Joanne Fluke Christmas Bundle: Sugar Cookie Murder, Candy Cane Murder, Plum Pudding Murder, & Gingerbread Cookie Murder (18 page)

“You weren’t any good with sleds that went straight, either. You never could control them. You always ran into trees unless Uncle Ed was with you. Then he took the big blue sled and he did the steering.”

“I’d forgotten all about that!” Hannah said, smiling at the memory. Her Uncle Ed had taken the front seat and she’d ridden behind him with her arms clasped around his waist.

“You loved it and so did your sisters. It’s really too bad Ed never married. He was so good with children, and he should have had some of his own.”

“You’re right,” Hannah said, wondering if someday people might say the same about her.

Delores leaned back in the passenger seat and closed her eyes as Hannah pulled out of the parking lot and headed down the access road to the highway. “I’ve got to rest my eyes, dear. I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“Why is that, Mother?”

“I kept thinking about Carrie and imagining all sorts of horrid things that could be wrong.”

Hannah frowned. There was no way she could keep her mother in the dark any longer. She had to tell her what they suspected even though they didn’t know the full story. “I think I found out what’s wrong, Mother.”

“You did?” Delores’s eyes flew open. “Tell me!”

“Norman and I think she’s dating.”

“Dating? Carrie?”

“That’s right. We’re almost positive that Carrie and a date were at the Lake Eden Inn last night for dinner.”

As her mother listened, Hannah explained everything that had transpired. And then she ended her account with their dilemma. “But we don’t know who she’s dating yet.”

“Dating.” Delores sounded bemused. “Well, that’s certainly less disastrous than I imagined. We have to identify the man, though. He may not be right for our Carrie.”

“Don’t worry. We will. We’ve even got Mike working on it.”

Delores smiled and reached out to pat Hannah’s arm. “Thank you, dear. You’ve relieved my mind and I feel so much better. I just hope Carrie’s found someone wonderful.”

“So do we, Mother. Why don’t you catch a short nap now? I’ll wake you when we get back to town.”

By the time she reached the highway, her mother was sleeping. Hannah glanced over to make sure she had her seatbelt fastened, and mentally patted herself on the back. Her mother felt much better now that she knew about Carrie’s dinner companion. It was never good to keep secrets from family…unless, of course, they involved Christmas presents.

“T
ake a break, Hannah. You look beat,” Lisa said, as she took the last sheet of her friend Nancy’s Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies out of the oven. “We’ve still got at least a half hour before the noon rush starts, and I can answer any questions they ask about last night.”

“Okay.”

“And eat one of Nancy’s cookies. The oatmeal’s nutritious and the chocolate will give you a lift. Besides that, they’re really good.”

“Thanks, I will,” Hannah answered, reaching for one of the cookies she’d wanted to try anyway. She could certainly use a break. The morning had been hectic to say the least. Everyone and their cousin had come in to hear the story of how Norman and Hannah had found Larry’s body. “Call me if you need me. I’ll stay right here in the kitchen.”

Once Lisa had gone back to the coffee shop, Hannah sat down at the stainless steel workstation and pulled out the steno pad she’d come to think of as her personal murder book. So far the pages were blank, but she’d learned quite a bit about Larry Jaeger over the past few days. Some of what she’d learned could mesh with facts she had yet to discover, other tidbits could guide her to questions she needed to ask, and still other facts could give her clues to the identity of the killer.

She started as she always did, with a page listing the suspects. Dr. Love’s name headed the list. After her unhappy marriage to Larry, she might have hated him enough to kill him.

Courtney was next. If Larry’s fiancée suspected that Larry was cheating her out of her investment, she could have killed him in spite. There was also the possibility that she’d found out about his marriage to Dr. Love and the fact they’d never divorced. If Courtney believed that Larry was stringing her along for her money and he never intended to marry her, she could have been so angry, she’d done him in.

There was also Mayor Bascomb. Hannah felt a bit strange writing down his name, but he’d said that he was going to ask Larry about those blank receipts Lisa had signed. While Hannah didn’t think that the mayor would actually pull out a gun and shoot Larry over a bad business deal, it was within the realm of possibility. And if Mayor Bascomb was a suspect because of his business relationship with Larry, then so were the other investors in the Crazy Elf Christmas Tree Lot.

