Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (20 page)

Now that Hannah had moved closer, she could see some of the numbers showing through the paint and she doubted that Max’s grandfather had sported a seventeen tattooed on his forehead. “Let’s go through the other rooms. Tell me if you see anything that you don’t remember.”

With Andrea following, Hannah stepped briskly out into the hallway and they proceeded to go through every room in the house. Andrea pointed out new curtains in the den, a slightly different furniture arrangement in Max’s home office, and new wallpaper in the dining room. Max’s bedroom had been painted since Andrea had seen it. He’d changed the color scheme from blue to green, and the guest bedroom had a new braided rug on the floor. Every room had at least one cow in some shape or form.

“How can you remember what everything looked like?” Hannah asked. She was amazed at the amount of information Andrea had remembered from a single tour of Max’s house.

Andrea shrugged modestly. “I’ve always had a good eye. That’s why I could tell when Mother had been in my room. If one tiny thing had been moved, I noticed it.”

“And there isn’t one tiny thing out of place in Max’s house?” Hannah kept talking as they made a full circle and approached the kitchen again. She didn’t want Andrea to think about what might have happened to Max.

“Not that I can see, except…” Andrea stopped by the connecting door that led to the garage and reached up to touch an empty hook by the side of the doorframe. “Wait a minute, Hannah. There’s supposed to be a key right here.”

“What kind of a key?”

Andrea closed her eyes for a moment and then they snapped open again. “A shiny blue metal key on a cow key chain. It was hanging right here when Max showed me his kitchen. The cow was really cute, brown and white with a little—”

“Do you know what the key was for?” Hannah interrupted her sister’s description.

“The dairy. Max said he used it when he walked to work and he didn’t want to carry his whole key ring. He told me he just grabbed that key and his garage-door opener and—” Andrea stopped speaking and turned to Hannah. “That must be what he did on Wednesday morning! When I went back to his car to get the keys, I noticed that his garage-door opener wasn’t clipped to the visor.”

“I think you’re right. Max started to pack his car Wednesday morning, but he didn’t have time to finish before his meeting. He left his briefcase open because he needed to pick up the speech that Betty typed up. When his meeting was over, he planned to come back here and leave for the convention. But Max didn’t come back. The last time anyone saw him he was in his office at Cozy Cow. His trail ends at the dairy.”

Andrea winced. “I hope you’re not going to say what I think you’re going to say.”

“I am.” Hannah closed up the garage and ushered her sister out Max’s front door. “We don’t have a choice. We’ve got to check out the dairy.”

H
annah started her Suburban, reached for the bag of cookies she always carried in the back, and tossed them to Andrea. “Have a cookie. You need some chocolate. It’ll make you feel better.”

“I don’t need chocolate. What I need is a shrink! It would take a psychiatrist to figure out why I ever agreed to this harebrained, idiotic idea of yours to…to—” Andrea stopped speaking, too rattled to go on. Then she reached into the bag, pulled out a cookie, and bit into it savagely. She chewed, swallowed, and then she sighed. “These are really good, Hannah.”

“They’re called Chocolate-Covered Cherry Delights. Mother gave me the idea for the recipe when she told me how Dad used to always bring her chocolate-covered cherries whenever she was mad at him.”

Andrea reached into the bag for another and took a huge bite. “Are you absolutely sure we need to go inside the dairy?”

“I’m sure.” Hannah turned at end of Max’s access road and into the Cozy Cow parking lot.

“We can’t just
try
to call Bill first?”

“He’s got his hands full,” Hannah answered. She parked in the darkest corner of the lot and turned to her sister. Andrea looked a lot better and her hands weren’t shaking anymore. “Relax, Andrea. Max isn’t inside. He couldn’t be. Betty or one of the other employees would have found him by now. All we’re going to do is look for clues in his office.”

“That’s true.” Andrea managed a shaky smile.

“Then you’re coming in with me?”

“I’m certainly not going to sit in the parking lot alone, not with a killer on the loose! And it’s not like we’re actually breaking in or anything. You’ve got Max’s keys.”

“Right.” Hannah knew that this wasn’t the time to remind Andrea that they’d broken into Max’s garage to get those keys. “Grab the flashlights. I don’t want to turn on any lights inside. Someone might see them from the road.”

Andrea reached into the back for the flashlights. “You’re going to owe me a whole batch of cookies for this, Hannah. I’ll take the Chocolate-Covered Cherry Delights.”

“Deal.” Hannah grabbed her flashlight from Andrea’s hand and got out of the truck. The temperature had dropped in the past hour and she shivered as they walked across the parking lot to the rear door. She glanced down at the keys in the glare from the security lights and blessed Max for labeling them. She selected the one marked “Rear Door,” and was about to insert it in the lock when Andrea gasped.

“What?” Hannah turned to look at her sister.

“I just thought of something. What if the dairy has a security system? We could set it off.”

“Are you kidding? A security system for a place this big would cost a bundle. Do you really think that Max would spend that kind of money?”

“No, maybe not.” Andrea breathed an audible sigh of relief. “Go ahead, Hannah. It was just a thought, that’s all.”

