Raspberry Danish Murder (Hannah Swensen #22)(32)

Hannah glanced at Michelle. They both knew what Mike was going to say. She gave a nod, Michelle nodded back, and they both spoke at once. “It was the best meal you’ve had in years!”

Mike looked shocked. “How did you know what I was going to say?”

“Just a lucky guess,” Hannah replied, winking at Michelle.

“Yes, just a lucky guess,” Michelle echoed her older sister. “The coffee’s all ready to go, and I’ll turn it on. Does anyone want dessert now?”

“We’ll wait until Lonnie and I get through interviewing you,” Mike decided for all of them. “Hannah? You’re up first. Let’s go in the kitchen where it’s private. Then I want to talk to Michelle, and after that, we’ll interview Norman.”

“Just let me bring the carafe of coffee out here before you start,” Michelle added. “Then I won’t have to come back in the kitchen to get anything.”

Once the carafe, cups, and cream and sugar were on the table, Hannah followed Mike and Lonnie to the kitchen table. She wasn’t looking forward to this interview because she’d have to admit that she hadn’t really known much about her husband’s background. Since she knew even less about P.K.’s private life, at least her interview shouldn’t take long.

As it turned out, Hannah was wrong. Mike had wanted to know everything about Ross’s life, including anything he’d told her about P.K. and even what she’d learned about Ross in college. Then Mike wrapped up her interview and sent her back to the table to tell Michelle to come in.

Once Michelle had left, Norman reached out for Hannah’s hand. “You look exhausted. Were they that hard on you?”

“No, not at all. It’s just that Mike wanted to know everything I knew about Ross in college and . . .” She paused and took a sip of her lukewarm coffee. “Those memories brought everything back.”

“Just as if everything were happening again?”

Hannah sighed. “Yes, and it made me realize how na?ve I was. When I was in college, I took everything at face value, including anything that anyone told me. And I never compared what I thought I knew about Ross then with what he told me later.”

“There were discrepancies?”

“Yes. And I didn’t realize it until Mike pointed them out to me. Ross told me that he’d grown up in Minnesota, but Mike checked his college records and he was an out-of-state student. And back then Ross said he was an only child, but when we talked about the wedding, he mentioned that his sister couldn’t come because she worked in London. I guess it’s possible that his father got divorced and remarried and his third wife had a daughter, but Ross has only been out of college a few years and his half-sister would be too young to move to London and work there.”

Norman shrugged. “Perhaps Ross’s father did get divorced again and his third wife had an older daughter from a previous marriage. Or they could have adopted an older child.”

“It’s possible, I guess, but there were other things, too. Little things that I didn’t think about before. I . . . I really don’t want to go into them now.”

“Of course not.” Norman slipped his arm around her shoulders. “You’ve had a long day.”

“It’s not that. It’s just that . . . that I’m beginning to doubt my husband and everything he told me. I don’t even know if that photo on our dresser is really his mother. Now I’m questioning everything, and that makes me feel disloyal.”

“Then why don’t you trust what Ross told you until it’s proven false. Give him the benefit of the doubt, Hannah. There may be a reasonable explanation for all of these discrepancies.”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’ll do. That’s what a good wife should do. At least I think it is.”

“Loyalty,” Norman said. “That’s admirable, Hannah.”

“That’s true, unless that loyalty is misplaced and I’m wearing blinders. Then it’s just plain stupid!”

*

“That was a great cake, Hannah.” Mike shifted the box Hannah had given him to his other arm so that he could give her a hug. The box held three pieces of cake that Hannah suspected would be eaten by midnight. “Try not to worry, okay? We’ll solve this case and find Ross.”

Hannah nodded, even though she was beginning to doubt that Mike could find Ross unless Ross wanted to be found. “Thanks, Mike.”

“Bye, Shelly.” Lonnie gave Michelle a quick hug. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning. I’m going out to the garage to help Dad before I go to work . . . unless Mike needs me sooner, of course.”

“Not until ten,” Mike told him. “I have to make some calls when I get to the station and you can’t help me with those.”

Hannah turned to give Michelle a look that said, I’ll tell you later. Their sisterly radar must have been working because Michelle nodded back.

“I’d better find Cuddles and head home,” Norman said, after the door had closed behind Mike and Lonnie. He walked over to the couch, where she had been napping with Moishe, and then he turned back with a puzzled expression. “The cats aren’t there.”

Hannah smiled. “They’re probably on my bed. Moishe’s been going to bed early lately. Let’s go look.”