Raspberry Danish Murder (Hannah Swensen #22)(56)

“This is the second batch I made. The first batch is on the bakers rack if you’d like to taste one.”

“Yes. Thanks!” Hannah hurried to the bakers rack and plucked a warm cookie from one of the shelves. She took a small bite, just to taste, and then she took another much larger bite because the first had been so delicious.

“Sit down, Hannah. You look tired.” Michelle motioned toward the work station. “I’ll pour us both a cup of coffee and we can decide what to bake next.”

“Please get more of these cookies, first,” Hannah said, taking another bite as she turned and headed for her favorite stool. When she reached it, she sat down, finished her cookie, and accepted the coffee and plate of cookies that Michelle brought to her.

“Do you think the customers will like them?” Michelle asked.

“They’ll love them. Try one and you’ll see.”

Michelle smiled as she sat down on the stool across from Hannah. “Norman told me about all the money in those accounts that Ross left for you. It’s a lot of money, Hannah!”

“I know,” Hannah said, but her mind added a second sentence. Just wait until you tell her about the safe deposit box!

“Did Mike get any idea of where Ross is from the bank records?”

“He didn’t really tell me if he did or he didn’t and I didn’t want to ask in front of Doug. Doug did tell us that Ross requested the money he withdrew that day in bills no larger than twenties and fifties.”

“Is that important?”

“I don’t think so. Most people who are going on a trip take money with them, and they usually take denominations that are easy to spend.”

“That makes sense.”

“I asked Doug if Ross had purchased any traveler’s checks.”

“Smart!” Michelle was clearly impressed. “Did he?”

“No. Mike followed up by asking if Ross had changed any money into foreign currency, and Doug told him no to that, too.”

“No clues there, right?”

“I don’t think so.” Hannah took a sip of her coffee and picked up another cookie. It was time to tell Michelle about the contents of Ross’s safe deposit box.

“What?” Michelle asked, noticing that Hannah’s expression had changed.

“Something else really unusual happened. I found out that Ross had a safe deposit box, and since it was one of those self-service ones and he left me the keys, Mike went with me to open it.”

Hannah described how amazed she’d been to see the stacks of bills and how they’d discovered the key that had slid under one of the stacks. When she was through, Michelle just shook her head.

“This gets stranger and stranger,” Michelle said. “Were you able to identify the key?”

“It looks like a padlock key, and we think it’s the key to a storage unit because it says Superior Storage on one side. Mike says he’s going to check it out, but he’s pretty busy with P.K.’s murder right now. And that’s one of the reasons I insisted on keeping the key.”

“Can I see it?”

“Yes.” Hannah drew the key from her pocket and handed it to Michelle.

“You’re right, Hannah. It’s a key to a storage unit and the number’s stamped on the back. Superior Storage is a really big chain of storage units and they’re all over the place.”

“How do you know that?”

“There’s a storage facility marked Superior Storage in St. Paul. I walk by it every day on my way to the campus. One of my college roommates wanted to put some things in storage so she went to the office and rented a unit. She said the lady told her that they had facilities all over Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa.”

“I wonder if Ross’s storage unit is in the St. Paul building.”

“I can find out right now,” Michelle said, reaching for her cell phone.

Hannah listened as her sister made the call. It only took a moment to discover that Ross didn’t have a storage unit in the St. Paul building.

“Sorry,” Michelle said after she’d ended the call. “The lady told me his name isn’t on unit three-twelve.”

“Oh, well. That really would have been too good to be true. Thanks for trying.”

“I can get a list online and call some of the other buildings,” Michelle offered.

“That’s a good idea, but do it tomorrow. That storage unit isn’t going anywhere.” Hannah got up to get more coffee for both of them. When she’d topped off their cups with hot coffee, she said, “I have something else to tell you. I didn’t spend all that time at the bank.”

“Where did you go?”

“I drove out to KCOW. I stopped by here, but everybody was in the coffee shop so I didn’t bother to tell anyone where I was going. I just picked up some cookie bars and dashed out there.”

“Tell me all about it,” Michelle said, leaning forward. “Did you find any new suspects?”

“Yes, and I learned a little more about Pinkie.”

“Her name?”

“No. Everybody at KCOW just called her Pinkie. Nobody I talked to knew her real name. But I did find out that P.K. and Pinkie went to high school together.”

“Oh, good! Then we can find out where. We’re going to the funeral and P.K.’s parents will be there. All we have to do is ask them where he went to high school.”