Carrot Cake Murder

by Joanne Fluke

  “I’m not drinking champagne.”

  Hannah started to laugh again. It reminded her of Andrea’s reply to the toy frog comparison, and that made her laugh even harder.

  “Do you want me to tell you what would happen if Mother found out about it?” Norman asked, sounding very serious.

  Hannah stopped laughing abruptly. Norman sounded grim. “What would happen?” she asked him.

  “Even if the people in Lake Eden knew, it probably wouldn’t affect my dental business. But Mother would be mortified. She’d be so embarrassed and hurt, she’d want to move away from Lake Eden. And then your mother would lose a partner and a friend. Does any of that sound familiar to you, Hannah?”

  “Yes,” Hannah said, realizing that Norman had used almost the same words when he’d told her about the Seattle police report and why he didn’t want it to be made public.

  “You got busted in a strip club when you lived in Seattle?” Hannah could hardly believe she was saying the words.

  “That’s right. It seems Goldie was running a little side business in the back.”

  “Goldie?”

  “Goldie Lox. She owned the place.”

  Hannah was beginning to see a pattern here, with names like Alison Wonderland and Goldie Lox. What was next? Candy Cane? Betty Will? Helen Back? Lotta Moves? And then, because she was getting sidetracked from something much more important, she asked, “What was the side business? Drugs? Prostitution?”

  “Numbers. It was just a small operation, mostly sports bets from what I was told. But Goldie got raided, and everyone there was taken into custody.”

  “But they let you go right away, didn’t they?”

  “Not until I posted bail for being drunk, disorderly, and resisting arrest.”

  Hannah was dumbfounded. “You? I’ve never even seen you take a drink!”

  “I did back then. It was my first year at the dental clinic, and we all went out for a drink after work on Fridays. Goldie’s place was just down the block, and since she was a client of ours, we used to go there.”

  “You were Goldie’s dentist?”

  “It was more than that. She’d bring her girls in to see us whenever they had a dental problem. People might not approve of her line of business, but she was a good boss. I don’t think most strip club owners give their dancers free medical and dental care.”

  It was something that Hannah had never considered before, and it took her a moment to respond. “You’re probably right,” she said.

  “Anyway, that’s what happened. They let my partners go because they were smart enough to cooperate with the police. I wasn’t, so they kept me overnight.”

  “Were you convicted?” Hannah asked.

  “I pled no contest and paid a fine, but the record stands. And that’s why the double scotch I was drinking at Goldie’s place was the last drink I ever had.”

  “Wow!” Hannah said, for lack of something better to say. If someone else had told her that Norman had a drunk, disorderly, and resisting arrest conviction, she would have accused that person of lying. It seemed totally out of character for Norman, and she still had trouble believing it, but she’d heard it straight from the horse’s mouth. The Norman he must have been back then was totally different from the Norman he was now.

  “So do you understand why I didn’t want to tell you about it?” Norman asked.

  “I understand. You said you were afraid I’d look at you differently.”

  “Right.”

  Hannah heard Norman take a deep breath. “So do you look at me differently?”

  “Yes. It makes you seem less perfect and more of a normal person with foibles. And I feel as if I know you better, and I like you even more for telling me about it.”

  There was dead silence for a moment, except for the muted music in the background. And then Norman chuckled. “Well, that’s a relief! I still can’t believe you like me better because I’ve got clay feet.”

  “Clay is good,” Hannah said. “I’ve got them, too. And so do most of the people I like best.”

  There was another blast of music, and Hannah knew the door to Gus’s office had opened. A second later, it closed again and Norman came back on the line.

  “I’ve got to go, Hannah. That was Alison. She’s taking me over to their apartment now.”

  “And you’re going to tell her about Gus?”

  “Yes. And I’ll ask her if she has any idea why Gus came back to Lake Eden.”

  “Good. Don’t forget to ask her if he had any enemies and if there’s anyone from there who might have wanted to kill him.”

  “Will do. I’ll call you right after I leave the apartment. Love you, Hannah.”

