Cherry Cheesecake Murder (19 page)

Ross gave her a teasing grin. “You’d never make it in showbiz. There are nights that I have to deal with only six hours’ sleep.”

“Six hours’ sleep is good. On most nights, I don’t get more than five.”

“It’s been as little as four for me.”

“And three for me. And last night, I got only two!”

“Really? But why was that?” Ross asked, breaking the chain of one-downmanship.

“Moishe. He must have been nervous, because he got up to eat every hour on the hour. And then he used his litterbox.”

“Why would that keep you awake?”

“His claws screech against the plastic when he covers. And don’t ask me what covers means.”

“I know what it means. My mother had a cat. Do you want me to brace you for the onslaught?”

“Please,” Hannah said getting out her key and slipping it in the lock. But when she opened the door, the usual orange-and-white bundle didn’t hurtle out to greet her.

“Where’s Moishe?” she said, spotting Norman on the couch.

“He went to bed early, right after I fed him. I think he was tired after his scenes today. I hope you don’t mind, but I think he’s sleeping on your pillow and I didn’t have the heart to wake him. And…I finished your chocolate fudge ice cream.”

Hannah told him she didn’t mind about the pillow or the ice cream, and went into the kitchen to put on the coffee. When that was accomplished, she headed to her bedroom to check on her four-footed movie star. Moishe was sleeping the sleep of a well-fed jungle tiger, and from the way he was smacking his lips, he was probably dreaming of mouse body parts. Norman had been right. Instead of falling asleep on the expensive goose-down pillow she’d bought for him, he was on her expensive goose-down pillow.

“The pillows are always softer on the other side of the bed,” Hannah whispered, and let her minipanther sleep. She was just passing the guest room on her way back to the living room when she noticed that the door was open. That was odd. She always closed it when there were no guests. It wasn’t to conserve energy or any of the admirable ecological reasons. It was because Moishe loved to “hunt” the satin butterflies on the new bedspread she’d bought for the guest room. Hannah was about to shut the door when she realized that there was a good-sized lump on her bed, and her eyebrows headed straight toward the ceiling fan the former owner had installed. There was someone sleeping in her bed. She took a step closer and her eyebrows remained on high alert when she recognized her uninvited guest. It was Mike!

Hannah gulped, feeling a bit like Baby Bear who’d come home to find his porridge eaten, his chair recently used, and Goldilocks sleeping in his bed. In her case, it was her ice cream that had been eaten, Norman who’d been sitting on her couch, and Mike who was sleeping in her bed. But all that didn’t really matter. It was close enough to prove that fairytales weren’t all that wildly exaggerated.

“What are you doing in my bed?” Hannah asked, prompting a bearlike snort and a leap to the feet from the unsolicited sleeper who’d been snuggled up on her new bedspread.

“Hannah! Sorry about that. I started to doze off on the couch and Norman told me to come in here. He said you wouldn’t mind.”

“Well…I guess I don’t,” Hannah conceded, “but what are you doing here in the first place?”

“I brought the pizza.”

“What pizza?”

“The pizza Norman ordered from Bertanelli’s. I was sitting there waiting for my pizza when he called in his. Ellie told me they were short a delivery guy, so I figured I’d just bring them both out here and we could eat together.”

“Okay,” Hannah said, wondering what sort of numbers that would rack up on the scale of coincidence. “You want some coffee? I just put on a pot.”

“Sure. Is Ross here?”

“He’s in the living room talking to Norman.”

“Great. I have to tell him that the kids are trying to skate on the ice rink at the park.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“It’s fake ice and it’s going to be all marked up by the time they shoot there on Friday.”

“Fake ice?” Hannah was surprised. This was the first she’d heard of it, but it made sense to her. It was possible to have a warm spell before Friday that might render the ice rink unusable. “What are they going to do about the snow if the weather warms up?”

“They’ll use fake snow. They’re going to use it anyway, just to make it look better.”

“Okay,” Hannah said, too tired to ask the other questions that occurred to her. “If you don’t mind, I’m beat and I’m going to bed. Will you tell Norman and Ross?”

Mike looked shocked. “Sure, but you’re kicking us out without coffee?”

“I’m not kicking you out at all. Help yourselves to coffee and any cookies you find in the cookie jar. Stay as long as you like, but just don’t wake me when you leave. And since you’re the official law enforcement officer, would you please make sure you’re that the last one out and the door locks behind you?”

