Chapter Twenty-One
“Andrea!” Delores pulled her daughter away from the curtain that ensured their privacy. “A good wife doesn’t spy on her husband.”
“If not me, who?” Andrea countered, causing Hannah to cringe at the grammatical infringement.
“If not you, me,” Michelle said, putting her eye to the crack where the curtain met the wall. “Where is he sitting?”
“To the left of the fountain. Right now he’s alone. She was sitting across from him, but her back was to us and I never really had the chance to see anything but the back of her head.”
“What did that look like?” Hannah asked.
“Blond hair, fairly short. It looked like an expensive salon cut, but it’s hard to tell from this far away. They just finished their entrées, and I think Bill just ordered coffee.”
“Cops drink a lot of coffee,” Michelle said. “Lonnie says they go through hundreds of dollars in coffee every week.”
“She didn’t leave, did she?” Hannah asked.
“I doubt it. She probably just went to the ladies’ room.”
Michelle watched for several minutes while the rest of them made casual conversation. Suddenly she laughed. “Relax, Andrea! You don’t have a thing to worry about!”
“What do you mean?” Delores asked, and Hannah realized that she hadn’t told Michelle that it wasn’t nice to spy. Evidently spying on a husband was a bad thing to do, but it was okay if you spied on your brother-in-law.
Michelle let the curtain drop and turned around to face them. “The lady cop just came back to Bill’s table, and I saw her before she sat down. There’s no way Bill would be interested in her.”
“She’s ugly?” Andrea sounded hopeful.
“No, she’s not ugly. But she’s a lot older than Bill. You were wrong about her hair. It’s gray, not blond. I got a really good look at her and she’s really old, at least fifty, maybe more.”
“Really…old?” Delores said, her words clipped and her tone as cold as ice.
Uh-oh! Michelle had put her foot in it this time! Hannah tried to think of something to say to defuse the situation, but before she could come up with a thing, Michelle opened her mouth.
“Did I say old? I didn’t mean old. Everybody knows that fifty’s not old.” Michelle almost stammered in her hurry to extricate herself. “It’s just that Bill has got to be at least twenty years younger than…well…most of the time, younger men don’t go for women old enough to be their…uh…”
Delores held up her hand. “Quiet, Michelle. You’re only digging yourself in deeper.”
“But I really didn’t mean that…”
“I said that’s enough, Michelle.”
Delores hadn’t raised her voice, she never did, but Michelle clamped her lips shut tightly. It was childhood all over again, and Mother was angry.
“It’s time for us to leave.” Delores stood up and motioned to Carrie. “Old people need their sleep, you know, and we have a big day coming up tomorrow.”
“Thank you for dinner, Mother,” Hannah said, hoping to change the subject.
“Yes, thank you, Delores,” Norman added quickly.
“Thank you, Mother,” Andrea said. “Dinner was delicious.”
“Thank you, Mother,” Michelle added her thanks. “Would you like me to go out and bring the car around for you? It’s pretty cold out tonight.”
“Thank you, Michelle, but no. I realize I’m old, but I think I can still walk to the parking lot without incident.” Delores gave her youngest daughter a withering glance.
“Oh, boy!” Michelle breathed when the curtain had closed behind her mother and Carrie. “Do you think she’ll ever forgive me?”
“Of course she’ll forgive you,” Andrea said. “She has to. She’s your mother.”
“And because she’s your mother, she’ll make you eat a caseload of crow before she forgives you,” Hannah added.
Andrea’s cell phone rang. She retrieved it from her purse and flipped it open. “This is Andrea.” She listened for a moment and then she smiled. “We can do that, honey. We’d like to meet her, too. We can’t stay long, though. I haven’t given Hannah your notes yet, so I’m running out there before I come home.”
“What notes?” Hannah asked when Andrea had closed her phone and returned it to her purse.
“Bill gave me a list of things he thinks you should do to solve the case. I’ll tell you all about it later.”
“I’ve got notes, too,” Michelle told her. “One set from Lonnie, and another set from Rick.”
“Same here,” Norman added. “Mike came in this afternoon and gave me a whole list of things he thought you should do.”
“Catching a killer by committee,” Hannah said with a sigh. Even though she wasn’t looking forward to getting instructions from four different sources, she’d have to listen to all of their suggestions and either accept or reject them. Mike, Lonnie, Rick, and Bill were expecting the impossible if they wanted her to accomplish everything a whole division of detectives would do on a murder case.
