Candy Cane Murder (Hannah Swensen #9.5)(32)

she asked, sitting down across from him once more.

“Great! Cover them with a napkin or something, will you, Hannah? Otherwise I’m going to eat them all.”

“You’re going back out to the sheriff’s department, aren’t you?”

“Right after I leave here.”

“Mother picked up something for Bill and she doesn’t want him to hang it in his closet at home. She’s afraid Tracey will see it and stop believing in Santa Claus.”

“I take it it’s a Santa costume?”

“Bingo. She bought it this morning at Bergstrom’s.”

“No problem. I’ll take it out there and hang it in Bill’s closet.”

Hannah waited, but Mike didn’t say anything else. The man was a genius when it came to holding his tongue. They sat there in silence for the space of a half-cup of coffee and then Hannah caved in.

“How’s the investigation going?” she asked.

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“It’s going. How about you?”

“What do you mean?” Hannah assumed the most innocent expression she could muster.

“I know you’re asking questions. And I know people talk to you. Do you have anything I should know about?”

Hannah took a brief second to consider what she should give Mike so that he could give her something in return.

“One thing,” she said.

“What’s that?”

“I know the name of Wayne’s lawyer if you want to ask about his will.”

“That was next on my list, but you can save me some time.

Who is it?”

“Larry Helms. He’s with Helms, Jackson, and Connors out at the mall.”

Mike reached in his pocket for his notebook and pen, and wrote it down. “Thanks, Hannah.”

“You’re welcome. Did you happen to examine the Santa suit that Wayne was wearing?”

“Not personally. The crime lab has it. What did you want to know about it?”

“I was just wondering if there were any candy canes left in Wayne’s pocket.”

“Why do you want to know that?”

“Just curious. Wayne was such a tightwad about those candy canes. I asked him if I could have the ones that were left, and he told me he needed them for the next time he played Santa, and he told me to pour them in his pocket. I guess they all fell out the hole.”

“What hole?”

“The one in Wayne’s pocket. There must have been a hole.

And the candy canes dropped out of the hole and onto the path. That’s how we found him. We followed the trail of candy canes.”

“Right. Do you want me to find out about the hole and the candy canes?”

CANDY CANE MURDER

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“Sure, if you’ve got a spare minute. But I’m just satisfying my curiosity. I figured Wayne was being cheap when he said he needed to use the rest of the candy canes.”

“I’ve heard that before!”

“Heard what?” Hannah asked, wondering how many other people had asked about Wayne’s candy canes.

“What a cheapskate Wayne was. Even his ex-wife implied that. She thought it might relate to his murder. But I came away with the impression she still had a lot of affection for him.”

“You talked to Jenny?”

Mike flipped open his notebook. “Jennifer Perkins Bergstrom. That’s right.”

“What did you think of her?”

“I told you already. She’s the only one I’ve talked to so far who seemed really sorry her exhusband was dead.”

“I hope she’s okay. I have to go out to the inn to see her tonight.”

“To ask her questions?”

“No, to deliver cookies. Mother wants me to take a dozen of something chocolate to Jenny. She thought it might help.”

“Good idea. It doesn’t happen often, especially when I’m working a murder investigation, but I couldn’t help feeling sorry for her. She was the grieving widow. The current wife didn’t seem all that upset.”

“I agree,” Hannah said, before she could think better of it.

“You saw Melinda Bergstrom today?”

“Actually … I brought her some cookies. Chocolate.”

“Your mother’s idea again?”

“No, it was Cory’s. Norman and I drove out to the mall to get a Christmas gift for his mother. We ran into Cory and he mentioned that Melinda had been crying all night. I had some cookies with me, and we took her some.”

“Hmm.” Mike gave her a long, level glance. “What did you think of Melinda?”

To give, or not to give. That was the question. Hannah de-112

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cided that it couldn’t hurt to have the law on her side.

“Melinda didn’t seem to be mourning Wayne’s death very much, but you already know that. I found it particularly interesting that she didn’t share the master suite with her husband. Her bedroom’s down the hall right next to her brother’s.”

“She told you that?”

“No. I just …” Hannah searched for a phrase to explain that she’d fibbed and snooped, but she couldn’t come up with one that was socially acceptable. “I just found out, that’s all.”