Fudge Cupcake Murder

Monday night.'

    Hannah high-fived her sister and Andrea high-fived back, but they weren't out of the woods yet. They sat back and waited for Bill to obtain the critical information that would clear him.

    'Your note must have blown away, Betty. There was nothing under my windshield wiper.'

    'Really? Then how did you know to call…' Betty paused and gave an embarrassed little laugh. 'Never mind. You're a detective, after all. Of course you found out it was me. I'm really mortified about it, Bill. I still can't believe I misjudged the distance. It's just that the Mercedes is a lot bigger than my old VW.'

    'That's okay, Betty. I understand.'

    'Thank goodness for that!' Betty sounded very relieved. 'Hold on a second and I'll get you my insurance information so you can file a claim.'

    'There's no need for that,' Bill answered quickly, before Betty could leave the line.

    'But I have good insurance. I know they'll take care of everything. All you have to do is file a claim and they'll replace…”

    'I don't need it, Betty,' Bill interrupted her. 'I'll just pick up another taillight at Ted Koester's junk yard and put it in myself.'

    'Are you sure?'

    'I'm sure. If I file a claim, it could raise your insurance rates and it's just not necessary.'

    'Okay, Bill. I'm sure you know best. I'll pay for the taillight. Just let me know how much it is.'

    'I'll do that. Do you remember what time you hit my car, Betty? It could be really important.'

    'I remember,' Betty said, and she sounded very confident. 'It was ten after nine. I left Lorna's house at five after, because I wanted to get home in time to feed my cats, put in a load of laundry, and watch the ten o'clock news.'

    'And you're sure about the time?'

    'I'm positive. I looked at my watch when I climbed into the car. Are you sure you don't want to file an insurance claim, Bill? I'm clearly in the wrong here.'

    'No need, Betty. And the next time you see me, remind me to give you a big hug.'

    'For hitting your car?' Betty sounded confused.

    'Not exactly. It's when you hit my car that counts. That was the luckiest accident I ever had.'

    There was a moment of silence and when she spoke again, Betty sounded even more puzzled. 'Okay. If you say so.'

    'Do you mind if Mike Kingston calls you tonight to verify what you told me?'

    'No…' Betty sounded a bit dubious. 'You're not going to… uh… charge me with anything, are you?'

    'No way I'd do that. I just need you to tell him what time you hit my car, so he knows it was parked outside my house at the time.'

    'Oh. Well, sure. I can do that.' Betty sounded like she wanted to ask more questions, but she didn't. 'I'm going to watch a movie in twenty minutes. Could you have him call before then?'

    Bill agreed, and right after he'd disconnected the call, he punched in Mike's cell phone number. Once Mike had Betty's number and had promised to call right away, Bill hung up the phone and hugged both Andrea and Hannah. 'Thanks for all your help. It's going to be good to get back to work again!'

    'I'm sure it will,' Andrea said, and Hannah noticed that her sister looked absolutely delighted that Bill's suspension was about to be over.

    'Mike's going to buy us breakfast to celebrate,' Bill announced, turning to Hannah. 'I'm going in at six to go over what he's done on the case so far, and we'll meet you at The Corner Tavern at seven-thirty.'

    Andrea's face lit up with a smile. 'Oh, good! I love their pancakes.'

    'Not you, honey,' Bill told her. 'You have to stay here with your feet up. Hannah will bring you takeout, right Hannah?'

    Hannah said she would, knowing that her sister was disappointed. But Bill would be working and at least Andrea wouldn't have to watch him do any more househusband chores. Perhaps it was time to remind Andrea of her blessings. 'Look on the bright side, Andrea. Now that Bill's going back to-work, you can sleep in.'

    'Right,' Andrea said, and she looked much more cheerful. 'I'll set the alarm for eight-thirty, Hannah. Then I'll be up when you bring me breakfast. Can I give you my order now?'

    'Sure.' Hannah grabbed her notebook and flipped it to a blank page.

    'I'll have pancakes, and blueberry syrup, and a couple of eggs over easy, and bacon and…”

    'No salt,' Hannah interrupted her.

    'Right. No bacon then. I'll have home fries, whole wheat toast with no butter and lots of those little packets of jelly, and something else on the side instead of meat, like tomatoes sprinkled with sugar.'

    Hannah made a face. Both Andrea and Michelle had adopted Delores's habit of sprinkling tomato slices with sugar. Hannah, on the other hand, took after their father and liked hers sprinkled with salt.

    'Okay. What to drink?'

    'A chocolate shake. There's no salt in that.'

    'That's really strange,' Bill said, frowning slightly.

    'You mean a chocolate shake for breakfast?'

    'Huh?' Bill looked totally confused and Hannah knew he hadn't been listening while Andrea gave her breakfast order.

    'What's strange, Bill?' Hannah asked, reaching for her jacket. It was already past eleven and if she didn't head for home soon, there would be little point in going to bed.

    'There was music playing when Mike answered his cell phone and I know his stereo's broken.'

    Hannah gave Andrea a look and Andrea gave it right back to her. After seeing Mike at Bertanelli's with Shawna Lee, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Mike might have gone home with her. And if he had, that meant he hadn't been exactly pining away for the eldest Swensen sister while he'd been on her persona non grata list.

Chapter Sixteen

    Monday morning came earlier than Hannah anticipated. It arrived at four-thirty in the morning when she rolled over on what felt like small boulders in her bed and discovered the Moishe had brought her the contents of his food bowl during the night.

    'All right, I give up,' Hannah sighed, sitting up to switch on the lamp by her bed and jam her feet into her slippers. Moishe wanted his regular food back. That much was clear. And perhaps he'd done her a favor by waking her up this early. If she could manage to get ambulatory and awake enough to drive by five, she could get to work early and finish the baking before she left to have breakfast with Mike and Bill.

    Hannah fed Moishe his regular fare and downed a second cup of the strong coffee her grandmother had called Swedish Plasma, then walked back to the bedroom to excavate her sheets from beneath the senior cat food rubble. Rather than try to save the nuggets, Hannah opened the bedroom window, brought the corners of the sheet together to make a bundle, and shook it out as an offering to passing cats that were not as discriminating as Moishe.

    'What would you like, Hannah?' Mike said, smiling at her across the table.

    An explanation of what's going on with you and Shawna Lee, Hannah thought, but she said, 'Pancakes, maple syrup, and eggs sunny side up.'

    'Coffee?' the waitress asked, favoring Hannah with a smile.

    'Yes, please. And lots of it. I didn't get much sleep last night.'

    'Me, neither,' Mike said, and Hannah clamped her lips shut. No way she was going to ask why!

    'I slept like a baby,' Bill volunteered. 'I think it was because the pressure was off. It was awful not being able to prove I didn't do it.'