Lemon Meringue Pie Murder (Hannah Swensen Mysteries)

by Joanne Fluke

  “Not really. Somebody could have kept it in a safe deposit box or under a mattress all these years. And sometimes people just like to save money in mint condition.”

  “You mean collectors?”

  “There’s nothing collectible about this bill, but it could have been some sort of a keepsake, framed and put under glass. When people give money as a gift, they usually come in to get new bills.”

  Hannah nodded and reached out to take back her bill.

  “What’s the matter?” Doug asked her. “You look a little disappointed.”

  “Lisa and I thought maybe we’d stumbled onto a counterfeiting ring. It would have been interesting.”

  Doug gave a small, humorless laugh. “I don’t think you want to get involved with something like that. If that bill were counterfeit, you’d have federal agents breathing down your neck in two seconds flat.”

  “New customers,” Hannah said with a grin, slipping the bill inside her purse and getting up from her chair. “Thanks, Doug. I guess we’ll never know the story behind that new-old bill. I thought it might be contraband and someone had sat on it for years, afraid to spend it before now.”

  “Wait a second, Hannah. You might have something there. Let me check the serial number.”

  “What will that tell you?”

  “When a bank gets new bills, they come in packaged by denomination and serial number. If this one was stolen in a bank robbery and they took packaged bills from the safe, the bank would have reported the serial numbers to the authorities.”

  “And you can check that?”

  “Of course. The computer’s in the middle of an automatic backup right now, but I’ve got hard copy of the loot list.”

  “Loot list?”

  “That’s what we call it. The official title is about twenty words long. It’s a cross-reference index by year and serial number.”

  “And it lists money from bank robberies?”

  “It lists some of it. If a robber comes in and empties the cash drawer, there’s no record of the serial numbers. But if he takes money from the safe, there is. And it’s not just from bank robberies. It’s also a list of marked money.”

  “Like the cops give out when they’re trying to track down a ring of scam artists?”

  “That’s right. Hold on a second and I’ll get the printout.”

  Hannah poured herself more coffee while Doug was gone. It was so good, she even considered installing a gourmet coffee bar in The Cookie Jar, but she didn’t think that would go over well in Lake Eden. New fads took years to catch on and the residents in Lake Eden would balk at paying three or four dollars of their hard-earned cash for a cup of designer coffee.

  “I’ve got it,” Doug said, coming in the door with a large three-ring notebook. “Read off that serial number and I’ll see if it’s in here.”

  Hannah gave him the serial number and Doug flipped the pages to the proper section. He ran his fingers down a long line of numbers and then he looked up with an excited expression. “I knew it was a long shot, but it’s in here. Your ten-dollar bill was part of the cash that was stolen from the Redwing City Bank in June of nineteen seventy-four.”

  “Stolen money?”

  “That’s right. Keep your eye out for more and tell Lisa to do the same. I’ll copy this page and give it to Sheriff Grant. He can have his deputies distribute it to every merchant in town, and we might be able to catch ourselves a bank robber. Think back, Hannah. Do you have any idea who gave you this bill?”

  Hannah assumed the most innocent expression she could muster as she shook her head. She remembered what Doug had said about federal agents breathing down her neck, and she wasn’t about to involve her baby sister in a bank robbery investigation until she’d had the chance to talk to her first.

  Chapter

  Nineteen

  O f course Delores had called to invite her to the family party. Once Hannah had fed Moishe, she changed into a pair of old jeans that had become threadbare through frequent washings and were perfect for summer. The waist felt a bit loose and that made her wonder just how many pounds she’d lost.

  Hannah glanced in the mirror as she slipped into a cotton pullover sweater with short sleeves. It was in one of her favorite colors, a muted teal that looked good with her red hair. She’d worn it for good until she’d dripped mustard on the front at the volunteer fire department’s picnic last year. The mustard had come out, but the stain remover she’d used had lightened the material. Rather than relegate the sweater to the ragbag, she’d dabbed the stain remover on in a random pattern all over the material, washed it again, and now she had several dozen dime-sized circles of light teal dancing down the front and back of her new “designer” sweater.

