Cinnamon Roll Murder (Hannah Swensen, #15)(73)

As Hannah watched, the dark background lightened slightly and she was now able to see the evergreen shrubs lining the parking lot and the arc light glinting off the hoods and fenders of the cars. She still could not have positively identified Buddy from the photo, but luckily that wasn’t necessary. Shelby had identified Buddy for them, and she had been an eyewitness. Not only that, she’d heard part of their conversation, which Hannah had written down.

“Are they arguing?” Norman asked, as he worked on the contrast of the photograph.

“Yes. Hold on and I’ll tell you what the waitress overheard them say.”

Out came the murder book, and Hannah flipped to the correct page. “She said, I’d know you anywhere, and Buddy said, You got the wrong guy, lady. Leave me alone! Then she said something that Shelby couldn’t hear. Buddy hollered at her to let go, she did, and then he shouted, I’m not the guy you think I am! And she shouted, Yes you are! I know you are! Then she slapped him and walked away. Shelby thinks she went to a parked car, but she didn’t see which one.”

“Interesting.”

“The argument?”

“No, look at this.” Norman used the mouse to point to a section of the photograph on the screen. “See these three spots of light here?”

“On the woman’s wrist?”

“Yes.”

“I see them. They’re a reflection of some type, aren’t they?”

“Exactly right. They must have caught the light from the arc light in the parking lot behind them. The reflection is clearer than the rest of the photo.”

Hannah’s mind was going so fast, she felt dizzy. This very same thing had happened with the photo of Boyd Watson’s killer. In that case, it had been one spot of light from the moon, and it had reflected off a cufflink that had led them to the killer. Could they be lucky enough to identify the woman who’d argued with Buddy by a reflection?

“This should work,” Norman said. “I’ll select the area of her wrist and start by enlarging two hundred percent.”

Hannah watched as the section of the photo Norman had selected filled more of the screen. “Could it be her watch? Or maybe a bracelet?”

“It could be, but it looks to me like something on the watch or bracelet is catching the light.”

“Can you enlarge it even more?”

“I think so. Those spots are bright.”

“And they’re in sharper focus than the rest of the photo?” Hannah asked.

“That’s right! How did you know that?”

“You told me when we were working on the photo Lucy took of the killer. You said that since the cufflink emitted reflective light of its own, it was sharper than the rest of the photo.”

Norman began to smile. “Do you remember everything I say?”

“Not everything. Sometimes I forget on purpose.”

“Give me an example of what you forget on purpose.”

The fact that you’re getting married and I’m losing you forever, Hannah thought, but of course she didn’t say that. “I’m forgetting the fact you said I should have my teeth checked.”

Norman laughed. “Okay. That’s fair. But you probably should have ...”

“I know. I know. One of these days when I have more time ... okay?”

While they were talking, Norman had changed the percentage of enlargement until it now stood at four hundred percent.

“They look like little starbursts,” Hannah said, but they’re getting a little ... what do you call that?”

“Grainy, if you’re doing print photography. Since this is digital photography, I think we could say that we’ve enlarged so much, the image is breaking up into pixels.”

“Would that be like Pointillism? It looks a little like George Seurat’s painting of boats on the Seine, except that the dots are like stars and all three of them are pinkish-orange.”

“That’s it exactly. The color is from the arc light. And you’re right when you say they look like starbursts. They’re snowflake ornaments on a silver bracelet.”

Hannah turned to stare at him in shock. “How do you know that?”

“I know because Bev has a bracelet just like it. My mother gave it to her for Christmas.”

Hannah was so shocked, she wasn’t sure what to say. “Do you ... do you think the woman in the photo is Bev?!”

“No,” Norman gave a little laugh. “You said this was taken at a jazz club, didn’t you?”

“Yes. Club Nineteen.”

“Well, Bev doesn’t really like jazz and I can’t imagine her going to a place like that. If you’d said it was taken outside Orchestra Hall, I would have believed it, but definitely not a jazz club.”

Don’t push it, Hannah’s better sense put the warning in her mind. The seed of doubt has been planted. Now let it grow. You already know she’s a liar, but he doesn’t know that yet.

“I wonder where your mother got that bracelet,” Hannah said, pushing back the suspicious thoughts that were filling her mind.

“I’m not sure. I know she picked it up at the last minute. It’s only nine and I’m sure they’re still up. Why don’t we call and ask her?”





“The snowflake bracelet?” Carrie repeated when Hannah had posed the question to her. “Of course I remember. Is Norman still on, dear?”