Lemon Meringue Pie Murder (Hannah Swensen #4)(60)

Hannah walked over to take a look and she didn't point out the inconsistency in Lisa's statement. The issue date was nineteen seventy-four, but the old-style bill was crisp and clean, and it looked as if it had just been minted. "That is strange."

"Do you think it's counterfeit?"

"It could be. We'd better ask at the bank." Hannah glanced up at the clock on the kitchen wall. It was past three and the bank would be closed, but Doug Greerson, the president of First National Mercantile, stayed in his office until five. "I'll run over and check with Doug. Do you have any idea who gave it to you?"

Lisa looked a little worried. "I think it was your sister."

"Andrea?"

"No, Michelle. She stopped by while you were having lunch with Norman and bought a half-dozen Short Stack Cookies to take to her friend's house. The only reason I remember was that we were running short on fives and I had to give her all one-dollar bills in change."

Hannah frowned as she looked down at the bill. "If Michelle had it, it could have come from the Twin Cities area. I'm

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going out to the cottage tonight to have dinner with the family. If Doug says it's counterfeit, I'll ask Michelle if she remembers where she got it."

Doug Greerson looked surprised to see Hannah standing outside the front door of the bank and holding up a ten-dollar bill. He motioned for her to wait a moment, then walked back to a keypad that was partially hidden from her view. After he'd entered some numbers, he came back to the door and unlocked it, a lengthy procedure that involved several complicated locks.

"Thanks, Doug." Hannah stepped in, waving the bill. "This came into the shop this afternoon. Lisa and I both think it looks funny peculiar."

Doug chuckled. "Mrs. Carlson, third grade. I'll never forget her for that. Go on back to my office and make yourself comfortable. I'll be there as soon as I reset the alarm. There's some coffee in the pot. It's a combination of Columbian, Guatemalan, Brazilian, and Sumatran."

"Sounds good."

"It is. It's darkly roasted, heavy-bodied, and it has a smooth finish."

"I'll have to taste that," Hannah said with a grin as she walked back to Doug's office. He'd discovered gourmet coffees at Christmas when his wife, Diana, had given him a sample pack of beans and an electric coffee grinder.

Doug's coffeepot was spotless, a sharp contrast to the one in Jon Walker's office. Hannah had just poured herself a cup and taken one of the chairs in front of the desk when Doug came in.

"So what do you think of the coffee?" he asked.

Hannah took a sip and smiled. "It's really good."

"Just wait until next week. I ordered a shipment of Blue Mountain from Zabar's in New York. It's supposed to be the finest coffee in the world."

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"It'd have to go some to beat this," Hannah declared and took another sip. "Take a look at this bill, Doug."

Doug took the bill Hannah handed him, switched on his halogen desk lamp, and took what looked like a jeweler's loupe from his desk drawer. He examined the bill for several moments and then he shook his head. "It's not counterfeit."

"But look at the date. It says nineteen seventy-four. Don't you think it's odd that it looks so new?"

"Not really. Somebody could have kept it in a safe deposit box or under a mattress all these years. And sometimes people just like to save money in mint condition."

"You mean collectors?"

"There's nothing collectible about this bill, but it could have been some sort of a keepsake, framed and put under glass. When people give money as a gift, they usually come in to get new bills."

Hannah nodded and reached out to take back her bill.

"What's the matter?" Doug asked her. "You look a little disappointed."

"Lisa and I thought maybe we'd stumbled onto a counterfeiting ring. It would have been interesting."

Doug gave a small, humorless laugh. "I don't think you want to get involved with something like that. If that bill were counterfeit, you'd have federal agents breathing down your neck in two seconds flat."

"New customers," Hannah said with a grin, slipping the bill inside her purse and getting up from her chair. "Thanks, Doug. I guess we'll never know the story behind that new-old bill. I thought it might be contraband and someone had sat on it for years, afraid to spend it before now."

"Wait a second, Hannah. You might have something there. Let me check the serial number."

"What will that tell you?"

"When a bank gets new bills, they come in packaged by denomination and serial number. If this one was stolen in a bank robbery and they took packaged bills from the safe, the

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bank would have reported the serial numbers to the authorities."

"And you can check that?"

"Of course. The computer's in the middle of an automatic backup right now, but I've got hard copy of the loot list."

"Loot list?"

"That's what we call it. The official title is about twenty words long. It's a cross-reference index by year and serial number."

"And it lists money from bank robberies?"