Chocolate Cream Pie Murder (Hannah Swensen #24)(63)

Once she’d reached the second story, Hannah hurried past the other antiques on display. There was a lovely cherrywood bedroom set with a tall chest of drawers and a vanity with an oval-shaped mirror. She admired it as she went past and decided to compliment her mother and Carrie on acquiring such beautiful items. They’d probably tell her that Luanne had found the bedroom set at an estate auction since Luanne now did most of the antique acquisitions. If that was the case, she’d compliment Luanne on her purchase when she went back downstairs.

“Hi, Mother. Hello, Carrie,” Hannah greeted the two women who had been friends for years. “I brought you some Tortilla Snickerdoodle Cookies.”

“I love these!” Delores told Carrie, and they both reached out for a cookie. Delores and Carrie had met at Lake Eden’s Regency Romance Club more than twenty years ago and they had been best friends ever since.

“They’re delicious, as usual,” Delores told her, finishing her first cookie and reaching for a second.

“Yes, they are!” Carrie echoed her business partner’s sentiment. “Thank you for bringing them, Hannah.”

“There’s coffee or tea if you want it, dear.” Delores gestured toward the counter of the break room, where the coffeepot and electric teapot sat.

“I just bought a box of Florence’s best peppermint tea,” Carrie told Hannah. “I know you don’t usually drink tea, but it’s really delicious.”

Even though Hannah preferred coffee to tea, she fixed herself a cup. It was a way of subtly connecting with Carrie. Then she sat down at the round oak table that sat in the center of the break room.

“Carrie has a problem, dear,” Delores said, the moment Hannah had taken her first sip of tea and complimented Carrie on her choice.

“Tell me,” Hannah said, giving Carrie an encouraging smile. “I’d be happy to help, if I can.”

“I think you can,” Delores declared, and then she nodded to Carrie. “Go head, Carrie. Tell Hannah what’s going on.”

“Well . . . it’s Earl,” Carrie admitted in a voice that trembled slightly. “I’m afraid he’s going to . . . to do something violent!”

“What makes you think he might?” Hannah asked.

“It’s his background, Hannah. Most people don’t know this, but Earl was sent overseas when he was in his twenties. I don’t know where he went or what his job was because he never talks about anything that happened there. All he’ll tell me is that it was very hard and he did some things that he’d never do again unless it was absolutely necessary.”

“What do you think he did?” Hannah asked her.

“I don’t know. I asked him if he was ever in the military and he told me he wasn’t. When I mentioned it to your mother, she had an idea that might explain what he was talking about.”

“Mother?” Hannah turned to her. “What do you think Earl did?”

Delores cleared her throat. “Of course I don’t actually know, but Earl has a background in repairing and operating heavy machinery. He comes from around Lake Eden and I can remember my mother telling me that Earl went away to take construction courses somewhere in Florida. She was friends with Earl’s mother and I didn’t pay much attention at the time, but I’m sure it’s true. After all, Earl works for the county and he keeps the snowplows and bulldozers running.”

“And he told me that all the county equipment is as old as the hills,” Carrie added.

“It all makes sense if you think about it,” Delores continued. “I think that Earl could have been a civilian contractor who took a job overseas. If he found himself in a dangerous situation, Earl may have had to defend himself and his equipment. A job like that might place him in jeopardy without actually having been in the military.”

Hannah thought about that for a moment. “You’re right, Mother. That could explain everything. There’s only one other explanation that occurs to me.”

“What is it?” Carrie leaned forward expectantly.

“Perhaps Earl was in some kind of government organization like the CIA or something similar. Then perhaps he isn’t allowed to talk about what happened.”

“I didn’t even think of that!” Delores said. “It’s certainly possible, though.” She turned to Carrie, “I think we’ve thought of all the reasonable explanations, Carrie.”

Except, of course, that Earl is lying through his teeth about everything because he thinks it’ll make him seem more important, Hannah’s suspicious mind suggested, but she kept that thought to herself. Thinking it was one thing. Saying it was another. If she even suggested it to Carrie, it might make her worry even more. “What are you afraid Earl might do?” she asked Carrie instead.

It took Carrie a moment before she answered. Then she took a deep breath and blurted out, “I’m afraid that if Ross comes back to Lake Eden again, Earl will kill him! He was furious when he found out that Ross confronted you at The Cookie Jar.”

“But do you really think that Earl might resort to something like that?” Hannah asked.

Carrie wouldn’t meet Hannah’s eyes. “Yes, I do. Earl carries a gun and a rifle on his snowplow. He told me it’s just in case he runs into a bear or another dangerous animal and it attacks. And he told me that he killed a wildcat once when he got out to move a big tree branch from one of the isolated country roads at night.”