Carrot Cake Murder Part 5

"You can stop looking, Hannah. We took the picture without Uncle Gus. Norman's going to stick around, so if he shows up later, we'll take another one."

"He won't show up." Her voice sounded strained to her own ears, and Hannah cleared her throat.

"What do you mean, He won't show up?"

Hannah cleared her throat again. "He's...he...call Mike and Bill on your cell phone, will you? It's important."

"Okay, but why?"

"They need to come out here. Uncle Gus is...gone," she forced out the words, knowing full well that the woman who hated euphemisms had just used one.

"You mean he left the family reunion without even saying goodbye?"

"Not exactly," Hannah said, sighing as she avoided yet another a direct answer. "Just tell them to hurry. And don't let anyone in until they get here."

Chapter Seven.

Hannah gazed out across the blue-green expanse of the lake. The sun was shining brightly, the water sparkled as she skimmed it with the tips of her fingers, and a light breeze lifted her hair from the nape of her neck. The warmth of the sun and the serene beauty of the lake was almost enough to erase the memory of Gus...almost, but not quite.

Norman rowed smoothly across the water. He'd been waiting for her when she left the pavilion, and he'd led her down to the water and launched the boat.

"Where are we going?" Hannah asked him. They were in the middle of Eden Lake, and she was glad to get away from the continual questions about what had happened, the speculation about who could have done such a terrible thing to Gus, and why.

"We're here." Norman dropped the anchor next to a huge bed of pink and white water lilies.

"Where's here?"

"Eden Lake's water lily garden. Marge told me her father added plants to it every summer."

"It's gorgeous. And all this time, I never knew it was here."

"Are you okay, Hannah?"

"I'm a whole lot better now," she said, admiring the water lilies. "All I need is a white dress and a straw bonnet with a ribbon around it and I could pose for Monet's The Boat at Giverny."

"Or the girl who's not paddling in Renoir's The Skiff. But I don't think she has a hat on."

"It's hard to tell with the impressionists. Of course I could always jump in and be a floating face in the middle of any of Monet's water lily paintings. It would be like Where's Waldo? and n.o.body would even spot me."

"Don't do that. Or at least don't do it before you have some lunch." Norman opened the hamper Hannah hadn't noticed before and took out two stemmed gla.s.ses. "Let's start with the drinks. Champagne? Or lemonade?"

"I think it'd better be lemonade. Mike hasn't interviewed me yet."

"Smart choice." Norman filled her gla.s.s with lemonade from the thermos he'd brought and handed her a sandwich. "Here. You need this."

Hannah accepted the sandwich and bit into it. "Egg salad. My favorite! And this is really good egg salad. Who made it?"

"I did."

Hannah looked at him in surprise. "I thought you didn't cook."

"I don't. But anybody can hard boil an egg, and the rest is just chopping it up, mixing it with other stuff, and spreading it on bread."

"Okay..." Hannah stopped and took another bite to be sure. "But this is gourmet egg salad. It even has bits of bacon in it. How did you make it?"

"I'm not sure. I just kept adding things until it tasted right."

"Well, please write it down the next time you make it. I want the recipe."

"Really?" Norman looked surprised.

"Yes, really. Egg salad is one of my favorite comfort foods. If I eat it, I feel better. It's like macaroni and cheese, or chicken soup. It makes me feel warm and loved."

Norman smiled. "You are loved, Hannah."

Hannah wasn't sure what to say. She knew Norman loved her, and she loved him, too. She wanted to tell him she'd marry him and be with him always, but she couldn't. As long as she also had feelings for Mike, it wouldn't be fair to marry Norman.

Norman reached out to put an arm around her. "Sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"I'm glad you did," Hannah said, reaching out to give him a little hug. And then she changed the subject. "Moishe was really crazy last night. I was so tired, I slept through the noise, but my downstairs neighbor called me at two-thirty in the morning."

"What was Moishe doing?"

"Racing around the tub in my master bathroom. He was making a terrible racket."

Norman began to frown. "Sounds like the Big Guy isn't happy. Is it because you've been gone so much lately?"

"Maybe. He also shredded my couch pillow and left little bits of stuffing all over the floor."

"Definitely not happy. I'd invite him out to play with Cuddles, but she's gone on vacation."

Hannah realized she hadn't really talked to Norman for at least a week. They'd both been so busy they hadn't had time to go out to dinner, or just sit over coffee and converse. "What's all this about sending your cat on a vacation?" she asked.

"Oh, I didn't send her. Marguerite dropped by and asked if she could take Cuddles to her friend's house for the week. Since she had Cuddles before I adopted her, I thought it was only fair. Her friend has an older male Persian, and everything's set up for cats. Marguerite thought Cuddles would be in her element."

