Cinnamon Roll Murder

Hannah began to frown. Lee’s tone was nasty. She turned her attention to Cammy and saw that her lower lip was trembling slightly. Her feelings had been hurt, and Lee could have told her to leave nicely.

“I’m going, but ... why don’t you want me at rehearsal?” Cammy asked him.

“That’s my business. Now go.”

No way to treat a lady! The thought popped into Hannah’s mind. Perhaps it was because she’d recently watched the nineteen sixty-eight Paramount movie of the same name. Of course Lee might not be a serial killer, but this was a murder investigation. In any event, Lee’s treatment of his girlfriend bordered on cruel, and Hannah decided that she was going to find Cammy just as soon as they finished interviewing Lee, and try to make her feel better.

The moment the door shut behind Cammy, Hannah turned to Lee. “I need to know exactly what Buddy told you when he said he was leaving the band.”

“He said, I gotta leave the band. I need to get out of the Cities. I asked him why and he said, It’s personal. I don’t want to talk about it. I figured it was a woman.”

“What makes you say that?” Andrea asked him.

“It’s usually a woman when a guy pulls up stakes that fast. And Buddy had his share of groupies when we were on the road.”

“Did he have a regular girlfriend?”

Lee shook his head. “Not as long as I’ve known him. Buddy didn’t want any commitments. He told me that once. And I never saw him with a woman more than once or twice.”

“How long had you known him?” Hannah asked.

“Almost three years. I started putting the band together three years ago. I started with Eric. He’s my little brother, and he’s got real talent. All he needs is someone to channel it for him. We auditioned for a keyboard player first, and Buddy was my first choice.”

“Were you happy with the way Buddy performed?” Hannah asked.

“Yeah ... for the most part. He wasn’t a genius like Brubeck or Garner, but he had good stage presence and the ladies loved him. The only thing that bothered me about Buddy was he had a temper when he drank. Since he didn’t drink a lot and never on the nights we were playing, that was okay.”

“Would you say you were good friends?” Andrea asked.

Lee gave a little shrug. “Sure, we were friends. I liked him and he liked me. That’s not to say we never had disagreements.”

“Disagreements over what?” Hannah followed up.

“Buddy wanted to hog the whole show. Then I’d have to remind him that we were a group and the group was the star, not just Buddy Neiman.”

“Did Buddy’s tendency to hog the show cause problems with the rest of the group?”

“Sure it did, but most of them have the same problem. From time to time, one or the other gets to thinking that he should have the spotlight. When that happens, I have to put the hammer down. That’s what managing is all about. You have to know when to let it go, and you have to know when to kill it.”

You have to know when to kill it?! Andrea looked horrified as the elevator doors shut behind them. “Do you think that was a Freudian slip?”

Hannah pulled out her notebook and pen. “Probably not, but I’ll write it down anyway.”

“Let’s go find Cammy,” Andrea suggested, as the elevator made its slow descent to the lobby. “She was really upset when she left Lee’s suite, and she might be angry enough to give us some dirt about him.”

“My feelings exactly, but I thought you were going to say that you wanted to find her to make her feel better.”

“We can cheer her up, too. It’s just that she’s fragile right now and I think we can capitalize on that.”

Hannah stared at her sister. She’d never seen Andrea in go-for-the-jugular mode before.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m just practicing something I read in one of Bill’s detective magazines. Besides, I can’t stand Lee. If he’s the one who murdered Buddy, I want to get the goods on him and lock the cell door behind him myself!”

“I can understand why you didn’t like Lee, but I’ve never seen you react to anyone that way before.”

“I know. He just rubbed me the wrong way, that’s all. Guys like Lee give me a royal pain. He treats Cammy like she’s his servant, or even worse, like she’s not a real person. Just think about what happened up there in his room. Lee never even considered what Cammy was feeling and what she might want from him. It’s all Lee, Lee, Lee, and nobody else exists.”

Hannah didn’t say a word. Andrea was right.

“When we find Cammy, I’m going to ask her, but I’ll bet anything that Lee’s only nice to her when he wants something. And when he does, he’s really nice until he gets it! He probably buys her a big bottle of expensive perfume every time he thinks she’s fed up with him and about to leave him. He’s just that spoiled, rotten type of guy who tries to bribe everyone around to his way of thinking.”

Buys her a big bottle of expensive perfume. The phrase Andrea had uttered struck a bell. “Just like Benton Woodley?” Hannah asked, naming Andrea’s first real boyfriend.

“Yes! Exactly like Benton! He even looks a little like ...” Andrea stopped speaking, and Hannah watched as her face turned bright pink. “I really got hot under the collar about it, didn’t I?”

“You did.”

“It’s just that I hate to see anyone get hurt And ... I’m a little down on men in general right now.”

“You had a fight with Bill?”

“No. Bill and I are fine. We never fight about the big things. It’s always over something stupid and we laugh about it later. He’s a good husband, Hannah. I’m happy I married him. It’s just that I hate to see anybody taking unfair advantage of anybody else, and I can see that Lee is taking advantage of Cammy.”

It was a reasonable explanation, but Hannah had the feeling there was something else wrong, something that Andrea wasn’t telling her.

“I don’t know about you,” Andrea said, frowning slightly, “but I’d love to see Cammy refusing to take it and fighting back. Everybody should fight back when someone else hurts them, don’t you think?”

Hannah thought about that for a moment. “I think you’re right,” she agreed. “At least I can’t think of any exceptions.”

“I’m glad you said that.” They were about to pass the door to the coffee shop part of Sally’s restaurant, and Andrea hesitated. “Let’s go in and have a cup of coffee before we talk to Cammy.”

“Okay,” Hannah agreed quickly. If they sat down and had coffee, perhaps Andrea would spill whatever was on her mind.

But the sisterly confab was not to be. The moment they entered the coffee shop, Andrea grabbed Hannah’s arm. “There she is, Hannah.”

“She’s with Lynnette,” Hannah pointed out.

“That’s okay, isn’t it? You said they were friends and we probably need to talk to her, too. Let’s go ask if we can join them.”

A few moments later, Hannah and Andrea were seated at a four-person table with Cammy and Lynnette. Both young women looked dejected.

“How about some dessert to go with that tea?” Hannah offered, noticing that both Lynnette and Cammy were drinking herbal tea. “I’m buying if there’s anything on Sally’s menu that’s allowed on your diet.”

Lynnette and Cammy exchanged a long look, and then Cammy spoke. “The diet’s off, at least for today. Can we see a dessert menu? And can we have coffee instead of this awful tea?”

Hannah looked down at the contents of Cammy’s cup. It was partially filled with a greenish liquid that reminded her of dog days at Eden Lake when the algae was in full bloom. “What kind of tea is it?” she asked.

“It’s a mixture of herbs and spices that’s supposed to calm us down when we’re upset,” Lynnette explained. “Cammy gets it from a special store in the Cities.”

“Does it work?” Andrea asked.

“Not today,” Cammy said with a frown. “Actually, I’m not sure it ever works.”

Andrea gave her a commiserative smile. “What does it taste like?” she asked.

“Like somebody took lawn clippings, put them in an old sock in the dryer, and sold them as tea.”