Chapter Fifteen
By the time the hands on the kitchen clock met and pointed straight up at the ceiling, Hannah had finished baking and frosting the Red Velvet Cookies. She was about to call Norman to see if he was free to taste one, when Luanne pushed though the swinging door between the kitchen and the coffee shop.
“Norman just called,” she told Hannah. “He’s got an emergency patient in the chair, and he can’t make it in to taste those cookies you told him about.”
“Okay. Thanks for telling me. How are you holding out on cookies?”
“Just fine. It’s been only the regulars so far. As far as takeout goes, Mrs. Surma came in for two dozen Orange Snaps for the Brownies, Reverend Knudson picked up some Viking Cookies for his grandmother since she liked them so much after church, and Mr. Purvis came in for five dozen Oatmeal Raisin Crisps for his teachers.”
“But school’s not in session yet.”
“That’s what I said, and he told me it’s teachers’ prep week. They come in a week early to get things done that they don’t have time to do when they’ve got classes to teach.”
A mental picture of her second grade teacher flashed through Hannah’s mind. Miss Gladke was dressed in a pair of white overalls with a white painter’s cap pulled over her curls. And she was up on a ladder with a brush in her hand, painting the walls of her classroom.
Hannah took a step back from the ridiculous image. She knew that painting wasn’t the type of work done during teachers’ prep week. Miss Gladke would be making up lesson plans, choosing textbooks, and other academic tasks.
“You can leave for the reunion now,” Luanne told her. “I can take care of everything here. I’ll lock up when it’s time and be in tomorrow morning at nine to help you open.”
Hannah was grateful for the extra work Luanne was putting in, especially because Delores and Carrie were spending the week at the lake and she was sure Luanne would much rather spend the time with her four-year-old daughter.
“You probably won’t have many customers this afternoon. Why don’t you call your mother and Nettie, and have them bring Suzie down here for cookies? It’s a hot day, and I’ve got some Pecan Crisps made into ice cream sandwiches in the freezer.”
Luanne looked absolutely delighted at the suggestion. “Thanks, Hannah. I’ll do that. Suzie just loves to come down here with her grandmas and see all the different kinds of cookies. She says she wants to be a cookie baker when she grows up.”
“Great! She can take over for me when I retire…unless she changes her mind and decides to be a nuclear physicist or a brain surgeon, of course.”
Less than five minutes later, Hannah was zipping down the alley in back of her shop in her cookie truck. She turned west on Third and then made a right onto Main Street. Luck was with her and there was a parking spot directly in front of the Rhodes Dental Clinic. Hannah wasted no time pulling into the spot and shutting off her engine. She grabbed the pink box of cookies she’d packed as a care package for Norman, got out of the truck, and headed straight for the front door that nestled under the green-and-white metal awning that protected dental patients from the sun and rain in the summer and the snow in the winter.
A buzzer sounded somewhere in the interior of the building as Hannah opened the front door and stepped in. The sliding frosted glass windows at the reception desk were closed, but that didn’t surprise Hannah. Norman usually hired a student from the Jordan High senior class work-study program to man the desk during the school year, and he took care of things himself during summer vacation.
“Please make yourself comfortable in the waiting room. I’m with a patient, but I’ll be with you in just a minute or two.”
Hannah smiled as Norman called out to whoever had come in the door. He had no idea who it was, and she decided to surprise him. Since he was expecting a reply, she settled for a one-word response that was unlikely to give away her identity.
“Okay,” she replied, keeping her voice deliberately low. Then she walked over to the magazine rack and chose a current issue to read while she was waiting. Norman ordered magazines specifically for his waiting room, and they were delivered directly to the clinic. His patients weren’t stuck perusing three-year-old news stories, or movie magazines that featured celebrity weddings that had already ended in divorce.
As Hannah flipped through a gourmet food magazine, she heard voices coming from the examining room just inside the inner door. She didn’t consciously intend to eavesdrop, but there were no other patients that she could engage in conversation. That meant the waiting room was perfectly silent, except for the soothing music that was playing at low volume. She could hear every word that was spoken in the examining room.
“I waszh eating an apple and it juszht pulled out.”
“That happens sometimes. How old it is?”
