Fudge Cupcake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #5)(51)

"It sounds busy up front," Hannah remarked, hearing the sound of a multitude of voices from the coffee shop.

"It's packed. I just wanted to tell you I've got news on the Maschler front."

"You do?" Hannah hung her jacket on the hook by the back door and looked at Lisa inquiringly.

"Come up front when you're ready and I'll tell you. They're all gossiping about Mike anyway and once you answer their questions, they won't pay any attention to us."

"What about Mike? What questions?" Hannah asked in quick succession, freezing in the act of washing her hands.

"Babs Dubinski saw a blonde in Mike's Jeep last night and he was turning off the highway into his apartment complex. She told all the ladies when she came in to have her hair done, and they all came over here."

"Why?" Hannah asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"To find out if you know about it. And if you don't, they want to be the first to tell you."

"Give me strength," Hannah murmured with a sigh. "Just say you told me and now I know about it."

Lisa shook her head. "That's no good. I'll have to give them some kind of scoop, or they'll never leave."

"Okay." Hannah thought for a moment. "Tell them I don't know for sure, but I think the blonde was Mike's temporary secretary, Shawna Lee Quinn. And I have no idea why she was in Mike's Jeep when he drove into his apartment complex."

"That should work. As long as they have her name, they'll go back to the Cut 'n Curl and see what they can dig up about her. I'll come back and give you the all-clear when they leave."

"Thanks, Lisa," Hannah said, keeping her expression carefully neutral until Lisa had gone back into the coffee shop. Then she began to wash her hands again, scrubbing them much harder than necessary. She had to find out what was going on between Mike and Shawna Lee. And if Mike wasn't forthcoming the next time she saw him, she'd just have to run up the street to the Cut 'n Curl and sic Bertie and her customers on him!

Getting the all-clear took a while and Hannah had time to mix up a batch of Molasses Crackles for the next day. She'd just stashed the bowl in the cooler when Lisa poked her head in the door.

"They're gone. You can come up front now."

Hannah wasted no time pushing through the swinging door and stepping into the coffee shop. She'd felt like a coward hiding out in the kitchen. She took one look at the glass serving jars behind the counter and gasped. "What happened to all the cookies?"

"Bertie and her customers had four apiece."

"I guess there's nothing like a little gossip to fire up the appetite." Hannah poured a cup of coffee for herself and sat down next to Lisa on one of the tall stools behind the counter. The coffee shop was almost deserted with the exception of four ladies at a table in the back and they were engrossed in their own conversation. "I'll fill the serving jars after you tell me about Richie Maschler."

"That sounds like a bribe to me," Lisa said, giving Hannah an impish smile.

"It is. You said you talked to Richie?"

"No, I talked to Cheryl Coombs."

Hannah's brows came together in a puzzled frown. "What does Cheryl Coombs have to do with it?"

"Nothing directly, but her daughter Amber is dating Richie."

"I see," Hannah said. "And you asked Cheryl where Amber was last Monday night?"

"Exactly. It turns out that Amber was supposed to be home studying for an algebra test. Cheryl had to work that night and Amber wasn't supposed to leave the house."

"But she did and Cheryl caught her?"

"Red-handed. Cheryl's boss told her to take off work early and when she got home, Amber wasn't there."

"Uh-oh," Hannah said. "What time did Amber get in?"

"Not until a quarter to ten, fifteen minutes before Cheryl was supposed to come home from work."

"And Amber admitted that she was with Richie?"

"She told Cheryl that she was at Richie's house and they watched a kung-fu movie. She tried to argue the case that they weren't really alone, that Nettie was right next door with her sewing room window open, but Cheryl didn't buy it and took away Amber's cell phone."

"That's a punishment?" Hannah was surprised. Having a cell phone seemed more of a punishment than a perk to her. If she carried one, Delores could call her any time of the day or night!

"Losing cell phone privileges is even worse than being grounded," Lisa told her, a smile hovering around the corners of her mouth. "You know how girls love to talk for hours on the phone."

"Not just girls," Hannah said with a sigh, thinking of her mother, who was the queen of long-winded telephone talkers. "Thanks, Lisa. I'll take those serving jars and fill them."

"Okay. I'll hold down the fort out here. What do you want me to do if Mike comes in?"

Hannah's eyebrows shot up. "What makes you think he might come in?"

"The gossip hotline. Somebody's bound to say something to him soon."

Hannah thought about that for a moment. Bertie and her ladies must have called several people by now and Delores would have been high on their list. When Mother heard, she'd call Andrea, and Andrea would call Bill, and Bill would say something to Mike, and… "You're right," Hannah said interrupting her own train of thought. "Mike could come in. If he does, delay him."