Candy Cane Murder (Hannah Swensen #9.5)(15)

Hannah decided not to plumb for any more information.

If Delores suspected that Jenny had just moved to the top of her eldest daughter’s suspect list, she’d go right back to being angry again.

“Will you call me at the shop as soon as you know if Jenny’s coming?” Hannah asked.

“Of course. But why?”

So that I can watch her like a hawk and maybe even inter— rogate her while I’m serving the quiche, Hannah thought.

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But of course she didn’t say that to her mother. Instead she settled for, “I’ll pack up some chocolate cookies and send them back to the inn with her.”

“That’s a good idea, dear. Chocolate always helps in times of stress. I was thinking of picking up some chocolate truffles at Fanny Farmer’s.”

The lightbulb went on in Hannah’s mind and grew into a powerful halogen. Fanny Farmer’s was in the TriCounty Mall, and so was Bergstrom’s Department Store. Now was the perfect time to ask her mother to find out about the Santa costumes they sold at Bergstrom’s. “Chocolate truffles would be great, Mother. And since you’re going to the mall anyway, could you do one little thing for me?”

“You want me to buy you that absolutely darling purse I told you about?” Delores guessed.

Her mother sounded so hopeful, Hannah almost caved in.

It was true that her huge shoulder bag purse was showing some serious wear. But the purse Delores had wanted to buy for her was one-fourth the size of her current bag. What would she do with all of the absolutely essential items she now carried?

“That’s very sweet of you, Mother,” Hannah hedged.

“Thank you for offering, but that’s not it. What I really want is for you to do a little sleuthing.”

“Sleuthing? Does that mean you’re going to work with Mike on the case?”

“Not exactly. Mike’s going to work on the case. And I’m going to work on the case. But we’re not necessarily going to work together. He was here last night to take our statements and he warned me to stay out of it.”

Delores gave a laugh. “Oh, he always warns you to stay out of it! And we’ve never listened to him before. He gets his nose out of joint every time we come up with a good lead, but he knows how much he needs our help. He just can’t admit it, that’s all.”

48

Joanne Fluke

Hannah grinned. Her mother was using the plural personal pronoun and that meant she was ready to join in the hunt for Wayne’s killer. “You’re probably right, Mother.”

“I know I’m right. On the other hand, there’s no sense in antagonizing him. He is the law, after all. We’ll just have to be very hush-hush about what we’re doing. Now what sleuthing can I do for you at the mall, dear?”

“Could you go into Bergstrom’s and pick up one of those big tubs of miniature candy canes for me? I’ll pay you back later.”

“Of course I can. But what does that have to do with Wayne’s murder?”

“Absolutely nothing. But while you’re there, I’d like you to take a look at the Santa suits they sell. I need to know how warm they’d be if you wore one of them outside in the winter.”

“Oh, my! I had no idea!”

Hannah was confused. “No idea of what?”

“That poor Wayne was wearing his Santa suit when he was murdered! Just wait until I tell the girls! Of course I have to be careful not to say anything in front of Jenny. I wouldn’t upset her for the world.”

Hannah just shook her head. Delores had one foot on the end of the dock and the other in the rowboat. It would be interesting to see which foot won out. Would it be friendship?

Or juicy gossip?

“I have to hang up now, dear. I need to call Carrie and fill her in. I’ll take her out to Bergstrom’s with me. Her niece works in Fine Jewelry and we can pump her for information.”

There was a click and the line went dead. Hannah shrugged, hung up the phone, and turned to glance at her kitchen clock.

Her mother’s call had lasted less than five minutes. That was a new world’s record.

“It’s okay. She’s gone now,” she said to the cat who was staring at the phone with deadly intent. He had taken an instant dislike to Delores and not even the shrimp she occa-CANDY CANE MURDER

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sionally brought him had sweetened his opinion of her.

“Come on, Moishe. Let’s get you some more breakfast.”

Under normal circumstances the word breakfast would have resulted in an immediate dash to the food bowl. But this time the culinary magic of kitty crunchies didn’t work.

Moishe continued to stare at the phone with his fur bristling and his tail swishing back and forth like a scythe.

“Uh-oh,” Hannah breathed, wondering what she should do. She had to take a shower and get ready for work, but there was no way she could leave Moishe alone with the phone without risking a cord peppered with puncture wounds.

“Okay. I’m calling in the big guns.” Hannah picked up the phone and dialed. A moment later she had Lisa on the phone.

“Did I wake you?” she asked.

“No, we were just sitting down to breakfast. I heard about Wayne Bergstrom on KCOW.”

Hannah sighed. She should have known that Jake and Kelly, the wacky radio hosts of News at O’Dark-Thirty, would have the latest scoop. “Did they say anything about me?”