Red Velvet Cupcake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #16)(19)

Hannah couldn’t help it. She started to laugh. She’d never heard anyone put things in quite that way. A moment later, Mike joined in and they laughed even harder when Misty made a circle by her ear and then tapped her head, in the age-old sign for crazy.

“I’m sorry,” Mike said when Misty had left again. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you.”

“I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have yelled, either.”

“Okay. Let’s forget it. It’s just that I hate it when you try to trap me with words, especially when I’ve been up all night and I’m tired.”

Hannah reached out to take his hand. “I understand, but I really need to know what’s going on.”

“Why?”

Hannah hesitated and then she blurted it out. “Because Barbara called me at four this morning and told me that someone tried to kill her. She didn’t tell me who and I’m not really sure it was Barbara. I’m going to go visit her at the hospital after breakfast and try to find out more.”

“Will you tell me if you do?”

“Yes. Will you tell me what evidence you found last night?”

“Yes, but it’s not really evidence. We found a couple of things that didn’t look right, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. They could also be compatible with an accident.”

“But you don’t think it was an accident.”

Mike hesitated, and then he shook his head. “Nope. A couple of the barricades were moved out of the way so that someone could get closer to the edge of the roof. They’re heavy and I really don’t think Barbara would go to that trouble just to see if she could spot her house from up there.”

“Then you know that she wanted to try to see her house from the penthouse garden?”

“Oh, yes. She mentioned it to several people. The idea of seeing her house from above intrigued her.”

“Tell me about the barricades that were out of place. Andrea and I moved one earlier so that she could show me the lake. It took both of us to do it because it was heavy. Were the barricades that were out of place too heavy for Barbara to move?”

“No. Barbara’s a strong woman. It would have taken a big effort, though.”

“What else made you suspicious?”

“The barricades were dirty. They’d obviously been used in the construction and some of them even had grease on them. It doesn’t seem likely that Barbara would have moved them in her party clothes.”

“That’s true.”

“There’s another thing, too. There was dirt on Barbara’s hands, but you’d expect that. She landed in the rose garden. But there wasn’t a trace of grease. I had Doc check.”

“Is there anything else?”

Mike shook his head. “Not really. We’re still waiting for the crime lab to do its thing, but I doubt it’ll be very helpful. If someone planned to kill Barbara, they were probably very careful not to leave anything behind.”

“If someone did try to kill her and didn’t succeed, they might try again,” Hannah voiced her concern. “Do you think Barbara is in any danger at the hospital?”

“I don’t know. We don’t have enough officers to put a round-the-clock guard on her, but I talked to Doc and he’s already assigned three shifts of nurses for her. And I really don’t think anybody will be brazen enough to try to finish the job while she’s in the hospital.”

Hannah remembered how much danger Freddy Sawyer had been in when he was confined to a hospital bed.

“Let’s not put the cart before the horse. We don’t even know, for sure, that somebody did try to kill Barbara.”

“True,” Hannah said, realizing that he was right, but not believing that for a second.

Chapter Six


“You’re looking good, Barbara,” Hannah said, even though it wasn’t true. Barbara’s face was puffy and bruised, her left leg was obviously injured in some way because it was elevated in a sling that hung from the ceiling, and both of her arms were heavily bandaged.

Barbara smiled through caked lips, showing several gaps where teeth had been less than twenty-four hours ago. “Thank you. I feel better. Is my father here?”

Hannah exchanged glances with her mother, who’d come along on the visit. Both of them knew that Barbara’s father had died years ago when Barbara was still in school.

“Is he here? I have to know!”

Barbara sounded desperate and Hannah wasn’t sure what to say. Thankfully, Delores leaned closer to cover Barbara’s hands with her own. “Barbara, dear,” she said, giving Barbara’s hand a comforting pat. “I’m sorry, Barbara, but your father’s not here. He can’t come to see you, dear. Don’t you remember? He died.”

“Oh, no! That’s . . . that’s awful!” Barbara’s words were slurred, something Doc Knight had warned them about. He’d said that when Barbara became upset, her ability to speak deteriorated. He’d also told them that if she asked any questions, they should answer them honestly. And that was precisely what Delores had done.

“Don’t think about it now,” Delores urged in an effort to calm Barbara, who was clearly agitated. “Thinking about sad things too much won’t do any good and it will only upset you.”