Carrot Cake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #10)(85)

Chapter Twenty-Eight


Hannah was walking down the road from Ava’s store to the grassy area that Lisa and Herb had designated for the nonwater games when she heard the James Bond theme again. For a moment she ignored it, assuming that it was someone’s radio, but then she realized that it was coming from her purse. Norman was calling her again. She grabbed her cell phone, flipped it open, and answered. “Is it Rhodes, Norman Rhodes?” she asked in her best James Bond voice.

“Hannah! You recognized my ring tone.”

“I did. It’s the only one that doesn’t play the default.”

“What’s the default?”

“It rings just like a real telephone. Why is yours different?”

“I set it that way before I left for Atlantic City. You can have personal sounds or songs for everyone in your phone book. That way you know who it is before you answer. I’ll program it for you when I get back.”

“And that’ll be tomorrow morning?” Hannah asked, hoping that nothing had delayed him.

“That’ll be later tonight. I’m at the airport right now, and I’m catching a flight in twenty-five minutes. It lands at a little after nine. “

“Your time, or my time?” Hannah asked, feeling a bit like a world traveler.

“Your time. Do you want me to meet you at your place?”

“Absolutely! And if I’m not home yet, just go downstairs and get the key from Sue or Phil again,” Hannah said. And then she wondered if she’d sounded too eager. “I mean…if you want to, that is.”

“I want to. Let me tell you what I learned from Alison.”

Hannah detoured off the road and into the picnic area. It was deserted since lunch was long over, and she took a seat at a picnic table under a shady tree.

“Okay, shoot,” she said.

“Let’s start with no safe,” Norman said, “and no money, either. The apartment was in an okay area, but it wasn’t anything like the penthouse Gus bragged about.”

“Then it was all lies?”

“Yes, and that includes the masseuse and manicurist on call, the dinner parties catered by a four-star restaurant, and anything else he mentioned. Everything about Gus was fake. Mood Indigo pulls in enough money to stay in business and pay living expenses, but that’s about it.”

“How about the Jaguar?”

“Leased. Alison said Gus had one valid credit card when he left, and that was canceled yesterday. She got the notice in the mail. Even worse than that, a month ago he borrowed money from the kind of people who break arms and legs if you’re late paying them back, and they charge a lot more than the prime lending rate. Do you get my drift?”

“Oh, yes,” Hannah breathed, actually feeling sorry for Gus.

“Alison said they came around looking for Gus at Mood Indigo right before he left. He gave them the money from the till, but they said that if he didn’t come up with the rest by the end of this week, they’d have to think of some way to encourage him.”

“Uh-oh!”

“Uh-oh is right. Alison said Gus was pretty worried when they closed the club that night, and she tried to distract him with some programs she’d taped. One was an antiques show with appraisers that travel around the country and do appraisals for people.”

“I know the one she’s talking about. It’s one of Mother’s favorite shows.”

“Well, Alison and Gus were watching it, and all of a sudden Gus got up and started to pack his best clothes. He told Alison that he had to go back to his old home town, because he’d left something there that was worth a whole lot of money.”

“What was it?”

“He didn’t tell her, but she’s almost sure that something he saw appraised on the television show gave him the idea.”

“What was on the show that night?” Hannah asked the logical question.

“Alison wasn’t sure. She said she was tired and she kept falling asleep. The only things she could remember were a black teddy bear, some kind of famous photograph, and some baseball cards.”

Hannah pulled her notebook out of her purse and rummaged in the bottom for a pen. “Okay,” she said. “The Antiques Show with a black teddy bear, a famous photograph, and baseball cards. I’ll find Mother and Carrie, and ask them if they saw that episode.”

“Great. I think we’re getting close, Hannah.”

“Me, too,” Hannah said, although she still didn’t have any definitive answers. “You did a great job, Norman.”

“Thanks. Just remember what you promised me about calling Mike to watch your back…okay?”

“Okay,” Hannah said, stacking a second promise on top of her first, and wondering if the penalty was exponential for breaking a double promise.

Hannah spotted her mother on the edge of the crowd, looking like the queen at Ascot. She was sitting up ramrod straight in a green Adirondack lawn chair, and she was dressed in a white chiffon gown that tied at the waist with a wide red sash. As a concession to the bright summer sun, or perhaps as a tribute to outmoded fashion, she wore a wide-brimmed white hat with a red chiffon band around the crown. The band was adorned with red and white flowers, and Hannah began to smile as she approached. No other women in Lake Eden would have the nerve to wear such an outlandish hat, but Delores carried it off with panache.