again.'
When Tracey had left, Don turned to Andrea. 'Grownup stuff?'
'She's talking about Connie Mac's murder. You heard about it, didn't you?'
Don frowned as he nodded. 'The KCOW news team interrupted Video Auction, and I was all set to call in a bid on a coatrack with antlers instead of hooks. I thought we could use it by the front door.'
'What about the murder?' Sean asked, getting back to Andrea's original question. 'Do they know who did it yet?'
Hannah shook her head. 'That's one of the reasons we wanted to talk to you. They're investigating anyone who might have had a reason to kin Connie Mac, and we found out that she fired her van driver that afternoon. Earl Flensburg said he dropped him off here yesterday afternoon to catch the bus home. His first name is Ray, he's in his early twenties, and he has short, dark hair.'
'I remember him,' Sean said. 'Winnie Henderson was here buying new wiper blades and he offered to put them on for her. He sure seemed like a nice guy to me.'
'That's what Earl said. We're just trying to find out if he has an alibi for the time of the murder. Did you see him get on the bus?'
'Yes. I was out front pumping gas and I saw him board.'
'Where was he going?' Andrea asked.
Sean shrugged. 'North. That's all I know. We're just a stop on the highway. The driver pulls up and honks his horn and the passengers go out to buy their tickets directly from him.'
'He'll be back here around noon if you want to talk to him,' Don added. 'He's got a short run on Saturdays.'
Andrea reached in her purse, pulled out two business cards, and handed one to each twin. 'Could you have him call me on my cell phone when he gets in? It's really important.'
'Okay,' Sean promised, and then he turned to his brother. 'You stand in front of the bus so he can't pull out, and I'll drag him in to the phone.'
'No, you stand in front of the bus,' Don objected.
Hannah grinned. The twins had a long history of arguing with each other. 'Just work it out before noon. I don't care who does what as long as that driver calls Andrea before he puts his bus back in gear.'
'Can I go see Grandma again?' Tracey asked, trudging through the snow to Hannah's cookie truck. 'Please, Mommy?'
'Are you sure Grandma wants you to come back?'
'I'm positive. Grandma said she'd find a dress for me to wear, and I can help her show off her house. And Grandma Carrie said Uncle Norman would take my picture, too.'
Hannah's eyebrows shot up. 'Grandma Carrie?'
'That's what she told me to call her. And my real grandma said it was okay, because someone was bound to come to their senses eventually.'
'Oh, brother!' Hannah muttered.
Tracey climbed into the back of the van and waited for her mother to get in. Once Andrea was settled in her seat, Tracey tapped her on the shoulder. 'Why does Aunt Hannah look so funny? Does she have a headache?'
'I think she does.'
'Then you should give her an aspirin, but we have to know exactly what kind of headache it is. It's very important.'
'Why is that?' Hannah asked her.
'Because they have aspirin for different types of head. aches. I learned all about it on TV. What type of headache is yours, Aunt Hannah?'
'It's the mother of all headaches,' Hannah quipped, 'and if they ever invent a special aspirin for that, I'll buy a whole case.'
Hannah and Andrea waited in the back room of the Ezekiel Jordan House while Delores helped Tracey change into a costume of one of the two dressing rooms. Hannah opened the door to take a peek at the unoccupied cubicle and was surprised to see that her mother had decorated it to look like a man's dressing room. The wallpaper was gray with a silver stripe, and hunting prints hung on the walls. There was an oval mirror on a stand, a wooden rack with ball-and-claw feet that had been fashioned to hold items of clothing, and a high-backed chair sitting next to a table that sported a set of silver-backed brushes and combs.
'Oh, Hannah! Just look at this darling dress!'
Hannah shut the door and turned to look at her sister, who was examining the contents of a chifforobe that had been placed against the far wall. A variety of women's dresses hung inside, and Andrea removed a burgundy silk and held it up for her to see.
'I think I'll wear this for my picture. What do you think?''
'It's a nice color,' Hannah said, frowning a bit at the tight waistline. From where she was standing, it looked ridiculously small. 'Are you sure it's not too small for you?'
'I can get into it. It comes with a corset that pushes you up and nips you in at the waist. One of the maid's jobs was to lace you in.'
'What if you didn't have a maid?'
'Then you looped the strings around a bedpost and used it to pull them tight. You've seen pictures from that period. That's why all the fashionable women had hour-glass figures.'
'And misshapen ribs,' Hannah added. 'They also fainted a lot, probably because they couldn't breathe.'
'It'll only be for a couple of minutes, just until Norman snaps the picture, and I want to look authentic. I think I should ask Bill to wear one of those tall silk hats.'
Hannah glanced up at the rack that held the hats and began to chuckle. The only hat her brother-in-law liked was a baseball cap. 'Do you think he'll do it?'
'Of course he will. Bill will do anything to make me happy. How about you? What are you going to wear?'
'I'm not having my picture taken.'
'Yes, you are. Mother signed you up for a group picture with us. She wants to hang it on her wall.'
Hannah groaned. The camera was her worst enemy. The darned thing always caught her with a crooked smile or one eye half-closed. To refuse to be in the portrait would mean an argument with Andrea and her mother, and she just didn't have the energy for that. 'I'll do it, but I'll be the unfashionable aunt At least I won't have to wear a corset that way.'
'But it's going to hang on Mother's wall. You really should look your best Just let me find something in here for you and . . .'
'Look at me, Mommy!' Tracey called out, emerging from the dressing room in a sky blue dress with a ruffled white pinafore. 'Grandma says I look precious, and she even gave me this old teddy bear to carry around.'
'Antique teddy bear,' Delores corrected her. 'It's a Steiff, and you have to be very careful with it. It belonged to Ezekiel Jordan's youngest daughter.'
'I will, Grandma. I promise.'
'Let's go, dear.' Delores herded her toward the door that connected with the main part of the house. 'You'll say your speech right after you enter the girls' room upstairs.'
'I know, Grandma. 'This is my room. I sleep here with my sisters, Emily, Catherine, and Lucinda. My father and mother gave me this teddy bear for my fourth birthday. His name is Brownie and I love him very much.' '
'Wonderful!' Delores clapped her hands and then turned to them. 'Tell Tracey how wonderful she was, girls.'
'You were wonderful, honey,' Andrea said with a smile.
'Yes, you were,' Hannah seconded. 'Do you have any more to say?'
'Just one more thing. When the guests are ready to leave, stand by the front door and say, 'Thank you for coming to see the Ezekiel Jordan House that my Grandma Delores and my Grandma Carrie made.' '
The words Grandma Carrie set off warning bells in Hannah's mind. Every Lake Eden resident who took the tour would hear Tracey, and the phone lines would overload with rumors that she was about to marry Norman.
'We'd better run along, dear,' Delores said, taking Tracey's hand. 'Our audience is waiting.'
Hannah walked over to grab her mother's arm. 'Go ahead, Tracey. I need to talk to your grandma for a