  “Love you too, Norman.” The words were out of her mouth before she stopped to think. But she did love Norman, so it wasn’t a lie. It was possible for a person to love more than one person at once. She was living proof of that!

  She punched the button to end the call, and stood up. On her way past the mirror, she fluffed up her hair and pulled her blouse down in back to cover one of her figure faults. Then she hitched up her pants at the waist to hide another figure fault and went out the door to see how Andrea had fared with Mike.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  “Hurry, Hannah! Tracey’s race is about to start!” Andrea practically streaked across the sand toward the chairs that had been set up on the lakeshore for the audience. Hannah followed, wishing she hadn’t eaten that last piece of pizza, and they reached the chairs just in time to hear the whistle blow.

  “Which one is she?” Hannah asked, shading her eyes with her hand.

  “She’s wearing the green bathing cap, the one with the little white flowers on it.”

  “How far up in the pack is she?”

  “She’s second.” Andrea sounded very proud. And a moment later she let out a little squeal. “She’s…in the lead! Do you see her? Tracey just passed the boy that was out in front!”

  “I see her!” Hannah bounced up and down on the chair. “She’s widening the gap, pulling way out in front, and…she won, Andrea! Tracey just crossed the finish line!”

  “Fantastic! I knew she could do it!”

  The two sisters hugged for a moment, and then they sat down again. Both of them were grinning from ear to ear.

  “She’s just got to join the swim team at Jordan High!” Hannah exclaimed.

  Andrea laughed so hard, tears of mirth rolled down her cheeks. And when she managed to stop laughing, she just stared at Hannah and chuckled.

  “What are you laughing about? She’d be great on the swim team. She’s fast, and competitive…”

  “And only six years old,” Andrea reminded her. “Tracey’s in kindergarten, Hannah. She can’t join the Jordan High swim team for at least eight years.”

  “Right,” Hannah said. “Well…their loss, kindergarten’s gain.”

  “Did you see me?” Tracey shouted out, racing across the beach to them.

  “We saw.” Andrea hugged her, wet swimsuit and all.

  “You were great, Tracey,” Hannah echoed her praise. You outdistanced every one of them.”

  “Yeah. And Calvin Janowski’s pretty fast. I heard his mother say he’s got an ear infection and that’s why he lost, but I don’t believe it. I talked to him before the race, and he was bragging about how he was going to beat me.” She stopped and looked up at her mother and her aunt. “Isn’t that just like a boy?”

  Andrea and Hannah shared a smile, and then Hannah answered. “Pretty much, I guess. But some girls do it, too.”

  “I know. Karen said that if I got too confident, I was going to come in dead last.”

  “I think that was just a friendly warning, honey,” Andrea said, taking the towel that Tracey was carrying and slipping it around her shoulders.

  “Well…maybe.”

  “Karen probably wanted you to be careful not to count your chickens before they were hatched,” Hannah added.

  “But why not, Aunt Hannah?”

&nb
sp; “Why not what?”

  “Why not count chickens before they’re hatched? You can, you know. Our whole class went out to Egg World on a field trip last year, and the egg lady showed us how to tell a fertilized egg from one that wasn’t.”

  “Really?” Hannah felt dazed. She hadn’t known they’d covered all that in kindergarten.

  “How did they do that?” Andrea asked, jumping off into deep waters.

  “Oh, they put them through the candle machine, and we saw the little baby chicks on the monitor. You could count those, and you’d know exactly how many chicks there would be.”

  “Well…” Hannah was momentarily at loss for words. “I guess you could do that.”

  “I even asked the egg lady if there was another way to know, because Grandma and Grandpa Todd don’t have one of those candle machines.”

  “What did she say?” Hannah was curious.

  “She said that all you had to do was keep the hens away from the roosters, and you wouldn’t have any fertilized eggs.”

  Hannah exchanged glances with Andrea. They were a bit out of their depth, and it was time to change subjects.

  “So, honey…” Andrea said, doing her best but coming up with nothing.

