Carrot Cake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #10)(87)

“Wait!” Hannah interrupted her mother. Delores was so excited she couldn’t seem to get the words out. “Take a deep breath, Mother. And then tell us what you’re trying to say.”

Delores took a deep breath. And then she exhaled with a whoosh. “Honus Wagner,” she said.

“You’re right!” Carrie’s mouth dropped open for a moment, and then she closed it with a snap.

“After the little boy left with his baseball cards, the appraiser mentioned that there was a holy grail of baseball cards. That’s what he called it. The last time that card came up for auction, it sold for over two million dollars.”

Patsy made a little sound, and they all turned to gaze at her. She looked dazed, almost as if someone had bopped her over the head.

“What is it?” Hannah asked her.

Patsy just sat there motionless, staring at the wall and not blinking. Hannah was wondering if she should call for medical help, but then she seemed to snap out of it.

“Oh, my!” she said. “It’s just…I think I remember that card. Honus Wagner is a really unusual name.”

“Do you remember what the card looked like?” Delores asked her.

“I’m…I’m not sure. It’s been over thirty years, but…” Patsy stopped and took a deep breath. “I think it had a picture of short-haired man with a black collar and “PITTS-BURGH” written across his chest in block letters.”

“That’s it!” Carrie shouted.

And at almost the same time, Delores exclaimed, “Gus actually has a Honus Wagner baseball card?”

“Had one,” Hannah reminded her mother.

Marge drew in her breath sharply. “Do you think that’s the reason Gus was killed? For the baseball card, I mean?”

“It could be,” Hannah told her. “If it’s worth that much money and the killer knew it, it’s certainly a compelling reason.”

“Then that means the killer has the Honus Wagner card!” Carrie looked very excited. “If we can find the Honus Wagner card, we’ll find the killer!”

Hannah knew she could punch several elephant-sized holes in Carrie’s logic, but she chose to refrain. What Carrie had said would work to her advantage.

“The killer doesn’t know we found out about the card,” Hannah told them. “And that means we can’t breathe a word about it.”

“Because anybody here could be the killer?” Delores guessed.

“Exactly. And even if you tell someone you know couldn’t possibly be the killer, news like this is bound to get out. Just one wrong word could do it. Or even a suspicious reaction to something someone says. And if you actually mention it, someone could overhear you, or the person you tell could inadvertently let something slip. We have to keep our guard up and pretend we don’t know a thing about it.”

“Very true,” Delores said with a nod. “Your father used to say that three men can keep a secret, but only if two of them are dead.”

That lightened things up a little, but Hannah wasn’t through. She had a plan, and she wasn’t about to let loose tongues ruin it.

“Just think about how wonderful it’ll be if we can recover that baseball card,” she said. “I’m sure Mother and Carrie would be happy to help you sell it.”

“Of course we would!” Delores said quickly.

“Naturally,” Carried echoed. “And since we’re friends, our fee would be just a tiny bit of what some antique dealer who didn’t know you would charge.”

“Of course all that goes up in smoke if the killer gets a whiff of what we know,” Hannah reminded them. “It would be a real pity if he tossed a two-million-dollar Honus Wagner card in the lake to keep from being incriminated!”

There were collective sighs around the table. Patsy and Marge exchanged glances, and Hannah knew they’d keep mum. Carrie and Delores would, too, especially since she’d reminded them of the stakes. If the killer thought that they were hot on his trail and ditched the Honus Wagner card, they could be the antique dealers who’d lost the sale.

“Let’s meet right here after the talent show,” Hannah said. “Michelle, Andrea, and I won’t be there. We’re going to come up with a plan to smoke out the killer, and that’s when I’ll tell you about it.”





Chapter Twenty-Nine


The mosquito lotion had been slathered on, her coffee cup had been filled, her cell phone was in her hand, and Hannah sat on the end of the dock at their family cottage. To call, or not to call…that was the question. She’d made that infernal promise to Norman, not once, but twice. If what they were planning to do was dangerous, she was honor bound to tell Mike. But was it dangerous? Hannah wanted to believe it wasn’t, but they were about to search the cottages. The thief who had the two-million-dollar Honus Wagner card had already killed once to get it. There was no reason to doubt that he’d kill again to keep it!

She had to tell Mike. Hannah punched in his number and waited for her call to connect. She half-hoped he wouldn’t answer, but of course he did.

“Hi, Hannah,” Mike said, before she could even open her mouth.

“How did you know it was me?”

“I could tell by your ring tone.”