Lemon Meringue Pie Murder (Hannah Swensen #4)(32)

The phone rang again, just as Hannah finished making her notes. She reached out to answer it and smiled when she recognized Lisa's voice. "Hi, Lisa. Did you find that list of pie buyers?"

"I've got it right here. I'm sorry it's so late, but I just got home."

"That's okay. Did you have a good time?"

"Yes. We went out to the Corner Tavern for a steak and then we dropped in at the bowling alley. They were short a couple of people on one of the teams, so Herb and I filled in."

"How did you do?"

"Not bad. I averaged one-twenty a game and that's good for me. When we finished, it was time for Herb's night rounds and I rode along."

Hannah knew all about Herb's night rounds. Unlike Bill and Mike, who were with the county sheriff's department, Herb Beeseman was on the Lake Eden city payroll. During the day he enforced parking regulations and ticketed drivers who committed driving infractions within the city limits. Two months ago the city council had asked Herb to patrol the business district every evening. Local business owners had given Herb keys to use in case of emergency, and the

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extra precaution had worked out well. In the two months that Herb had been patrolling at night, he'd spotted a broken faucet in the cafe that had saved Hal and Rose a massive cleanup, and he'd turned off a smoldering halogen lamp in Stan Kramer's office.

"It's usually boring, but tonight we had some excitement," Lisa went on. "The alarm went off just as we were driving past Granny's Attic."

"Mother had a break-in?"

"No. Herb used his key to check out the inside and everything was fine."

Hannah was puzzled. "Why did the alarm go off if no one broke in?"

"It was the electricity. Remember that pole the owner put up between The Cookie Jar and Granny's Attic?"

"Of course," Hannah said. The pole was an eyesore, but the owner had assured them he'd take it down just as soon as Granny's Attic was rewired.

"The problem is with the circuits. The same circuit that runs your mother's alarm is the one that runs our freezer and our walk-in cooler. If our cooler and freezer happen to kick in together, there's a sudden drop in power that triggers the alarm at Granny's Attic."

"That doesn't sound good. Does Herb think it could happen again?"

"It could, but your mother's taking care of it. Herb just spoke to her and she's going to call the alarm company in the morning. They'll send a man out to move her alarm system to a circuit that's not so heavily loaded."

"Good. How about our freezer and walk-in cooler? Are they okay?"

"They are now, thanks to Herb. It didn't affect our freezer at all, but our cooler's got some kind of internal circuit breaker that shuts it off during a brownout. Herb hit the reset button and it started right up."

"Tell Herb he's a doll."

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Lisa laughed. "I'll tell him. Do you want those names of pie buyers now?"

"Sure." Hannah reached for her steno pad and a pen. "Okay, I'm ready."

Lisa read off the names and Hannah wrote them down. No one on the list seemed likely to have given Rhonda a pie, but she thanked Lisa, told her she'd see her in the morning, and hung up the phone. It was past bedtime and morning would come much too soon.

Hannah performed her nightly ritual, making sure the doors were locked and preparing the coffeemaker for its automatic timed brew in the morning. She washed her face, brushed her teeth, and got into the oversized shirt that she wore for a nightgown. She was just about to crawl into bed when the phone rang again.

"Hello?" Hannah answered at bedside, using the shocking-pink Princess phone she'd picked up at the thrift shop. The little light no longer worked, but the phone was still operational.

"Hi, Hannah. It's me." Andrea's voice floated out of the tiny holes in the receiver. "I'm sorry it's so late, but I didn't get a chance to call earlier."

"That's okay. I wasn't in bed yet."

"Good. I made some calls right after I talked to you, but the finer restaurants weren't open yet. I hit pay dirt about an hour ago, but Bill came home and I didn't want to call you until he went to bed."

"What did you find out?"

"It's Alfredo's Ristorante. That's the new place out at the lake. They served osso buco for takeout on Friday night."

"Good job!" Hannah said, jotting down the name. "Thanks, Andrea."

"No problem. It was easy. What do you want me to do next?"

Hannah thought about the leads she had to follow. "Do you know where Rhonda's apartment building is?"

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"Sure. I've got her address in my client file. She lives at the apartment building that Beatrice and Ted Koester bought last year."

"Could you run over there in the morning and check to see if her car is still in the garage? It would save me a trip."

"I can do that. What do you want me to do if it's there?"

"Nothing. Just drop by The Cookie Jar and tell me. We'll decide what to do about it then."

"Okay. I'd better get to bed before Bill starts wondering what I'm doing out here. I'll see you in the morning, Hannah."