Fudge Cupcake Murder

upset, they couldn't make coffee. This was especially puzzling in Andrea's case, since all she did was put a spoonful of instant coffee in a mug, fill it with water, and microwave it until it was hot enough to drink.

    'Thanks, Hannah.' Andrea accepted the mug and curled her hands around it. Then she took a long sip and sighed gratefully. 'That's so good! I feel much more in control now.'

    'Good. Why did you feel out of control in the first place? And what did you mean by what you said back there?'

    'What did I say?'

    'I was telling Bertie that I wasn't going to interfere in Sheriff Grant's murder investigation and you said, Yes, you are. And you said it without moving your lips.'

    'Oh, that. I learned how to talk that way in seventh grade. Mr. Becker used to give us demerits if he caught us talking in class, so we learned to talk without moving our lips. He never caught on and we did it all year long.'

    'Not that! I'm talking about when you said I was going to interfere in Sheriff Grant's murder investigation.'

    'You are. You have to do it, Hannah. Bill needs you.'

    'Are you sure about that?'

    'I'm positive.'

    Hannah gave Andrea a long level look. 'Are you telling me that Bill asked you to ask me to investigate Sheriff Grant's murder?'

    'Not exactly.'

    'How, exactly?'

    'It's Mike.' Andrea took another sip of her coffee and her eyes began to flash fire. 'He's a first-class jerk! I still can't believe that I invited him into my home and fed him sandwiches and everything, and then he turned on us like a rat in the grass!'

    'Snake,' Hannah corrected her automatically.

    'What?'

    'It's snake in the grass, not rat in the grass. What did Mike do?'

    'He betrayed our trust, that's what he did! If you ever speak to him again, I'll… I'll disown you!'

    Since Andrea only used that threat when she was upset, Hannah decided not to mention the fact that sisters couldn't disown sisters. If looks weren't deceiving, Andrea was working herself up into a full-scale snit. Her cheeks were red and her eyes were flashing fire. Hannah hadn't seen her this angry since high school, when someone had spilled grape soda on her favorite pink cashmere sweater.

    'Mike is… just awful! He's a… a…' Andrea stopped and covered her tummy with her hands. 'I'd better not say what I'm thinking. I just read an article that said babies hear sounds before they're born and I don't want little Billy to hear how mad I am.'

    'Just take it easy and tell me what Mike's done to get you so riled up.'

    'Mike…' Andrea stopped and took another deep breath, letting it out with a whoosh. 'Mike thinks Bill murdered Sheriff Grant!'

Chapter Five

    Hannah felt as if she'd been punched in the stomach. She was about to ask Andrea what she meant when she noticed the color of her sister's face and rushed to the counter to get her a medicinal dose of chocolate.

    'Here, Andrea.' Hannah shoved two Black and White cookies into her hand. 'You need chocolate.'

    'What I need is for Mike to drop dead!'

    'Understandable, considering the circumstances.' Hannah gestured toward the cookies. 'Eat. Now.'

    'All right, all right,' Andrea sounded peeved, but she took a big bite of the first cookie. Then she took another bite, and another, finishing it in a gulp. The second cookie was gone just as quickly as the first and Hannah was relieved to see that a little color was beginning to come back to Andrea's cheeks.

    'You look better,' Hannah told her, feeling a lot better herself. Andrea had turned so pale she'd wondered if she ought to call Doc Knight.

    'I feel better. But I'm still mad at Mike.'

    'Can't blame you for that,' Hannah said leaning over to pat Andrea's hand.

    'It's just awful, Hannah! I'm so mad I'm speechless.'

    'No, you're not,' Hannah said, regretting the words the moment they'd left her mouth. Now was not the time to argue semantics. 'Just tell me exactly what happened. Maybe there's something I can do to help.'

    Andrea shook her head once to clear it and then she took a deep breath. 'It all started this morning at work. Mike said he had to suspend Bill because Bill was home alone last night and he didn't have an alibi for the time when Sheriff Grant was killed.'

    'Hold on a second. Mike suspended Bill? How did he have the authority to do that?'

    'He's acting sheriff, now that Sheriff Grant's dead. It's right in the rulebook. The highest ranking deputy assumes the sheriff's position until a new sheriff is elected.'

    'Oh.' Hannah grabbed her shoulder bag purse and pulled out one of her ever-present stenographer's notebooks, the kind she used for important notes. 'You said Bill didn't have an alibi for the time that Sheriff Grant was killed. What time was that?'

    'I don't think Bill knows. Mike hustled him out before he could find out anything about the investigation.'

    'Okay. You also said that Bill was home alone. Where were you?'

    'I took Tracey and two of her friends to a movie at the mall. Now I wish I hadn't. The movie was awful, one of those horrible cartoony things where the people don't even look real and the…”

    'Okay,' Hannah interrupted what she figured would be a tirade about the quality of children's movies. 'Let's get back to Bill's suspension. Is this just a procedural thing? Or does Mike really think that Bill killed Sheriff Grant?'

    'I don't know for sure. But Bill told me that Mike really sounded serious when he suspended him. I'm still reeling in shock. I thought Mike was Bill's best friend and I just can't believe that he'd betray him this way.'

    'It's hard to believe, all right.' Hannah agreed, since she was having trouble digesting it herself. But unless Mike's evil twin had come to town and was keeping the real Mike hog-tied in a closet, that was exactly what he'd done.

    'Bill didn't do it, Hannah. My husband's no killer.'

    'Of course he's not,' Hannah said in her most comforting tone. It was true. Bill wouldn't hurt a fly, unless he wanted to use it for fishing. 'Let's approach this systematically, Andrea. Exactly what did Bill do last night while you were gone?'

    'He watched football on cable. And he told Mike that. He even gave Mike the highlights of the game, but Mike said that wasn't good enough, that Bill could have seen all that on the sports news.'

    Hannah reached out to pat her sister's hand again. 'We've got to prove that Bill stayed at home last night. Maybe one of your neighbors saw him. All it takes is one person who passed by the house and spotted him inside at the critical time.'

    'I know. I already thought of that. I called everyone on the block this morning, but no one saw Bill.'

    Hannah watched as Andrea twisted a paper napkin into a rope. Was she imagining that it was made of hemp and it was tightening around Mike's neck? Mike had been a friend, a confidant, and practically a member of the family. Hannah could understand why her sister felt betrayed.

    'Will you help, Hannah?'

    'Of course I will. Don't worry, Andrea.'

    'I can't help it! The future looked so rosy yesterday. The new poll was out and Bill had a really good chance of beating Sheriff Grant in the election. But now that Sheriff Grant's been murdered, everything's changed for the worse. Now, by the time Little Billy is born, Bill might not have a job. And if Mike gets his way, he could be in