Raspberry Danish Murder (Hannah Swensen #22)(98)

“I wonder how everyone’s doing down at The Cookie Jar,” Michelle said from the back seat. “Lisa said that Marge and Aunt Nancy were going to meet her there at four to do the baking.”

“That’s right. And then Marge and Jack will handle the customers at The Cookie Jar while Lisa and Aunt Nancy take care of the booth at the convention.”

“I hope they can handle all that,” Michelle said, sounding a bit worried.

“I’m sure they can,” Hannah said, but she began to feel guilty at taking the day off. She’d have to make it up to them somehow. “We should have met them there at four. We could have helped with the baking.”

“Stop feeling guilty,” Michelle told her. “Aunt Nancy said she was looking forward to it. And we’ll be back early and we can help out. We can even bake more cookies if they run short.”

“But I could have gotten up an hour earlier,” Hannah argued.

“No,” Norman said firmly. “You need your sleep, Hannah.”

“Not as much as Michelle. She thought a yard light was the sun.”

“You promised you wouldn’t say anything about that.”

“Oops. Sorry about that, but it was so funny, I had to tell Norman.”

They rode in silence for several miles and then Norman cleared his throat. “Seriously, Hannah . . . I meant what I said about getting more sleep. You have to keep your mind sharp to solve P.K.’s murder. Both Mike and Lonnie said they weren’t getting anywhere.”

“Neither are we. The only lead we have is Gary, and that’s really tentative.”

“But he lied,” Norman pointed out.

“Maybe not if Violet used her married name. And lying about his sister and the hospital doesn’t really make him an automatic suspect. People lie, and you can’t prosecute them for lying unless it’s under oath. We need a lot more than lying to link Gary to the murder case.”

“Maybe we can get more tomorrow,” Michelle said. “You know . . . bring things up in casual conversation and hear what he has to say.”

“Yes. It has to be tomorrow. We’ve only got one more day with Gary,” Norman said, turning off the interstate and taking the exit road. “This is right, isn’t it, Michelle?”

“Yes,” Michelle told him, and there was a big smile on her face. “I’m going to have a Reuben omelet. They’re really good here. Or maybe I’ll have the chopped liver and corned beef on rye. And afterwards, I’m going to buy a loaf of rye to take home with us. It’s the best I’ve ever tasted.”

*

Fifty-five minutes later, they were walking back to Norman’s car. They were heavier than they’d been walking into the deli, but it wasn’t entirely from the huge breakfasts they’d consumed. Norman was carrying two bags, Hannah was carrying one, and Michelle was carrying three. They’d walked past the strategically placed deli section on their way out and the delicious scents coming from the long, refrigerated glass case had prompted them to buy even more. Then they’d passed the bakery section, which had sung a siren’s song to Hannah. She had six chocolate rugalach, four different kinds of hamantaschen, some mandelbread, and a loaf of egg challah. She also had a container of chopped liver, a container of fish salad, a half-pound of sliced corned beef, a half-pound of lox, and two huge containers of pickles, one half-sour and the other sour.

The Superior Storage building wasn’t far from the deli, and they pulled up in the parking lot at five minutes after nine. They sat there for a moment, still digesting their breakfasts, and then Norman opened his car door.

“Let’s go see that unit,” he said.

“We’re ready,” Hannah told him, and since she knew that Norman always opened the car door for her, she waited until he walked around the back of his car and opened her door and Michelle’s door.

The small rental office was clean and bright. There was an older woman with short brown hair sitting at a desk, and Norman walked up to her. “Are you June?” he asked.

“Yes.” June smiled as she spotted Michelle and Hannah. “You came to see the Russell Burton storage unit, right?”

“Right,” Hannah said.

“The unit isn’t far from the office. I’ll show you where it is.”

They followed June past several large buildings. She stopped at another building that was identical to the others, and pointed to the door. “All the units in this building are inside units.”

“You have units that are outside?” Norman asked.

“I know what you’re thinking, so let me explain,” June said. “All the units are inside units, but the door to an outside unit is a big aluminum door that rolls up. It’s wide enough for large items like cars and boats.”

June opened the door to one of the buildings, switched on a bank of lights, and led the way down a wide hallway to a door. “Here it is,” she said. She chose a key on the ring she carried, unlocked the padlock, and opened the door. “There you go,” she said. “You can’t go in and touch anything, but take a look and see if these are your husband’s things.”

Hannah stood just outside the open door and stared at the things that were stored inside. “It looks like everything is in cases of some sort.” She turned to Norman. “I see a few that look like camera cases. Am I right?”