Who were the other investors? Hannah would have to ask the mayor if he’d name names. But what if Mayor Bascomb didn’t know all of Larry’s investors?

Hannah flipped the page and wrote
INTERVIEWS
at the top in block letters. She’d start with Mayor Bascomb and ask for the names of every investor he knew. Then she’d talk to Luanne and ask her if there had been a list of names on any of the papers that Courtney had given her. It was also possible that the names of the investors could be a matter of public record and she could get them by going to the courthouse. She’d have to find out about that.

Then there was the man with the briefcase she’d seen going into Larry’s trailer the night she’d ridden Santa’s Magic Sleigh with Mike. He could be an investor. He’d reminded her of Earl Flensburg so that’s where she’d start. She’d ask Earl if he had any cousins or relatives that might have had a business meeting with Larry.

Hannah flipped the page again and wrote MOTIVES on the top in block letters. Almost every killing had a motive and she needed to list them. Robbery came first. Larry could have entered his trailer and interrupted a robbery. By now Mike should know if anything had been stolen. The trailer hadn’t looked as if it had been ransacked, but the killer had shot Larry’s giant flat screen television set. Perhaps Larry’s killer had broken in to steal it, but had found it too bulky to take and had been so frustrated, he’d used it for target practice.

Money could be a motive for murder. What if one of Larry’s investors had killed him because the Crazy Elf Christmas Tree Lot wasn’t making the money that Larry had promised? She’d have to find out if the business was showing a profit or not. Local gossip said it wasn’t, but local gossip had been known to be wrong.

Then there was the gambling angle. Players with a gambling addiction didn’t stop gambling when they had no money. They borrowed or stole money to try their luck one more time. She had to find out if Larry had any gambling debts he couldn’t pay. If so, the person he owed could have killed him.

Love was always a motive. Again, the killer could be Larry’s faux fiancée, Courtney, or his legal wife, Dr. Love. It could even be some other woman who’d been spending time with Larry.

Hannah realized she’d come to the bottom of the page and she flipped it over. Suddenly the blank lines of the steno pad seemed endless and she put her head down on the counter of the workstation to rest her eyes. She was so tired she couldn’t think straight. She’d take a little break and concentrate on something to relax her, something pleasant, and something that had nothing to do with Larry or his murder. And then she’d get back to work.

“Hannah?”

She sat up with a jolt as Lisa called her name.

“Wake up, Hannah. Andrea and Tracey are here.”

“Here,” Hannah repeated, lifting her head and blinking several times. “Sorry, Lisa. I didn’t get much sleep last night and I must have drifted off for a minute or two.”

“Try thirty, but that’s not a problem. I’ll get them settled back here with coffee, milk, and cookies, while you duck into the bathroom and splash some water on your face.”

That was exactly what Hannah did. The cold water was refreshing and she felt much more alert as she opened the bathroom door and stepped into the kitchen to greet her sister and her oldest niece.

Both Andrea and Tracey were dressed beautifully, but Hannah had expected no less. Her sister had always been fashion model material and today was no exception. Andrea’s shining blond hair was perfectly styled in an elaborate twist that must have taken her hours to perfect, her makeup was flawless, and her dark blue wool suit was exquisitely cut to highlight her perfect figure.

Tracey was a chip off the old block, or in this case, a child model in the making. She wore a quilted lavender and white sweat suit with a lavender ski cap on her head that sported a fluffy white pom-pom on top.

“Hi, Aunt Hannah!” Tracey said, taking off her ski cap and smiling widely to display the gap where one of her front teeth had been. “I lost a baby tooth last night!”

“Did the Tooth Fairy visit?”

“There aren’t any fairies, Aunt Hannah. At least not any real ones. They’re fictional.”

“Do you mean the Tooth Fairy didn’t come into your room while you were sleeping and leave a quarter for your tooth?”

Tracey laughed. “Daddy did that. He thought I was sleeping, but I saw him. He tiptoed in all sneaky-like and left a dollar under my pillow.”

“A whole
dollar
? Maybe I should write to Tooth Fairy Headquarters and complain. All I ever got was a quarter.”

“That’s inflation, Aunt Hannah. Things cost more now, even baby teeth. I watched a program on television about it.” Tracey turned to her mother. “Is it okay if I go back to the coffee shop and help Aunt Lisa until Grandma McCann comes to get me?”