  It didn’t look half bad, Hannah thought, glancing in the mirror. She skinned her hair back into a ponytail, a style she knew was probably too young for her, but she planned to drive with her windows open and she could ditch the elastic band once she got to the lake. Then she went back to the kitchen to refill Moishe’s bowl for the final time, slung her purse over her shoulder, and hurried down to her truck to drive to Eden Lake.

  Twenty minutes later, Hannah found a parking place at the side of the dirt road that ran past the lake cottage that had been in the Swensen family for the past thirty years. It had belonged to her grandparents, who had rented it out every summer for the extra income. When her father had inherited it, he’d done the same. As a child, Hannah had spent two weekends at the cottage every year. One had been at the beginning of May when it was still too cold to set foot in the lake. They’d spent that weekend getting the cabin spruced up and ready for the summer rental season. Hannah’s second summer weekend had been at the tail end of August right after dog days, when the surface of Eden Lake had been covered with algae so thick, Hannah hadn’t been allowed to swim. That time had been spent winterizing the cottage, shutting off the water and bleeding the pipes, covering the screens with heavy plastic to protect them from the icy winter winds, and packing up the dishes and silverware to store for the next summer.

  Hannah sighed as she thought back to her childhood. She’d always dreamed of staying at the cottage during the height of the tourist season, when the tiny grocery store was stocked with a dozen flavors of Popsicles, and there would be other kids from fascinating places like Iowa and Wisconsin to swim with. Now she was here, at the height of the season, and she didn’t even own a swimsuit. And she couldn’t have any Popsicles because she was on a diet. Sometimes life just wasn’t fair.

  Hannah got out of her truck and walked past Andrea’s Volvo. Her sister and niece were here early. There was Norman’s car, too. And Carrie’s. Delores must have invited the whole extended family. That was good. With more people here, it would be easier for her to pull Michelle off in a corner and ask her about the ten-dollar bill.

  As she approached the screen door of the cottage, Hannah sniffed the air. She expected to catch a whiff of Hawaiian Pot Roast, or E-Z Lasagna, her mother’s favorite company dishes. Hannah wasn’t particularly fond of either one, but the fact that she couldn’t eat them made them sound delicious. All she could have was salad and Delores had promised she’d have plenty of that.

  Norman walked over to greet her the moment she walked in the door. At first Hannah was puzzled by the relieved expression on his face until she realized that he’d been talking to Delores. No doubt her mother had been asking him all sorts of personal questions about why he was building such a big house and if he had any plans for the future. “Mother’s been giving you the third degree?” she asked.

  “You could say that.”

  “Then it looks like I got here just in time.”

  “In more ways than one,” Norman told her with a smile. “Bill and Mike went to pick up the pizza and they should be back any minute.”

  “Did you say they were bringing pizza?”

  “Yes, and your mother ordered a low-cal one for you.”

  Hannah started to frown. “That’s got be a contradi
ction in terms. How could a pizza be low-cal?”

  “Maybe they put on low-fat cheese?”

  “That wouldn’t do it. There’s still all that wonderful crust, and the spicy sauce, and pepperoni, and sausage, and olives, and anchovies, and…”

  “Hold it,” Norman said, handing her his handkerchief. “You’re drooling.”

  Hannah took it and made a show of wiping her face even though she knew he was teasing. “Pizza is one of my very favorite things and just one bite would blow my diet.”

  “Don’t you think you’ve lost enough weight? You’re looking positively skinny.”

  “I am?” Hannah stared up at him with a look that was at least a first cousin to adoration.

  “I really didn’t think you needed to lose any weight in the first place.”

  “You didn’t?” If they’d been alone, Hannah would have grabbed him and given him a big kiss. As it was, she felt grateful tears well up in her eyes and she covered her embarrassment at being so emotional with an attempt at humor. “How’s your eyesight?”

  “Twenty-twenty…as long as I wear my glasses.”

