Candy Cane Murder (Hannah Swensen #9.5)(35)

Joanne Fluke

“Fine with me. Just let me comb my hair and fix my makeup.”

Hannah thumped the side of her head with her hand.

“Makeup. I knew I was forgetting something. If a woman cries all night and all morning, is there anything she can do with cosmetics in thirty minutes or so to make herself look as if she hasn’t been crying?”

“No.”

“No?”

“Not in thirty minutes or so. Cosmetics are really good, but they can’t perform miracles.”

“So if somebody cried that long, it would show?” Andrea nodded and Hannah asked her next question. “How would it show?”

“Well … there’s the obvious. Her eyes would be swollen and the skin on her face would be puffy. It would be blotchy too, but she might be able to cover that up with makeup. Are we talking about Melinda Bergstrom here?”

“Yes. Norman and I saw her this afternoon and she looked just as beautiful as she did when she was modeling.”

“Then she was lying if she said she’d been crying all night and most of the morning.”

“She didn’t say it. Her brother Cory did.”

“Then Cory was lying. There are things you can do to reduce the swelling, but they all take time. Melinda wouldn’t have looked beautiful unless … what was the lighting like?”

“It was daylight. We met her in a solarium filled with plants and it had a glass ceiling. The sun was shining.”

“That cinches it!”

“What?”

“Sunlight. Even if she used the best makeup and applied it like an artist, there’s no way she could hide it in strong sunlight.”

“That’s what I thought, but I wanted to check to make sure.”

Andrea slipped on a pair of forest green shoes that went CANDY CANE MURDER

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perfectly with her stylish pantsuit. “It’s pretty clear Melinda didn’t love Wayne since she didn’t shed any tears for him. Do you think the maid was right and Wayne was planning to divorce her?”

“I don’t know.”

“Maybe Wayne told her he wanted a divorce and she killed him.”

“Impossible.”

“Why not? It happens all the time on television. The rich older husband says he wants a divorce, the gorgeous trophy wife sees all that money flying out the window, and she kills him before he can file the papers.”

“That makes perfect sense except for one thing.”

“What thing is that?”

“Melinda’s got an airtight alibi. Pierre from Le Petit Salon was with her from seventhirty on. I stopped there to check before Norman and I left the mall. He did Melinda’s hair at the penthouse and they were having a glass of wine in the solarium when Mike and Bill knocked on the door to notify her that Wayne was dead.”

“Drats!”

“I know. It would have tied everything up in a neat little bow.”

Getting the list from Sally was easy. Resisting the dessert buffet they were serving in the dining room was difficult.

Hannah was still thinking sinful thoughts about Sally’s newest chocolate creation as they walked down the hallway and pushed the button for the elevator. “Mike told me about his interview with Jenny. He said she seemed to be grieving for Wayne a lot more than Melinda was.”

“Really?”

“That’s what he thought. It’s up to us to see if we agree with him. When we get up to Jenny’s room, make sure you sit right next to her so you can check her makeup. I want to know if she’s been crying.”

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Joanne Fluke

Andrea looked a bit shocked. “But we know Jenny! She’s a friend of Mother’s!”

“I know that, but this is a murder case. Everyone’s a suspect until they’re eliminated.”

The elevator doors slid shut and it shuddered slightly.

Then there was a series of whooshes and faint faraway machinery sounds that boomed and banged as they were lifted to the second floor. The doors slid open to reveal a coral pink wall with a gilt-edged mirror hanging over a granite-topped table that Hannah was willing to bet had come from the quarries at Cold Spring, Minnesota. There was a bouquet of fresh flowers on the top of the table, but it was clear that the bouquet had other origins. Since it was winter in the Midwest, Hannah was willing to bet that the flowers came from warmer and sunnier places.

“Sorry,” Andrea said as they stepped out of the elevator and started down the thickly carpeted hallway. “It’s just that I remember Jenny, and I let my emotions get in the way. I’ll check her makeup for you.”

“Thanks. I remember her too, and I liked her. Mike said she was in her room alone at the time of Wayne’s murder, and that means she doesn’t have an alibi. Let’s just hope that she’ll tell us something that’ll clear her.”

The room Jenny occupied was at the end of the corridor and it had a perfect view of the path leading to the parking lot. It was a beautifully decorated mini-suite with a sitting room containing a couch by the window, a television set, and two chairs on either side of a coffee table. The sleeping area was hidden behind two decorative folding doors that could be closed or left open. Jenny had them open and Hannah could see a queen-size bed with a flowered coverlet, a tall dresser with ample drawers for any guest, a walk-in closet with mirrored doors, and an archway that Hannah assumed would lead to the bathroom.