  “Your Mom and I were just wondering what you want to do next?” Hannah bailed her younger sister out.

  “I need to change out of my swimsuit and get into my regular clothes. And then I have to find Grandpa Jack, because he said he’d buy me a grape Popsicle and split it with me if I won.”

  “Do you want to change at Grandma’s cottage?” Andrea asked her.

  “No, my clothes are in the girls’ changing room. If you wait right here for me, I’ll just change in there.”

  Tracey started to scamper off, but she stopped and made her way back. “I almost forgot,” she told them. “Mrs. Schultz gave me a message for you, Aunt Hannah. She said that when you got back from your lunch, you should go over and see her.”

  “I wonder what that’s about?” Andrea commented, once Tracey had run off to the changing rooms.

  “I don’t know, but if she told Tracey it was important, it probably is. I’ll head over there now and hook up with you later.”

  The Eden Lake store was deserted. Everyone was at Games Day. Hannah pushed open the door, and the bell that announced customers tinkled emptily inside. “Ava?” she called out.

  Ava emerged from the living quarters in the back, wiping her hands on a dish towel. “Sorry about that. There hasn’t been anyone in for an hour, so I washed my lunch dishes.”

  “Tracey said you wanted to see me?”

  “Not really, but I thought I should. It’s about the murder, Hannah. It’s been eating at me, and I didn’t really want to tell you, but then I started thinking about how maybe if I kept quiet some perfectly innocent person would get convicted, and…” Ava’s voice trailed off, and she gave a little sigh. “He didn’t do it, Hannah. He couldn’t have. We all went to high school together, and he was the gentlest, the kindest, the nicest…I feel like I’m betraying an old friend!”

  “Why don’t you let me worry about that,” Hannah soothed her. “I’m not the police. I don’t have to tell them if we decide it’s not important.”

  “You’re sure? I don’t want to get him in trouble.”

  “I’m sure. Tell me, Ava.”

  “It was the night Gus got killed. I did what I told you. Once he left and went back to the pavilion, I got ready for bed. I was about to climb under the covers when the bell rang in front.”

  “You had a customer?”

  “Right. My father installed that bell in case somebody had car trouble or they were running out of gas. Nobody’s used it for twenty years, but it worked, and I put on my robe and went to the front door.”

  “And it was…?”

  “Jack. Jack Herman. He was standing there looking confused, so I unlocked the door and let him in. I know about his troubles, and I figured that if he was sleepwalking or something like that, I’d take him back to the cottage and wake Marge.”

  “So what happened?”

  “He wasn’t sleepwalking. He was perfectly normal, at least I thought he was. He said he knew it was late, but he saw the light on and he hoped I’d open up and sell him a jar of pickled pig’s feet for Marge.”

  “And you said…?”

  “I told him I’d be happy to, but why did he want to buy them now? It wasn’t like Marge would want to eat them for breakfast, was it?”

  “What was his reaction to that?”

  “He laughed and said no, they weren’t exactly breakfast food, but they were going to be really busy tomorrow with the family photos and all, and he thought he’d buy them now and have them on hand.”

  “Did he pay you?”

  “Oh, yes. Jack always pays his bills. Even when he and Emmy were poor as church mice, they never charged anything as far as I know.”

  “Okay. Thanks for telling me, Ava.” Hannah fought a feeling of defeat as she turned and headed for the door. She’d hoped that Mac was lying about seeing Jack, but now it seemed that Jack had been out at the time of Gus’s murder.

  “Hannah!” Patsy looked delighted to see Hannah when she appeared in the kitchen of the Thompson cottage to see if Andrea was there. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

  “Well, you found me.” Hannah made herself at home by walking over to the thirty-cup coffee pot the ladies kept going in the kitchen, and pouring herself a cup.

  Patsy looked around. The kitchen was crowded with ladies loading the dishwashers and washing pots and pans in the sink by hand. She motioned to Hannah to follow her into the deserted living room, and they took a seat on the couch.

