'And you gave her the message?'
'Of course. She stood there and read it right in front of me. Then she slipped it in her purse and went straight back out to her limo.'
'She didn't even bother to call him?' Andrea began to frown when Sally shook her head. 'But she saw him when she got back from the tour, didn't she?'
'I don't know. My bartender called in sick and I had to work the bar for the rest of the day. Connie Mac came in at four to meet Alan, and she was hopping mad before she walked through the door.'
'How could you tell she was mad before you saw her?' Hannah was confused.
'I heard her coming down the hall, and those boots she was wearing couldn't have hit the floor any harder.'
'Boots?' Andrea gave Sally sharp look. 'Are you sure they were boots?'
'I'm positive. I noticed because they were so unusual. I've never seen boots in peach-colored suede before. I bet she had them dyed to match the flowers on her sweater.'
'Connie Mac was wearing a sweater?' Andrea sounded surprised.
'That's right. It was part of a three-piece outfit. Her slacks and top were chocolate brown, the same color as the background in the sweater.'
'Was she carrying a purse?'
'Yes, a peach-colored suede shoulder bag with a strap made of gold links. She threw it on the top of the bar so hard, I thought the strap was going to wipe out a bowl of salted nuts.'
Hannah frowned at her sister. Leave it to Andrea to sidetrack a murder investigation by getting into a discussion of fashion with Sally. 'That's enough, Andrea. We don't need a blow-by-blow description Connie Mac's wardrobe.'
'Yes, we do,' Andrea countered, giving Hannah a triumphant look. 'If you'd paid attention, you'd know that Connie Mac was wearing a peach designer suit with black leather shoes when we went on the tour. And her purse was a black leather clutch with a diamond clasp. She must have gone up to her suite to change clothes, and that means she probably saw her husband. Don't think that's important?'
'It's important, and I'm glad you noticed.' Hannah felt a little guilty for jumping on her sister. Andrea always noticed what other women were wearing. Usually it bored Hannah to death, but this time it had come in handy. 'I think it would help if we tried to reconstruct Connie Mac's afternoon. What time did you finish the tour, Andrea?'
'Three-thirty. I looked at my watch when Spencer dropped me off at my car. I wanted to see if I had time to stop at the cleaners before I picked Tracey up at preschool.'
Hannah wrote the time in her notebook. 'So Connie Max got here at three-thirty and she had time to change clothes before Sally saw her at four?'
'She barely had time,' Andrea corrected her. 'I don't think Connie Mac was the type to go out in public unless she looked perfect. And don't forget that she had to switch purses. I figure she had about two minutes to spend with her husband, just long enough to give him his orders for the rest of the day.'
Hannah chuckled at her sister's turn of phrase. Andrea's opinion of Connie Mac had obviously hit rock bottom. 'So you think it wasn't an ideal marriage?'
'Not on your life! Any woman who doesn't spend more than two minutes with her husband especially after they've been separated for five days, is a really lousy wife.'
'I'll take your word for that,' Hannah said, turning back to her notebook. 'Was Connie Mac angry about anything when you left her, Andrea?'
'Not that I could see. She was all smiles and she even invited me to the grand opening of her boutique. Something must have happened after she went up to her suite.'
'At least we know she didn't have a fight with her husband. There's no way he could make her that angry in two minutes.' Hannah looked up from her notes as Sally and Andrea started to laugh. 'What did I say?'
Sally tried for a straight face, but it didn't work. 'You don't understand, Hannah. Dick can say something to make me mad in less time than that.'
'And Bill can do it in thirty seconds flat,' Andrea added. 'You don't know much about marriage.'
'And I'm not sure I want to. Then you two think she might have had a fight with Paul?'
'It's certainly possible,' Andrea answered, 'but it's also possible that something happened on her way down to the bar.'
'That's true. How long did she stay in the bar, Sally?'
'Five minutes tops. She went out the same way she came in, as mad as a wet hen. She was really on the warpath, and she heard Connie Mac yelling at Kurt Howe in his room. She was so loud, Francine could hear her right through the closed door.'
'What time was that? And who's Kurt Howe?'
'A quarter after four. Kurt Howe works for Savory Press, the people that publish her cookbooks. He's a nice young guy and he's got a tough job. He told me that they sent him here to handle Connie Mac, and it wasn't easy.'
'That's got to be the understatement of the year,' Hannah said, venturing a grin, 'especially when Connie Mac's the one who's used to doing the handling. Does Francine know why she was yelling at him?'
'Not really. She just caught the tail end of it. But she did hear Connie Mac say that she was going to call the publisher in the morning and have Kurt fired.'
Hannah almost choked on a sip of coffee, and Andrea reached over to thump her on the back. 'Are you all right, Hannah?'
'I'm fine, but we've discovered five suspects already and we just started. Sally's right. It looks like everyone had a reason to want Connie Mac dead.'
'Five suspects?' Sally looked confused. 'I thought you had only four.'
'The van driver's number one. He must have been steaming about being fired. And Alan Carpenter is number two. Connie Mac threatened to fire him and have him disbarred.'
'We have to include Paul,' Andrea said, taking over the count, 'at least until we find out if he has an alibi. If they had a fight, he was probably just as mad as she was. And Kurt Howe is suspect number four. He could have killed her so she couldn't call the publisher to get him fired.'
Sally nodded. 'Okay, but that's still only four. Who's the fifth, Hannah?'
'Remember that conversation you overheard between Connie Mac and Alan? The man who was getting half of something could have killed Connie Mac to keep her from changing their agreement.'
'I didn't even think of that,' Sally said, obviously impressed. 'But how are you going to find out who he is?'
Hannah turned to her sister. 'You can ask Alan. He'll probably try to fob you off with lawyer-client privilege, but it's worth a try.'
'I'll get it out of him,' Andrea promised.
Sally glanced at her watch and sighed. 'This is getting interesting, but it's past time for me to go out there and play hostess. Come on and I'll treat you to the buffet.'
'Just one more thing before you go.' Hannah stopped Sally before she could leave. 'Do you have any idea where Janie Burkholtz is?'
'She's probably at the table with the rest of the Connie Mac people. They always sit together.'
'She's not there,' Andrea said. 'Mike called her this morning, and when Janie didn't answer the phone in her room, he sent one of the maids up to check. There was no sign of Janie, her bed hadn't been slept in, and all of her things were gone. We need to find her before Bill and Mike do.'
Sally nodded. 'Why don't you ask Paul? Janie had dinner with him Thursday night, and she would have told him if she needed time off.'
'We'll do that,' Hannah promised, and then she started to frown as another, very unwelcome thought occurred to her. 'Did you get the impression that Janie and Paul were close?'
'I guess you could say that. They seemed to have a great time together. As a matter of fact, one of my waitresses said . . . '
