Everyone kept trying to get me to talk about it last night, but I didn’t want to.”
“Of course you didn’t.”
Hannah decided to change the subject by asking the question that was uppermost in her mind. “When are you going to start telling the story?”
“I usually start about ten in the morning. Do you want me to give you a heads-up so you can put in ear plugs or something?”
Hannah laughed. “No, I’ll be all right. I’ll be busy baking so we can keep up with everyone who comes in to hear you.”
“Are you really sure that you want me to do this, Hannah?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. Is there anything else I can do . . . ?”
“I don’t think there’s . . . wait! There is one thing you can do.”
“What’s that?”
“When Grandma Knudson comes in, let her listen to your story once and then ask her if she’ll come back to the kitchen. There’s something I want to ask her.”
* * *
Hannah had just finished filling the bakers rack with freshly-baked Butterscotch Chocolate Bar Cookies when she heard an authoritative knock on the back kitchen door. She rolled the bakers rack back into place by the wall, went to the door, and stopped with her hand on the knob to open it. She’d recognized the knock and she was sure it was Mike, but she looked through the peephole anyway. She was right. Mike was standing there outside the back door.
“Come in, Mike,” she said loudly enough so that he could hear it, and only then did she unlock the door and open it.
“Good girl!” Mike said, entering the kitchen and stomping the snow off his boots on the shag rug that Hannah kept there for that purpose. “I’m really glad you’re using the peephole.”
Hannah had all she could do not to laugh. When Mike had said, Good girl! it had been in the same tone of voice he would use to train a young puppy to sit or heel. “I think looking through the peephole is becoming a habit with me,” she told him.
“That’s excellent,” he said and this time it wasn’t in his puppy training voice. “Just keep doing it every time and it’ll become second nature to you.”
“I’m surprised to see you, Mike,” Hannah said, heading to the kitchen coffeepot to pour him a cup. She set it down in front of him and took her own seat at the work station. “Since I wasn’t the one who discovered Ross’s body and you and Lonnie were, you don’t really need my statement, do you?”
“No, and that’s not why I’m here.”
Hannah waited while Mike took a sip of his coffee. “You don’t have any cookies to go with this, do you, Hannah?”
Hannah’s sense of humor kicked in and she began to laugh. “Of course I do. This is a bakery, remember?”
“I know that, but you only got here twenty-five minutes ago. You didn’t have time to bake yet, did you?”
Hannah glanced at the clock on the wall. Mike was right. She’d walked in the door with Michelle exactly twenty-five minutes ago. “How do you know when I got here?”
“I was parked at the other end of the alley.”
“You’re surveilling me?”
Mike shook his head. “No, of course not. I just wanted to give you time to get settled before I came in.”
Hannah noticed that Mike still looked uncomfortable. “Why did you want me settled in?” she asked him. “Is there something you want to tell me about the murder case?”
“No, I just need to assure you that I’ll do everything in my power to catch whoever did this to Ross.”
Hannah was surprised that Mike thought she needed reassurance on that point. “I know you will, Mike. You’re a very good detective.”
“Thanks, but this is a little different. This time we won’t be comparing notes like we usually do.”
You mean you won’t be pumping me for information? Hannah’s suspicious mind prompted her, but Hannah bit back the urge to ask that question.
“I mean that this time, of course, you won’t be . . . uh . . . actively involved.”
“I won’t?”
Mike began to frown. “No, you won’t. You’re too close to this situation, Hannah. You can’t be objective.”
“No, but I’ve never been objective,” Hannah retorted, feeling her ire begin to rise. “I wouldn’t get involved at all if I didn’t care about the victim.”
“But Ross hurt you. He betrayed you, Hannah. The guy was a liar and louse!”
Hannah began to smile. “And you’re claiming that you’re objective after saying something like that?”
“Well