Fudge Cupcake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #5)(48)

"I'm doing better than I ever thought I would. And to think that Boyd pooh-poohed the idea of my opening a dance studio! He said it would never go in a town the size of Lake Eden."

"Looks like Boyd was wrong," Hannah said, adding an addendum to that sentence in her mind, about a lot of things!

"All my classes are filled and I'm looking for an assistant teacher in the evenings so I can offer more sessions. Do you know anyone?"

Hannah was sorely tempted to suggest Shawna Lee Quinn. If she worked two jobs, she'd be too busy to go out with Mike. But because Danielle was a friend and friends didn't try to pull the wool over each other's eyes, Hannah ditched that idea. "I'll call you if I think of anyone," she said.

"Great. I'd really like to start another ballroom dancing class. I have enough names on the waiting list."

Hannah was surprised. "I wouldn't think the kids would be interested in ballroom dancing."

"Quite a few of them are, but I was talking about my seniors class. I just love working with them, Hannah. Most of them know the basics already. It's just a matter of brushing up and getting back in practice. And the cheerleaders are really a lot of fun. They're doing a dance routine at the Halloween party and Mr. Purvis lets them out of study hall to practice. You'll stay and watch, won't you?"

"I’d planned on it. I'm meeting Barbara Donnelly. I need to talk to her."

"Of course you do. Your mother mentioned that you were investigating and secretaries always know a lot about their bosses. Barbara's in the dressing room helping the girls with their hair, but that's her coat and purse on that seat at the end of the first row. You can sit next to her."

Once Danielle rushed off to see if her cheerleaders were ready to perform, Hannah took the seat next to Barbara's. It was padded in all the right places and it cradled her like a pillow. It was so comfortable that Hannah almost nodded off. Between getting home late last night and rolling over on the contents of Moishe's food bowl early this morning, she'd had a grand total of four hours sleep. That wasn't enough. All she had to do was look into the mirror at the dark circles under her eyes to know that.

The music that Danielle played over the loudspeakers was pleasant. Hannah leaned against the cushioned seatback and closed her eyes to appreciate it better. It would be fun to dance to this music, and she had two men to dance with her. Norman had even taken dance lessons and he'd improved so much, she no longer had the desire to lead. And Mike… well… dancing with Mike was like… she really shouldn't think of that now.

There was a warm hand on her arm and Hannah smiled. Here was Mike now, asking her to dance. He was a bit late. The music had been playing for quite some time now, but perhaps he'd been busy. He was patting her arm now, saying her name, and she did her best to open her eyes. She'd just nodded off a bit sitting here and listening to the music while he'd been… been…

"Hannah? Wake up."

No, it wasn't Mike. It was a woman's voice. Her college roommate? No, college was over so that couldn't be right.

"Hannah? Come on, Hannah."

"Huh?" Hannah's eyes popped open and she sat up with a start. She looked over at Barbara Donnelly and blinked. What was Barbara doing in her bedroom?

"Sorry, but you were starting to snore," Barbara said with a grin. "I'm surprised you could sleep with that music so loud."

Hannah shook her head. "I wasn't sleeping. I was just resting my eyes."

"Sure. And checking the inside of your eyelids for holes."

Hannah took stock. Her eyes felt scratchy, her arm had little pinpricks of sensation where she'd jammed it up against the adjoining seat, and her teeth seemed to have knitted sweaters. There was no sense denying it. She'd been asleep. "You win. I admit I was sleeping. But I don't snore."

"Of course you don't. No one ever does." Barbara sat down in her chair. She looked like an aging prima ballerina herself, with her tall, elegant body and dark hair pulled back into a twist at the nape of her neck. "You wanted to talk to me about Sheriff Grant?"

"That's right."

"And the boys don't know you're here?"

Hannah grinned. Barbara was no slouch. "Bill's alibi was confirmed last night and he went back to work this morning. Mike took us to breakfast to celebrate and he told me I should be relieved that I don't have to investigate any longer."

"For a smart cop, Mike can be a pretty dumb guy when it comes to women," Barbara commented, exchanging smiles with Hannah. "Of course Sheriff Grant was no prize, either."

"That's what I heard. You don't think that Nettie…?" Hannah threw the suggestion out there and let it hang, waiting for Barbara to pick it up.

"Never," Barbara said, shaking her head. She sounded very definite. "It wasn't a marriage made in heaven, but Nettie loved him. She might have divorced him, but she'd never have killed him."

"That's what I thought. Any guesses as to who did?"

Barbara thought about it for a moment and then she sighed. "Not really. There were plenty of people that didn't like him, but I don't think any of them would actually kill him."

Just then the curtains began to move and both Hannah and Barbara stared up at the ceiling. Within thirty seconds, a stage was cordoned off and behind the drawn curtains, they could hear the girls coming in from the dressing room and taking their places.