Strawberry Shortcake Murder

by Joanne Fluke

  Mike winced, and Hannah knew her barb had hit its mark. He’d remembered the words he’d used when he’d warned her not to meddle in his case.

  “Maybe I shouldn’t have been quite so hard on you,” Mike admitted. “Would it help if I offered to eat my words?”

  “Not really.” Hannah shook her head. When a person like Mike ate his words, it was recycling. She’d just hear them again, in a slightly different form.

  “Come on, Hannah.” Mike reached back to pat her arm. “I really need your help on this. Can’t you just forget what I said and tell me what you know?”

  Hannah knew that it was about as close to an apology as she’d get and decided to accept it. “All right. But how about if I show you instead of telling you?”

  “Show me? Did you stumb…” Mike cut himself off, and it took him a moment to rephrase what he’d been about to say. “Did you uncover some evidence?”

  Mike was learning, and Hannah decided to reward him. She handed him the three prints of Boyd’s murder. She’d see what he thought before she gave him Norman’s blowup of the killer’s cuff link. “I don’t know if it’s evidence or not, but it could be the reason Lucy was murdered. Take a look and see.”

  Mike snapped on the dome light, Bill slid over for a closer look, and they examined the photos together. Then Mike asked, “Did Lucy take these pictures?”

  “They were taken with her camera.” Hannah repeated what Norman had told her. “I don’t know the exact time, but I’ve narrowed it down to between Wednesday at five and Thursday morning at daybreak.”

  “Do you think they’re pictures of Boyd Watson’s murder?”

  “Definitely.”

  Bill looked doubtful. “It’s not exactly definite. The time frame fits, but they’re so dark, it’s impossible to tell for sure.”

  “That’s right,” Mike agreed. “They’d never stand up in court, Hannah. If you have the negatives, our photographer might be able to lighten them up.”

  “He can’t.” Hannah shook her head. “This is as good as it gets, Mike. Norman developed the film for me, and he’s great in the darkroom. Your guy can try, but he won’t be able to do any better.”

  Bill’s eyes narrowed. “Wait a minute. When did Norman have time to develop this film?”

  “This morning. It was right after I found it. That’s all you want to know.”

  “You gave Lucy’s film to Norman Rhodes?” Mike sounded shocked.

  “That’s right. I didn’t know what was on it, and I knew you’d ask a lot of questions if I brought it out to the station. It was easier to take it to Norman.”

  “But how did you manage to…” Bill stopped himself, just in time. “Do we want to know how you found Lucy’s film?”

  “No. That’s not important.”

  Bill looked a little nervous about her answer, but he didn’t press it. “And you think that Lucy shot this film?”

  “I’m ninety-nine percent sure, but I didn’t find her in time to ask her. This is just a hunch because I’m not a…”

  “Trained professional,” Mike interrupted her before she could use that particular phrase again.

  “That’s right. Do you want to know my theory?” Both men nodded, and Mike leaned closer, over the back of his seat. Hannah felt vindicated. He’d progressed from warning her not to meddle to valuing her opinion in the space of a few minutes. “I think that Lucy was there in the alley on the night that Boyd was murdered. She saw the whole thing and took those pictures. They’re dark because she didn’t dare use her flash.”

  “That makes sense,” Mike said. “And you think the killer discovered that Lucy took pictures of him?”

  “Of course. That’s why she ended up dead. Lucy knew who he was, and he had to get rid of her before she could talk.”

  “Do you know when Lucy was killed?” Bill asked.

  “I can only guess.”

  “Guess.” Mike flashed her a smile. “So far, you’re the best guesser we’ve got.”

  That made Hannah feel good, and she smiled back. “Dick Laughlin told me that Lucy left the inn last night at midnight. And she didn’t keep her seven o’clock dental appointment with Norman this morning.”

  “So it was between midnight and seven?”

  “That’s my best guess. Lucy didn’t call to cancel, and Norman said she’d never been late before. I’ve got to assume that she was already dead by that time.”

  “Okay.” Mike took out his notebook and jotted down the times. “Maybe Doc Knight can narrow it down even more than that. Let’s think about the logistics for a minute. Boyd’s killer murdered Lucy between midnight and seven, then he went up to her apartment to search for the film she took?”

