Lemon Meringue Pie Murder (Hannah Swensen #4)(81)

First things first, Hannah reminded herself, and she went straight to Rhonda's walk-in closet. She grabbed the first items of clothing that came to hand, a pair of black slacks with an elastic waistband and a light blue pullover sweater. She wasn't here to scavenge through Rhonda's clothing unless it had some bearing on the murder, and anything that was dry would do.

Hannah dropped her own clothes in a heap on the floor and changed to Rhonda's. Although the pants were too short, they weren't as tight as she'd expected them to be and Rhonda's sweater was positively bulky. Perhaps Beatrice was right and she really had lost a ton of weight. She checked the closet, but it contained nothing unusual and she wasn't interested in the number of outfits in Rhonda's wardrobe. Then

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she tackled the dresser drawers, going from top to bottom as fast as she could. She found a pair of socks to wear, but there was nothing else that could possibly relate to Rhonda's murder.

The plastic bags were in a holder under the sink and Hannah stuffed her wet clothing into one of them. Then she went through the cupboards and kitchen drawers, learning nothing except the fact that Rhonda owned a set of sterling silver fish knives and she must have been very fond of packaged macaroni and cheese.

The living room was next. Hannah headed straight for a small desk that Rhonda had placed under the windows. The center drawer was filled with loose receipts, and she sat down in the desk chair to glance through them.

Nothing caught Hannah's interest until she found a receipt from Browerville Travel. Not only had Rhonda driven all the way to Browerville to book her flight, she'd lied to Hannah about where and when she had done it. When they'd signed the house papers at The Cookie Jar, Rhonda had said she'd called the airlines and reserved her ticket the previous evening. She'd also said that thanks to Norman, she had enough money to fly to Rome on vacation. But this receipt from Browerville Travel was dated two weeks before Norman had made his offer on the house!

Rhonda's lie didn't seem to make much sense, but Hannah didn't have time to think about that now. She grabbed the receipt, stuck it into her purse, and went through the rest of the desk drawers. She was down to the last drawer when she discovered another strange item. It was a letter addressed to Rhonda's great-aunt.

"Strange," Hannah mused, staring down at the letter. This was the only item belonging to Mrs. Voelker that she'd found in Rhonda's apartment. It must be important if Rhonda had kept it and nothing else. Hannah stuffed it into her purse and stood up. One room left to search and she was through.

Four minutes later Hannah emerged from Rhonda's bathroom with a frown on her face. Searching Rhonda's medi-

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cine cabinet and bathroom drawers had been a waste of her time. She'd found nothing except a small fortune in cosmetics and time was growing short. Hannah grabbed her things, flicked off the lights, and raced down the stairs to return Beatrice's key. If she didn't hurry, she'd have the whole Winnetka Sheriff's Department and every member of her extended family waiting on her doorstep when she got home.





Chapter TWenty-Five

Hannah got up with a smile the next morning. Since Moishe now had his own down pillow, her neck felt great for the first time in months. It didn't take long to dress for the Fourth and within the hour, Hannah was in her truck on her way to The Cookie Jar. The weather was gorgeous. Puffy white clouds floated lazily in a bright blue sky and it couldn't have looked less like rain. After the deluge they'd gotten the previous night, the grass was emerald green and there was a wonderful fresh scent in the air, the same scent candles and room fresheners attempted in vain to duplicate.

As Hannah drove through town, she noticed that everyone had gone all out for Independence Day with flags, banners, ribbons, and other patriotic items. Even the tall pine that served as the town Christmas tree in Lake Eden Park was decked out with red, white, and blue streamers.

By seven forty-five, Hannah arrived at her parking spot. She unlocked the back door and stepped inside, sniffing appreciatively as a welcome aroma wafted out to greet her. Lisa had put on the coffee. But where was her car?

"Happy Fourth, Hannah!" Lisa came in from the coffee shop before Hannah had time to look for her.

"The same to you. Where's your car?"

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"I left it down at the Senior Center. Herb gave me a ride here. Pour yourself a cup of coffee and go sit down in the shop. I'm going to make you a low-cal breakfast."

The aroma of freshly brewed coffee was enticing and Hannah was only too happy to do as she'd been told. She filled a mug, carried it to her favorite table, and took a seat facing the plate-glass window. The street outside fairly sparkled in the sunlight. Mayor Bascomb had ordered every inch of the parade route swept clean last night. Since the street was roped off, there was no traffic and nothing to watch. It was too early for spectators to gather and the only thing moving was a family of birds in the tall pine across the street.

Hannah sipped her coffee for a few moments, but she'd never been any good at sitting still for long. This was the perfect time to check out the receipt and the letter she'd found in Rhonda's desk.

One glance at the clock and Hannah decided to tackle the receipt first. The toll-free number for the airlines shouldn't be terribly busy this early. She retrieved both items from her purse and carried the receipt behind the counter where she could use the phone. This would take some fancy talking, but she'd taken several lessons on that subject from Andrea. She'd say she was calling for Rhonda, who'd missed her flight because of a sudden death in the family. That part was the truth. And then she'd fudge a little by saying that Rhonda wanted to rebook her ticket with exactly the same accommodations. If she got lucky, the airline employee would tell her all the facts about Rhonda's ticket when he or she rebooked the flight.