Cinnamon Roll Murder (Hannah Swensen, #15)(88)

“Do you think Doc will like them?”

“I know he will. He likes bran a lot better than I do. He eats a big bowl of bran flakes every morning for breakfast. Are you sure these have bran in them?”

“I know they do. I measured out the bran flakes myself.”

“Well, all I can say is they’re very good. And I haven’t liked bran since Grandma Ingrid made those wonderful ...” Delores stopped speaking, and Hannah watched the light dawn on her face. “They’re Grandma Ingrid’s Bran Muffins!”

“You got it!” Hannah said, giving her the high sign. “I had the recipe and I didn’t even know it. Michelle found it and baked it in cookie form.”

“I’ll give one to Doc the moment he gets back here,” Delores said, putting the cover on the cookie tin. “It’ll cheer him up.”

“What’s wrong with Doc?” Hannah asked.

“It’s just this whole intern thing. He’s going to have to interview candidates again, and that takes time. He’d much rather spend that time with his patients. And then he’ll have to train the new intern he chooses. Of course Marlene will help. Thank goodness she’s staying. It’s just that it’s all so sudden. When the clinic called Ben, they told him they needed him to start next week. It’s just a pity that they gave him such short notice, and he had to turn around and give Doc such short notice.”

Short notice. The words repeated themselves several times in Hannah’s mind. Short notice was what Lee complained about when Buddy gave notice right after his argument with the dark-haired woman they now knew was Doctor Bev. If Buddy had trusted his instincts and left right away instead of giving Lee the time to find his replacement, he’d probably be alive today. But that wasn’t the situation with Ben. He had to leave Lake Eden right away because he took another job.

“What’s the matter, dear?” Delores asked.

“I don’t know. Something just struck me. You said something about Ben’s new internship, that the clinic had given him such short notice and that’s why he had to give Doc such short notice. Did Doc talk to the clinic to see why there was such a rush?”

“No, dear. Ben talked to them. They called him directly.”

“Did they know he was working here?”

“Of course. Ben told Doc they asked for a recommendation, and Doc wrote one and gave it to him. Ben faxed it to the clinic.”

“So Doc has never spoken to the doctors at the clinic. Is that right?”

“That’s right.” Delores began to frown. “I see where you’re going with this. It is a little odd that the doctors at the clinic didn’t speak to Doc directly. It would have been the courteous thing to do. I think we should call the clinic.”

“Do you want to do it, or shall I?” Hannah asked.

“I will. I’ll say I’m Doc’s secretary. What was the name of that clinic again?”

“Rolling Hills Vista Clinic,” Michelle said promptly. “I remembered it because I thought it sounded fake.”

Five minutes later, they had their answers. Hannah’s head was reeling and she knew that Michelle and their mother felt the same way. There was a Rolling Hills Vista Clinic and it was a leader in the field of facial reconstruction. They did have several interns at the clinic, but none of them had left recently. There were no vacancies for interns, and they’d never heard of Doctor Ben Matson.

“So what does this mean?” Delores asked, “other than the fact Ben lied to us.”

“It means he wants to get out of Dodge for some reason,” Hannah speculated.

Michelle looked puzzled. “Get out of Dodge?”

“Dodge City, Kansas. That phrase comes from the Old West. Dodge City became a law-abiding town when Marshall Dillon took over, and all the criminals had to get out of Dodge.”

“How do you know that?”

“Lisa told me. Herb loves to watch re-runs of Gunsmoke while she’s fixing supper. That’s where she heard it. Dillon loves Gunsmoke, too. He gives a little woof every time he hears his name.”

“That’s cute,” Delores said. “Doc and I watch M*A*S*H. He says it relaxes him. But let’s get back to business. Why would Ben want to get away from Lake Eden?”

Hannah shrugged. “I don’t know, but I think we’d better find out. Maybe there’s a clue somewhere in his background. Can you get his personnel file?”

“That’s easy.” Delores swiveled in her chair and switched on the computer. “All the employee records are accessible from Doc’s computer. I’ll pull it up.”

Hannah and Michelle waited as Delores located and pulled up the file. “That’s interesting,” she said.

“What’s interesting?” Hannah asked her.

“Ben’s from Seattle.”

“Seattle again?!” Hannah was dumbstruck. There were just too many people from Seattle. It was like a Washington State invasion in their own little town! “That settles it!” she said.

“Settles what?” Michelle asked.

Hannah was at a loss to explain. Her mind was churning too fast. It was all about opportunity, and coincidence that might not be coincidence, and things they had yet to discover. The key to Buddy Neiman’s murder was missing, but there might be a place they could find it.