Raspberry Danish Murder (Hannah Swensen #22)(52)

“Thanks. I’m glad you like them.” Hannah unfolded another napkin and draped it over the platter, effectively hiding the bar cookies from Betty’s sight.

“Smart,” Betty said, reacting to Hannah’s action. “Who would you like to see first, Hannah? Part of my job is covering for people when they go on break and I’ll tell the person you choose to take a break now.”

“I’m not sure who to choose. Will you recommend someone for me?”

“That’s easy. Talk to Scotty MacDonald first.”

“All right. But tell me why I should do that.”

“Because there was bad blood between Scotty and P.K. Everybody could see that. I think it was jealousy.”

“Why would Scotty be jealous of P.K.?”

“Scotty’s been here longer than P.K. has, and Scotty was sure he’d get the job as head cameraman. It was a real surprise to everyone when P.K. got it instead. Scotty was mad about that, but he got even madder when Ross chose P.K. to be his assistant.”

“And Scotty thought that he should have been Ross’s assistant?”

“Yes . . . at least that’s what everyone says.”

“Were you working out here then, Betty?”

“No, not when P.K. got the head cameraman position. But people talk and I heard all about it from more than one person. When Scotty got passed over for the promotion, he started to resent the heck out of P.K.”

“But you weren’t actually here then?”

“No, but I was here when Ross took the job as head of special programming. And I saw what happened when Ross and P.K. went out to the Lake Eden Inn to cover the Food Network Dessert Chef Competition.”

“Scotty felt he should have gone with Ross instead?”

“I’ll say! And it burned him even more when Ross went out on location with that special job they gave him a couple of weeks ago, and P.K. started using Ross’s office. Every time Scotty went past the door, he glared at P.K. just like he wanted to kill him.”

“Do you think Scotty actually did?”

Betty looked stunned by that question. “I didn’t exactly mean it like that,” she tried to explain, “but . . . to tell the truth, I don’t know. I don’t think it went that far, but I can tell you that Scotty criticized P.K. every chance he got. He didn’t even warm up to P.K.’s girlfriend, and she was as sweet as sweet could be.”

“Then you knew P.K.’s girlfriend?”

“Not well, but I met her a couple of times. She used to drive out to pick up P.K. so they could go to dinner.”

“In her pink Jeep?” Hannah asked, remembering what Cyril had told her.

“Yes.” Betty laughed. “Silliest thing I ever saw, but that girl loved her pink Jeep. She even found pink and white seat covers for the bucket seats. And P.K. gave her one of those vanity license plates that said ‘PINKIE’ on it.”

“Do you happen to know Pinkie’s real name?” Hannah asked.

Betty thought about that for a moment, and then she shook her head. “I don’t think I ever heard it. P.K. always called her Pinkie and so did everyone else.”

“How about Pinkie’s last name?”

Betty shook her head again. “No, but maybe Carol would know. When I send her back to try one of your yummy bar cookies, you can ask her.”

“Were Carol and Pinkie friends?”

“Not really, but Carol knows everything about everybody. She’s been here from the beginning, and she’s a walking encyclopedia of facts about the employees and their visitors. And even better, she doesn’t mind telling anyone who’ll listen.”

“Can you send Carol in first?” Hannah asked.

“Sure, but why?”

“Because she can tell me about everyone else and then I’ll know what to ask them.”

“Makes sense to me,” Betty said, rising from her chair. “Okay, Hannah. Carol first, and then Scotty.”

Hannah waited until Betty left and then she removed the napkin from the platter. She attempted to think of the questions she wanted to ask Carol, and then she decided that it was better to simply let Carol talk about P.K.’s murder. Betty had promised that Carol wouldn’t mind talking to anyone who would listen, and she was a good listener.

Hannah sipped her coffee as she waited. She really ought to tell Carol about the phone tree that Delores had established, the one Hannah and her sisters called the Lake Eden Gossip Hotline. Their mother could use someone like Carol as a resource.

*

Twenty minutes later, Hannah turned to a blank page in the stenographer’s notebook she referred to as her murder book, and waited for Scotty to arrive. Carol hadn’t known Pinkie’s real name, but she’d been delighted to tell Hannah everything about everyone else who worked at KCOW Television. Carol had been sure that an employee named Martha might have wanted to kill P.K. at one time. She said that P.K. had dated Martha once, and then he hadn’t asked her out again. According to Carol, Martha had been devastated by P.K.’s apparent disinterest and she’d said several times that someone ought to show him what happened to a man who broke a woman’s heart.

Hannah had written all this down dutifully, but then Carol had uprooted the suspicion that had been planted in Hannah’s mind. She’d said that Martha was engaged now and everyone in the office, including P.K., had received invitations to the wedding.