“Ready?” Andrea said, pushing back her chair.
“Ready,” Hannah answered. It was going to be another long night, just like the previous several nights. As she followed Andrea out of the alcove, she felt a little silly for even hoping that maybe, perhaps, possibly she might get a full night’s sleep.
If anyone had asked Hannah to describe Detective Stella Parks in one word, that word would be formidable. She was tall, perhaps even an inch or two taller than Hannah. Although her hair was gray and she was clearly a woman in her fifties, she looked to be in excellent physical shape, and Hannah added the phrase fit as a fiddle to the list of clichés that Bill had ascribed to her. She wasn’t beautiful, and Hannah doubted that most people would call her pretty, but she was striking with her silver hair, deep blue eyes, and strong features.
“I’m glad to meet you, Hannah.” Stella reached out to shake Hannah’s hand. It was a no-nonsense grip, and Hannah added down to earth to her list of clichés. “Bill’s told me that although you’re not officially sanctioned, you’ve helped the department solve several homicide cases in the past.”
“Well…yes, that’s true,” Hannah said, wondering exactly what Bill had told her.
“Are you working on Miss Ward’s murder?”
Cuts straight to the chase. Hannah’s list of clichés grew longer. She attempted to think of an answer that wasn’t an outright lie, and came up with, “You don’t have to worry, Detective Parks. I’d never interfere in an official investigation.”
“Call me Stella.” Her deep blue eyes bored into Hannah’s, and Hannah had the fleeting thought that being interrogated by Detective Parks would not be a pleasant experience. “You didn’t answer my question. Are you working on Miss Ward’s murder?”
“Well…yes. Yes, I am. Unofficially, of course.”
“Of course. I’m the detective. You’re not. I think we’re going to get along just fine, Hannah, as long as you keep that distinction clear. Do you think you can do that?”
“I know I can do that,” Hannah assured her.
“Good. Now let’s get down to business.” Stella took another sip of her coffee, but her eyes never left Hannah’s. “I’m at a disadvantage here. I don’t know the people or the area, and I’m shorthanded. My staff consists of two boys who couldn’t find their…” Stella stopped and cleared her throat. “Who couldn’t find their feet in a dark room with both hands. I’d like to know that I can count on you, Hannah. How about it?”
“You’ve got it,” Hannah said quickly. “Is there anything in particular you want me to do?”
“Do what you usually do. Talk to people. Listen to people. Bill’s told me that information just seems to land in your lap. I want you to share that information with me, even if you don’t think it’s important. Let me be the judge of that.”
“I can do that.”
“Good. Just call me every day and tell me what you’ve learned. I’ll be out in the field most of the time, so I’ll give you my personal cell phone number. You can always leave voice mail if you can’t speak to me personally. Are we clear on that?”
“We’re clear.”
“Good. Thank you, Hannah. You’re a valuable resource and I’m going to enjoy working with you.”
Hannah’s mind was still spinning when they got back to her condo. She felt as if she’d been co-opted by a master, but she didn’t really mind. The important fact was that Detective Parks actually wanted her help.
“The Kitty Valet is empty again,” Michelle reported after a quick trip to the kitchen. “How can one cat eat that much?”
“I don’t know. And I’m beginning to think it’s impossible.”
“You think Moishe’s carrying off his food and stashing it somewhere?”
“I don’t know what else to think. He still jumps up in my arms when I come home, and it doesn’t feel as if he’s gained any weight. He doesn’t look any heavier, either.”
“How much food is he going through?”
“Two complete food tubes a day, sometimes three. That’s enough to feed a dozen cats. All that food can’t just disappear off the face of the earth, so he’s got to be hiding it. I just haven’t been able to discover where.”
“Do you want me to fill up the Kitty Valet again?”
“Might as well. Maybe we can catch him in the act. In the meantime, I’ll put on the coffee.”
There was a knock on the door, and Michelle went to answer it. Norman and Andrea had arrived together. She ushered them in while Hannah brought out a carafe of coffee and four cups, and they all sat down in Hannah’s cozy living room.
“Okay,” Hannah said, yawning widely. “I think you’d better give me your notes really fast before I fall asleep in my coffee.”