Hannah didn’t mention that she’d thought of the same thing. She’d even glanced at Max’s birth date on his driver’s license. If there was a keypad by the inside of the rear door, she planned to enter the numbers two, three, and forty-nine. She’d read somewhere that most people used their birth dates as a code for their security systems. If bells started to clang and sirens began to wail, they’d hightail it back to her Suburban and leave as fast as they could.

The key turned, the door opened, and Hannah stepped in. No keypad, no flashing red lights, no buzzing or clanking or wailing. That was good. It would have been out of character for Max to fork out the extra money for an alarm system, but Hannah hadn’t been one hundred percent sure.

“Come on, Andrea.” Hannah motioned to her sister. “His office is down this hall and to the right.”

Andrea stepped inside rather gingerly. “How do you know that?”

“I took the grand tour when I was in sixth grade. We came out here on a field trip and Max showed us around.”

“We didn’t get to go when I was in grade school.” Andrea sounded a little miffed.

“I know. They stopped the tours right after my class went through. I think it had something to do with Dale Hoeschen. He tripped over a box and almost fell into a cream vat.”

Andrea grinned. She was clearly in better spirits now. “I knew there was something I didn’t like about Dale.”

Hannah led the way down the hall and into the main part of the dairy. It was large and cavernous, not a comfortable place to explore at night. Their flashlights were powerful, but the twin beams did nothing to dispel the looming shadows. Hannah was sure that the place would seem very ordinary if they could turn on the overhead lights, but several rows of glass-block windows peppered the face of the building and she didn’t want to take the chance that someone on the highway would notice the light.

“Are you sure you know where you’re going?” Andrea’s voice sounded unnaturally loud in the stillness.

“I think so,” Hannah replied. “There should be another hallway—there it is.” Hannah trained the beam of her flashlight on the entrance to the second hallway. “Max’s office should be the second door on the left. Betty’s office is the first door.”

As they entered the second hallway, Hannah noticed that Betty had posted the delivery schedules on a corkboard right outside her door. The drivers’ names were listed and their routes were marked with the times of each delivery. Ron’s name was still on his route. Betty must be waiting for instructions from Max before she changed the name of the driver.

Max’s office was right where Hannah remembered and it was marked with a brass nameplate on the door. Hannah opened the door, stepped inside, and played the beam of her flashlight over the walls. There were no outside windows. If they closed the door behind them, they could turn on the lights.

“Come in and shut the door,” Hannah called out to her sister.

Andrea stepped in quickly and shut the door. “Good. It’s creepy out there.”

Hannah agreed. Her knees were still shaking slightly, but she decided to make light of it for her sister’s benefit. “That’s only because it’s so big and dark. You can turn on the lights. There’s probably a switch right by the door.”

“Are you sure?” Andrea sounded very nervous.

“I’m positive. I checked and there aren’t any windows. No one will notice the light if we keep the door closed.”

Andrea located the wall switch and a moment later, bright light flooded down from an overhead fixture. Both sisters breathed a sigh of relief as they gazed around the room. Max’s office was huge and it was tastefully decorated with dark gray wall-to-wall carpeting and pale yellow grass cloth on the walls. There were several framed prints of flowers hanging in strategic positions, and the upholstered furniture, done in a striped pattern of muted coral, dark green, and gold, picked up the colors from the flower prints.

“It’s a nice color combination,” Andrea commented. “The only thing that doesn’t match is Max’s desk chair.”

Hannah glanced at the old brown leather swivel chair that sat behind the modern, executive-style desk. “I guess Max was going for comfort, not style.”

Two smaller chairs faced the front of the desk for visitors and there was a small round table between them. A conversational grouping was arranged at the side of the room and there were three doors: the one they’d just entered, another that Hannah assumed connected to Betty’s office, and a rough-hewn antique door in the center of the back wall.

“What’s that door?” Andrea pointed to the only door that didn’t match the decor.

“That leads to the old dairy,” Hannah told her, “the one in the picture that Max’s mother painted. It’s the original door and Max told us about it when we took the tour. He said the old dairy was a landmark and he decided to preserve it, even though it cost more money to incorporate it into his expansion plans. He called it his contribution to the history of this area.”

Andrea laughed. “And you bought it?”

“Bought what?”

“Max didn’t keep the old dairy intact out of the goodness of his heart. He got a huge tax break for preserving a historical landmark. All you have to do is connect one of the original walls to the new construction.”

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.” Hannah just shook her head. “Everyone’s always said that Max is a shrewd businessman.”

Andrea reached down to touch the velvety carpet. “Max must have spent some of the money he saved to buy this carpet. It’s the deepest pile they make and it’s just like walking on pillows. I wanted it for our bedroom, but I decided that it would be too hard to keep up. It marks every time you step on it. It’s hideously expensive, too. For the price you’d think they could make something that’s easier to care for.”

Hannah spotted a leather-bound appointment book on the credenza near the door and she walked over to page through it. Wednesday’s date was marked:
TSB Convention.
She recognized Betty’s handwriting. There was another note at the top, scrawled in what she assumed was Max’s untidy hand. It said:
Meet W.

