Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (Hannah Swensen #1)(86)

“Thank you, dear.”

Judith poured herself a cup of tea and Hannah noticed that it was steaming as it flowed from the spout of the antique teapot. There were no cracks in Judith’s rare Wedgwood, though the tea set was almost two hundred years old. Delores had mentioned that even hairline cracks diffused the heat and cooled the tea.

Judith was perfectly silent as she sipped her tea, and Hannah knew she had to say something. Her hostess wasn’t making it easy and Hannah had never been any good at polite small talk. “It was so nice to see Benton again,” Hannah began. “Will he be here for long?”

“I’m really not sure. We haven’t had time to discuss his plans.”

Nothing useful there, Hannah thought to herself and decided to try a more direct method. “I was wondering if Benton was satisfied with the car that he rented.”

Hannah was rewarded for her efforts by a raised, perfectly shaped eyebrow and total silence. Judith was the master of the noncommittal.

“I’m talking about the car from Compacts Unlimited,” Hannah explained. “I noticed the folder when your husband gave us permission to take pictures in his den.”

“Oh, that wasn’t Benton’s car,” Judith corrected her. “The party people rented from Compacts Unlimited.”

Hannah kicked herself mentally for not thinking of that possibility. The maid at the party had told her that Judith had paid for transportation. But just because Benton hadn’t rented the car didn’t mean that he hadn’t used it while it was here. And it had been here on Wednesday morning.

“Why are you so interested in rental cars?”

Judith’s question pulled Hannah back from her thoughts with a jolt. She was getting nowhere, fishing for information, and Judith had given her the perfect opportunity. She might as well come right out and ask.

“Look, Judith.” Hannah raised her gaze to Judith’s perfectly calm green eyes. “I probably shouldn’t say anything, but a black rental car from Compacts Unlimited was spotted leaving the dairy on the morning that Max Turner was shot. I certainly don’t believe that Benton had anything to do with Max’s murder, but my brother-in-law is in charge of the investigation and he’ll probably be by to ask questions. I just wanted to warn you.”

“Warn me? Why would you want to warn me?”

Hannah sighed. “I guess warn was the wrong word. I should have said that I came to alert you. Benton does have an alibi for the time of Max’s murder, doesn’t he?”

“Of course he does!” Judith’s voice dripped ice. “Benton wasn’t even in town at the time!”

“That’s what I thought. If Benton still has his airline tickets, don’t let him throw them away. They could prove his innocence.”

Judith’s eyes narrowed. “Are you telling me that your brother-in-law suspects Benton of murdering Max Turner?”

“No. This is just between you and me. If you can find Benton’s airline tickets and show them to me, I won’t need to mention it to Bill. You’ve always been nice to me and I’d really like to save your family from the embarrassment of a police visit.”

“Thank you for your concern, Hannah.” Judith gave her a small, cold smile. “If you’ll give me a moment, I’ll locate those tickets for you. They’re probably in Benton’s suite. Just wait right here and I’ll find them.”

Hannah gave a big sigh of relief when Judith left the room. That comment she’d made about saving the family from embarrassment had worked. She’d also saved Bill from embarrassment. Judith wasn’t the type to be intimidated by the authorities and she might have sued the Winnetka County Sheriff’s Department for harassment if Bill had dragged Benton in to interrogate him.

The seconds ticked by and Hannah reached for a sandwich. She’d skipped lunch and her stomach was rumbling. The sandwiches weren’t bad, definitely watercress, but they weren’t what she’d call substantial. She could scarf up the whole tray and they still wouldn’t make a decent meal. Hannah was just lifting the top off another—perhaps there were some with chicken or tuna mixed in somewhere—when she heard Judith’s footsteps approaching in the hallway. She replaced the bread just in time and pasted a smile on her face.

“Here they are.” Judith was carrying a silk shawl over her right arm and her voice was trembling slightly. It certainly wasn’t cold in the room, but perhaps just knowing that Benton was a suspect in a homicide had given her a chill. She sat down in her chair with the shawl on her lap and handed Hannah the tickets with her left hand. “If you’ll open the folder, you’ll see that Benton’s plane didn’t land until twelve-seventeen. I assume that this will clear him as a suspect?”

Hannah examined the tickets. “Yes, it will. I’m really sorry that I had to bring it up and I hope that I didn’t upset you too much. It was just that the circumstantial evidence against Benton seemed overwhelming.”

“Overwhelming?” Judith’s eyebrows shot up. “How can that be? A killer requires a motive. What possible motive could Benton have for killing Max Turner?”

“Actually,” Hannah hesitated, choosing her words carefully, “it concerns the personal loan that your husband had with Max Turner.”

“What are you talking about, Hannah?”