  “Marge just told me what Mac told you last night. You don’t think Jack did it, do you?”

  Hannah hesitated. What Ava had told her seemed to substantiate Mac’s story, but she was on an emotional keel with Ava. There was no way she could believe that Jack had killed Gus. “No. Or at least I’m hoping that Jack didn’t do it. I talked to him, and he doesn’t remember confronting Gus.”

  “Would he remember it?” Patsy looked sick as she asked the question.

  “I’m not sure, but I’m afraid his memory of that night doesn’t count for a whole lot.”

  “That’s what I thought.” An angry expression crossed Patsy’s face. “I’m so mad at Mac for telling you and Lisa that he ran into Jack on his walk. They were buddies in high school, and I thought they were still good friends. A true friend wouldn’t have said anything to anybody.”

  “Hold on a second,” Hannah’s mind spun and then screeched to a shocked halt. “You said something about Mac being out on a walk when he ran into Jack?”

  “That’s right. Mac goes for a walk every night before bed. The doctor told him it was good for his circulation. If he misses his walk, he gets muscle cramps in the middle of the night.”

  Hannah felt her confusion grow at the two stories she’d heard, one from Mac and one from Patsy, that didn’t jibe. “Maybe I’m confused, but this doesn’t make sense. Mac told me he saw Jack through the kitchen window at the cottage.”

  “He did?” Patsy looked shocked. “Where did he say Jack was when he saw him?”

  “Coming up the road. And Mac watched him cross over to the pavilion and walk around the side. He said it was the side with the entrance, but he couldn’t see whether Jack went inside or not.”

  “But that can’t be right!”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Mac couldn’t have seen Jack walk to the pavilion. There’s a big pine tree in the way. We can’t see the pavilion at all from the kitchen window. Mac must have run into Jack on his walk. That’s the only explanation.”

  “I don’t understand.” Hannah was horribly confused. “Why would Mac lie about being out for a walk?”

  Patsy just shook her head. “Oh, that’s easy. Mac hates being in the middle of trouble, and I’m sure he didn’t want to answer a bunch of questions from the police. If he admitted he wa
s out for a walk when he ran into Jack, the police might have thought Mac went into the pavilion and killed Gus over the money.”

  Hannah felt as if her brain was an unfinished sweater that was starting to unravel. Nothing seemed to make any sense. “What money?” she asked.

  “I told you before. It’s that old loan I made to Gus. Mac wanted to go to Gus and demand that he pay back the money with interest.”

  “Did he ask Gus to do that?”

  “He’d better not have! It was money I earned before we were married, and it was mine to spend as I wanted. I lent it to Gus to keep him from getting into trouble over a big poker game he lost. And I told him he didn’t have to pay it back as long as he stopped gambling.”

  “Did he?”

  “For a while, but it was in his blood. Some people are born to take chances, and Gus was one of them. But Mac had no right to try to collect my money. And that’s exactly what I said when he told me he was going to do it. It wasn’t his business in the first place, and if he’d succeeded, he just would have spent it on the stock market anyway.”

  “Mac invests in the stock market?”

  “He doesn’t invest. Investors make money at least part of the time. Mac speculates, and he loses. He’s been doing it ever since we were married, and he hasn’t made any money yet!”

  Hannah decided it was time to get back to the subject. Patsy was getting frustrated, and that wouldn’t help. “So Mac didn’t want to admit that he was out for a walk, because the police might think he had something to do with Gus’s murder?”

  “Exactly. And it would be even more suspicious if the police found out about the loan and the fact that Mac had wanted to try to collect it. Mac was afraid they’d take him in for questioning and lock him up. That’s why he asked me to lie for him if they came around asking questions. He asked me to say he was home and we were together all night.”

  “But you weren’t.”

  “No.”

  “What did you tell him when he asked you to lie for him?”

  “I told him I wouldn’t, not if they asked me directly. It’s just not right to lie. I said I wouldn’t volunteer the information, but if someone asked me, I’d have to tell the truth.”