“Aunt Lisa might not want any help just now, honey.”

“Yes, she does. She said I could come back and wait on customers at the counter if it was okay with you. Besides, I know you and Aunt Hannah want to talk about the Crazy Elf murder.”

“Well…” Andrea paused and glanced at Hannah who gave a slight nod. “Okay then, honey. Just don’t try to pour hot coffee, okay?”

Tracey gave a little sigh. “That’s exactly what Lisa said when I asked her if I could help. I can pour water, can’t I?”

“Yes, if Aunt Lisa wants you to.”

Hannah watched as Tracey picked up her cookie and milk, and headed for the door. Once she’d gone through to the coffee shop, Hannah turned to Andrea. “Tracey knew we wanted to talk about Larry. That’s definitely precocious.”

“And how! And I didn’t say a word to her about it.” Andrea took a sip of her coffee and then she asked, “You’re going after Larry’s killer, aren’t you?”

“Of course. I have to clear Dr. Love.”

Andrea looked bewildered. “What does Dr. Love have to do with Larry’s murder?”

“She was married to Larry, and they never got a divorce.”

“But that’s impossible! Larry was engaged to Courtney!”

Hannah shrugged. “I guess he figured a little thing like being married already shouldn’t stop him.”

“No wonder someone shot him!” Andrea nibbled at her cookie. “I like these, Hannah. What are they called?”

“Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies.”

“Oatmeal?” Andrea gave a delicate little shudder, and Hannah knew she’d made a mistake by telling her. Ever since childhood, Andrea had hated oatmeal.

“It’s really rolled oats,” she explained, hoping that her sister wouldn’t know that was a term for uncooked oatmeal.

“Rolled oats, but not oatmeal?”

“That’s right.”

“And they’re different things?”

“Yes, they are.”

“That must be why I like them. I hate oatmeal, but rolled oats taste just fine.”

It was time to change the subject before more questions about oats were forthcoming. The list of Crazy Elf investors should do it. “I need your help, Andrea,” she said.

“What do you want me to do?”

Promise me you’ll never compare the definitions of oatmeal and rolled oats
, Hannah thought, but instead of replying with something that would surely cause a sisterly fissure, she said, “I need to find out who invested money in Larry’s Christmas tree lot. Do you have any idea how I can do that?”

“I’m going to the bank at noon to talk to Doug about setting up a college fund for the girls. I’ll ask him if investors have to file any sort of paperwork.”

“Private investors,” Hannah reminded her. “I don’t think Larry ever went public.”

“You’re probably right. He was too small time for that. And if Doug doesn’t know anything, I’ll talk to Al when he comes back from lunch.” Andrea reached for another cookie and took a bite. “What do you need from Bill?” she asked.

“Crime scene photos aren’t essential. Norman and I were there. I could use the autopsy report and maybe the crime lab sheet. Anything you can get would be good.”

“Then I’ll get it all. How about Larry’s bank records? If he had a lot of money, he could have been killed for that.”

“That’s true.” Hannah thought about possible gambling debts and her theory about failure to pay. “And if he
didn’t
have much money, he could have been killed for that, too.”

“Huh?” Andrea looked completely bewildered.

“Never mind. It might not even be important. Can you really get Larry’s bank records?”

“I think so. All I have to do is get Bill to ask for them. I think they’ll have to give them to him if he gets a subpoena.”

Hannah thought about that for a minute and then she got up and began to pack candy in a box.

“What are you doing?”

“Packing some of the Chocolate Raspberry Truffles that Lisa made this morning.”

“For me?” Andrea asked, looking hopeful.

“No, for Lydia Gradin. She still works at the bank, doesn’t she?”

“Yes. She got a promotion and now she handles all the special customers. But it won’t do any good to ask her about Larry. Lydia’s a stickler for the rules, and Larry’s bank records are confidential. Lydia won’t give them to you.”

“I don’t need Larry’s bank records. I just need some information about his accounts.”

“She won’t give you that, either.”

“Maybe she will. I think I just figured out a way to get what I need.”

“By bribing her with truffles?”

“That might help, but I’ve got something else to give Lydia that’s even more important.”

Andrea looked dumbfounded. “What could be more important than Chocolate Raspberry Truffles? Lydia’s crazy about truffles.”

“A deposit,” Hannah said, tying a bow on the top of the box and then leading the way to the door.