Raspberry Danish Murder (Hannah Swensen #22)(104)

“It was nice having you for a neighbor Gary,” she said, hoping to get him completely off-guard for the probing questions she planned to ask.

“And it was nice talking to you,” Gary told her. “If you’re ready to leave, I’ll walk you out to the parking lot.”

“Thanks,” Hannah said politely. “I just wanted to ask you a couple of questions and it’s too cold to talk outside.”

“Ask away,” Gary told her, shrugging into his parka and pulling on his winter driving gloves.

Hannah glanced at his gloves. They were black, padded leather gloves. All the better to choke you with, my dear! the suspicious part of her mind cautioned. You’d better be very careful now.

“Michelle and I felt sorry for your sister, Violet, and we were going to send her some cookies,” Hannah gave him the excuse she’d rehearsed in her mind. “You didn’t mention where she was hospitalized, so we called around but we couldn’t find her.”

“When did you call?”

“Last night.”

“That explains it,” Gary said with a smile. “The doctor released Violet yesterday morning. She’s home now.”

“Oh, no wonder,” Hannah pretended to believe him. “We also thought about sending cookies to her business address, but it’s not listed with the Better Business Bureau.”

“Violet never bothered to do that, and everyone’s always been happy with anything they’ve gotten at her store.”

“But she doesn’t have a business phone, either.”

“Sure, she does. She uses her cell phone number. She had a landline for a while, but the only calls she got were from salesmen. Anything else you want to know? Or can I leave for the Cities now?”

Back off! the rational part of Hannah’s mind warned. He’s getting suspicious, and that’s dangerous if he’s the killer.

“Just one thing,” Hannah told him, deciding to go for broke. “Why are you driving Pinkie’s Jeep?”

“Who?” Gary asked, looking completely puzzled.

“Pinkie. Her real name was Mary Jo Hart. Your Jeep was pink before you had it painted black.”

The expression on Gary’s face changed from slightly suspicious to icy cold and menacing. “You think you got it all figured out, don’t you, Hannah?”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Hannah said quickly. “There is no Violet, is there, Gary?”

“Of course not,” Gary admitted, giving her a hard look. “I heard you were a good detective, and it’s true.”

“Thank you,” Hannah said quickly, “but there’s still something I don’t know. Did you drug that candy and send it to P.K.?”

“You bet I did! He ruined Mary Jo’s life! She killed herself because of him. Did you know that?”

“I heard about her suicide. Did she get the pills from Dr. Benson?”

“Of course! She had some left, and I wanted P.K. to die the same way. It was only right! He killed her, you know. He made her crazy enough to take those tranquilizers and kill herself. It’s the same as if he’d put a gun to her head and shot her!”

“But weren’t you afraid that Ross might get that candy instead of P.K.?”

“He was long gone. And even if there’d been some collateral damage, it didn’t matter. I did it for Pinkie. It’s what P.K. deserved!”

Hannah felt her mouth go suddenly dry as Gary leaned forward and glared at her.

“And now you know too much.”

“Don’t worry,” Hannah said quickly. “Everyone will understand why you did it. You were grief-stricken about Pinkie. They’ll understand.”

Gary laughed. It was an insane laugh, almost hysterical, and Hannah knew she’d reached the end of the line. Then he sobered, and his eyes began to glitter with deadly intent.

“This time it won’t be drugged candy. I’ll be putting out your lights personally! And it’ll be a real pleasure for me!”

Hannah gasped as Gary reached down and picked up a large hammer, the kind that people in construction used for framing a house. Then he looked up with the most evil expression Hannah had ever seen.

Get out of here! both parts of her mind, the rational and the suspicious, warned her. He’s going to kill you!

It was the first time that both parts of her mind had agreed about anything, but Hannah didn’t waste time thinking about that. She raised her coffee cup and threw the contents straight into Gary’s face. And then she whirled and ran toward the open door to the hallway as fast as she could.

As she approached the doorway, Hannah heard a thud, but she didn’t turn around to see what it was. She just kept on running, hoping that the splashed coffee had done its job and Gary had slipped and fallen.

Hannah sprinted down the long hallway that separated the convention center from the main part of the inn. The hallway was dimly lit and completely deserted. Everyone else who’d worked at the convention hall had already left. The huge floor-to-ceiling windows on one side of the hallway looked out on the lake, and the other side had a lovely view of the pine forest. But Hannah had no time to appreciate the beauty of nature tonight, not when she was being chased by P.K.’s killer!

Hannah’s eyes were focused straight ahead, scanning the carpeting for any obstacles she might encounter in her headlong dash to the safety of the inn. And then she saw it in the distance, her goal, the open door that led into the restaurant. Panting heavily from the unaccustomed exertion, Hannah raced to the doorway and dashed through.