Apple Turnover Murder

anything.

“Yes, dear.” Delores responded, and then she smiled. “I’ll bet you’re wondering why Nancy’s not here.”

“Right.” Hannah mentally complimented her mother for being such a good recipient of daughterly radar.

“She invited a few of the faculty over for cocktails and canapes this evening, a little gathering of department heads, now that she’s chairman of the psychology department. She said she’d give me a call later, when I got home.”

“Wonderful.”

Doc Knight turned to look at Hannah, and then he turned back to Delores. “Why do I get the feeling I’m listening to Julia Child?” he asked.

“Julia Child?” Hannah repeated, wondering what on earth the celebrated French chef had to do with it.

“She was a spy in the Second World War, and it sounds to me like you and your mother are passing secret messages right under my nose. What’s going on?”

“We’re passing messages under your nose,” Delores said, perfectly deadpan, and Doc Knight laughed so hard, he almost upset his stack of chips.

“Is this about the professor’s murder?” he asked, when he’d stopped laughing.

“Yes,” Hannah answered him.

“Well, I could take a guess on who did it, but I won’t,” Doc said, turning to Delores. “Unless your mother worms it out of me. She’s good at things like that.”

“Oh, you!” Delores said playfully. And out of the corner of her eye, she gave Hannah a clear daughter-motherly radar signal to get lost.

They’d been wandering around for about an hour, stopping to play at various games, when Norman’s cell phone rang. He took it out of his pocket, glanced at the display, and said “I’d better get this.”

“Okay,” Hannah said, waiting for him to press the right button and speak to his caller. But instead of answering the call, Norman slipped the phone back into his pocket.

“I’ll go outside to take it,” he said. “It’s pretty noisy in here. Why don’t you go play Keno until I get back? They’ve got chairs set up, and all you have to do is mark numbers on a card.”

It was pretty obvious that Norman didn’t want her to go outside with him. Hannah smiled and nodded, and then she headed back to the Keno area. She sat in a chair, reached down to rub her aching feet, and was surprised when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

“Hi, Hannah.”

Hannah turned to look and found herself staring straight into the eyes of her sister Andrea. “Hey!” she exclaimed. “I’ve been looking for you.”

“I’ve been hiding out here while Bill does the obligatory glad-hand thing,” Andrea explained. “I just couldn’t say another, Oh my, how wonderful it is to see you again!”

“But you’re so good at that.”

“Not tonight. I’m too worried about Bill’s latest offer.”

“From Tachyon?”

“Who else? It’s a brand new luxury car and it’s free. He can use it for work and for personal driving. They’re going to give him a gas card and pick up all expenses, including parking.”

“You were right. They really do want him.”

“I know. I’m just scared to death he’ll accept. The kids and I will have to move and…and…” Andrea stopped, struggling to blink back tears. “I’ll be down there in Fort Lauderdale with the bugs and the crocodiles…and you’ll have to deal with Mother all by yourself!”

“Alligators,” Hannah corrected her automatically. “And what do you mean, I’ll have to deal with Mother?”

“I mean you’ll have to…” Andrea stopped and stared at Hannah. “You didn’t see her?” she asked.

“I saw her. She was playing Blackjack with Doc Knight.”

“Well, they weren’t playing when I saw them.” Andrea stopped and frowned. “Or maybe they were playing. It all depends on how you look at it. All I know is they were sharing one of your apple turnovers the same way Lady shared that strand of spaghetti with the Tramp!”

Hannah’s eyes widened. “You mean they were actually holding it in their mouths and eating it from opposite corners?”

“No. I was just using a meta…what do you call that?”

“Metaphor?”

“Yes. I was just using a metaphor. They didn’t have it in their mouths, but they were eating bites of it with their forks. Mother was forking from one corner, and Doc was forking from the other. I…well…I didn’t stick around to see what happened when they got to the middle.”

Hannah couldn’t help it. She laughed. And that earned her a scowl from Andrea.

“I don’t think this is one bit funny,” Andrea said.

“I do.” Hannah knew she had to come up with an explanation that Andrea would accept, and she glommed onto her sister’s reference to the Disney movie. “I was thinking about Lady and the Tramp,” she explained. “I just love that scene with the spaghetti. It’s funny, but it’s so sweet…you know?”

Andrea smiled. “I do know. I feel the same way. It’s my favorite part of the movie, even better than the ending with the baby and the puppies. Tracey loves it, too.” Hannah watched as Andrea stopped speaking and began to look worried again. “What do you think we should do about Mother?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Nothing yet. Carrie’s wedding seems to have inspired all the eligible men in Lake Eden, and Mother’s simply enjoying all the attention.”

“Then you don’t think she’s serious about Doc?”

“I don’t think so, not when I happen to know that she had dinner with Bud Hauge last night.”

“Really?”

“That’s what she said. And then they went to the talent show together.” Hannah gave her sister a reassuring smile. “I really don’t think we have to worry about Mother unless she dates the same man a couple times in a row.”

“Dates?” Andrea picked up on Hannah’s word choice. “Then you think Mother’s dating?”

From the horrified expression on Andrea’s face, Hannah knew she had to backtrack fast. “Not dating exactly,” she said. “It’s more like renewing old acquaintances with everyone she knew years ago when she went to Jordan High.”

“Oh.” Andrea looked relieved. “Well…I guess that’s all right then. It’s good to keep in touch with old friends.” Andrea stopped speaking and nudged Hannah. “Here comes Norman and he looks upset.”

Hannah looked up. Norman was still half a basketball court away, but he did look upset. “He went outside to take a phone call. I hope it wasn’t bad news.”

Both sisters watched Norman bob and weave around stationary people. He was making good progress even though the auditorium was crowded with human obstacles. When he arrived at their sides, he gave a sigh of relief. “Why do people always stop in the middle of the aisle to talk? They do it in grocery stores, too.”

“I don’t know,” Andrea said.

“Me either,” Hannah concurred. “Just one of the peculiarities of human behavior, I guess.”

“I’m sorry that took so long,” Norman said to Hannah. And then he turned to Andrea. “I ran into Bill when I was outside. He was just leaving, and he asked me to find you and tell you he got called in.”

“Wonderful,” Andrea said in a tone that clearly said it wasn’t.

“Anyway,” Norman turned back to Hannah. “I’m afraid I have to leave. Something’s come up. Do you want me to give you a ride to The Cookie Jar to get your truck?”

Hannah shook her head. “No, I’ll stay here with Andrea for a while.”

“Okay then. Thanks for a fun evening and…I’ll probably see you tomorrow.”

Both Hannah and Andrea watched as Norman turned and headed for the exit. Once they lost sight of him in the crowd, Andrea turned to Hannah. “What was all that about?”