Carrot Cake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #10)(61)

Jack smiled as he bent over to blow out the candles, and everyone applauded when he extinguished every one. “Marge always tells me I’m full of hot air,” he said, and everyone laughed again.

“That was great, Jack,” Herb said, patting him on the back. “Now your wish will come true.”

“It already did. I wished for enough of Lisa’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake for everybody. And Marge and her sister are at the back table right now, dishing it up on the plates.”

“Why are we here?” Norman asked, following Hannah inside as she opened the door to the cabin Gus Klein had used so briefly.

“I just want to check on the frog.”

“What frog?”

“The one I saw yesterday when I came here looking for Gus. I’m just hoping the crime scene people didn’t trample him, or anything like that.”

“So you’re going to check to make sure he’s all right?”

“Yes. Don’t worry. It’ll just take a second and then we’ll rush right back for the cake.”

Norman chuckled as Hannah turned on the lights and began to look for the frog. “I’m not worried about that. I just thought we were here to check something for your investigation. And now I find out it’s for the frog.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I think it’s nice of you to be concerned. Do you want me to check the bedroom?”

Hannah turned to smile at him. “Yes. I’ll get the kitchen. That’s where he was when I left him.”

While Norman looked in the bedroom, Hannah went into the kitchen. She looked in every cupboard and checked the counters and the sink. There was no little green frog hiding anywhere that she could see.

“Hannah?”

Hannah turned to face Norman as he came into the kitchen. He was holding his hands in front of him and they were cupped around something.

“You’ve got him?” she guessed, hoping that she was right.

“He was under the bed.”

“Is he all right?”

“He’s fine. Where do you want me to put him?”

“Up here on the counter. I’ll run a little water in the sink. I know he can hop down, because he was up here when I saw him the last time.”

Norman placed the frog on the counter while Hannah turned the faucet on and off. “Anything else?” he asked her.

“Can you open one of the windows a little in case he wants to hop out?”

“I already did,” Norman said with a smile.

“Okay, then. We can go now.”

They turned off the lights and started down the road toward the scene of the party. Jack’s birthday celebration was still going strong if loud voices and laughter were any indication. Norman held the flashlight in one hand, and he held Hannah’s hand with the other. “Have you figured out a time line for Gus?” he asked.

“I think so. Herb took a run to the house after church and found Gus waiting. It’s the old family house. Marge and Herb’s dad took it over after her parents died. Gus didn’t know that she gave it to Lisa and Herb, of course.”

“The old family home was the logical place to go.”

“That’s right. Herb brought Gus to the church, and then he took everyone out to brunch at the Inn. Mother said the brunch ran late and Gus was still there when they left at two. By the time he paid the bill and left, it had to have been at least two-thirty. Then Gus drove back to Lisa and Herb’s house and looked through the trunk his parents packed from his old bedroom. It was probably four thirty by the time he left there. It’s thirty minutes from Lisa and Herb’s house to the lake, so Gus couldn’t have gotten to the cottage until almost five. Then he changed clothes and went to the dinner buffet at the pavilion.”

“And that started at six. I know. I was there to take pictures. So that means he spent all of an hour at the cottage?”

“That’s right, give or take thirty minutes or so.” Hannah was almost sorry as they approached the lights and music of the party. She really enjoyed the time she spent alone with Norman. “I’m sorry I didn’t explain about the frog, Norman.”

“You shouldn’t be. I think you’ve got your priorities straight, Hannah.”

“I do?”

“Yes. Maybe a murder investigation is more critical, but the welfare of a frog is important, too.”

It was almost nine in the evening by the time the party began to break up. Tomorrow would be what Lisa and Herb were calling, “Games Day.” There would be the usual summer picnic games, like kickball, three-legged races, sack races, biking expeditions, tricycle parades, and team softball. There would also be water games, like swimming and diving competitions, water polo, canoe and rowboat races, and even a synchronized swimming demonstration by three junior-high girls who hoped to make their high school team. Anyone who didn’t want to or couldn’t play in the games was recruited to be a volunteer judge. Others were encouraged to sit in lawn chairs and cheer on the contestants.

Hannah glanced at her watch and turned to Norman. “I’m going to help clean up, and then I’m heading home. I’d invite you over, but I really need to get a good night’s sleep. I haven’t had my full six hours for at least a week.”

“Why didn’t you tell me when I called this morning?” Norman sounded surprised.