  “Glasses? But you’re not wearing any…” Hannah stopped and gave him a stern look. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “Not entirely. I do need to wear glasses, but I switched to contacts a couple of years ago.”

  “Here comes dinner!” Delores called out from her post at the window. “Bill and Mike just drove up. Who wants to run out and help them carry the pizzas in?”

  “I do.” Hannah turned on her heel and headed for the door. If she couldn’t eat the pizza, at least she could get in a couple of good sniffs while she carried it in to the table.

  After dinner, Hannah carried in the box of assorted cookies she’d brought and Delores got out the rest of the dessert. Her mother’s contribution was a huge tub of ice cream with a whole array of jarred toppings from the Red Owl. Hannah took one look at the fudge sauce and wished she had a full complement of talismans to ward off evil. Since she had nothing, not even a necklace of garlic to protect her, she grabbed Michelle while everyone else was munching cookies and building sundaes.

  “Will you walk out on the dock with me?” Hannah asked her. “We need to talk.”

  “Sure. I ate so much of that low-cal pizza, I don’t have any room left for dessert.”

  “What was on it anyway?” Hannah was curious. Since there had been a big tub of salad, she’d filled up on that.

  “Skim-milk mozzarella with sun-dried tomatoes, shredded chicken breast, and asparagus tips. The crust was low-cal too because it was thinner than their regular crust.”

  “So you had to eat twice as much to fill up?”

  Michelle started to grin. “You’re right. I usually eat two pieces and tonight I ate four.”

  Just as Hannah and Michelle were about to go out the door, Andrea saw them and rushed up. “Do you want some company? I’m passing on dessert, too.”

  “Come on then,” Hannah told her. “We’re going out to sit on the dock.”

  “Oh, good. I’m going to dangle my feet in the water. I ran all over town today and my ankles are swelling.”

  “You two go ahead,” Hannah said. “I’ll get the mosquito repellent and meet you down there. They’re really bad this time of night and they’ll eat us alive.”

  Hannah sprayed on her repellent as she walked down the steps to the dock. Once she got there, she tossed the spray bottle to Michelle and handed the lotion to Andrea. “I remembered what you said about aerosols, so I brought you some lotion.”

  “Thanks, Hannah.” Andrea slapped at a mosquito that had already discovered her arm. “Doc Knight’s got a real thing about it while I’m pregnant. I can’t use hair spray, or perfume, or even cooking spray.”

  Hannah laughed. “I don’t think there’s much danger with the cooking spray.”

  “That’s true,” Andrea conceded good-naturedly. “Bill uses it for his eggs in the morning, but he always waits until I leave the kitchen.”

  “I thought you cooked breakfast for him.” Michelle looked surprised.

  “I used to, the first year we were married. I made scrambled eggs every morning, but Bill decided I burned too many frying pans. Now he makes his eggs and I do the toast.”

  Hannah felt like asking how much toast Andrea had managed to burn, but she curbed the question and turned to Michelle. “You gave Lisa a ten-dollar bill today, didn’t you?”

  “Yes. I stopped by to pick up some cookies for Carly while you were out to lunch.”

  “Do you have any idea where you got that bill?”

  “I’m not sure.” Michelle thought for a moment and then she shook her head. “I really don’t remember. Why do you need to know?”

  “It turns out it was stolen from a bank. Doug Greerson looked it up on a list the banks get.”

  Andrea looked surprised. “Bill didn’t say anything about it. Does Sheriff Grant know?”

  “Doug said he’d alert him.” Hannah turned back to Michelle. “That’s why it’s so important to know when and where you got it. They want to track it back to the source.”

  “I’m pretty sure I didn’t bring it with me. When I got to the bus station in Minneapolis, I had four twenties I got from the bank machine, and a couple of ones.”

  “How about your bus ticket?” Andrea asked. “Did you pay for that in cash?”

  “Yes. I wish I could remember how much it was. I think it was almost twenty dollars, so I wouldn’t have gotten a ten back in change.”

  Andrea took out her cell phone and punched in a number. “Did you buy a round-trip, or a one-way?”

