Raspberry Danish Murder (Hannah Swensen #22)(81)

“What makes you say that?”

“Under her credits, it lists both the junior and senior class plays. None of the other girls wearing pink were in both plays.”

“Okay. Let’s assume that Pinkie is Mary Jo Hart. How do we find out for sure?”

Hannah looked down at her wrist and realized that she’d forgotten her watch at The Cookie Jar. “What time is it, Michelle?”

Michelle looked at the display on her cell phone. “Almost a quarter after four.”

“On a Thursday,” Hannah began to smile. “We’ve got a chance of finding out more if you call Clarissa High and there’s someone who’s still in the office.”

“Got it.” Michelle found the number of the office on the high school’s website. She punched in the number and switched to speaker phone mode so that Hannah could hear it ringing.

The phone rang five times and Hannah began to frown. “I think the office is closed.”

“Maybe not. Let’s give it ten rings before we give up.”

The phone rang three more times, and then a woman answered. “Clarissa High. This is Lila speaking.”

“Hi, Lila. I have Miss Swensen on the phone for the principal. Is he still in?”

“No. I’m sorry, but he had to leave early today. Is there anything I can do to help you?”

Michelle handed the phone to Hannah. “Hello, Lila. This is Hannah Swensen from Swensen Enterprises. I’m calling to see if the school has a current phone number and address for one of our job applicants, Mary Jo Hart. The address and phone number on her resume are no longer current and we’d like to speak to her about an opening in our corporation.”

“Oh, dear!” Lila sounded very distressed. “I’m afraid that . . . well . . . Miss Hart is no longer . . . uh . . . available.”

An expression of surprise crossed Hannah’s face, and it was mirrored on Michelle’s. “Oh, I see. If you don’t mind me asking, has Miss Hart found another position?”

There was a long pause, and then Lila spoke again. “No, not exactly. Miss Hart is no longer . . . with us.”

Hannah felt her hopes sink. If Lila meant what Hannah feared she meant, Mary Jo Hart was dead.

“We are speaking about the same person, aren’t we?” Hannah continued. “The Mary Jo Hart who applied with us gave her nickname as Pinkie.”

“Yes, that was Pinkie,” Lila responded. “She had the lead in the junior play and after that, everyone began to call her Pinkie. And now both of them are gone. They were two of our most promising students, and it’s so terribly sad. I read about what happened to Porter in the papers.”

“Oh my,” Hannah said. “Was Pinkie murdered, too?”

Lisa hesitated and then she sighed heavily. “Pinkie committed suicide. I’m not exactly sure how, but someone told me it was pills.”

“That must have been devastating for her family!” Hannah said, hoping to get even more information. “How long ago was that?”

“A little over a month. Such a waste. She was a lovely girl. I think poor Pinkie went into a terrible depression when Porter broke off their engagement. Porter was the love of her life and a real stabilizing influence on her in high school.”

“Stabilizing?” Hannah asked, trolling for more clarification.

“Yes. I knew Pinkie quite well, and it had a profound effect on her life when her parents died. A terrible accident on the freeway coming from the airport in the Cities. Her brother did all he could to help her, but he had to work to support them. He had a very good job in the Cities and he came home every weekend to be with her.”

“So Pinkie lived alone in her parents’ house?”

“Her parents’ farm,” Lila corrected her. “But it’s hard to be all alone in a farmhouse way out in the country. Pinkie’s brother ended up selling the farm, and renting a two-bedroom apartment in town for them.”

“Was Pinkie glad to move to town?” Hannah asked her.

“Yes. It saved her a long bus ride to school. I never personally met her brother, but she talked about him all the time.”

“Do you remember his name?” Hannah asked.

There was a long silence and then Lila sighed. “I just don’t recall. It was something simple, like Bob or Tom, but I can’t remember it. He sounded like a really nice man. I know he tried very hard to take care of Pinkie, but he was gone all week and I think Pinkie was lonely. She had Porter, but he worked part-time after school and he couldn’t spend all of his time with her.”

“Didn’t Pinkie have any friends?”

“The rest of the girls liked her, but she didn’t have a best friend or anything like that. Except for Porter, Pinkie was a bit of a loner. You know the type. Friendly enough, but subdued. I think that was why she liked to hang around the office and help me after school. To tell the truth, I think that’s why she got a good job when she graduated. She had front office experience.” There was a pause, and then Lila spoke again. “Here I go, running off my mouth again. I think that’s because the whole thing is so sad. I can’t believe that Pinkie and Porter are both gone.”

“Thank you for telling me all this,” Hannah said. “And I want you to know that I’m sorry, too. I really wanted to hire Pinkie as a high-level secretary.”