“You can be sure of that!” Mike said, putting both hands around her waist to turn her around and give her a gentle nudge toward the bedroom.

It was ten o’clock on Wednesday morning and Lisa had just opened The Cookie Jar for business. Dean Lawrence had approved the Mini Cherry Cheesecakes enthusiastically, and Hannah had returned to The Cookie Jar to bake and chill another four batches for the cocktail party scene that would be shot that afternoon. Moishe was holding court at the round table by the window, Lisa was waiting on a customer, and Hannah was in the kitchen with Andrea, baking the cookies she’d intended to bake the previous evening.

“All three of them?” Andrea stared at Hannah in absolute shock and then she started to laugh. “And you just left them there and went to bed?”

Hannah shrugged as she finished shaping another pan of cookies and slid them onto the baker’s rack. The timer dinged and she removed the pans that had been in the oven, replacing them with the pans she’d just prepared. “These are new cookies we’re going to try out today. They’re called All-Nighters.”

“Why?”

“Because they’re banana and peanut butter. That was Lynne’s favorite sandwich when she was in college and she used to make them every time we got together to cram for finals.”

“Not that why. The other why.”

“What other why?”

“The important why. Why did you just leave them there in your living room?”

“It was easier than trying to get them to leave. And I needed my sleep.”

“You mean you actually slept?”

“Like a baby. And that reminds me, how’s Bethany?”

“She’s great. She smiled at me this morning. Grandma McCann said it was gas, but I know a real smile when I see one. Do you want me to taste one of the All-Nighters and tell you what I think?”

“Absolutely.”

Andrea reached for a cookie and took a bite. She chewed and swallowed, and then she smiled. “They’re good, Hannah. I’ve always liked banana and peanut butter. It’s a great combination. And that reminds me, do you have a red scarf I can borrow? The kind you wear around your neck when you’re skating?”

Hannah hid an amused smile. It was another zinger from the mistress of non sequitur. Andrea probably had a reason for the abrupt change of subject, but Hannah didn’t want to ask. Sometimes the explanation took more time than it was worth. “I don’t have one. Why do you need it?”

“Mr. Lawrence thought it would add a lot to Tracey’s skating scene if she wore a red scarf draped around her neck. He said it would be a great combination with her royal blue coat. And he said the red would make it look as if she’s skating even faster when she’s on the end for Crack the Whip.”

“A great combination,” Hannah repeated, recalling that Andrea had called peanut butter and bananas a great combination before she’d asked about the red scarf. “Doesn’t Bill have a red scarf? I think I gave him one a couple of years ago for Christmas.”

Andrea clapped her hands in delight. “Yes, he does! He wears it with his dress coat and I think it’s in his top dresser drawer. Thanks for remembering it, Hannah. It’ll be just perfect for Tracey’s scene.”

“That’s today?”

“No, not until Friday. Today they’re shooting the classroom scene, where she wins the spelling bee. It’s at noon, right before they break for lunch. You’ll come, won’t you?”

“I wouldn’t miss it,” Hannah said.

“I think I’ll go look for that scarf right now. I have to go home anyway.”

“Why?”

“I need to see if Bethany will smile at me again.”

Hannah was refilling coffee cups when she noticed Connor motioning to her from the counter. She finished the table she was serving, and then she ducked behind the counter to talk to him. “Hi, Connor. Do you need me?”

“I certainly do. You said to let you know if I couldn’t talk Mrs. Henderson into signing that release form. Well, I talked until I was blue in the face, but there’s no way she’ll do it. She was really nice about it, though. She gave me gooseberry pie and coffee and showed me pictures of her grandchildren.”

“But she didn’t sign?”

“No. Nothing I said convinced her, not even the money Mr. Lawrence was willing to pay.”

“Then I’ll give it a try,” Hannah promised. “I’ll catch her when they shoot the cocktail scene.”

“Mrs. Henderson is in the cocktail scene?”

“No, but her youngest daughter is and Winnie’s bound to drive in to watch Alice. I think I can convince her.”

“Oh, I hope so! Thank you, Hannah. I’ll tell Mr. Lawrence that you’re going to try. I just hope he doesn’t fire me for failing him.”

“He won’t…will he?”

