Fudge Cupcake Murder

asked the question she'd been waiting to ask ever since he'd mentioned the case. 'Do you have any suspects?'

    'Yes, and no.'

    'What does that mean?'

    'It means we've got suspects, but I don't think any of them did it. Neither does Bill and he's got good instincts for things like that.'

    From past experience, Hannah knew that Mike wouldn't give her any details unless she asked. Even then, he might not tell her anything important. 'Which suspects do you have?'

    'Uh-uh,' Mike said, grinning at her. 'You first.'

    Hannah did her best to look totally innocent. 'Me? What makes you think I have any suspects? You told me I should drop my investigation, remember?'

    'That's right. Let me rephrase that question. Which suspects did you have before you dropped your investigation?'

    Hannah sighed. She wasn't going to get anything out of Mike until she primed the pump. And priming the pump meant she had to give him something first. 'Nettie Grant.'

    'What?'

    'You asked me what suspects I had. I had Nettie Grant, but I cleared her.'

    'You did?'

    From the tone of Mike's voice, Hannah could tell he'd switched on the invisible little tape recorder in his mind that all good cops seemed to possess. Although it seemed impossible, he would remember every word she uttered.

    'Give,' Mike said, leaning forward to gaze at her intensely. 'You owe me.'

    'For what?'

    'For dinner. Why did you suspect Nettie Grant?'

    Hannah sighed. She could give him this much, at least. 'Because she was going to divorce Sheriff Grant and he would have fought her about the settlement. Killing him made her his widow and entitled to everything.

    'Your reasoning's right,' Mike said, 'but how did you find out about the divorce?'

    'Nettie told me. But she also told me she didn't kill her husband and I believed her.'

    Mike frowned slightly. 'I don't think she killed him either, but since she doesn't have an alibi…'

    'She does have an alibi,' Hannah interrupted him, grinning widely. 'Lisa checked it out for me.'

    'She did? What is it?'

    'I'll tell you right after you tell me something I don't know.'

    Mike narrowed his eyes. Hannah imagined how fierce he'd look to a suspect who'd just been hauled in for interrogation. Thankfully, the fierce glower didn't work that well on her. She met it with her most stubborn look and they locked eyes for long moments, each perfectly silent and each perfectly determined to come out on top. The tension built higher and higher until Hannah just couldn't stand it anymore.

    'Someone next door saw Nettie in her sewing room,' Hannah told him. And at the very same instant Mike said, 'Doc Knight found traces of someone else's blood on the lid of the dumpster.'

    'The killer must have scratched himself when he put Sheriff Grant inside,' Hannah said. At the same time, Mike protested, 'But I interviewed the neighbors and none of them were home.'

    Mike and Hannah stared at each other for a moment and then they both burst out laughing.

    'You first,' Hannah said.

    'No, you first,' Mike countered.

    Hannah sighed. They were getting nowhere in a hurry. She desperately wanted to know about the blood on the dumpster and the quickest way to find out about it was to tell Mike about Nettie's alibi. 'Richie Maschler told his parents he was going out that night, but he didn't. He invited his girlfriend over to watch a movie instead.'

    'And you know this for certain?'

    'The girlfriend's mother told Lisa.'

    'Okay, Nettie's off my list. I'm really glad you cleared her, Hannah.'

    'Me, too. I like Nettie. Now how about that blood on the lid of the dumpster?'

    'There was a sharp place on the lid of the dumpster where the killer could have cut himself. If it matches the smear on Sheriff Grant's shirt, it's definitely from our guy.'

    'Did you send it out for DNA testing?'

    'Of course. That'll take a couple of weeks.'

    'And when the results come back you'll have evidence you can use to convict the killer?'

    'Absolutely. But first, we have to catch him.'

    Hannah frowned slightly. 'Will the DNA help with that?'

    'I don't think so. We'll crosscheck it with the existing database, of course.'

    'But you don't think you'll get any matches?' Hannah asked, interpreting the tone she heard in Mike's voice.

    'It's hard to believe we'll get that lucky. This doesn't have the earmarks of a professional hit, but I don't think it's random, either. Someone who knew Sheriff Grant hated or feared him enough to confront him up close and personal and kill him.'

    'So… you think it's someone local?'

    'That's my guess. In a perfect world, I wouldn't have to guess. I'd just test everyone in the county to see whose DNA matches.'

    'In a perfect world, there wouldn't be any murder and you'd be out of a job.'

    'True;' Mike said with a grin. 'That's what I love about you, Hannah. You always put things in perspective.'

    Hannah took a deep breath and sealed her lips together. She was afraid to ask if he'd meant love as in like, or love as in love.

    Mike didn't seem to mind her lack of response, because he leaned across the table and took her hand, pressing it warmly between both of his. 'Do you want dessert now? Or shall we get something to go and take it back to your place?'

    Hannah's heart did a tap dance in her chest. Mike had told her he was taking the night off and now he wanted to finish the evening at her condo. Was he about to propose?

    'Hannah?' Mike smiled at her.

    Hannah's lips turned up in an answering smile. She was glad she was sitting down. Her legs felt weak and her knees were actually knocking together. 'Let's get apple pie,' she said. And while he was ordering their dessert and paying the bill, she sat there with her fingers crossed, hoping that her mother's room freshener had worked.

Chapter Twenty-Four

    'So you didn't learn anything important about Sheriff Grant's murder?' Mike asked, scooping up the last spoonful of vanilla ice cream Hannah had served with his pie.

    'Not really,' Hannah answered, crossing the fingers on her left hand, the one that wasn't holding her fork, to negate the lie she was about to tell. Learning that Suzie Hanks was Sheriff Grant's granddaughter was important and so was finding out that the sheriff had fought with Luanne in the school parking lot only minutes before he was murdered, but she wasn't about to tell Mike about that. 'I was so busy trying to clear Bill, I didn't have much time to investigate. How about you? Did you find any clues when you went through Sheriff Grant's house and car?'

    Mike shook his head. 'Not a thing.'

    'Then you don't know if Sheriff Grant was working on a case when he was killed?'

    'No. There's a rumor that he was, but no one at the station seems to know anything about it.' Mike's eyes narrowed slightly. 'You haven't heard anything, have you?'

    'Nothing substantial. The only thing I know is that he always worked on a big case right before an election.