by Joanne Fluke
Ross nodded, but he didn’t look happy. “Yes, but this is a murder investigation. I really should be helping you with things like that, but . . . to tell you the truth, I’m just too beat tonight and I’m afraid I wouldn’t be any help to you at all. Of course I’ll go with you if you really need me, but . . .” he stopped speaking and began to look worried. “Tell me the truth, Cookie. This person you want to see isn’t a suspect, is she?”
“No, not at all!” Hannah hurried to reassure him. “She’s got an air-tight alibi. It’s just that she may have some information I need.”
“You said she’s a friend of Michelle’s?”
“Yes. They went to high school together.”
“I hate to ask this, I know Michelle’s had a long day, too. But . . . will she go to see her friend with you?”
“Absolutely. She’s already offered. I just thought that you might like to go along with us.”
“Then you won’t be upset if I stay here and fall asleep in front of our TV?”
Hannah laughed. “I won’t be upset. I used to fall asleep in front of the television all the time. I’d start a movie, fall asleep in the middle, and when I woke up there’d be something else on.” She sat down on the bed next to Ross and put her arms around him. “It’s okay, Ross. You stay here and relax. Michelle and I will drive out there, find out what we can from her friend, and be home as fast as we can.”
“No hurry. I’ll probably fall asleep the moment you two leave. Those couches are really comfortable. Drive safe, Cookie. Will you promise to wake me when you get home?”
Hannah smiled. “It’s a promise.”
“Good. I’ll probably be sleeping through some late-night movie with Moishe.”
That comment earned Ross another hug. It was good to know that she wasn’t leaving Moishe alone. Ross seemed to genuinely like Moishe and it was clear that Moishe liked him, too.
* * *
A country-western song was playing on the speakers when Hannah and Michelle entered the bar at the Lake Eden Inn. The stools at the bar were fully occupied, but that was fine with Hannah. She wanted a table anyway, so that Tricia could wait on them. She gave Dick, who was shaking some colorful cocktail, a wave of greeting and headed for the table in the corner with Michelle following closely behind her.
It took a moment, but then Tricia saw them. She smiled, picked up an order pad, and hurried to their table. “Hi, Michelle.” And then she turned to Hannah. “Hello, Hannah. I didn’t get a chance afterwards, Hannah, but I’ve got to compliment you on your wedding. It was the most exciting wedding I’ve ever been to. I really enjoyed it!”
“Thank you, Tricia,” Hannah said politely, not mentioning that she’d rather not remember the state she’d been in when she’d arrived at Holy Redeemer Lutheran Church.
“So how’s married life?” Tricia asked her.
“It’s good, Tricia,” Hannah responded, giving her a smile.
Tricia looked only slightly older than the Jordan High student Hannah remembered, the girl Michelle had brought home from school for Hannah’s cookies. The only change Hannah noticed was that that now, Tricia wore her hair piled up in a loose knot on the top of her head and she was wearing makeup. She was no longer the freshly-scrubbed high school student whose mother didn’t allow her to wear any makeup except lipstick to school.
“You look really good, Tricia,” Hannah complimented her, “but you’re making me feel old. You’re all grown up.”
“So is Michelle,” Tricia pointed out.
“Yes, but it happened gradually. I was around to see her grow up. I don’t think I’ve spent any time with you since you two graduated from high school. How’s the world treating you, Tricia?”
“Good. Very good. I’m engaged, Hannah.” Tricia pulled an engagement ring from the pocket of her cocktail waitress apron and placed it on her left hand. “I don’t usually wear it at work because if the guys know I’m engaged, the tips aren’t as good.”
“Who’s the lucky guy?” Hannah asked her.
“Lonnie Murphy’s cousin, Sean. We met last year and things . . .” Tricia paused to smile. “Well, you know how it goes. We haven’t set a date yet, but maybe next year when both of us make enough money to afford a really nice place.”
