to whisk again, she thought about what Mike had said. She needed more answers, but she preferred to get them in private, after Danielle had been settled in a room at the hospital. “Do you want me to drive Danielle to Lake Eden Memorial?”
“No, I’ll have Bill take her in the cruiser.”
Hannah turned to him in surprise. “In the back? Like a prisoner?”
“Of course not. Danielle’s not under arrest. I could call for an ambulance, but I think she’ll be more comfortable riding with Bill. I’m just following procedure, Hannah.”
Hannah poured the hot chocolate into the biggest mug she could find. “I’d better take this in so she can drink it before she leaves.”
“Good idea.” Bill should be back from searching the alley any minute now.”
Hannah stopped, turned back at the kitchen door. “Will you have time to drop in at my place after you finish up here?”
“It might be late.” Mike’s eyebrows quirked up, and he gave her a devilish grin. “Just what did you have in mind?”
“I want to pump you for information, of course.”
“Oh.” Mike’s eyebrows settled back down. “I’ll try to be there by one at the latest, but there’s not a whole lot I’ll be able to tell you. The investigation’s confidential.”
“That’s okay. I’ll stop by Lake Eden Liquor and pick up some beer for you. Cold Spring Export, right?”
“Right.”
Hannah picked up the mug and walked into the living room, hiding a rather smug smile. Mike would tell her what she needed to know so that she could help Danielle. He just didn’t realize it yet.
* * *
“What are you feeding him? Bricks?” Mike stared down at Moishe, who had just plunked down in his lap.
“A lot of kitty crunchies. He’s always hungry.” Hannah reached over to pick up her pet and move him to a pillow. “Is Danielle okay?”
Mike took a swallow of his beer. “She’s fine. Doc says it’s just a bad cold, but he’s keeping her under observation for a couple of days. He gave her a sedative so she cold sleep through the night.”
“A good night’s sleep is just what she needs.” Hannah took a small sip of her wine. She passed Mike the bag of hard onion-flavored pretzels she’d bought at Lake Eden Liquor, and asked, “Did you find any witnesses?”
“Not yet.”
“Was there anything in the alley?”
Mike shook his head and chomped down on a pretzel. “These are good.”
“They’re Bavarian.” Hannah took a deep breath and got to it. “Tell me the truth, Mike. It doesn’t look good for Danielle, does it?”
“Well… there’s a lot of circumstantial evidence against her.”
“Her prints on the murder weapon, Boyd’s blood on her clothing, and the black eye he gave her/”
“All that plus her lack of an alibi. She didn’t even talk to anyone on the phone until she called you. You heard me try to give her an out. If she admits that she killed him, she can plead self-defense. No jury in the world would convict her.”
“But that only applies if she killed him.” Hannah bit down on a pretzel. There was a reason they called them “hard” Pretzels. Perhaps she should mention them to Norman. If he gave his patients Bavarian pretzels for Christmas, it could promote return visits. “What if she didn’t kill him?”
“Then someone else did.” Mike stated the obvious.
“I thought you believed her when she told you that she was innocent.”
“I do believe her.” Mike chewed thoughtfully for a moment. “I think she’s telling the truth… as she sees it. But it’s possible that she blocked it out and doesn’t remember.”
“Are you saying that Danielle could forget killing her own husband?”
“It’s possible, Hannah. She told us that she was sleepy, and she took some pretty strong cold medicine. She could have been woozy and disoriented, almost in a dream state.”
“No way.” Hannah shook her head. “Danielle was upset when she called me and asked me to come over, but she was perfectly lucid. And when I got there, what she said made sense.”
“Maybe.”
Mike didn’t sound convinced, and Hannah sighed deeply. “Let’s just assume for a minute that Danielle didn’t kill Boyd. You’re going to look for other suspects, aren’t you?”
“We’ll do a routine investigation. If nothing turns up, Sheriff Grant will want us to wrap this up quickly.”
“That figures.” Hannah rolled her eyes. “He won’t want an unsolved murder on the books in an election year. It’s much easier to say that Danielle did it, even if she didn’t. But Sheriff Grant can’t close the case if new evidence turns up can he?”
“No.” Mike began to frown. “Look, Hannah. I don’t want you to start nosing around and asking questions. Leave that to the qualified professionals.”
Mike was patronizing her, and Hannah knew it. She curbed the sharp retort she wanted to make and did her best to sound calm and reasonable. “But the qualified professionals aren’t going to do anything more than a routine investigation. You said that yourself. Danielle needs someone to prove that she’s innocent.”
“That’s easier said than done, Hannah.” Mike still sounded patronizing to Hannah’s ears. “I don’t want you to get involved in this. If Danielle didn’t kill Boyd, the real killer is still out there.”
“That’s right. So what?”
“What if you stumble across a clue? And what if the real killer suspects that you’re on his trail? You could wind up in real danger.” Mike reached over and took her hand. “You’re important to me, Hannah. You’re my best friend in Lake Eden, and I don’t’ know what I’d do if something happened to you. Promise me that you’ll stay out of it.”
Hannah was silent for a long moment. She didn’t want to lie to Mike, but she wasn’t going to stay out of it,
