Cream Puff Murder (Hannah Swensen, #11)(62)

“Might as well. Maybe we can catch him in the act. In the meantime, I’ll put on the coffee.”

There was a knock on the door, and Michelle went to answer it. Norman and Andrea had arrived together. She ushered them in while Hannah brought out a carafe of coffee and four cups, and they all sat down in Hannah’s cozy living room.

“Okay,” Hannah said, yawning widely. “I think you’d better give me your notes really fast before I fall asleep in my coffee.”





Chapter Twenty-Two




She was exhausted, but her eyes were wide open and her mind was whirling like a top. She had four sets of investigative instructions to assimilate.

At least Stella Parks hadn’t told her how to investigate. The only thing the Minneapolis detective wanted Hannah to do was talk to people and listen to people, something Hannah always did anyway. Too bad Mike, Bill, Lonnie, and Rick didn’t have the same faith in her!

There were the books on procedure to read. Mike believed that if she read them and followed the correct investigative procedure, it would lead her to Ronni’s killer. But she didn’t have time to read all those books, and that wasn’t the way she worked anyway.

Bill wanted her to focus on the forensics, and he was providing Andrea with crime scene photos, transcripts of some interviews, and the autopsy report. The report from the Crime Scene Investigator’s unit was still to come on fingerprint, hair, and DNA evidence, and they’d have that as soon as it arrived.

Lonnie’s take on the proper way to investigate was totally different. He thought that psychology was the most important factor and that Hannah should delve into Ronni’s background. Since no one knew quite what that was, he’d suggested that Hannah interview Wade Hoffman at length to see what he knew about Ronni’s childhood and her relatives.

Rick had other ideas. He felt that Hannah and her friends should concentrate on the men Ronni had dated, especially if they were married or involved with other women. Rick was candid when he told Michelle that if he’d had the opportunity, he wasn’t sure that he wouldn’t have killed Ronni for almost wrecking his marriage. But it wasn’t just the men Rick wanted them to investigate. He thought they should focus on the women and families who’d been hurt by Ronni’s flirtations. He said that if Jessica had been physically capable of doing Ronni in, he wouldn’t put it past her. And although he was sure that his mother hadn’t taken matters into her own hands, Bridget certainly had a motive, and so did any other mother who’d been embarrassed and hurt by her married son’s betrayal.

Four methods to follow to the killer, and Hannah knew there was no way they could accomplish them all. She had to choose which paths to explore and which to set aside. But Mike and Bill were veteran detectives, and they were supposed to know what they were doing. Rick and Lonnie didn’t have quite as much experience, but they’d worked on more cases than she had! She had to prioritize. There was no way she could spread herself that thin. But whose advice should she follow? No one had suggested going out to the gym and talking to the members of Ronni’s classes. Was that a waste of her time? Or were there clues to be found at Heavenly Bodies that would lead her to Ronni’s killer?

Hannah knew she had to stop thinking and get to sleep. It was twelve thirty in the morning, and she had to get up at five. Moishe never seemed to have any trouble getting to sleep. He was stretched out at the foot of the bed, snoring peacefully, making soft little noises. It was a peaceful sound, a familiar sound that usually sent her right off into the Land of Nod, but it wasn’t working tonight. She was too busy trying to figure out how she could accomplish everything that people expected of her.

She wasn’t really prepared for the phone to ring at twelve thirty-five, but she wasn’t terribly surprised either. She reached out to pluck the receiver from the cradle and answered, “Hello, Mike.”

“Hannah!” He sounded surprised. “How did you know it was me?”

Because you’re the only person who’d call me this time of night when you know I have to get up at five in the morning, she thought, but of course she didn’t say it. Mike had troubles of his own. “Just guessing,” she said instead. “What is it?”

“Did Norman give you my notes?”

“Yes, he did.”

“How about the books? Did you read them?”

Hannah glanced over at the thick book on the table by her bed. “I took Principles of Investigation to bed with me.”

“But did you read it?”

She should have known she couldn’t get away with an ambiguous answer. “I flipped through it,” she said, not untruthfully.

“Well, make some time and read it tomorrow. It’s the best of the bunch I sent.”

“Right,” Hannah said. Unless they changed the length of a day to thirty hours, she wouldn’t have much time for reading.

“Anyway, I’m down in your garage again. I’m in your truck. Come on down and talk to me. And bring some coffee if you’ve got it.”

“Right,” Hannah said again, not bothering to argue the time or the fact she’d have to go out in the dead of winter at night in the cold. “I’ll be there in less than five minutes.”

“Mike’s in the garage again?” Michelle called out as Hannah passed the open door to the guest room.