as a substitute. The resulting sandwich had been so delicious, she'd never made traditional grilled cheese sandwiches again.
'You should make cooking mistakes more often.' Janie smiled at her. 'You always end up with something fabulous.'
'Not always. Remember the time I put tomato soup in my tuna hotdish? It was so awful, we couldn't eat it and we had to go out for pizza.'
Janie made a face. 'I wish you hadn't reminded me. But everyone's entitled to one flop, and you've more than made up for it.'
'I need to ask you about something, Janie.' Hannah turned her mind back to the problem at hand. 'I ran into Kurt Howe at the library today, and he told me that the television station has a lot of Connie Mac shows that haven't aired yet.'
'Kurt's right. We taped the shows in June and Connie Mac did four shows a day, every other day.'
'Four shows a day?' Hannah was surprised. 'Isn't that an awful lot of work?'
'Yes, but not for her. The staff did all the setup work before she even got to the studio. All she had to do was assemble pre-measured ingredients while she talked to her guests, stick pans in the oven, and take out the ones we'd already baked.'
'So she didn't actually cook the dinners?'
'No, we did it all in advance. That's why she worked every second day. We needed that extra day to get everything ready for her.'
Hannah did a little mental arithmetic. 'She did sixty shows in a month?'
'That's right. When we were all through, her producer picked out the best shows and the station put those on the schedule. They kept the rest as a backlog. I'm sure they have enough for at least a year, maybe two.'
'Is that normal?' Hannah asked. 'I mean . . . it's almost as if the television station expected Connie Mac to die and they prepared for it ahead of time.'
'There's nothing unusual in what they did, Hannah. Taping ahead is standard business practice for any show that's so dependent on its star. They can't do it with shows that deal with current events, but cooking shows are timeless.'
'Okay, if you say so.' But Hannah decided she'd check it out anyway. 'Was Connie Mac one of those difficult stars?'
'Only with her own staff, and she was never difficult when one of television executives was on the set. Then she was all sweetness and light.'
Janie's eyes were drooping, and that prompted Hannah to glance at her watch. 'It's almost eleven and Norman's late. I wonder what's keeping him.'
'Maybe his car wouldn't start?' Janie suggested. 'It's really cold out there tonight.'
'That's possible, but I'm sure he would have called.' The moment the words were out of Hannah's mouth, the phone ring. She grinned at Janie as she reached out to answer it. 'I guess you were right. That's probably him now.'
But the voice that greeted her wasn't Norman's, and Hannah felt a prickle of fear. 'Luanne? Is there something wrong?'
'Yes. .I called to tell you that I'm here at the hospital with Norman.'
'The hospital?' The prickle of fear expanded into a knot in Hannah's stomach. 'Are you all right?'
'I'm fine, but Norman's got a bad bump on his head. Doctor Knight says he could have a concussion.'
'Was it a traffic accident?'
'No, Norman got mugged on the way out to his car.'
For a moment, Hannah was speechless. As far as she knew, there'd never been a mugging in Lake Eden before. 'Where did it happen?'
'In the parking lot outside the Ezekiel Jordan house. We had a late portrait sitting. When I left, Norman told me he was going to reload his cameras, and then he was going to drive out to your place. That's why I called you.'
'Hold on a second.' Hannah shook her head to clear it. 'If you left, how did you find out that Norman was mugged?'
'I went back. Norman gave me a little stuffed giraffe for Susie and I left it in my makeup kit. I was all the way out to the highway when I remembered. I went back to get it and I found Norman facedown in the snow next to his car. It was really scary, Hannah.'
'I'll bet it was. Did you see the mugger?'
'No, I didn't see anybody. Norman thinks I scared him off, because it happened right before I got there. I didn't want to leave Norman there and go call for an ambulance, so I helped him to my car and took him straight out to the emergency room.'
'You did exactly the right thing, Luanne,' Hannah assured her.
'Can you drive out here, Hannah? I have to get home and Norman doesn't have any way back to town.'
'I'll be there in ten minutes,' Hannah promised. 'And thanks, Luanne. I'm really glad you forgot that giraffe.'
'Me, too. 'Bye, Hannah.'
Hannah hung up the phone and turned to Janie, who was staring at her curiously. 'Norman got mugged. He's out at Lake Eden Memorial and I'm driving out there. Do you want to come along?'
'I'd rather stay here. Is there anything I can do for you while you're gone?'
'Yes. Check to make sure all the doors and windows are locked, and don't let anyone in.'
'Why?' Janie looked worried. 'Is there a problem?'
'I don't know, but Norman was a suspect in Connie Mac's murder, and so are you.'
'Then you think Norman's mugging has something to do with Connie Mac's murder?'
'I won't know until I talk to him, but it's better to be safe than sorry.'
'Okay, Hannah. I'll wait up for you. And I'll put on a pot of coffee so it'll be ready for you when you come home.'
'Thanks, but the last thing I'm going to need when I get home is a load of caffeine. There's an extra gallon of wine in the broom closet, right next to Moishe's kitty crunchies. Shove it in the bottom of the refrigerator for me, will you? I have a feeling I'm going to need it tonight.'
'Hannah!' Norman looked absolutely delighted to see her ' as delighted as a man could look who was flat on his back on an emergency room cot with a blood-pressure cuff on his arm and a turban-style bandage wrapped around his head. 'You came.'
'Of course I came. Luanne tells me you've been testing out the theory that your head is harder than concrete.'
'Wood,' Norman told her, struggling up into a sitting position. 'Doc Knight found a splinter in my ski cap, and he thinks it came from a baseball bat.'
'Whatever. Are you supposed to sit up like that?'
'They didn't tell me not to sit up. I'm fine, Hannah. I've just got a little headache, that's all.'
'Don't go all Mister Tough Guyon me,' Hannah warned 'You have to be hurting. Where's Doc Knight? I want to talk to him.'
'He's around here somewhere. Whatever you do, Hannah, don't call my mother. She'll be out here with chicken soup and a mustard plaster. And the soup will be straight out of a red-and-white can.'
Hannah laughed. Delores had done the same thing when she was sick. 'Okay, I won't call her. How about the sheriff's department? They should know what happened.'
'They already know. Doc Knight called them the minute I came in, and they sent Rick Murphy out to take my statement. I couldn't tell him much. I never even saw who hit me.'
'Okay, I'll be right back.' Hannah walked over and touched Norman's arm. She had the urge to kiss him on the cheek, but she didn't. She just patted his arm, turned on her heel, and went out to find Doc Knight.
The first three emergency room cubicles Hannah passed were empty, but there was someone in the fourth. The curtains were drawn, but she could hear Doc Knight talking to someone about zinc powder and how often to apply it. Since there'd been a recent outbreak of athletes' foot at Jordan High, Hannah figured that the person behind the curtain was another shower-room casualty.