“Doc Bennett put it in sheventeen yearszh ago.”
“He did a fine job. Most bridges need to be replaced long before that, especially if they’re not made of modern amalgams. Just let me clean it up for you and I’ll reattach it. It’ll only take a couple of minutes.”
“Good! I’ve got shurgery at two, and I need to get back to the hoshpital.”
Hannah drew in her breath sharply. She thought she’d recognized that voice! It was Doc Knight, the very man she needed to see!
The sliding glass doors opened and Norman peered out. He seemed surprised but pleased to see her. “Hi, Hannah. I didn’t know it was you out here. This isn’t a dental emergency, is it?”
“No, it’s a cookie deficiency emergency.” Hannah carried the pink box over to the window and presented it to Norman. “Is that Doc Knight I heard back there?”
“Iszh me!” Doc Knight answered her. “What kind of cookieszh did zhu bring?”
“Something new I baked today. They’re called Red Velvet Cookies. Would you like to try one, Doc?”
“Oh, no you don’t!” Norman confiscated the box. “Not until I reattach his bridge.”
“Sorry, Doc,” Hannah called out.
“Not half aszh shorry aszh I am.”
Hannah turned back to Norman. “Is it okay if I go back to keep him company while you’re cleaning up that bridge? I’ve got some questions I need to ask him.”
“Not a good idea. Doc’s my patient, and I have to protect his right to privacy while he’s under my care.”
“Okay, but I just wanted to talk to him.”
“Sorry, it’s not allowed. If I let you back there, I’d be violating our patient-dentist relationship.”
“Oh, nonshenszh! She’szh going to catszh me here or at the hoshpital, anyway. Might aszh well get it over wiszh.”
Norman shrugged. “You heard him. He’s waiving his right to privacy. Hold on a second and I’ll let you in.”
Hannah smiled as she went through the doorway to the inner sanctum and into the examining room. She liked Doc Knight, and he’d always been good about answering her questions. “Hi, Doc,” she said, taking the chair against the wall.
“Hi, Hannah,” Doc said, giving her a grin that showed several missing teeth. “Iszh a good thing your name iszhn’t Shuszhana or Shally. Sheila would be okay, though.”
“Not with me. I like my name,” Hannah said with a laugh. “I need to ask you some questions about Gus Klein and Mary Jo Kuehn.”
“That’szh easzhy. I don’t know anything exszhept that they were girlfriend and boyfriend.”
“How about the accident? The night of the senior prom when Mary Jo died?”
“I waszhn’t here. I waszh in Boszhton for a two-week medical convenszhon. The county coroner took care of that and he’szh been dead for twenty yearszh.”
Hannah came close to groaning. Doc Knight would be no help on that subject. “How about the fight Jack Herman had with Gus Klein? That was the night Gus left town for good, and nobody saw him again until the family reunion.”
“I waszh here for that. Fire away, Hannah. I’m your captive audienszh. There’szh no way I’m leaving here until I get my bridge back.”
“Mother told me that Dad and Uncle Ed broke up the fight and brought Jack to your office.”
“She’szh right. Tha’szh what happened. Jack waszh in pretty bad shape. They didn’t want Emmy to szhee him until I got him all cleaned up and looking aszh normal aszh I could. Didn’t work, though. She went into labor and delivered that night.”
“And the baby was Lisa’s brother Tim, right?”
“That’szh right. And Tim waszh just fine. Iszh like I told Jack…she waszh ready to deliver, anyway. He didn’t do anything wrong. He waszh juszht defending hiszh…” Doc Knight stopped and shook his head. “You didn’t hear me szhay that.”
“Szhay…I mean, say what?”
“Szhay anything about defending anybody.”
“You just told me that Jack was fighting to defend someone.” Hannah peered closely at Doc. “Was it Emmy?”
“You didn’t hear me szhay that, either.”
Hannah’s mind flew, attempting to fit the pieces she’d learned together. There’d been some important verbal salvos at the dance. When Jack had mentioned Mary Jo Kuehn, Gus had retaliated by mentioning Emmy. Then Jack had taken offense at the fact that Gus had used a diminutive name for his wife, and replied with Emily’s full name. After that, Gus had mentioned Jack’s sister Heather, but Marge had brought up their teacher, Mr. Burnside, and steered the conversation to safer ground.
