Fudge Cupcake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #5)(13)

"I know her." Hannah had known Barbara Donnelly for years and Barbara didn't pull any punches. If she'd told Mike that Bill had argued with Sheriff Grant, then he had.

"Barbara was sitting at her desk when Bill stormed out of Sheriff Grant's office and she heard Sheriff Grant shout, "You'll win over my dead body."

Hannah gave an exasperated sigh. "That was just a figure of speech. I'm really surprised that Barbara took it seriously."

"She didn't take it seriously. But she did say that both Bill and Sheriff Grant were pretty steamed up. If they met up later, tempers could have flared. Somebody was mad enough to bash in Sheriff Grant's head. And since Bill doesn't have an alibi for the time of the murder, I had no choice but to remove him from the investigation."

Hannah had to admit that Mike had a point, but she wasn't about to tell him that. "You said that Bill had no alibi for the time of the murder. What time was Sheriff Grant killed?"

"Between eight and nine-thirty."

Hannah made a mental note of that and then she turned to face Mike squarely. "I'm really surprised at you, Mike. I thought partners always stuck together. Don't you have any loyalty to Bill?"

"Of course I do!" Mike looked outraged at the question. "Bill's my best friend. You know that. But I have to put my personal feelings aside in a murder investigation. It's because Bill is my partner and my friend that I have to bend over backwards not to give him any preferential treatment. It's really important that I follow the rulebook on this one. And since I'm working it alone, it's not going to be easy."

"You're working it alone?" Hannah was surprised. "Why didn't you pick one of the other deputies to help you?"

"Because I can't trust anyone at the station except Lonnie Murphy and he won't be back for almost two weeks."

Hannah was confused. "But why would you trust Lonnie and not any of the other deputies?"

"Because Lonnie's the newest hire and Sheriff Grant always treated the new deputies well for the first six months. After that, the honeymoon was over."

"What do you mean?"

"At the end of six months, he started criticizing them. Sheriff Grant could be a real bear about protocol and almost everyone on the force had plenty of reasons to hate him."

"Like what?"

"Delayed promotions, denials of personal time off with pay, and ridiculously picky reprimands that kept them from getting their merit increases." Mike ticked them off on his fingers. "You must have heard this before, Hannah. Bill knew all about it. Sheriff Grant nailed him last year."

"I remember," Hannah said. "Andrea told me that Bill got a reprimand for having his tie on crooked after an all-night stakeout."

"That's exactly the sort of thing I'm talking about. I'm going through the files right now to check out those reprimands and most of them are bogus."

"And you think someone might have killed Sheriff Grant over an unfair reprimand?"

"Not really. I can't believe that any deputy would be mad enough to actually kill him, but it's my duty to check everyone out."

Hannah's ears perked up. "You mean an internal investigation?"

"That's right. And I could really use Bill's help. Cut me a little slack here, Hannah. Suspending Bill hurt me just as much as it hurt him."

Hannah didn't dignify that statement with a response. Instead she just stared at Mike until he dropped his eyes.

"Well…" Mike said, shifting from foot to foot. "I'd better run. I'll see you later."

Not if I see you first! Hannah thought, not voicing the reply she would surely have given in junior high. She kept her lips zipped, waited until Mike had driven off, climbed into her cookie truck, and headed off to her catering job.





Chapter Six





It was after one in the afternoon when Hannah climbed back into her cookie truck. The catering had gone well and the event had been a success. Marge Beeseman signed up the volunteers she needed for her book drive, the ladies of the Friends of the Lake Eden Community Library loved the Cherry Winks, and Hannah managed to dodge a bullet with her mother. It was obvious that Delores didn't know about her son-in-law's suspension. And since Andrea hadn't yet broken the news, Hannah had decided that it wouldn't be nice to tell her and usurp her sister's position.

Hannah took a deep breath as she pulled up in Andrea and Bill's driveway. This would take all her tact, and tact wasn't her long suit. Bill would be upset over his suspension and Andrea would be upset if Hannah offered one word of criticism about the lunch she'd prepared.

Since Andrea's Volvo was in the driveway, Hannah parked her truck behind it and got out to press the front doorbell. She could hear the chimes ringing inside and she grinned. Andrea and Bill had one of the new musical doorbells and it was playing the first four bars of the Viking's fight song. Viking supporters were nothing if not loyal.

When Andrea pulled open the door, she looked apologetic. "Sorry it took me so long. I was just finishing the toast."

"Oh," Hannah said, stepping inside and sniffing the air.

Carbon. Andrea had burned the toast. "Anything new I should know about?"