Devil's Food Cake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #14)(76)

“All right, then. I won’t worry if you go out there just to talk to Lenny while he’s tending bar. But if he says something incriminating, I want you to promise to come straight home and let the police handle it.”

“Okay,” Hannah agreed quickly. “I promise we’ll leave right away if anything like that happens.”

“Well, then. I guess that’s settled. How about some coffee, dear?”

“Of course, Mother. Andrea? You want coffee, don’t you?”

Andrea shook her head. “No coffee. I’m still a little jittery from dealing with Bonnie Surma. I’ll just have a soothing cookie and a small glass of milk.”

Hannah did her best to figure out what constituted a “soothing cookie” as she poured Andrea’s milk and her mother’s coffee. She finally settled on filling half a plate with Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies for their buttery sweetness and smooth melt-in-your-mouth texture, and the other half with squares of Candy Bar Bar Cookies for their endorphin-rich chocolate. “What happened with Bonnie Surma?” she asked as she delivered their drinks and sweet treats.

“She came in a little before noon,” Delores said, motioning for Andrea to start in on the cookies. “She said she wanted to try on the little black dress Andrea put in the window this morning.”

Hannah looked blank. “I didn’t see it, but what’s wrong with that?”

“For one thing, it has a darling draped look over the hips,” Andrea told her. “And Bonnie has her own draped look over her hips.”

Hannah began to smile. “I get it. The little black dress would have accentuated one of Bonnie’s figure flaws.”

“Exactly!” Delores exclaimed. “That’s precisely what I told Bonnie, but for some reason she took offense.”

“I told you, Mother. No one wants to be reminded of their imperfections. There are other, better ways to suggest that the little black dress in the window just isn’t the right look for her.” Andrea turned to Hannah. “It took me over twenty minutes to convince Bonnie not to leave the shop and never darken Claire’s door again. And it took me another twenty minutes to talk her into trying an incredibly gorgeous red dress that I’d just unpacked from the new shipment. Mother ironed it while Bonnie and I talked about which materials would enhance her effervescent personality and the vibrant, jewel-tone shades she was simply born to wear.”

“The only reason she asked me to iron the red dress that didn’t need ironing was to get me out of the room,” Delores complained, but then she smiled at Andrea. “It turns out she was right. All that silly talk about personalities and color enhancements worked. Bonnie bought three dresses and all of them looked wonderful on her!”

They stopped talking as they heard the sound of applause coming from the coffee shop. It was obvious that Lisa had concluded this installment of Hannah Finds the Body. A few moments later, Lisa came into the kitchen. Her eyes were sparkling, her color was high, and she was smiling happily.

“I think that story was the best one today,” she said, sinking down on the stool. “I even got a tip, and the people around here practically never tip!”

Hannah smiled at her partner. “That’s great! How much did you get?”

“I’m not sure.” Lisa reached into her apron pocket and pulled out a gold coin. “He said it’s worth a dollar, but Herb thought it might be worth more.”

“What is it?” Andrea asked her, staring at the coin in Lisa’s hand.

“A Sacagawea gold dollar. Practically everybody in the coffee shop wanted to see it.”

“Who gave it to you?” Hannah asked her.

“Lenny Peske.”

The swinging door opened, and Michelle came into the kitchen. “They want you back for a curtain call, Lisa,” she said. “By the way, that one was really good.”

“Thanks,” Lisa hurried back into the coffee shop, but Michelle stayed behind. “Jon Walker wants to see you,” she told Hannah. “He took a look at that gold coin and he says he’s got some information you need.”

Michelle left and a moment later, she came back in with Jon Walker. He was dressed in his pharmacy greens, and he quickly accepted Hannah’s invitation to join them for coffee and cookies.

“It’s that gold coin, Hannah,” Jon said, reaching for a Candy Bar Bar Cookie. “When Lisa showed it to me, I turned it over to look at the flip side. It’s part of the first run of the coin. I could tell because the eagle didn’t have the arrows that decorate the more recent runs.”

“Does that make it more valuable?” Delores asked.

“Not really, but it’s a coincidence that Lenny had one, because I put five original run Sacagawea dollars in the church collection plate on Sunday.”

Hannah and Michelle exchanged glances. They knew that part of Sunday’s collection had been stolen, perhaps by the person who had killed Paul.

“Are original run Sacagawea dollars rare?” Hannah asked him.

Jon shrugged. “I don’t think they’re that rare. I get them in at the drugstore occasionally. When I do, I put them in the church collection plate. Reverend Bob usually exchanges them for regular dollars and saves them for the kids who win prizes at Vacation Bible School in the summer.”

“So how many Sacagawea dollars have you taken in this year at the drugstore?” Hannah followed up.