  Hannah nudged Andrea to keep her silent. There was no way she wanted to admit that they’d been in Lucy’s apartment at seven this morning. “That’s not quite right. I think he killed her and fled the scene. Maybe one of Lucy’s neighbors turned on a light or something and he panicked. He came back later to search for the film.”

  “How do you know he didn’t kill Lucy and go right up to her apartment to…” Mike stopped as Bill gave him a nudge. “I shouldn’t ask?”

  “That’s right. You’ll just have to take my opinion on it, Mike.”

  Mike looked as if he wanted to press her for details, but he managed to curb his curiosity. “Okay. Do you know when the killer came back to look for the film?”

  “After seven-forty-five this morning and…” Hannah turned to Andrea. “What time did Vera give us her key?”

  “Nine. I looked at my watch right before we went up the stairs.”

  “I just thought of something.” Bill looked alarmed as he turned to Hannah. “Is there any way the killer could know that you’ve got Lucy’s film? I mean, if Lucy said anything before he killed her, you could be in big trouble!”

  “Relax, Bill.” Hannah smiled to reassure him. “The killer doesn’t know that I have it.”

  “You’re sure?” Mike sounded equally worried.

  “I’m positive. The killer assumes he found it and destroyed it. He pulled all of Lucy’s film out of their canisters. You’ll see that when you get up to her apartment.”

  “Wait a second.” Bill looked confused again. “Wouldn’t the killer take Lucy’s film and develop it to make sure he had the right pictures?”

  “Not unless he’s got his own darkroom. Think about it, Bill. There’s no way he’d take an incriminating piece of evidence down to Lake Eden Neighborhood Pharmacy and send it off for processing.”

  “You’ve got a good point,” Mike said.

  “Of course I do. And I have another piece of the puzzle if you want to see it.”

  “You said see.” Mike picked up on her word immediately. “Is it another picture?”

  Hannah handed him her final print. “It’s a blowup Norman did from the last shot on Lucy’s roll, the one where the killer is raising his arm. It’s the killer’s cuff link, and it’s clearer than the rest of the picture because it was glittering in the moonlight.”

  Mike stared at the last print for a moment and then he handed it to Bill. “It’s a horse head, and it looks like an antique.”

  “It’s also rare,” Andrea informed them. “I dashed over to Mother’s this afternoon and looked it up in one of her auction catalogues. The last pair that went on the block sold for seven thousand dollars.”

  Hannah turned to Andrea in surprise. She hadn’t known that her sister had done that particular piece of legwork. “When did you find time to do that?”

  “Right after John and Wendy bought the farm.”

  “Don’t say bought the farm.” Hannah started to laugh. “Especially not with a killer on the loose.”

  Mike cracked up, and so did Bill and Andrea. It felt good to laugh, and it relieved the tension. For a few moments, all of them managed to push the brutality of the two murders out of their minds, but then they saw headlights at the mouth of the alley as Doc Knight’s Explorer pulled in. It was a tangible reminde
r that violent death lay only a few feet away, and their laughter ended abruptly.

  “There’s one other thing you should know,” Hannah said quickly, before Mike could get out of the cruiser.

  “You can tell me in a minute.” Mike opened his door and motioned for Bill to do the same. “Just stay right here. We’ll fill Doc in, and I’ll be right back.”

  “What are you going to tell him?” Andrea asked, the moment they were alone.

  “Something new,” Hannah said. She didn’t want to go into the story of Rudy’s outtakes for Wednesday’s montage and that it would take four hours to watch them. “I’ll tell you both when Mike gets back.”

  That seemed to satisfy Andrea because she smiled. “You were really something, Hannah. You told Bill and Mike just what they had to know, and you didn’t even have to lie about the rest. You just…well…what’s the right word?”

  “Evaded. I evaded telling them the whole truth.”

  “That’s it. You evaded, and it worked out just fine. You know, Hannah? Maybe I shouldn’t say this, but I think you’d make a great real-estate agent.”

  “Aren’t you happy, Hannah?” Andrea asked as they drove down the snowy streets to the school.