“Sean’s working for Cyril as a mechanic,” Michelle explained to Hannah. “I introduced them and they hit it off right away.” Michelle reached for the package of cookies that Hannah had brought with her. “Look what Hannah brought for you, Tricia. They’re your favorite Butterscotch Crunch Cookies.”
“Oh, wow!” Tricia gave Hannah a huge smile and Hannah could see the kid lurking behind the grown woman. “Thanks, Hannah! I just love these cookies! My mom calls me every time she buys them at The Cookie Jar, and I drive right over to get some before they’re gone. Thanks a lot for bringing them for me.”
“You’re welcome,” Hannah said, and then she made an executive decision. The interlude for small talk was over and it was time to get down to business. “On a serious note, I really need to talk to you about Tori.”
“Okay. Just let me ask Dick if I can take my break now. Then maybe I can come and sit with you. Did you want something to drink? Or did you just come for information?”
“We want something to drink, too,” Michelle told her. “I’ll have a glass of white wine.”
“The same for me,” Hannah said quickly.
“How about an appetizer? Sally made Cheese Pops.”
“Cheese Pops?” Hannah was immediately interested. “What are those?”
“They’re little cheese balls made out of bleu cheese and cream cheese. Sally rolls them in minced bacon and then she sticks in a salted pretzel as a handle. Would you like to try some?”
“I would,” Hannah responded quickly. “Sally’s appetizers are always wonderful.”
“I would, too.” Michelle added. “Thanks for asking, Tricia.”
When Tricia hurried off to the bar, Hannah turned to Michelle. “Did you play matchmaker with Tricia and Lonnie’s cousin?”
“In a way, I did. I usually don’t do anything like that, but Tricia broke up with the boyfriend she’d been seeing since high school and I thought she needed to meet someone new. Sean’s nice. He went to a couple of places with Lonnie and me, and he didn’t have a girlfriend, so . . . well, they’re both really hardworking people and they were both single and . . . well . . . you know.”
“I do know, and it seems to have worked out just fine. Tricia looks good, almost the same as she did in high school except for her hairstyle and makeup.”
They both watched as Tricia came back to their table with a tray of drinks. She had white wine for Michelle, white wine for Hannah, and water for all three of them.
“Your appetizers are almost ready. They’re just rolling them in the bacon pieces and then they’ll be up. And Dick says I can take my break as soon as I deliver them.”
“Can you sit with us then?” Michelle asked her.
“I’m not supposed to sit with the customers, but Dick says it’s okay because it’s you guys. I just have to keep my eye on the two other tables and serve them if they need anything while we’re talking. I stopped at my tables to tell them where I’d be and I told them to just wave at me and I’d come right over.”
“I’ll help you watch your tables,” Michelle offered. “I can see them from where I’m sitting.”
“Thanks, Michelle.”
Tricia left for the kitchen and Hannah took a sip of her wine. She hoped that Tricia could give her more information about her visit to Tori’s condo on the night of her murder.
“Tricia was glad to see you,” Michelle commented. “I’m almost positive that she’ll tell you everything she knows.”
“I hope so. I really want to catch Tori’s killer for Mother. She’s terribly upset about losing Tori.”
Tricia came back almost immediately with a tray of Cheese Pops. “Aren’t they darling?” she asked.
“They are,” Hannah agreed, reachi
ng for one of the Cheese Pops. She took a bite and chewed happily as the flavors of bleu cheese, cream cheese, and bacon bits exploded in her mouth. They were the perfect complement to white wine and she made a mental note to tell Sally just that the next time she saw her. Sally was good about sharing recipes and Hannah firmly intended to ask her for this one!
“I can tell you like the Cheese Pops,” Tricia said, watching as Hannah took another bite. “They’re experimenting with different cheeses in the kitchen. Sally told me that the cream cheese is a constant because it adds the smooth texture to the inside, but they’ve also made them with cheddar. The ones rolled in bacon bits look red, don’t they?”
“They do. They’re redder than I’d expect them to be.”
“That’s because Sally mixes in some Hungarian paprika with the bacon bits. Not enough to give it too much flavor, but just a little. And she rolls the cheddar ones in chopped parsley and that makes them green on the outside. She told me she does that so her customers can tell them apart.”
