Raspberry Danish Murder (Hannah Swensen #22)(96)

“Right.” Norman looked up to see Adam Wang coming out of the kitchen door. “Here comes our order of giant shrimp rolls.”

“Are the rolls with shrimp giant, or does giant refer to the shrimp?” Michelle asked.

“I posed that same question to Adam when I ordered them,” Norman told her. “The shrimp are giant shrimp. And I’m going to order two giant shrimp without the rolls to take back for Moishe and Cuddles.”

Once she’d ordered the rest of her meal, Hannah glanced around at the décor. The dining room was lovely with pale green booths lining the walls and ebony tables in the center. A chandelier hung from the center of the ceiling, casting a soft light over the interior. It was made of cylinders covered with something that reminded Hannah of rice paper. Some cylinders were longer and others were shorter, and they were arranged in a pattern that made them resemble the petals of a mammoth flower. The muted light cast a soft glow on the honey-colored floor. Even the window treatments added to the serene feel. The plate glass was covered with ebony wooden-framed panels of printed silk so thin that it was almost possible to see outside, but not quite. The print on the silk was done in muted colors and the design was of pink cherry blossoms with pale green leaves. There were large prints of flowers on the walls, soft music was piped into the room, and the serving dishes picked up the color of the cherry blossoms in the panels that covered the windows.

“Lovely,” Hannah breathed, not even realizing that she’d spoken aloud.

“Yes, isn’t it,” Michelle agreed. “I’m glad we finally came in to eat here. It’s very relaxing.”

Their main dishes arrived, delivered by Adam and his wife. Hannah felt a sense of déjà vu as the succulent food was placed on the table. “It’s just like at home when we unpack the takeout,” she commented once Adam and his wife had left the table.

“We ordered too much food?” Michelle guessed.

“Right. We won’t have to worry about dinner tomorrow. There’s no way we can finish all this food, and we’ll be taking it home to enjoy tomorrow night.”

*

“Let’s see if Moishe will be more active today,” Hannah said, motioning for Michelle to stand in front of the outside door to the condo.

Michelle braced herself and prepared for Moishe to race out the door and jump into her arms. “I bet he will be. He’s been waiting at least half an hour for his dinner.”

Hannah retrieved her keys from her purse and inserted the door key in the lock. She turned it, opened the door, and stepped quickly to the side.

Nothing, absolutely nothing happened. There was no sound of Moishe rushing down the hallway, no welcoming yowl, and no leap into Michelle’s waiting arms.

“Looks like you were wrong,” Hannah said. “Let’s go wake him up and give him his dinner. He’ll perk up when Cuddles comes.”

After Michelle had closed and locked the door behind her, they heard a noise from the bedroom. Then there was a thump as Moishe jumped off the bed and, a moment or two later, he padded into the living room, yawning.

“Were you sleeping?” Michelle asked the obvious.

“Rrrroowww!” Moishe answered her. Then he jumped up to the back to the couch and looked at Hannah expectantly.

“Okay,” Hannah told him, reaching out to pet his soft fur and giving him a scratch behind his ears. “Michelle will get your kitty treats and then I’ll feed you. How’s that?”

The answer this time was a loud purr, and Hannah thought, not for the first time, how Moishe truly appeared to understand what she was saying. “You’re going to have shrimp later tonight. Norman is bringing Cuddles to play with you.”

“Rrrroowwwww!”

The response was loud and prolonged, and Hannah laughed. “That’s right. Cuddles and shrimp, your favorite combination. You two can eat and play until Norman, Michelle, and I finish making phone calls.”

Moishe turned to Michelle, who was coming in from the kitchen with a canister he recognized. It contained the fish-shaped, salmon-flavored kitty treats that were his favorites.

“I’ll put some food in his bowl and then I want to take a quick shower,” Hannah told Michelle. “It’ll only take me a few minutes, and then you can shower if you want to.”

“I want to,” Michelle said. “I feel a little grubby after working all day. Go ahead, Hannah. When you leave, I’ll put on a pot of coffee and check the answering machine to see if Mike called. Fingers crossed, his team has found Ross’s storage locker and discovered some clue to where Ross went and why he left in the first place.”

The smell of fresh coffee was an incentive to hurry as Hannah emerged from her shower. She dressed in a clean pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt, ran a brush through her hair, and went down the hallway to the kitchen to get a cup.

“My turn,” Michelle said, gesturing toward the kitchen. “I poured a cup for you and set it on the counter.”

“Anything on the answering machine?” Hannah asked.

“No calls. If you want to do something, cut that pan of bar cookies on the counter.”

“You baked bar cookies in fifteen minutes?” Hannah asked, clearly astounded.

“Of course not. I baked them this morning before you got up and stuck them in the refrigerator in case we needed a dessert for tonight.”