  “Round-trip.”

  Hannah and Michelle listened to the one-sided conversation as Andrea asked about the ticket. She thanked the person on the other end of the line, hung up, and turned back to them. “It didn’t come from the bus station. A round-trip ticket to Lake Eden is eighteen dollars and change.”

  “Then I got it right here in town. But I didn’t buy anything. I’m sure I didn’t. The only store I went into was…”

  “Where?” Hannah zeroed in when her sister hesitated.

  “The drugstore. I needed two gemstones so I ran to the drugstore and bought a little package of colored rhinestones.”

  “Rhinestones?” Andrea made a face. “They’re so tacky. You should have called me if you wanted gemstones. They have some very nice synthetic stones that aren’t expensive. We could have gone out to the mall and…”

  “Relax, Andrea,” Hannah interrupted. “Michelle didn’t need good stones. They were just for her teeth.”

  “Her teeth?”

  “Her fake teeth. She’ll explain later.” Hannah turned back to Michelle. “How much were the rhinestones?”

  “Less than ten dollars. And I must have paid with a twenty. That means I would have gotten a ten and some coins back in change.”

  “Makes sense,” Hannah said, considering the possibilities. She wasn’t sure how it all tied in, but Rhonda had worked at the drugstore. Maybe the fact that some of the stolen money had ended up there didn’t have anything to do with Rhonda’s murder, but it was certainly interesting.

  “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Andrea turned to her.

  “Yes,” Hannah said quickly. “We need to find out more about that old bank robbery.”

  “Hello down there!”

  All three sisters turned to see Norman standing at the top of the steps that led to the dock.

  “Is it okay if I come down? Or is this a sisterly bonding moment?”

  “We’re already bonded,” Hannah said with a laugh. “That happened the first time Mother tried to make us eat canned peas. Come on.”

  Once Norman had joined them on the dock, Hannah tossed him the mosquito repellent. “You’d better use this. The mosquitoes are thick tonight.”

  “Thanks, but I don’t need it.”

  “What do you mean, you don’t need it? They’re bloodthirsty. I thought I was going to need a transfusion before I cou
ld get the cap off the bottle.”

  “Mosquitoes don’t bite me.”

  “What?!”

  “It’s true,” Norman said and he looked perfectly sincere. “I don’t know why, but mosquitoes just leave me alone.”

  “Do you take some kind of vitamin supplement?” Michelle asked.

  “No.”

  “How about soap?” Andrea suggested. “Do you use a special kind?”

  “Just whatever’s on sale at CostMart.”

  Hannah began to frown. As far as she knew, mosquitoes bit everyone. They certainly regarded her as a five-course dinner, complete with dessert and beverage. Norman must be putting them on and she’d call his bluff. “I don’t believe you, Norman. Roll up your sleeve and stick out your arm. I want to see this for myself.”

  “Okay,” Norman said agreeably, rolling up his sleeve.

  All three sisters watched as a small cloud of mosquitoes descended, each of them emitting a high-pitched, irritating whine. One of them almost landed on Norman’s bare arm, but it veered away at the last minute.

  “See?” Norman grinned. “They just don’t like me.”

  Hannah gave up in defeat. It was true. Mosquitoes didn’t like Norman. But could she love someone the mosquitoes didn’t like? She’d have to think about that later. Right now, they still had the problem of Michelle’s ten-dollar bill to solve.

  “I guess I’d better bring you up to date,” Hannah told him. “Michelle got a ten-dollar bill today and we found out it was part of the loot from a bank robbery.”

  Norman listened while Hannah explained. “And you need to find out more about that old bank robbery?” he asked.

  “That’s right.”

  “And it happened in Redwing in nineteen seventy-four?”

  “That’s what Doug Greerson told me.”

  “Then it’s easy. It must have been a lead story in the local newspapers at the time. I’ll check to see if any of them have archives on-line.”

  “You can do that?” Hannah was impressed. Her computer skills were limited.

  “No problem. I’ve got my laptop in the car. Do you want me to get on-line right now?”