Cinnamon Roll Murder

“I have something to discuss with you girls,” she said, looking very serious.

“I’ll just go out in the coffee shop,” Lisa said, getting to her feet. “It’s almost time to set up the tables.”

Delores held up her hand. “Don’t leave. This concerns you, too. I just want to make sure that you’re all going to help investigate Buddy Neiman’s murder. I need to know who did it as soon as possible.”

Hannah was puzzled. “Why is that, Mother? You told me last night that you never met him. Until you found him dead, that is.”

“And that’s true. But I spoke to Doc at the hospital this morning, and he said they’re all at sixes and sevens.”

Hannah knew what that phrase meant. She’d read it in one of her mother’s Kathryn Kirkwood Regency romances.

“Doc actually put it that way?” It was obvious that Andrea had read the books too, or she wouldn’t have asked the question.

“Yes, he said that. He loves to read my romances. As a matter of fact, he’s going to help me with my next book.”

“Doc’s going to help you write your Regencies?” Michelle’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“No, but he’s going to do some research on the healing arts in Regency England for me. He wants me to be accurate when it comes to medical things.”

“Why is the whole hospital at sixes and sevens?” Hannah asked, pulling them back to business.

“Because it’s a murder scene. Doc says that’s not very good for business.”

The four women just stared at Delores. None of them knew how to respond.

“Doc was joking. Hospitals don’t solicit business. They provide a community service. But then he got serious and he said he wished that whoever stabbed Buddy Neiman had used a different murder weapon.”

“Why?” Andrea asked.

“The sheriff’s department detectives are still out there interviewing anyone who had access to those scissors. And unfortunately, that includes everyone who was at the hospital last night.”

“But how could just anyone have access?” Andrea asked her. “Aren’t surgical scissors just used in the operating room?”

“Not necessarily,” Delores explained. “There’s a pair of sterile surgical scissors in every treatment room. And the treatment rooms aren’t locked.”

Hannah went to the drawer, took out a new stenographer’s notebook, and grabbed a pen. Delores was giving her new information and that meant it was time to write it down in the notebook she called her murder book. She flipped to the first page and turned to her mother. “So it could have been someone on the staff who took them, or even someone who was walking down the hall and saw the opportunity.”

“Exactly.”

“Or another patient could have taken them,” Lisa suggested.

“You’re right, Lisa. Or it could have been someone from a patient’s family. Or ...” Michelle paused, looking worried. “Or anyone who came out to the hospital last night and volunteered to help ... like the Rainbow Ladies, or like us.”

Hannah turned to her mother. “Do you know if they’re keeping everyone in the hospital until they can question them?”

“Not everyone, but they took names and addresses. And I heard Mike tell Dick Laughlin that everyone on the band bus had to stay put at the Lake Eden Inn until he said they could leave.”

“This is probably inappropriate under the circumstances, but do you know if the band is going to play tonight?” Lisa asked. “Dad and Marge planned to drive out there to have dinner and hear them.”

“How could they play?” Andrea answered her. “ Unless they can find a substitute, they won’t have anyone on keyboards.”

Michelle looked thoughtful. “You’re right. I wonder if ...”

Hannah turned to her sister when she stopped speaking. “You wonder what?”

Michelle gave a little shrug. “I just had an idea, that’s all. It’s nothing. Really.”

Hannah stared hard at her youngest sister. She was sure that the idea wasn’t nothing. There was definitely something on Michelle’s mind. Hannah was just getting ready to ask her about it again when Delores stood up.

“I’d better go. I want to run out to the hospital and tell Doc that you’re already working on the murder case. You are, aren’t you?”

“We are,” Andrea replied, patting her briefcase-sized purse. “I’ve got the crime scene photos right here.”

“How did you get them so soon?” Delores asked her.

“Everything’s digital now. They sent them to Bill over the Internet, and he downloaded them to a disk before he came home last night.”

“And he gave them to you?” Delores was clearly shocked.

“Not exactly. Let’s just say that I managed to copy the disk and print them out while he was sleeping.”

“Andrea!”

Andrea just shrugged as Delores gave her a stern look. “Come on, Mother. It was the only way I could think of to get them. And you do want us to work on the murder case, don’t you?”

“Of course I do. I told you that.”

“Well, having the crime scene photos is bound to help. Would you like to see them?” Andrea offered, pulling a manila envelope out of her purse.

“No!” Delores said definitively, and then she gave a little shudder. “I was there. That’s quite enough for me! Just let me know if I can do anything to help your investigation. I’m good at undercover work, you know. And I’m at the hospital almost every day.” She turned to Lisa. “I’ll be back here around one to see your new puppy. Little Sammy sounds just darling.”

“He’s a love.” Lisa smiled a proud smile, almost as if her new puppy was a newborn baby she’d just brought home from the maternity ward.

“When I come, I’ll bring a copy of the autopsy report,” Delores promised. “I’ve got a key to Doc’s cabinet. I can copy it right at the hospital.”

“Mother!” Andrea treated her to the same stern look that Delores had given her earlier. “You thought I was wrong for copying Bill’s disk of the crime scene photos without his permission. Now you’re going to do the almost same thing to Doc Knight.”

“Doc’s not my husband,” Delores pointed out. “That’s different.”

Hannah exchanged glances with her sisters, and they all began to smile. Since little on, they’d known that what their mother thought was bad behavior for them wasn’t necessarily bad behavior for her.

“Don’t forget your cookies,” Lisa reminded Delores.

“I won’t.” Delores hurried to the counter and picked up one of Hannah’s bakery boxes. “Doc and the nurses are going to love these. Thanks so much, Lisa.”

Hannah waited until Delores left, and then she turned to Lisa. “What kind of cookies did you give her?”

“Chocolate Chip Crunch. I figured the chocolate would do them some good. It’s got to be a madhouse out there.”

“Right. Mother said she’d come back at one to see Sammy. Where is he?”

“Herb’s got the morning off, so he’s taking Sammy to Doctor Bob’s for a complete checkup with blood work and everything. I told him that the paramedics said that Sammy was fine, but he insisted. He said you can’t be too careful with a little guy like Sammy.”

“Very true,” Hannah said, smiling at her partner. It sounded as if Herb had fallen in love with Sammy, too.

“Let’s get started,” Lisa said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Hannah glanced over at the bakers’ racks. They were filled almost to overflowing with freshly baked cookies. “But the racks are full. Didn’t you already do all the baking?”

“I did. Sammy was snuggled up in bed with Herb and Dillon, so I came in to work early. And I baked extra cookies because I knew we’d be jam-packed with customers today.”