“Makes sense to me,” Hannah said. “I hope she has a tray of them at her Christmas party. The red and the green would be nice.”
Tricia began to look excited. “You’re right! Red and green are the Christmas colors and they’d be perfect for the party! Do you mind if I tell her?”
“Please do. Sit down, Tricia. I really need to talk to you.”
Tricia pulled out a chair and sat down. “I know you want to ask me about Tori. Since your mother found her, you’re probably investigating her murder.”
“That’s right,” Hannah said. “I heard you were there earlier that night for an acting lesson.”
Tricia sighed heavily. “I was, and I guess all that work I did will be wasted now. Without Tori, the Lake Eden Players won’t be able to put on their Thanksgiving play.”
“Oh, yes they will!” Michelle announced. “That’s why I’m here, Tricia. I’m a theater major at Macalester and I just finished an advanced class in directing. My professor sent me here to help you out.”
“You mean, you’ll be our director?”
“That’s right.”
“Fantastic! At least you’ll be a lot nicer than Tori was. She could be really nasty if she didn’t like your reading of a line.”
Michelle laughed. “I’ve heard that . . . and I promise I won’t be nasty. Critical, yes. Nasty, never. Can you get everyone to come to a rehearsal tomorrow?”
“You bet I can! But it has to be at one in the afternoon. Everybody in the play rearranged their work schedule so they had from one to three free.”
“That sounds fine with me,” Michelle said, turning to Hannah for confirmation. “You won’t need me at The Cookie Jar during that time, will you?”
Hannah shook her head. “That’s not a problem, Michelle. I’ve got Lisa, Marge, Jack, and Aunt Nancy. You don’t need to work at The Cookie Jar at all if you don’t want to.”
“I want to. It’s fun. But I know it’s generally slow between the lunch rush and the afternoon coffee break rush.”
“The timing couldn’t be better,” Hannah agreed, “but it really doesn’t matter what time you schedule rehearsals. We can get along whenever you choose. The play is very important to the community. It’s practically a tradition to go to a performance during the Thanksgiving holidays.” She turned to Tricia. “Now that we have that settled, will you tell me about the last time you saw Tori?”
“Sure thing. I feel a little guilty, you know? I was so mad at her for cutting my lesson short. And now . . .” she took a sip of her water, “. . . and now I realize that I was probably saying awful things to my mother about Tori when she was being murdered!”
“You had no way of knowing that was going to happen,” Hannah said quickly. “And I don’t blame you for being angry. Do you know why Tori did that?”
“I . . . um . . .” Tricia stopped speaking and glanced around to make sure she wasn’t being overheard. Since there was no one except Hannah and Michelle within earshot, she continued in a slightly lower voice. “I do know why, but I haven’t told anybody except Mom.”
“You can tell us,” Michelle reassured her.
“OK, but please don’t tell anyone else. He could really hurt me in this town, you know?”
“Start from the beginning, Tricia,” Hannah advised. “And no, Michelle and I won’t tell anyone what you’re going to tell us.”
“Not even Mike?”
“If it pertains to the investigation and if I think that Mike has to know, I’ll have to . . . but I won’t tell him you told me.”
Tricia thought about that for a moment. “Okay. That’s fair enough.”
Hannah reached out to pat Tricia’s hand. “I want you to start by telling me who you think could hurt you.”
“It’s . . .” Tricia stopped to glance around again. When she turned back to face them, there was real fear in her eyes. “It’s Mayor Bascomb. He could hurt me!”
“Why?”
“Because I know he was going up to Tori’s condo. And I know that Tori was really mad at him.”
“Okay, Tricia,” Hannah said, “Tell me how you know all this.”
Tricia took another swallow of water and drew a deep breath. “I got to Tori’s condo at exactly six o’clock. I know because I had my cell phone with me and I looked at the time before I knocked on her door. Tori didn’t like it if I was early and she hated it if I was late so I always made sure that I was exactly on time for my lessons. Anyway, I knocked and she came right to the door. She told me to come in and we were just walking through the living room on our way to her studio when the telephone rang.”
