Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (Hannah Swensen #1)(45)

Hannah carried the notebook out to the kitchen and poured herself a fragrant cup of coffee. After several bracing sips, she noticed that there was another line scrawled at the bottom of the recipe. It said: D—ask not with.

There was a plaintive yowl from the direction of the food bowl, and Hannah got up to dump in the kitty crunchies. As she filled Moishe’s water bowl with filtered water, she thought about that last cryptic note. The “D” was Danielle. Hannah was almost certain of that. But what was “ask not with?”

It came to her in a flash of brilliant insight. Her mind had been working overtime last night. She’d wanted to remind herself to ask Danielle if there had been any time, during their night and early morning together, that Ron had gone somewhere without Danielle.

Hannah set Moishe’s water bowl down on his Garfield rubber mat and went back to the table to finish her coffee. If yesterday and the day before were any indication, today would be hectic. She reached for the notepad, turned to a fresh page, and wrote down a list of things to do.

The first item Hannah wrote was Sparklettes. She had to call to find out what time Danielle’s water had been delivered on Wednesday morning. If what Danielle had told her was true, Danielle was in the clear.

Hannah made another note: Herb—Lisa. She wanted to corner Herb Beeseman on her way to work and convince him to call Lisa to invite her to the Woodleys’ party. It was late notice, but Hannah was almost sure that Lisa would accept. When she’d asked last night, Lisa had told her that she’d received an invitation to the Woodleys’ party, but that she wasn’t planning to go. It wasn’t because of her father—one of the neighbors had volunteered to sit with him—but Lisa really didn’t want to attend the biggest party of the year by herself. She hadn’t wanted to tag along with Hannah and Norman, either, and that was when Hannah had decided to talk Herb into asking Lisa.

The third item on her list was Lisa—dress. Hannah planned to take Lisa to Beau Monde during their slow time between eleven and twelve. She’d put a sign on the door and if anyone was that desperate for a cookie, they could come next door to get her.

The next line on Hannah’s list said: Clue Claire. She’d dash over this morning, while Lisa was baking, to tell Claire that the dress Lisa chose should be “on sale” for sixty dollars. She’d make up the difference and they could settle up later, when Lisa wasn’t around.

Moishe gave another yowl and Hannah noticed that his food bowl was empty again. Her cat was a regular feline garbage disposal, but he didn’t seem to be gaining any weight. Perhaps he did kitty aerobics when she wasn’t home.



“That looks lovely on you,” Claire announced as Lisa walked out of the dressing room wearing a wine-red dress. “What do you think, Hannah?”

Hannah laughed. “You’re asking me? You should know better, Claire. How many times have you wanted to tell me that all my taste is in my mouth?”

“Too many times to count.” Claire laughed lightly and then she turned to Lisa. “What do you think, Lisa?”

“I’m not sure. I really like this one, but the emerald green is such a wonderful color.”

“Too bad they’re not twofers.” Hannah winked at Claire, hoping that she’d take the hint. It was unlikely. Beau Monde was a boutique, and Claire thought of herself as a fashion consultant, several cuts above an owner or a saleslady. Hannah doubted that her high-fashion neighbor had ever considered having a two-for-one sale.

“It’s strange that you should mention it, Hannah.” Claire surprised Hannah by taking the hint immediately. “As it happens, I just marked these two particular dresses down. The wine satin sheath has a slight imperfection in the bodice and the button on the back of the green silk doesn’t quite match the color of the dress.”

Lisa’s eyes opened wide. “I didn’t even notice!”

“Perhaps not, but I did. And I refuse to let my customers pay full price for something that isn’t absolutely perfect.”

“How much are they now?” Lisa asked.

Hannah held her breath. If Claire mentioned a price that was too low, Lisa would suspect that they were in cahoots.

“They’re both on sale for sixty. That’s two-thirds off the regular price. Believe me, Lisa, you’ll be doing me a favor if you take them off my hands. Returning things to my supplier is a nightmare.”

“Then I’ll take them both.” Lisa was so excited her voice squeaked.

“There’s only one condition.” Claire looked very serious. “You have to promise that you won’t tell anyone else how much they cost. If the other women find out that you paid only sixty dollars for a Beau Monde dress, they’ll all ask for special prices.”

“I won’t tell anyone. Even if I did, they’d never believe me. Thank you, Claire. This is really my lucky day!”

While Lisa changed back into her working clothes, Hannah dashed back to The Cookie Jar. She’d been gone less than fifteen minutes, but there were several people waiting to get in. One of them was Bill, and Hannah pulled him aside, once she’d waited on her customers. “Why didn’t you come next door to get me? I was just helping Lisa buy a dress.”

“That’s okay. You didn’t find out anything new, did you?”

“Not since I talked to you last night.” Hannah shook her head. She’d called the Sparklettes office and confirmed Danielle’s alibi, but there was no reason to tell Bill about that. “Did you check on the bouncer?”