  “Happy?”

  “Yes. Mike finally agreed to let us do some real detective work. He gave us his permission to watch the outtakes.”

  “Right.” Hannah pulled into the lot. There was no need to burst Andrea’s bubble by telling her that Mike and Bill might have had an ulterior motive. If she and Andrea watched the outtakes, they’d be saving the real detectives four hours of work, and they’d be safely in the KCOW production truck with the night engineer. Hannah suspected that it was Mike’s way of keeping them out of trouble, but perhaps she was being uncharitable. “Are you sure you don’t mind watching the tapes with me?”

  “I don’t mind. There could be some pictures of Tracey. Wasn’t it nice of Mason Kimball to offer to make me a copy if we found some?”

  “Yes, it was.” Hannah thought about Mason’s antique cuff links and made a mental note to ask him if he’d talked to Ellen about any with horse heads on them. It probably wouldn’t do any good, but it couldn’t hurt to follow up. Even if they’d been sold, the jeweler in the mall might have kept records of something that valuable. It was a long shot, but not impossible.

  “Bill said he’d be at least another two hours,” Andrea said. “He’ll pick me up here when he’s through. I hope he’s late. I’d really like to see the whole tape.”

  “Maybe he will be.” Hannah pulled around the building and parked next to the production truck. “Okay, Andrea. Let’s go. Reach in the back and snag some cookies. I still haven’t eaten, and my stomach is growling.”

  “Oh-oh.” Andrea held up the empty bag of Cocoa Snaps. “I just ate the last one. Do you want to make a trip out to the Quick Stop and get some snacks?”

  Hannah considered it for a brief moment, but driving out to the Quick Stop would take at least fifteen minutes, and it was already close to eleven. “Never mind. It won’t kill me to go without food for another couple of hours. I’ll catch something later, when I get home.”

  “Moishe.”

  “What?”

  “You’ll catch Moishe when you get home. I thought it was really cute when you unlocked your door and he jumped right up in your arms. He must really miss you when you’re gone all day.”

  “All Moishe misses is a full food bowl,” Hannah said, even though she didn’t really believe it. Moishe did seem to miss her, and that made her feel good.

  They climbed up the metal steps to the production truck, and Hannah knocked. She heard footsteps approaching, and then the door opened to reveal a bearded man with a ponytail and a diamond stud in his left ear.

  “Hannah Swensen?” the engineer asked.

  “That’s right. Mason Kimball gave me permission to watch Rudy’s outtakes for Wednesday. I brought my sister, Andrea, to help me.”

  “No problem.” The engineer took one look at Andrea and started to smile. “Come in, and I’ll set you up. I’m P.K.”

  Hannah wondered what P.K. stood for, but it didn’t really matter. They followed him down a hallway to a door near the end of the truck. P.K. opened it and gestured for them to go inside.

  “This is Mason’s screening room. He said you could use it. Sit down, and I’ll get you the tapes.”

  Hannah was impressed. The small room was like a den with two swivel chairs and a table between them. A television set was pulled out from the opposite wall and a rolling cart with a large VCR was set up right next to it.

  “Not bad,” Andrea said, taking a seat in one of the swivel chairs. “It would look a lot better with wallpaper instead of that dark paneling, but it’s cozy.”

  “Cozy?” Hannah stared around at the perfectly bare walls. “I thought cozy meant chintz and teddy bears.”

  “Not in real estate. A small room is cozy, a large room is spacious, and a kitchen is a gourmet’s dream.”

  In a few moments, P.K. came back with four tapes in black boxes. They were bigger than the tapes Hannah had for her home VCR, and she figured that they were the three-quarter-inch kind that Rudy had mentioned. He opened one of the boxes and slid the tape into the VCR. “I’ll start it for you and teach you how to use the remote. Have you ever used a VCR?”

  “Yes,” Hannah answered, “but the one I have isn’t three-quarter-inch.”

  “The controls are pretty much the same. The tape’s a different size, that’s all.”

  “I have a VCR at home, too.” Andrea smiled at him as he perched on the edge of her chair, and Hannah suspected that her sister had made another conquest. She looked good in her tight black slacks and fuzzy pink sweater, and men had never been able to resist Andrea.

