It was good advice and Hannah got up from the workstation to walk to the phone on the wall. She dialed Stan’s office, but instead of getting Stan or his secretary, she got a recording. We are not in the office this week, the message informed her. We will be back the following Monday at nine in the morning. If this is an emergency, please call . . .
Hannah didn’t bother writing down the number given on the recording. An accountant in another town wouldn’t know anything about Stan’s current business. She hung up and was about to walk back to the work station when she remembered that she hadn’t yet spoken to Delores about Lisa’s idea.
Hannah picked up the phone again, punched in her mother’s number and took a deep breath for courage. She was about to ask Delores to do something that she might not want to do.
“Hello, Mother,” Hannah said when Delores answered. “Are you home?”
“Of course I am. I answered the phone, didn’t I?”
“Yes, of course you did. Sorry, Mother.”
“That’s all right, dear. What’s wrong?”
“I really don’t want to mention it over the phone, but would you mind if Michelle and I dropped over in an hour or so?”
“That would be lovely, dear. Is there anything you can tell me now about why you girls want to see me?”
Hannah’s mind went into high gear and landed on something that was true and would also please her mother “Actually. . . yes, Mother. There’s one reason that I can’t discuss right now, but Michelle and I really need your advice on another matter that concerns the Lake Eden Players. Michelle wants to hold a fundraiser and we need your expert advice about that.”
“Of course, dear!” Delores sounded very pleased. “And I’m always happy to see both of you. And if you don’t mind my asking, does that other matter you can’t discuss right now concern Tori’s murder?”
“Yes, it does. We’ll see you in an hour or so, Mother. And thank you so much.”
There was a silence and then Delores spoke again. “You’re thanking me for what, dear?”
“For being there. And . . . for being my mother. We’ll see you soon, Mother.”
“What was all that about?” Michelle asked, coming out of the pantry in time to hear the last of Hannah’s conversation.
“I have to talk to Mother about something sensitive,” Hannah told her.
“Is it too sensitive for me to know?”
“Of course not,” Hannah replied with a little laugh. “It’s just that Mother and I learned about a meeting Tori had with Stan Kramer, who’d discovered that Tori’s business manager was cheating her out of money.”
“Whoa!” Michelle’s eyes widened. “I’ve heard of that happening before. My drama professor, the one who used to be a stage actor, said he had several friends who were taken to the cleaners by their business managers.”
“Well, it seems that Tori was in the same boat. And she promised Stan that she wouldn’t call the guy and alert him in any way, but from everything Mother’s said about Tori, she was a bit of a hothead and she might just have done it.”
“And her business manager killed Tori to keep her from turning him in or telling anyone else about it?”
“Something like that. At least it’s a possibility and I have to check it out.”
“So you’re going to ask Mother if she knows the name of Tori’s business manager.”
“No, I already did that at lunch today and she doesn’t. I’m thinking of asking her if she’ll ask Mayor Bascomb.”
Michelle began to frown. “Isn’t that a little insensitive? I mean, his sister was just murdered.”
“I know. I just thought maybe Mother could think of some roundabout way to work it into a social conversation. Something like, ‘Tori once told me she had a wonderful investment manager. You don’t happen to know his name, do you?’”
Michelle’s frown deepened. “Mother’s very good in social situations, but I think that one is doomed to failure. How about asking her to invite Stephanie Bascomb over for tea? Mother might be able to find out from her.”
Hannah considered that for a moment. “Good idea! By tea, you do mean champagne, don’t you?”
“Of course. Mother told me about the last time Stephanie came up to the penthouse for tea. Mother served her favorite champagne and Stephanie spilled the beans about all sorts of things.”
“You’re right, Michelle. And asking Mother to find out from Stephanie wouldn’t break any social rules. It’s not like Stephanie and Tori were friends. They got along because of the mayor, but they certainly weren’t close. I doubt that Stephanie is too upset that her husband inherited all that money.”
“It sounds like a plan to me. Let’s bake and then we’ll run up to Mother’s and ask her if she’ll try to get the information we need from Stephanie. I already told her that we wanted to come up to talk to her. And you can ask her advice about the bake sale and pie eating contest. She could probably suggest some people you could try to get for contestants and judges.”
“Perfect. We’d better take something for Mother to serve to Stephanie. Stephanie’s got a real sweet tooth and she loves everything you bake. What’s her favorite flavor, Hannah?”
Hannah took a moment to think about that. “I’m not sure, but she seems to love things with fruit. And that reminds me, did you find any interesting ingredients in the pantry, Michelle?”
“I did.” Michelle gestured toward the workstation where a huge can sat in the center of the stainless steel surface.
Hannah walked over to look. “Orange marmalade? I didn’t even know I had that! I wonder what possessed me to buy a can that large! I don’t think I was planning on making anything with orange marma . . .” Hannah paused and an amused expression crossed her face. “I remember now! I won it. Florence got it from a friend of hers who brought it all the way back from London. It’s very popular over there. Florence told me she likes it, but she said she’d never use up a can that big, even if she lived to be a hundred. She took it to Grandma Knudson at the parsonage for their white elephant Christmas drawing and I won it.”
“Does Stephanie like oranges?” Michelle asked.
“I think she does. I know she was wild about my Citrus Sugar Cookies. Lisa told me she had six, all by herself.”
“That’s good enough for me. And it’s good enough for Stephanie, too. Let’s make Orange Marmalade Bar Cookies.”