Lemon Meringue Pie Murder (Hannah Swensen #4)(94)

Preoccupied with this theory, Hannah opened the walk-in

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cooler and stepped inside to find a convenient place for her bowl of cookie dough. She'd just moved some things around to make room when the door slammed shut and she was plunged into darkness. She grabbed the cord that hung down from the light, flicked it on, and whirled toward the door. It had never banged shut on its own before! She stepped forward to push the inside release, but it was jammed. What was going on!?

As Hannah stood there, trapped inside her cooler, she heard someone rummaging around in her kitchen. It had to be Jed, and unless her theory was full of holes, he was the one who'd shut her in. "Let me out, Jed!" she shouted.

"Sorry, no can do." Jed's voice was faint through the heavy metal door. "You're gonna have to stay there."

Even though Jed's voice was barely audible, Hannah could tell that he was slurring his words. He'd been drinking and that didn't bode well for her. "Come on, Jed. This isn't funny."

"'Course it's not. There's nothing funny about dying and that's what this is all about. Maybe you figured it out and maybe you didn't. I can't take any chances."

A shiver went down Hannah's spine and it had nothing to do with the temperature of the cooler. It would do no good to protest that she hadn't figured anything out, because Jed was standing in her kitchen and he must have spotted the crime-scenes photo and Mrs. Voelker's letter. Still, it was worth a shot and she took it. "I don't know what you're talking about. Just let me out now and you won't get into any trouble over this. I promise I won't say a word about it."

"You think I'm as dumb as Freddy?" Jed's laughter rang out. "I'm plugging up the air vent. When your air runs out, you'll die."

Hannah banged on the door with her fists, then she shouted out, "Why are you doing this, Jed? Are you crazy?"

"Maybe, but that's better than being dumb. Freddy told me about that present you hid for him and he even confessed what it was. But the stubborn retard wouldn't tell me where he hid it. Thanks to your big mouth, I know it's right here."

LEMON MERINGUE PIE MURDER

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Hannah's mind flashed on Freddy's still form in the hospital bed and she shivered. "Did you try to kill Freddy?"

" 'Course I did. He was gonna blab, sooner or later. I poured booze over him so it'd look like he was drunk and he fought with someone, but you and your sister got there too quick. You should've let him die in peace. Now I'm going to have to go back to the hospital and finish the job."

"The nurses won't let you near him!" Hannah countered, even though she knew it wasn't true. If Jed turned on the charm and asked to take a peek at his cousin, the nurses would think he was wonderful for caring so much.

"The nurses won't even know I'm there. I unlatched the window before I left. It'll be easy to sneak into Freddy's room right after they check on him at midnight. It was real nice of you to notice that respirator. All I have to do is shut it off and it'll take care of Freddy for good. He's so stupid he doesn't deserve to live anyway."

Hannah saw red. Jed had been living a lie, pretending to like Freddy and freeloading by living in his house. This con man and killer had taken them all in and she wished she had superhuman powers so that she could tear the cooler door off its hinges and break Jed in two like a matchstick.

"You know, you were always pretty nice to me, giving me all those free cookies and stuff. I'm starting to feel real bad about locking you in and leaving you to die. If you tell me where you put that shoebox Freddy gave you, I might just give you a break. I could always unplug that vent and they'll find you in a couple of days. I might even call to tell them where you are. I'm gonna be in a real good mood once I start spending all that cash."

Hannah recognized the ploy for what it was. Jed would kill her whether she told him where the shoebox was, or not. But why not tell him, especially since the box was hidden in the perfect place? Hannah picked up the heaviest thing she could find, the bowl of cookie dough she'd just mixed, and moved close to the door. "If I tell you where it is, you'll let me go?"

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"Sure. Where it is?"

"Right here in the cooler," Hannah said, tightening her grip on the metal bowl.

Jed laughed long and hard. "Nice try, but I don't believe you. You're probably holding something heavy right now, getting ready to take a swing at me when I open the door. It'd be nice to have that shoebox and I'll look around some before I leave, but I can get along without it. Nobody around here will guess it belonged to me once you and Freddy are dead."

Hannah pressed her ear to the cooler door and she heard Jed rummaging around in her kitchen, banging cupboard doors. He searched for about five minutes and then she heard the back door open and close behind him.

A shudder ran through Hannah's body, from the top of her head down to the tip of her toes. She was trapped and no one would think to look for her here. Why hadn't she listened to Andrea when she'd urged her to get a cell phone? If she had one, she could call to warn the hospital that Jed was coming to kill Freddy at midnight and she could tell them to send someone to rescue her. But she didn't have a cell phone and even if she had, it was doubtful that she would have carried it into the cooler with her.