  “Then you’ll be able to handle this one just fine.” P.K. held out the remote so that Andrea could see it. “There’s play, stop, fast-forward, rewind, freeze-frame, pause, and the search buttons.”

  Hannah almost hooted. Andrea always let Bill set the VCR, and she’d probably never held a remote in her life. But she nodded knowledgeably, and P.K. seemed satisfied.

  “Just don’t touch that circle in the middle,” P.K. warned. “That’s for something you don’t need. Do you know about time codes?”

  Andrea shook her head and turned to Hannah. “Do you?”

  “Mason mentioned them. He said we should write them down if we wanted him to dupe a tape of something.”

  “Okay.” P.K. tore his eyes away from Andrea and turned to Hannah. “Time codes are a bunch of numbers that advance at the bottom of the screen. The cam puts them on automatically. It’s distracting at first, but you’ll learn to ignore it.”

  P.K. turned on the tape, and they saw a picture of the school. There were numbers at the bottom of the screen, just as P.K. had told them, and the fractions of seconds clicked by so fast, Hannah barely had time to read them.

  “When you find something you want, press the freeze-frame.” P.K. held up the remote and demonstrated. “Then all you have to do is back up the tape with the reverse search and freeze-frame it again to read the number.”

  “Okay. I can handle that,” Hannah said. “We write down the number at the beginning?”

  “And at the end. Bracket the section of the tape for me with time codes. That’ll tell me what footage you want and how long it lasts.” P.K. demonstrated again and handed Andrea the remote. “I’ll get you a couple of notepads and pens from Mason’s office.”

  “Thanks,” Andrea smiled up at him. “I’m sorry we’re so much trouble.”

  Hannah waited until P.K. had left and then she turned to her sister. “You’re sorry we’re so much trouble?”

  “I had to say something.” Andrea shrugged. “He’s being very nice.”

  “He might be getting a little too nice. And you’re flirting with him.”

  “I always flirt. Bill doesn’t mind. He knows that I’d never actually do anything. And he understands that flirting makes it e
asier for me to get what I want.”

  Hannah had never heard it put quite that way before, but at least Andrea was being honest with herself. “Okay. What do you want from P.K.?”

  “Coffee. If I smile a couple more times and happen to mention how cold I am, he’s bound to offer to bring us some.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Viewing the outtakes was exciting at first, especially when they saw their friends appear on Rudy’s tape. Hannah and Andrea kept their eyes glued to the monitor, pens poised to write down the time codes. Then the novelty began to wear off. Since the footage Rudy had shot was especially for the montage, and that had been designed to be set to music, there was background noise but no clear comments. Occasionally, they heard Rudy’s voice giving information on the location and the people in the scene he was taping, but no one spoke directly to the camera.

  During a long sequence that Rudy had shot on Wednesday morning as he followed the contestants’ cars from the lot at the Lake Eden Inn to the Jordan High auditorium, Andrea gave an impatient sigh. “It’s just cars, Hannah. And the camera’s not close enough to pick up the drivers.”

  “Mason warned me that this would be boring,” Hannah reminded her.

  “You told me. I just didn’t think it would be this boring. How long do we have to go?”

  Hannah glanced at the time code flashing on the bottom of the screen. “Three and a half hours.”

  “Can you fast-forward through this part?”

  “I’d better not. We might miss something.”

  Andrea took another sip of the coffee that P.K. had brought them. “I guess you’re right,” she conceded. “Which car is Mr. Avery driving?”

  “The dark blue Ford, but we’ve already eliminated him as a suspect.”

  “We have?”

  “Yes. Both Sally and Dick said he was at the wrap party with his wife at the time Boyd was killed. Just to make sure, I confirmed it with Jeremy and Belle Rutlege.”

  “Okay, he didn’t kill Boyd. But that doesn’t mean he couldn’t have killed Lucy. After all, she blackmailed him. Lucy’s killer could have been any one of her blackmail victims. They could have been trying to get even with her or recover the evidence she used against them. They didn’t know that we had all of her pictures and negatives.”