Carrot Cake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #10)(44)

“That’s it, dear,” Delores said, closing the last yearbook. “Is there anything else you need to know?”

“Just a few more things. Do you know anything about why Gus Klein left Lake Eden in the middle of the night?”

“I’m not sure why he left. I don’t think he told anyone. And I don’t know the details, but I heard there was a big fight between Gus and Jack Herman.”

“Who told you that?”

“Your father. He was driving home from the store with Uncle Ed, and they stopped to break up the fight.”

“What was the fight about?”

“I asked, but your father wouldn’t tell me. Uncle Ed wouldn’t say, either.”

“So nobody knows?”

“Nobody knew except your father and Uncle Ed. And they’re both gone now.” Delores stopped and blinked hard, several times. “Of course Jack Herman knows, but…”

“But he might not be able to remember,” Hannah finished her mother’s thought.

“That’s right. Poor Jack. Your father said he got the worst of it, and they dropped him off at Doc Knight’s clinic to get stitched up. That was before the hospital was built. They didn’t want to take Jack home that way and scare Emmy half to death. Iris was just a toddler, and Emmy was expecting Tim any day.”

Hannah made a mental note to talk to Doc Knight about the night he’d treated Gus. Perhaps Lisa’s father had said something about the fight.

“Is there anything else, dear?” Delores asked, glancing at the clock on the wall. “I need to pick up Carrie and go out to the mall. We want to find a little something for Jack’s birthday party.”

“There’s just one more thing. Do you think there’s anyone in town who had a grudge against Gus? Maybe somebody who might have wanted to see him dead?”

Delores’s eyes widened. If she’d been depicted as a cartoon character, the little balloon over her head would have contained a drawing of a lightbulb. “Yes, I do! I don’t know why I didn’t think of it right away! Remember when I told you about Mary Sue Erickson?” She waited for Hannah to nod, and then she went on. “Well, that didn’t last long. Gus only went out with her twice. But right after that, he dated Bert Kuehn’s older sister.”

Hannah was puzzled. “I’ve never heard of Bert Kuehn’s older sister. Does she live in town?”

“She doesn’t live anywhere, dear. Bert’s sister is dead. She died the night of the senior prom in a terrible car accident.”

“You told me Gus was a drinker. Was he driving drunk?”

“Not according to the accident report. It said that Bert’s sister was at the wheel and her blood alcohol level was normal.”

Hannah picked up on her mother’s phrasing. “But there was some question about whether Bert’s sister was actually driving?”

“Yes, there was. No one could prove otherwise, but the first person on the scene was the Jordan High baseball coach. He pulled both of them from the car before Doc Knight got there. Everyone in town wondered whether Gus had been driving and the coach had covered it up for him.”

“Why would he do something like that?”

“To save Gus’s career and his reputation as a coach. It was a feather in his cap to have one of his ballplayers drafted. As a matter of fact, he left Jordan High the next year and got a job in college baseball as an assistant coach. I seem to remember it was somewhere in Michigan, but I’m not sure exactly which college.”

Hannah flipped open her stenographer’s notebook, the one she’d designated as her murder book, to jot down the names. Bert Kuehn certainly had a reason to hate Uncle Gus, and both Bert and Ellie had been at the dance the night Gus was killed. They’d even brought six of their house specials from Bertanelli’s Pizza for the potluck dinner. “What was the baseball coach’s name, Mother?” she asked.

“Toby Hutchins. But I really don’t know where he went when he left Lake Eden. All I can remember is that his new team was the wolves, or something like that.”

“Wolverines?”

“That’s it, dear. Do they play in Michigan?”

“Ann Arbor. The Wolverines is the team name for the University of Michigan athletic program.”

“Really!” Delores looked impressed. “How do you know that?”

“It just stuck in my mind,” Hannah said, settling for a half-truth. She wasn’t about to tell her mother that she’d worked to memorize the team names from all the big colleges to impress a boy she’d hoped to date in high school.

“I really don’t think you could track him down at this late date,” Delores told her. “That was years ago, and I doubt he’s still coaching baseball.”

“If he’s still alive, I’ll find him,” Hannah said, more confidently than she felt. “Is there anyone else who might have wanted Gus dead?”

“I’m not sure. Perhaps one of the girls he stopped dating in high school carried a grudge.”

“Who would that be?” Hannah asked, mentally adding her mother’s name to the list. Of course the way Delores told it, she’d dumped Gus when she’d caught him kissing another girl. That made her the dumper and Gus the dumpee, not the other way around.