Chapter Twenty-Four
It was almost one in the afternoon, and Hannah was exhausted. She’d talked to Andrea, who’d agreed to come in during her lunch break to talk about their trip to the Eagle, and she’d heard almost all of Lisa’s newest story in bits and pieces as Marge and Michelle came into the kitchen from the coffee shop to refill the glass cookie jars they kept behind the counter. In Hannah’s opinion, today’s story was even better than the one Lisa had told yesterday, and the word was spreading fast. They’d been packed, standing room only, from ten in the morning on.
As Hannah took yet another batch of cookies from the oven and slid the baking sheets onto the baker’s rack, there was a knock on the kitchen door. She finished her work in double time and hurried to the door to open it.
“Hi, Hannah!” Andrea dashed in and hung her coat on a hook by the back door. “I don’t think Mother saw me come in here. She invited me to dinner, but I told her I had something else I had to do.”
“You didn’t tell her we were going out to the Eagle, did you?”
“Of course not! I wouldn’t be that dumb! Mother would want to go along, and then we’d have to watch out for …” Andrea stopped speaking, a reaction to Hannah’s pained expression. “What’s wrong?”
“Say hello to Mother,” Hannah said, trying for humor that didn’t work. “I guess the cat’s out of the bag.”
“Don’t you take the species of my grandcat in vain!” Delores said, marching over to the stainless steel workstation and taking a seat. “Now what’s all this about going out to a horrible place like the Eagle?”
Hannah sighed deeply and plunged into the icy waters. “We really didn’t want you to know, Mother. We thought you’d worry and there’s really no reason …”
“Hannah!” Delores interrupted. “You’re just wasting our time making excuses that aren’t going to work anyway. I know you’re going to the Eagle tonight with Andrea and probably Michelle. Why?”
“To see Lenny Peske. He used to hang around with Paul in high school and they got into trouble together.”
“Not really serious trouble,” Andrea said quickly. “It was things like breaking into school lockers and playing not-so-nice tricks on teachers they didn’t like.”
“I see. And you think Paul’s murder may relate to some incident that happened in the past when he knew Lenny in high school?”
“It’s possible,” Hannah told her. “It’s another avenue we can explore.”
“Yes, I suppose that makes sense. Lenny’s not a suspect, is he?”
Hannah shook her head. “As far as we know, he doesn’t have a motive.”
“All right, then. I won’t worry if you go out there just to talk to Lenny while he’s tending bar. But if he says something incriminating, I want you to promise to come straight home and let the police handle it.”
“Okay,” Hannah agreed quickly. “I promise we’ll leave right away if anything like that happens.”
“Well, then. I guess that’s settled. How about some coffee, dear?”
“Of course, Mother. Andrea? You want coffee, don’t you?”
Andrea shook her head. “No coffee. I’m still a little jittery from dealing with Bonnie Surma. I’ll just have a soothing cookie and a small glass of milk.”
Hannah did her best to figure out what constituted a “soothing cookie” as she poured Andrea’s milk and her mother’s coffee. She finally settled on filling half a plate with Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies for their buttery sweetness and smooth melt-in-your-mouth texture, and the other half with squares of Candy Bar Bar Cookies for their endorphin-rich chocolate. “What happened with Bonnie Surma?” she asked as she delivered their drinks and sweet treats.
“She came in a little before noon,” Delores said, motioning for Andrea to start in on the cookies. “She said she wanted to try on the little black dress Andrea put in the window this morning.”
Hannah looked blank. “I didn’t see it, but what’s wrong with that?”
“For one thing, it has a darling draped look over the hips,” Andrea told her. “And Bonnie has her own draped look over her hips.”
Hannah began to smile. “I get it. The little black dress would have accentuated one of Bonnie’s figure flaws.”
“Exactly!” Delores exclaimed. “That’s precisely what I told Bonnie, but for some reason she took offense.”
“I told you, Mother. No one wants to be reminded of their imperfections. There are other, better ways to suggest that the little black dress in the window just isn’t the right look for her.” Andrea turned to Hannah. “It took me over twenty minutes to convince Bonnie not to leave the shop and never darken Claire’s door again. And it took me another twenty minutes to talk her into trying an incredibly gorgeous red dress that I’d just unpacked from the new shipment. Mother ironed it while Bonnie and I talked about which materials would enhance her effervescent personality and the vibrant, jewel-tone shades she was simply born to wear.”
“The only reason she asked me to iron the red dress that didn’t need ironing was to get me out of the room,” Delores complained, but then she smiled at Andrea. “It turns out she was right. All that silly talk about personalities and color enhancements worked. Bonnie bought three dresses and all of them looked wonderful on her!”
They stopped talking as they heard the sound of applause coming from the coffee shop. It was obvious that Lisa had concluded this installment of Hannah Finds the Body. A few moments later, Lisa came into the kitchen. Her eyes were sparkling, her color was high, and she was smiling happily.
