Fudge Cupcake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #5)(32)

Hannah's mouth dropped open. "Mother has a life?"

"That's what she said. Do you think it's a man?"

"Mother?! Not a chance."

"But you'll find out for sure, won't you? You're so good at investigating, Hannah."

"I'll try," Hannah said reluctantly, mentally adding it to her list of things to do, right behind solving the murder and clearing Bill, and just ahead of trying to run a business and get her stubborn cat to eat his new food. "I'll let you know as soon as I find out anything."

"Good. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Hannah bit back the urge to say, Stop giving me things to do, and glanced down at her steno pad. "You can help with the murder investigation. Think of some excuse for calling Doc Knight and see if you can get him to tell you whether Sheriff Grant was dead when the killer put him in the Dumpster."

"Yuck!"

"I know, but I don't want to ask Mike for any favors and Bill can't find out this time."

Andrea sighed. "You're right. I'll do it today. I'm not quite as queasy as I was yesterday. I'll get all the results of the autopsy while I'm at it."

"Do you think Doc'll tell you?"

"Of course. I'm a real estate agent. We're trained to get information."

Hannah thanked her sister and hung up the phone. She'd just finished filling Moishe's food and water bowls and was stuffing her steno pad into her purse when the phone rang again. She grabbed it and sat down in the chair again, pulling out her notebook. "That was fast! What did Doc say?"

"What was fast?"

Hannah groaned as she recognized her mother's voice. "Sorry, Mother. I thought it was Andrea. She promised to get back to me."

"Is there something wrong with the new baby?"

"Not that I know of. Why?"

"You mentioned Doc."

"Right," Hannah began to smile. Perhaps she could use her mother's worry about Andrea to her advantage. "Andrea called a couple of minutes ago."

"But it's not even six-thirty yet!"

"I know. She was having trouble sleeping. I told her to call Doc and maybe he could give her something."

"That was a good idea. The poor dear is probably worried sick about Bill."

"Actually, no." Hannah took a deep breath and prepared to drive in the nail. "Andrea's worried about you."

"About me? Why would she worry about me?"

"She said you didn't jump at the chance to keep Tracey next Saturday night. And when she asked you why, you told her that you had a life."

"Oh." Delores was silent for a long moment. "Well… I suppose I could change my plans and keep Tracey if it's that important to her."

"What plans are those, Mother?"

"None of your business, dear. I may be your mother, but I'm entitled to some privacy when it comes to my personal life."

Hannah gave it up as a bad job. Her mother was almost as stubborn as Moishe. When Delores decided to keep a secret, no one could pry it out of her. "Okay, Mother. We won't discuss it any further."

"Good. You're the daughter with the most sense, Hannah. Except when it comes to men, that is. How you could date that awful Mike Kingston is beyond me!"

Hannah didn't rise to the bait. It was just too early in the morning to fight. "I've got to get to work, Mother. Is there anything specific you wanted?"

"Yes. Thank you for reminding me, dear. I called to tell you that Sheriff Grant's funeral is on Sunday at Jordan High at two o'clock."

"It's at the school?”

"Yes, in the auditorium. It's the only place that's large enough. He was very well liked and they expect a huge turnout. You're going, aren't you?"

Hannah sighed. She hated funerals. "I don't know, Mother."

"Well, you have to go. The killer always shows up at the graveside."

"What?"

"That's the way it happens in the movies. By the way, all the businesses in town are closing at noon on Saturday as a sign of respect."

"They are?" Hannah was surprised. This was the first she'd heard about it.

"They will when they read the notice in the paper. Carrie and I wrote it up and Rod promised to publish it today."

"Okay, Mother," Hannah said. With Delores and Carrie spearheading the effort, any business in Lake Eden that didn't close at noon on Saturday would be roundly criticized.

"Andrea should go the funeral," Delores went on. "It's right for Bill to stay away since he's a suspect, but the family should be represented."

"So Andrea's going with you?" Hannah asked, glancing up at her apple-shaped clock. The hands were moving inexorably forward and if she wanted to finish most of the baking before Lisa came in, she'd have to leave in less than five minutes.

"She can't go with me dear. The Regency Romance Club is doing something special. We're all arriving together and we're going to sit behind Nettie in a show of support."

"That's nice, Mother." Hannah said warily. She had the feeling she knew what was coming next.

"That's why I want you to take Andrea. Call her the minute you get to work and tell her you think she should go with you."