“Look, Hannah.” Andrea sounded insistent. “See all the footprints on this carpet?”

Hannah looked down at the carpet and saw footprints in the deep pile. “You’re a genius, Andrea. If you hadn’t mentioned it, I might have trampled right over them. Follow me and keep to the sides of the room. Let’s see if we can find any footprints in front of Max’s desk.”

Hugging the wall, Hannah moved forward until she was even with the front of Max’s desk. Andrea was right behind her, and Hannah pointed to the tracks in front of one of the chairs. “There! That proves someone was in here with Max.”

“And we know Max was here. See those marks from the wheels of his chair?”

“I see them,” Hannah acknowledged, and then she pointed to another series of tracks. “But I’m more concerned about those.”

Andrea studied the indentations in the pile of the carpet. “They’re going right to that door.”

“The original dairy. Max must have taken his visitor in there. We’d better check it out.”

“Why would he take someone in there?”

“He told us that he used it for the storage of old records,” Hannah explained. “Come on. Let’s see if it’s open.”

With Andrea following at her heels, Hannah pushed open the door and found the light switch. She gestured toward the shelves of file boxes lining the small brick building. “I guess he’s still using it for storage.”

“Is that the original safe?” Andrea pointed to the old safe in the corner.

“It must be. It looks old.” Hannah walked over to examine the safe door. It was standing open, but it didn’t look damaged in any way. “Max must have opened it for some reason.”

As Hannah searched through the contents, she kept up a running commentary so that Andrea would know what she was doing. “There’s no sign of a robbery or anything like that. Here’s a bundle of cash and a jewelry box.” Hannah snapped open the box and looked inside. “It’s a pair of gold cufflinks. They look like antiques. Maybe they belonged to Max’s grandfather. And here’s an antique pocket watch and a man’s diamond ring. There’s a Rolex, too. That must be fairly new. I don’t think they made them when Max’s father was alive. I didn’t notice any kind of a safe in Max’s house, so I guess this is where he keeps his personal valuables.”

Her eyes were drawn to a few stapled papers on one of the shelves, and Hannah reached out for them. “Here’s the speech that Betty typed for Max, just sitting on top of these files. Max must have picked it up from Betty’s desk before he came in here.”

Hannah set the speech aside and opened one of the files. There were legal papers inside and it looked like a loan agreement. Her eyes widened as she read the name. “I found the loan papers that Norman’s parents signed. They’re stamped ‘Paid In Full’ and Max initialed it. Hold on a second and let me look through some of these files. I want to see if there’s anyone else we know.”

“Here’s one for Frank Birchum.” Hannah glanced at the contents of another folder. “And his papers are stamped ‘Foreclosed.’ The Birchums moved away about six years ago, didn’t they?”

Andrea didn’t answer and Hannah frowned. “Andrea? You knew the Birchums, didn’t you? They lived right next to the fire station, and Frank used to own the lumberyard before the Hedins took it over. Do you remember when they left town?”

There was no answer and Hannah turned to see what her sister was doing. Andrea was standing near the door and she seemed rooted to the spot. There was a glazed look in her eyes and she was staring off into the far corner of the room.

“Andrea?” Hannah walked over to take her sister’s arm. She gave it a gentle shake, but Andrea didn’t seem to notice. “You’re scaring me, Andrea. Talk to me!”

But Andrea didn’t say a word. She just shuddered and stared off into the far corner with an expression of horror on her face. Hannah swiveled around and looked in the direction of her sister’s fixated gaze. No wonder Andrea was speechless. There was a pair of feet sticking out from behind one of the shelves of file boxes!

“Stay right here.” Hannah realized how unnecessary that warning was, but she couldn’t think of anything else to say. “I’ll go over and check it out.”

Even though Hannah expected the worst, the sight that greeted her was still a shock. It was Max, and he was on his back. There was a hole, very similar to the one she’d seen in Ron’s Cozy Cow Dairy shirt, in the center of Max’s chest. And his eyes were wide-open and staring up at nothing, just as Ron’s had been.

Max was dead. Hannah didn’t need a doctor to tell her that. The blood on his shirt had dried thoroughly, and Hannah assumed that he’d been dead for quite a while, probably since shortly after his meeting on Wednesday morning.

Hannah walked back to her sister and took her arm. There wasn’t any pleasant way to tell her. “It’s Max and he’s dead. Let’s go and find Bill.”

“Bill.” Andrea managed to choke out his name.

“Right. Come on, Andrea. I’ll drive out to the accident scene and we’ll find him. How about Tracey? Do you need to get home to her?”

Andrea shook her head. It was a jerky, almost automatic kind of motion, but Hannah was relieved. At least she was responding. “With Lucy. Overnight. At the farm.”

“Good.” Hannah understood what Andrea was trying to say. Lucy Dunwright was Andrea’s friend, and her daughter, Karen, was Tracey’s age. Tracey was spending the night with Karen at the family farm.