Lemon Meringue Pie Murder (Hannah Swensen #4)(45)

"That was my impression. I'll find out if he was an inmate. Which prison?"

"I don't know. I didn't ask. But since he said the prison, instead of a prison, I'm assuming it's in Minnesota."

"Okay. I'll get on it first thing in the morning."

"Thanks, Mike." Hannah smiled at him. "Would you excuse me for a minute?"

"Sure. Shall I order you an after-dinner drink?"

"No, thanks. More coffee would be nice, though. I need to keep up my energy level and I'm running about a gallon short."

LEMON MERINGUE PIE MURDER 153

Hannah left Mike sitting at the table and headed toward the entrance of the dining room. It was time to check out the restaurant's takeout menu and see if anyone remembered who'd picked up the containers of osso buco that had landed in Rhonda's garbage.

The hostess was at her post by the entrance. Hannah put on a friendly smile as she approached. "I notice that you have osso buco on the menu and that's my mother's favorite. Does Alfredo's do takeout?"

"Yes, and we alternate our entrees." The hostess returned Hannah's smile. "Osso buco is available every Friday evening from six to eight. You have to call in advance with your order."

"That's reasonable. I'll bet Friday nights are popular'for takeout."

"No, it's actually our slowest night. Hold on a minute and I'll show you what I mean."

Hannah held her smile as the hostess flipped through pages on a clipboard. She was close to getting the information she wanted, but she wasn't quite there yet.

"Here you go." The hostess tapped a perfectly manicured nail on the page she'd chosen. "Six orders of osso buco. That's all we sold last Friday, but I know we ran out in the kitchen. That means most people came out here and ordered it from the menu."

Hannah was impressed. "Your system is very efficient. You actually keep the names of the people who ordered takeout?"

"We have to. It's my job to make sure the takeout goes to the proper person at the time they specified. See? Three people ordered takeout, two orders apiece."

Hannah blessed the fact that she could read upside down. She'd first learned that skill when Andrea was a child and used to sit facing her with a schoolbook. When Andrea had faltered over a word, Hannah had taught herself to read it upside down, so she wouldn't have to move. And that just went to prove that laziness sometimes paid off.

154

"Would you like one of our takeout menus?"

"I'd like several." Hannah accepted the printed menus the hostess gave her. "I'll call in on Friday and order osso buco for my mother and her friends."

"Not this Friday. We're closed for the Fourth."

"Right," Hannah said. SheVi been so intent on tracking down the takeout dinners, she'd forgotten all about the holiday. "I'll call in next Friday. Thanks for the information."

Hannah gave the hostess a parting smile and headed off to the ladies room. Once there, she pulled her steno pad out of her purse and jotted down the names from the takeout list. The first was Ken Purvis, Jordan High's principal. Hannah really had to stretch her imagination to imagine Ken as Rhonda's boyfriend. The second was Gil Surma, the high school counselor, and that also seemed impossible. The third name was even more unlikely because it was Reverend Knud-son. He wasn't married, but he lived with his grandmother. Hannah supposed that Rhonda could have been referring to Priscilla Knudson when she'd made her comment about not being able to marry unless there was a funeral. Mrs. Knudson had suffered a stroke only weeks before the Goetz's New Year's Eve party and Rhonda'd had no way of knowing she'd completely recover. Finding out which of the three men was involved with Rhonda would take time, but there was a pay phone in the ladies room and there was no time like the present to start narrowing the field.

Bonnie Surma, Gil's wife, answered on the first ring. Hannah fixed a smile on her face—she'd heard that telemar-keters used this technique to sound friendly—and took a deep breath. "Hi, Bonnie. It's Hannah Swensen. I'm out here at Alfredo's Ristorante and..."

"Take my advice and order their osso buco," Bonnie interrupted her. "Gil picked it up for us on Friday night and it was marvelous."

Hannah's phony smile turned into a real grin. If Gil had taken osso buco home to Bonnie, he wasn't Rhonda's boyfriend.

155

"Friday was our anniversary and Gil wanted to do something special. I didn't feel like getting dressed up and going out, so he ordered dinner and brought it home."

"That was sweet of him," Hannah said, scrounging for a pen in the bottom of her purse and crossing Gil's name off her suspect list.

"It would have been sweeter if he hadn't left for a meeting right after dinner, but even a good marriage can't be perfection. Gil and I rub along very well together."

Perfection. Rub along very well. Hannah came close to chuckling. Bonnie must have been at the same Lake Eden Regency Romance Club meeting as Delores.

"Did you need something, Hannah? Gil's at a city council meeting. He said he'd call before he left for home, so I need to keep the line free."

"Uh ... yes. Yes, I did." Hannah thought fast. She should have had an excuse for her call all prepared. "Tracey was talking about joining the Brownies the other day. She wanted to know how old she had to be."