Cinnamon Roll Murder (Hannah Swensen, #15)(20)

“There sure is a lot of butter in here,” Mike commented as he took another bite. “Whoa! I got it!” He took a swallow of coffee, and grinned at them. “Butterama Cake,” he said.

“Butterama Cake?” Hannah repeated, and then she began to smile. “I like it. From now on I’m calling this cake Butterama Cake.”





“Okay, Hannah,” Mike said, pulling out his notebook. “Tell me everything you saw and heard from the moment you entered the bus until the moment you left the scene.”

Hannah knew Michelle was answering a similar question for Lonnie. They’d separated into couples so that Mike could take Hannah’s statement in the living room. Michelle had taken Lonnie in the kitchen to feed him some of the Hamburger Bake. She’d heard Michelle put Lonnie’s dishes in the sink and start another pot of coffee. Undoubtedly Lonnie had also begun to take Michelle’s statement.

Mike was looking at her expectantly, and Hannah thought back several hours, replaying the scene in her mind. “The bus was upside down. You probably already know that.” She waited until Mike nodded and then she went on. “Buddy Neiman unlocked the back door from inside and that’s how Michelle and I got in. We asked if anyone was injured and he said that he had the most serious injury. He showed us the splint Lynnette made for him.”

“Lynnette?”

“She’s one of the ...” Hannah stopped and frowned slightly. “I guess you call them groupies. Lynnette and another girl named Cammy travel with the band. She told us they help the band set up, and ... I don’t know what else.”

“I’ll bet I do,” Mike said under his breath, and Hannah pretended not to hear him. “You said Lynnette put a splint on Mr. Neiman’s wrist. Is she a nurse?”

“No, but she used to work in a doctor’s office. Anyway, Michelle asked Buddy if there were any other injuries, and that was when he told us that the driver was dead. We asked how he knew that and he said that Lynnette had gone up to the front of the bus to check on the driver, and when she came back, she said he was dead.”

“Okay. I’ll have to get her prints in case she touched anything on or around Mr. Wallace. Do you know if she felt for a pulse?”

Hannah shook her head. “I don’t know for sure. We talked to her about that. She said she did, but I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“Because she said it was creepy and she didn’t want to see him again. I don’t think she would have had the nerve to touch him.”

“All right. Describe the scene for me.”

Hannah took a deep breath. “The only light was an LED strip on the ceiling. Of course the ceiling was upside down, and we walked on it like a floor. There were things all over that had fallen from the seats. The bus had a vaulted ceiling, so we were walking in the trough. It was hard to keep our balance, and we took small steps, one foot in front of the other, the way you’d walk on a tightrope. Since there was so much debris that had scattered all over when the bus tipped upside down, we had to be careful not to trip over anything.”

“Okay. I understand. Go on.”

“I didn’t want Michelle to come with me, but she insisted. If I’d known how creepy it was going to be, I would have ordered her to stay put. When we got to the front of the bus, I spotted the driver.” Hannah took another deep breath. “It was a horrible sight.”

Mike reached out for her hand and squeezed it. “I know. We cut him down. I’m sorry you had to see that, Hannah.”

“So am I, but I’m even sorrier that Michelle saw it.”

“Me, too.” Mike put his arm around her and leaned back on the couch. He shut his eyes and gave a big sigh of contentment. “I knew once I got out here, I could relax for a couple of minutes.”

Hannah noticed that there were dark circles under his eyes. For a reason she didn’t fully understand, they made him look even more handsome. Maybe it was the nurturer in her coming out, or at least that was what her former psychology professor would have said. Whatever the reason, she felt a new tenderness toward him. Mike was usually so strong and self-confident that it was difficult to imagine that he could ever really need comfort and tenderness from anyone. Before she quite realized that she was going to do it, she reached out and gently stroked his forehead. “Stay as long as you like,” she said in a soft voice. “I know you’re really tired.”

Mike opened his eyes and smiled at her. “Careful what you offer, Hannah. All I need right now is a twelve-pack and the remote, and I’ll never leave.”

Hannah laughed, and her tender mood disappeared. Mike was okay if he could crack a joke. “Are we through with my statement?” she asked.

“Almost.” Mike flipped to a fresh page in his notebook. “Do you remember seeing anything at the scene that was curious, or suspicious?”

“Yes, but I didn’t realize it until I heard that the driver had overdosed on his heart medication. There was a pillbox on the floor, one of those plastic ones with little compartments for the days of the week.”

Mike reached for his cell phone. “The crime scene techs are out there now. I’ll call and tell them not to miss it.”

“Don’t bother. I have it.”

“What?”

“I almost tripped over it, so I picked it up and zipped it in my parka pocket. I didn’t know it was important then, but I thought someone might need the pills and I’d better take them with me. And then, with all the confusion at the hospital, I forgot I even had them.”