Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (Hannah Swensen #1)(70)

Delores laughed. “You’re right, dear. But that’s illegal, even in India.”

“Very good, Mother,” Hannah complimented her. Occasionally Delores’s sense of humor kicked in, and those were the times when Hannah liked her the best. “What kind of cookies would you like?”

“How about those Chocolate-Covered Cherry Delights? Andrea told me that they were fabulous.”

Hannah jotted it down and then she realized what her mother had said. Andrea had tasted those cookies for the first time last night. If she’d mentioned them to Delores, it must have been earlier this morning. “Did you call Andrea this morning, Mother?”

“Yes, dear. We had a lovely chat. As a matter of fact, I just got off the phone with her.”

Hannah’s eyes widened. Her sister was not a morning person. “You called Andrea before eight? On a Saturday?”

“Of course I did. I wanted to make sure she was all right. The poor dear sounded dreadful. She told me that her head was still reeling from that awful migraine.”

Hannah started to grin. It wasn’t surprising that Andrea’s head was reeling. She’d polished off four glasses of that “impudent little wine” before Bill had come to drive her home. “I’ve got to run, Mother. It’s late and I have to get ready to open the shop.”

“You don’t open until nine this morning. How about Max Turner? I heard on the radio that he was dead.”

Hannah rolled her eyes at Lisa, who was trying not to look amused at her attempt to end the conversation. “That’s true, Mother.”

“I know it’s not nice to speak ill of the dead, but Max made a lot of enemies here in Lake Eden. I don’t think anyone is going to shed tears for him.”

“Really?” Hannah thought she knew exactly what her mother was talking about, but she wanted to hear it from Delores. “Why is that?”

“He wasn’t a nice man, Hannah. I don’t want you to repeat this, but I heard that several families lost their homes because of Max Turner.”

“Really?” Hannah did her best to sound as if this was the first she’d heard of it.

“He was a…” Delores paused, and Hannah knew that she was attempting to think of the proper word. “What’s that term, Hannah? I know it has something to do with a fish.”

“A loan shark?”

“That’s it. You have such a good vocabulary, dear. I think it comes from all that reading you did as a child. I wonder what’ll happen to those loans now?”

“I don’t know,” Hannah replied, making a mental note to ask Bill if he’d found any current loan papers in the stack of files he’d confiscated from Max’s safe. But those files would only serve to eliminate suspects. If Max had been killed over a current loan, his killer would have taken the papers.

“I’ve already had four calls this morning about Max,” Delores informed her. “The whole town’s talking, and everybody’s got a story to tell.”

That gave Hannah an idea and she started to smile. Delores belonged to a dozen groups and she heard all the gossip. What if her mother heard about a loan that Max had made, a name that wasn’t on any of the files that Bill had removed from the safe? That person could very well be Max’s killer. “Will you do something for me, Mother?”

“Of course, dear. What is it?”

“Keep your ears open and call me if you hear anyone discussing any business dealings with Max. It’s important. I really need to know.”

“All right, dear. I’m sure there’ll be talk—there always is. But I don’t see why it’s so import—” Delores stopped, and Hannah heard her gasp. “They didn’t go into any details about Max’s death on the radio. Was he murdered?”

Hannah groaned. There were times when Delores was much too perceptive to suit her. “I’m not supposed to say anything about that. It could cost Bill his promotion.”

“Then I won’t breathe a word. You can count on me, Hannah. I’d never do anything to hurt Bill’s career. But it’s just going to kill me not to tell Carrie!”

“I know, but the news should break any minute. Just keep listening to the radio.”

“How do you know? Did Bill tell you or…” Delores gasped again. “Don’t tell me that you discovered Max’s body!”

“I really can’t talk about it, Mother.”

There was another lengthy pause, and then Delores sighed. “You really have to stop doing this, Hannah. You’re going to scare all the eligible men off if you keep on finding murder victims. The only one who might give you a second glance would be a homicide detective!”

“I suppose you’re right.” Hannah started to grin. Perhaps finding bodies wasn’t so bad, after all. “I really do have to run, Mother. Just remember to call me if you hear anything, okay?”

Hannah hung up and turned to Lisa. “That woman can talk longer than anyone I know.”

“Mothers are like that,” Lisa responded, but she looked very grave. “I couldn’t help hearing your end of the conversation. Was Max murdered?”

“I’m afraid he was.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. He was a loan shark. One of our neighbors almost borrowed some money from him, but Dad looked over the papers and told him not to sign. He ended up getting a bank loan instead.”