“I think that story was the best one today,” she said, sinking down on the stool. “I even got a tip, and the people around here practically never tip!”
Hannah smiled at her partner. “That’s great! How much did you get?”
“I’m not sure.” Lisa reached into her apron pocket and pulled out a gold coin. “He said it’s worth a dollar, but Herb thought it might be worth more.”
“What is it?” Andrea asked her, staring at the coin in Lisa’s hand.
“A Sacagawea gold dollar. Practically everybody in the coffee shop wanted to see it.”
“Who gave it to you?” Hannah asked her.
“Lenny Peske.”
The swinging door opened, and Michelle came into the kitchen. “They want you back for a curtain call, Lisa,” she said. “By the way, that one was really good.”
“Thanks,” Lisa hurried back into the coffee shop, but Michelle stayed behind. “Jon Walker wants to see you,” she told Hannah. “He took a look at that gold coin and he says he’s got some information you need.”
Michelle left and a moment later, she came back in with Jon Walker. He was dressed in his pharmacy greens, and he quickly accepted Hannah’s invitation to join them for coffee and cookies.
“It’s that gold coin, Hannah,” Jon said, reaching for a Candy Bar Bar Cookie. “When Lisa showed it to me, I turned it over to look at the flip side. It’s part of the first run of the coin. I could tell because the eagle didn’t have the arrows that decorate the more recent runs.”
“Does that make it more valuable?” Delores asked.
“Not really, but it’s a coincidence that Lenny had one, because I put five original run Sacagawea dollars in the church collection plate on Sunday.”
Hannah and Michelle exchanged glances. They knew that part of Sunday’s collection had been stolen, perhaps by the person who had killed Paul.
“Are original run Sacagawea dollars rare?” Hannah asked him.
Jon shrugged. “I don’t think they’re that rare. I get them in at the drugstore occasionally. When I do, I put them in the church collection plate. Reverend Bob usually exchanges them for regular dollars and saves them for the kids who win prizes at Vacation Bible School in the summer.”
“So how many Sacagawea dollars have you taken in this year at the drugstore?” Hannah followed up.
“I’m not sure. Maybe…ten or twelve.”
“And how many of those would you say were original run Sacagawea dollars?”
“Maybe half.”
“Then it wouldn’t be that unusual for Lenny to have one?” Hannah asked the final question in the series.
“No. No, it wouldn’t be that unusual, especially since some people save them when they get them and use them for tips. It’s just a coincidence, that’s all I’m saying. Lenny probably took it in while he was bartending out at the Eagle.”
Once Jon had left and the door had swung shut behind him, Delores gave her three daughters a stern look. “I’m in,” she said.
“You’re in what, Mother?” Michelle asked. It was clear she was confused since she hadn’t been a part of their original conversation.
“I’m in and we’re using my car to go out to the Eagle. From what Jon just told us, Lenny could be a suspect. There’s no way I’m going to let my three girls go out there alone!”
Hannah wrapped tape, sticky side up, around her right hand, and used it on her black sweater. It had been folded on top of the other sweaters in her drawer, but somehow it had picked up what looked like hundreds of orange and white cat hairs. She was almost finished when Michelle walked in.
“Cat hair on your sweater?” Michelle asked, watching her older sister pat the sweater with the tape.
“I’ll say! It was in my drawer, and I don’t know how it collected that much cat hair, but Moishe must be …” Hannah caught sight of her sister and stopped in midsentence. “You’re wearing that?”
“Yes. I love to wear red, and the sequins really set off the color.”
“You actually bought that?” Hannah asked her, wondering if her youngest sister was having some eye problems.
“Yes, and it was really cheap. I ran across the alley to the thrift store this afternoon, and I found it in the dollar bin.”
“But it’s at least three sizes too small for you!”
“Four sizes, but who’s counting? This sweater, some really bright lipstick, and a pair of tight jeans will make me fit right in with the rest of the bar girls at the Eagle.”
“I don’t understand. You’re not going undercover tonight. We’re just going out there to talk to Lenny.”
“You and Andrea are going out there to talk to Lenny. Mother and I are going undercover to see what information we can learn about Lenny. We planned it all out this afternoon.”
“But…how is that going to work when we’re all going out in Mother’s car?”
“We’re not. There’s been a change of plans. Mother’s coming out here to pick us up, but you’re going to drive her car and drop us off at Bud Hauge’s place. Mother and I are borrowing his new truck.”
Hannah couldn’t help but be suspicious. “Mother put you up to this, didn’t she?”
“Yes, but I didn’t take much convincing. I think it’ll be fun. I’ve never gone undercover with Mother before.”
Hannah sighed. There wasn’t much she could do about it at this late date. Delores was due to arrive in less than ten minutes. “All right. Go ahead. But you have to promise me one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Remember the Karaoke contest Mother and Carrie entered at The Moosehead in Anoka?”
“Of course I remember. They sang Bye Bye Love and they were awful.”
“Exactly. I want you to promise me that you won’t let Mother sing.”