Cream Puff Murder (Hannah Swensen, #11)(87)

Hannah’s hips swiveled and her legs shot back and forth on the pretend skis. Right leg forward, left leg forward, skiing up a slight rise to the suspect list. Tad wasn’t listed as a suspect…or was he? The only three suspects left on the page were the stalker, the suspicious man in the blue parka, and the unknown suspect with the unknown motive. Tad saw Ronni every day on the security cameras in the exercise rooms. Ronni knew she was on camera and she certainly wouldn’t think of that as spying. But Ronni had specifically mentioned the Jacuzzi to the bartender at The Moosehead and there was no security camera in there.

The Jacuzzi! With a gasp, Hannah remembered the interference on Andrea’s cell phone. That had happened in the room with the Jacuzzi. Andrea thought it was a low battery, but Hannah had experienced a similar interference when she’d been standing next to the kitty-cam Mike had installed in her condo kitchen. What if there was a surveillance camera hidden in the room with the Jacuzzi and Ronni had somehow sensed it? Mike had mentioned that the mall security staff tested surveillance cameras for the same company. It was entirely possible they’d been given a camera identical to Mike’s and Tad had installed it in the room with the Jacuzzi so that he could spy on Ronni.

There was only one way to find out. Hannah jumped off the ski simulator at the top of a steep incline dotted with bumpy snowdrifts. But instead of tumbling head over heels with arms and legs akimbo as a real skier might have done, she hit the floor running, grabbed her purse, and headed for the Jacuzzi at a trot.

When she arrived at the steps leading up to the thatched-roofed hut, Hannah took her phone out of her purse and switched it on. Then she punched in the number for time of day and listened to the recorded voice. There was no interference. She continued to listen as she climbed the steps and stepped into the hut. There was a high-pitched squeal that grew louder as she approached the spot where Andrea had answered her phone. Another step and the squeal intensified even more. It was loudest right next to the wall.

Since she could no longer hear the recorded voice, and she didn’t really care what time it was anyway, Hannah switched off the phone and slipped it back in her purse. And then she began to examine the wall to see if she could spot the lens of the camera.

The thatched-roof hut had been decorated like a tropical paradise with hanging ferns and flowering trees in earthenware pots, and the wallpaper picked up on the lush jungle theme. Glossy leaves, thick green vines, and riotously colored flowers snaked their way up to the ceiling. Exotically shaped tree branches displayed tropical birds in splendiferous plumage, including an impressively large toucan just above Hannah’s head.

The best way to proceed was methodically. Hannah started at the top left corner of the wall and let her eyes scan to the right, almost as if she were reading a line of very large print. She told herself to ignore the designs on the wallpaper and concentrate on finding any irregularities in the wall itself. Once she’d reached the right corner, she dropped her focus down six inches or so, and let her eyes move in a horizontal line to the left. She repeated this pattern over and over, lower and lower with each trip from left to right and then back again.

It wasn’t until she’d reached an area about a foot over her head and midway between the left and right walls, that she discovered something unusual. It had to do with the toucan. This particular bird had only one eye as the artist had rendered it in profile.

The eye of the toucan bulged out slightly, just like the lens of her kitty-cam. But wallpaper was flat. It didn’t bulge unless there was something behind it. Hannah reached up to feel the bird’s eye and touched a glass lens. There was a kitty-cam hidden behind the wall by the Jacuzzi. Except it wasn’t a kitty-cam. It was a killer-cam! No wonder Ronni had felt that someone was spying on her! Someone was. And that someone was Tad Newberg.

Hannah grabbed her purse and pulled out her phone. She had to call Mike and tell him to arrest Tad Newberg right away. He had killed Ronni. She was sure of it! She punched in the number and waited breathlessly for it to ring. But the interference was so heavy she couldn’t hear anything but a high-pitched whine. The best thing to do was to go out to the security station and call from…

Uh-oh! Hannah’s mind said. You’re out here alone and this is where Tad works. What if Tad comes in early and realizes that you know? The best thing to do was to get to safety first, and then stop somewhere to call Mike. She raced across the floor, fairly flew down the steps, and crashed straight into the arms of Frank Hurley.

“Frank!” she gasped, shaking with relief. “You have no idea how glad I am to see you!”

“And you have no idea how glad I am I caught you before you left,” Frank said. “You figured it out, didn’t you, Hannah?”

There was a note of menace in Frank’s voice that Hannah had never heard before. It puzzled her and her mind spun through the possibilities until it came to a shuddering halt at a terrible suspicion. She tried to step back, but Frank’s arms were like bands of steel around her.

“Figured what out?” she asked, hoping he’d think she was thoroughly mystified by his question.

“You found the camera,” he said.

Careful. If you’re careful, you may be able to talk your way out of this. You have to give him a kernel of truth so he thinks you’re ingenuous and you can’t let him guess that you suspect him.

“Yes. Yes, I did find the camera. I’m really sorry, Frank. I know you’re just as disappointed as I am.”