Doc Knight stepped out of the cubicle and he smiled when he saw Hannah. 'Don't worry. He'll be fine. He can leave, but don't let him sleep for at least three hours. No alcohol and a liquid diet for the first twelve hours. Bring him right back out here if he shows any signs of concussion.'
'Okay,' Hannah said. 'Norman told me you thought it was a baseball bat?'
'Either that or something similar. He took a hard blow and he's lucky it glanced off. A direct hit probably would have killed him.'
Hannah winced. She didn't want to think about that. 'Like Connie Mac?'
'I'd say so,' Doc Knight looked wary, 'but you didn't hear that from me. I took pictures, and I'll compare them when I get some breathing room. And I didn't tell you that, either.'
'I understand. You're just a font of noninformation.'
'And that's the way I want it. If the boys out at the sheriff's station find out I told you anything at all, they'll skin me alive. Now take him off my hands and give him some TLC. I've got a two-car accident coming in any minute and I need the beds.'
'Aspirin?' Hannah asked.
'No. I gave him something for his headache, and he can have another pill in two hours. That should knock him out for the rest of the night.'
'You got it. I'll take him straight home,' Hannah promised.
'No, not home. Take him to your place. If you take him home, Carrie will kick up a fuss and he'll never get any rest. Let him relax for a couple of hours and then he can go home. And if Carrie starts weeping and wailing, give her one of Norman's pills.'
'Well, there's one good thing,' Norman said, accepting the mug of hot chocolate Hannah had made for him. 'Until this bandage comes off, I won't have to wear a hat.'
Janie laughed. 'All you need is a jewel in the middle of that turban and you'll look like a sheik.'
'I think it might take a little more than that,' Norman said, taking a sip of his drink. 'This is really good. Hannah.'
'Doc Knight told me to keep you on liquids, and I figured a shot of liquid chocolate was better than low-fat chicken broth. How are you feeling, Norman?'
'Okay. I've still got a headache, but it's not as bad as it was before. Go ahead, Hannah.'
'Go ahead and what?'
'Ask me those questions you've been dying to ask. If you hold them in much longer, you're going to pop.'
Hannah gave a self-conscious .laugh. Norman knew her very well. 'Are you sure you're well enough to answer?'
'I'm sure. Ask me now, while everything's still fresh in my mind.'
'Okay.' Hannah flipped to a fresh page in her notebook. 'I know you didn't actually see your attacker, but did you see or hear anything right before he hit you?'
'No.'
'Did you feel anything? A leather glove? A fur jacket? Anything like that?'
'All I felt was the blow.'
'Did you smell anything? A cigarette burning? A distinctive aftershave, or a scented soap?'
'No. I don't have a clue who hit me, Hannah.'
'Okay,' Hannah sighed, switching to another line of questions. 'Who knew that you'd be taking portraits at the Ezekiel Jordan House tonight?'
'Beatrice and Ted Koester. They were my subjects. And Luanne knew because she did Beatrice's makeup. Our mothers knew because I told them. They were taking Tracey to a movie tonight and I figured they might drive past on their way home. I didn't want them to worry when they saw lights on inside.'
Hannah groaned in tandem with Janie. Both of them knew that Delores was a virtual pipeline of information.
'There's one thing I know.' Norman looked very serious. 'I thought about it all the way back here. I wasn't mugged or carjacked. I was deliberately targeted for some reason.'
Hannah stared at him in surprise. 'What makes you think that?'
'If the guy wanted my car, he could have hot-wired it while I was inside loading my cameras. It took me a good fifteen minutes, and everyone else had already left. And I was carrying a waterproof gym bag with a couple of cameras and my wallet inside. I set it down on the top of the trunk while I brushed off my windshield. He could have just grabbed it and run. I think I was attacked by Connie Mac's killer.'
'You're lucky he didn't kill you, Norman,' Janie commented, and Hannah noticed that her face was very pale.
'I know. I think the only thing that saved me was that I dropped my car keys in the snow. He must have swung at me just as I bent down to pick them up.'
'That would explain what Doc Knight told me,' Hannah said. 'He thought it was a glancing blow.'
'Exactly. And I'm pretty sure he would have hit me a second time if Luanne hadn't driven up just then.'
Hannah didn't want to think about what would have happened if Norman hadn't dropped his car keys. Instead, she concentrated on asking another question. 'Let's say you were targeted by Connie Mac's killer. Why you?'
'I don't know. It's true that I was next door the night she was killed, but it's not like I could identify him or anything.'
'No, but he might think you could.' Hannah's mind raced through the possibilities, and one stood out. 'Wait a second. Didn't you tell me that you were testing your fill lights that night?'
'Yes,' Norman answered. 'What does that have to do with it?'
'Did your lights flash when you were testing them?'
Norman nodded, and Hannah began to smile. 'Then I've got it.'
'Got what?'
'The reason why Connie Mac's killer targeted you. What if he was hiding outside The Cookie Jar that night, waiting for a chance to get Connie Mac alone and kill her? He could have seen those flashes and thought that you were taking pictures of him.'
'I just remembered something,' Janie told them. 'Connie Mac and I saw the flashes on the snow outside. She thought that some reporter was trying to take an unauthorized picture of her through the window, but I pointed out that it was coming from the Ezekiel Jordan House, and we decided that you must have been taking portraits over there.'
Hannah leaned forward in excitement. 'You have to develop that film, Norman. You could have a picture of Connie Mac's killer!'
'Impossible,' Norman said, shaking his head. 'My camera wasn't loaded. I didn't want to waste film when I was just testing the lights.'
Hannah bit back a word that might have made Janie blush and groaned instead. 'For a minute there, I thought we might have a shortcut to the killer.'
All three of them were silent for a moment, and then Norman turned to Hannah. 'Maybe we do have a shortcut.'
'How? You said your camera wasn't loaded.'
'It wasn't, but the killer doesn't know that. He still thinks I've got a picture of him. He'll have to try to kill me again, Hannah. I'm sure of that. And that means we can set a trap for him.'
Hannah's mouth dropped open and she stared at Norman in shock. Then she shook her head furiously. 'That knock on the head must have rattled your brains. If you had any sense left at all, you'd know there's no way I'd ever let you use yourself for bait!'
GRILLED CREAM CHEESE SANDWICHES
(Hannah Swensen's Very Best Mistake)
For each sandwich you will need:
2 slices of bread (white, egg, wheat ' take your pick) 1 package of chilled block cream cheese (not softened or whipped) Softened butter
Butter two slices of bread. Place one slice buttered side down on a piece of waxed paper. Cut slices of cream cheese approximately '-inch thick to cover the surface of the bread. Put the other slice of bread on top, buttered