“Do you know if Gus dated Emmy before she married Jack?” she asked.
“Yeszh.”
Hannah gave herself a mental kick for asking an ambiguous question. “Yes, you know? Or yes, he dated her?” she asked, hoping to clear up the confusion.
“Yeszh I know. And that’szh all I’m going to szhay.”
There was a knock on the door and Norman came in. “Just let me reattach this, and then you can have one of Hannah’s cookies. The only stipulation is that you chew on the other side.” He turned to Hannah. “Do you use nuts in your Red Velvet Cookies?”
“No. They have chocolate chips, but they melt when they bake and they’re soft. There’s nothing at all chewy, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“That’s exactly what I’m asking.” Norman set the tray he was carrying down on the round shelf that was attached to the dental chair, and turned to Hannah again. “Excuse us for a couple of minutes. This won’t take long.”
Hannah watched while Norman tilted the chair back, positioned something she assumed was the bridge in Doc Knight’s mouth and held it in place. A minute or so later, he removed his gloved fingers and stepped back.
“Okay,” he said to his patient. “You’re as good as new. I’ll go get those cookies and we’ll all have one.”
The moment Norman left the examining room, Hannah seized her opportunity and moved her chair closer to Doc Knight. “Did the fight have something to do with Emmy dating Gus in the past?” she asked.
“Of course it did.”
Now that Norman had reattached his bridge, Doc answered normally. For a brief second or two, Hannah was thrown for a loop. She’s gotten used to the lisp. “Was it a love triangle?” she asked him.
“Only in Gus’s mind. Emmy loved Jack, and Jack loved her. It was a good marriage, Hannah. Gus was a troublemaker, and he didn’t care who he hurt. To tell the truth, I was relieved when he left town. I felt sorry for his parents. It had to be hard not knowing what had happened to their son, especially since he left like a thief in the night, with no explanation and no goodbyes. I still don’t know which would have been more heartbreaking.”
“Which?”
“The way he left and not knowing why. Or the grief he was bound to cause them if he’d stayed.”
Hannah took a moment to digest Doc’s statement. It was damning, but probably accurate. Doc Knight was a straight shooter, and he didn’t equivocate. But there were more questions to ask, and Norman would be back any moment.
“You said Gus didn’t care who he hurt. Does that mean there were people who hated him?”
Doc thought that over for a second. “I’m sure there were.”
“And some of them were right here in Lake Eden?”
“Oh, yes. I can think of several. You’ve got to understand that the Gus we knew was concerned only about himself. He used people to get what he wanted. And then, when he didn’t need them anymore, he discarded them like old candy wrappers. It was all about Gus, if you know what I mean. He had an ego that wouldn’t quit.”
“I know the type,” Hannah said, remembering the assistant professor she’d dated in college. “Tell me more.”
“Gus was a funny bird, at least that’s what the psychiatric head at the hospital where I did my internship would have called him. I watched Gus grow up. He was in grade school when I was in high school, and it was all in one building. Gus was a manipulator from early on and everybody, including his family, gave him whatever he wanted.”
“Marge and Patsy said he was spoiled.”
“That may be too mild a way to describe it. Spoiled kids usually know better. Most of them know right from wrong, and they’re aware that other children their age aren’t treated the way they are.”
“And you don’t think Gus was aware of that?”
Doc Knight shook his head. “I’m almost sure he wasn’t. Gus grew up with everything he ever wanted. That caused him to be amoral.”
“Amoral?” Of course Hannah knew what the word meant, but she’d never actually heard it applied to someone she knew.
“Yes, amoral. I really don’t think the question of right or wrong ever occurred to him. If Gus wanted something, he got it. And if something bothered him, he got rid of it. That went for material things, and it also went for people. He lived for the moment, and it was all about Gus. Nothing else mattered. I have no idea how many angry people he left in his wake. And even worse…I don’t think Gus did, either.”
“So you weren’t surprised when he turned up dead at the family reunion?”
“Not really.” Doc Knight gave a little shrug. “The big surprise is that it took two days for somebody to do it!”