“He’s fired me before, but he always hired me back after he got over being mad at me. I’m just afraid that it’ll be permanent one of these times. I’m almost sixty and it would be hard to get another job without references from my former employer.”

“You’re worrying over nothing,” Hannah reassured him, reaching into one of the serving jars with napkin-sheathed fingers and handing him two Twin Chocolate Delights. “Eat these cookies. The chocolate will make you feel better.”

“But I really should go and find Mr. Lawrence.”

“Find him later, after I’ve talked to Winnie.”

“But Mr. Lawrence told me to get right back to him.”

“Bad news can wait, especially since that bad news might turn into good news.”

Connor considered it for a moment and then he nodded. “You could be right. If Mr. Lawrence doesn’t ask me outright, I’ll wait to tell him.”

Ten minutes later, Connor was smiling and chatting with one of the grips. Hannah’s chocolate prescription had done the trick and she was congratulating herself on a job well done when Andrea rushed back in the door.

“Hi, Andrea,” Hannah greeted her. “Did you find that scarf?”

“I found it. And I found something else, too.”

“What’s that?”

“Proof that Bill is cheating on me!”

Klaxons sounded in Hannah’s head. Her sister’s eyes were blazing with angry fire and it was clear she was fit to be tied. “Come into the kitchen with me and you can tell me all about it. I have to take Moishe back there for a break.”

Hannah collected her cat, shifted him to one arm, and grabbed Andrea’s arm with her free hand. She rushed her through the crowded coffee shop before anyone could ask what was wrong, and into the confines of the deserted kitchen. She dropped Moishe off in his large dog crate and shut the door, but she didn’t release Andrea’s arm until her sister was seated on a stool at the work island.

“Eat these!” Hannah ordered, plunking a couple of Chocolate Chip Crunch cookies down on a napkin and shoving them over to her sister.

“But I don’t want any…”

“Eat them while I get us some coffee,” Hannah said, interrupting her sister’s protest. “Have I ever steered you wrong with chocolate?”

“No, but…” Andrea stopped speaking and sighed. And then she took a bite of the first cookie. It was only after she’d consumed both that she looked up at Hannah with tearful eyes. “It’s Bill. He’s…”

“Have a sip of coffee first,” Hannah interrupted her again. “Then I want you to start at the beginning and tell me everything.”

Andrea did as ordered. She sipped the coffee, gave another quavering sigh, and then squared her shoulders. “Bill didn’t take his new shirt with him. I found it hidden at the bottom of his scarf and hankie drawer.”

“Okay,” Hannah said, heading to the walk-in cooler for reinforcements. She set the rest of the box of chocolate truffles in front of her sister and got down to business. “Nibble on those while you tell me why the shirt Bill forgot means he’s cheating on you.”

“He didn’t forget it. He didn’t not take it on purpose.”

Double negative, Hannah’s grammatical mind shouted, but she ignored it. This was not the time to correct her sister’s speech. “You think Bill deliberately left the shirt at home?”

“Yes! I laid it out on the bed and folded it for him and everything. And then, when my back was turned, he stuffed it in his dresser drawer instead of putting it in his suitcase. And he made sure it was his scarf and hankie drawer, so I wouldn’t find out he didn’t pack it.”

“Okay,” Hannah regrouped. “And you think this means he’s cheating on you?”

“I know it does.”

Hannah waited until Andrea had taken another dose of chocolate before she continued. “Exactly how do you know that?”

“The shirt Bill didn’t take is the new one I gave him for Valentine’s Day. I asked him to think of me every time he wore it and he promised he would.”

“But Bill didn’t take the shirt.”

“That’s right. And you know that Bill never promises something unless he means it. That proves he wanted to forget all about me and follow his own agenda in Miami. He’s probably out on the beach right now with Ronni Ward and…” Andrea stopped as Moishe let out a yowl. “You’re absolutely right, Moishe. Bill’s probably out there catting around.”

But no sooner had the words left Andrea’s mouth than Moishe gave another yowl even louder than the first. And then another that was practically earsplitting.

“What’s the matter with him, Hannah?”

Hannah walked over to take her cat out of the cage. He wanted to get away from them and back to adoration of his public, but Andrea felt abandoned enough as it was without adding a cat’s rejection to the mix. “He’s upset,” she said, quite truthfully.