“What did she do then?” Michelle asked.
“She answered it and then she started to frown. ‘Hold on!’ Tori said in that voice she used to order everyone around. She covered the mouthpiece of the phone, turned to me, and said that she had to take the call.”
“But you didn’t know who Tori was talking to at that point?” Hannah asked her.
“No, not then. Tori told me to go into the studio and rehearse my lines while she took the call.”
“Is that what you did?” Michelle asked her.
“Well . . .” Tricia stopped and looked slightly guilty. “Not exactly. I did go in the studio and I even opened my play book to the right page, but then I heard her voice.”
“You could hear her voice from the living room while you were in the studio?” Hannah questioned.
“Yes, because I’d left the door open a little. Maybe I shouldn’t have, but she didn’t tell me to close it. And that’s when I realized that she was very angry with whoever was calling her.”
“How close is the studio to the living room?” Hannah asked.
“It’s just a couple of steps down the hall. I mean, it’s not directly across the hallway, but close enough.”
“Close enough for you to hear what Tori was saying?”
“Yes. You see, I probably shouldn’t have, but she sounded so mad that I moved all the way to the door and listened. I didn’t go out in the hall or anything, but I was right by the open door.”
“And what did you hear?” Hannah queried.
“I heard Tori tell her caller to get lost, that she wasn’t going to bail him out again. She said that she’d done it too many times before, and this time he could grow up and handle things on his own.”
“And you knew who it was then?” Michelle asked her.
“I didn’t know, but I guessed. Everybody in town knows that Mayor Bascomb goes to his sister for help when his wife catches him with another woman.”
“What else did you hear?” Hannah asked, being very careful not to censor Tricia in any way for eavesdropping on a private conversation.
“Mayor Bascomb must have argued with her, because Tori blew up. I mean, she really let him have it. I don’t even want to repeat some of the things she said to him, but the upshot of it was . . . um . . .”
“He ought to have more self-control?” Hannah provided the polite phrase.
<
br /> “Yeah. That was it. She didn’t put it quite that way, but that’s what she meant.”
“What happened then?” Michelle leaned forward because Tricia’s voice had dropped even lower.
“She said, ‘Listen to me, Ricky.’ And that’s when I knew for sure who was on the other end of the line. ‘You’ve cheated on Stephanie from the very beginning and this has got to stop!’ And then Mayor Bascomb must have said something, because Tori was quiet for a couple minutes.”
“That was it?” Michelle asked. “Was that all you heard?”
“Oh, no.” Tricia shook her head. “Tori told the mayor that she was putting a stop to his little escapades once and for all, except she didn’t say escapades. She said . . . something else.”
Hannah realized that even in the dim light in the bar, Tricia’s face was turning bright pink with embarrassment. “It’s okay, Tricia,” she hurried to reassure her. “We don’t need to know the exact words Tori used.”
“Oh, good. But anyway, Tori told him she’d already taken steps to stop the drain on her life savings. She said he’d already used all of his inheritance on his little . . . um . . . escapades, and that she had already taken steps to cut him off.”
“Oh, boy!” Michelle gasped. “Do you think she was serious?”
Tricia shrugged. “I don’t know. I couldn’t see her. And even if I’d been right there in the room with her, I might not have been able to tell. Tori was an award-winning actress. She could make anybody believe anything. She did say she’d seen a lawyer, though. And she told him that she’d drawn up a new will.” Tricia stopped and gulped. “Do you think that’s a motive for . . .”
Since Tricia seemed unable to complete her sentence, Michelle jumped in. “Murder?”
“Yeah.” Tricia sounded scared as she turned to Hannah. “Do you think I’m in danger, Hannah?”
Hannah reached out to pat her hand again. “No, you’re fine, Tricia. No one’s going to know that you’re the one who told us this. The mayor doesn’t know you overheard Tori’s side of the conversation. Just don’t tell anyone else and you should be fine.”