"But what if she's not?" Hannah was a bit worried. Cats could be finicky about the company they kept.

"She's fine. Marguerite called me this morning to report."

"And if she hadn't been fine, you would have jumped in your car and driven up to get her?"

"Of course. I miss her a lot, but it's good for Marguerite to have this time with her. And after all, I promised we'd have split custody."

Hannah took another bite of her sandwich and gave a little sigh of pleasure. Norman just had to write down the ingredients! She'd never tasted an egg salad she liked better. "How about Clara?" she asked, knowing that Marguerite's sister was allergic to cats, dogs, birds, and a whole long list of other things. "Did Doc Knight find a better allergy medicine for her?"

"No, but Clara and Marguerite are taking separate vacations this year. Clara's going to a church retreat, and Marguerite's visiting her friend in Duluth."

"They've never done that before, have they?"

"No. Marguerite says they've always gone everywhere together, but it was Clara's idea to split up this year. Clara's crazy about Cuddles, you know. It's just that she can't be around her without having a reaction. She told Marguerite to bring Cuddles to the condo while she was gone, but Marguerite thought it would be easier to go to her friend's house."

"Kitty dander. It would take a professional cleaning crew to get all the allergens out of the condo for Clara if Marguerite brought Cuddles there."

"Exactly. So tell me more about Moishe. I know you've been gone a lot, but has anything else changed in your routine?"

"Not really, unless you count the cable."

"There's something wrong with your cable?"

"It still works, but our lineup's changed and they haven't sent a new cable guide. We've got over two hundred channels now, and I haven't been able to find Moishe's favorite."

"The Animal Channel?"

"Yes. Do you get it?"

"I get it, but I have a dish. How about Andrea?"

"They've got a dish, too. And Mother never watches it, so she's no help."

"You could always call the cable company and ask." Norman suggested.

"I will, if I ever get a couple of hours to spend on hold. I tried yesterday afternoon, but their business office isn't open on Sunday."

"I think I'm beginning to understand something here," Norman looked thoughtful. "Moishe's lonely because you've been gone so much, and he doesn't have his favorite television channel to watch. Is there anything else he doesn't have?"

"Mice. There's plenty to eat outside right now and the field mice won't come in until the first cold snap. And the maintenance guys replaced the weather stripping on all the doors and windows, so I don't have as many bugs."

"No Animal Channel, no mice, no bugs," Norman reiterated. "Maybe he's bored."

Hannah thought about that for a minute. "You could be right. But what can I do about it? I can't take him to work with me."

"I'll call around. Somebody's bound to know the new cable lineup. I'll get the number of the Animal Channel and tell you."

"That would be great!" Hannah said. Norman was always so good to her. "Maybe I should loosen a little bit of that weather stripping and let some bugs in for him."

"Don't do that. I've got another idea that might work. They're having a sale on Kitty Kondos at the pet store in the mall."

"What are Kitty Kondos?"

"They're three-story activity centers covered with carpeting. The base is the first story. It's a big tub-like thing that supports the rest of the structure."

"Tub-like?" Hannah gave a wry smile. "Moishe should like that!"

"True, but this tub is carpeted inside and out. He can race around the middle to his heart's content and it won't make any noise."

"That sounds good, especially for Sue and Phil. What's on the next tier?"

"It's the second story of the tub with an opening on both sides. A covered plank juts out and leads to a frame covered in carpet with all sorts of toys on strings. The clerk said she has one at home, and her cats just love to walk the plank and bat at the toys. And on the other side, there's a mesh hammock. She said it's a favorite nap place for older cats because nothing from the floor can bother them."

"And there's another story above that?"

"That's the penthouse, and there's a little outside staircase leading down to the floor. It's a faster exit than ducking down through the tubs."

"So how much does all this grandeur coast?" Hannah asked the important question.

"A dollar."

"What?!"

"That's what Moishe's will cost. I'm getting one for Cuddles, and if I buy two, I can get the second one for only a dollar. I was going to do that anyway and give one to Moishe for Christmas. But from what you've told me, I think he needs it right now."

Hannah's eyes narrowed. "Are you sure you're buying one for Cuddles and you're not just trying to help me out?"

"I'm positive. I've even got the color picked out. I thought blue would go best in the living room, and that's where I want to put it. She's already got the kitty staircase I built in the den."

The one you built for Moishe, Hannah filled in the unsaid part of Norman's answer. He'd built the kitty staircase hoping that she'd marry him. And from what he'd said earlier, he still loved her even though she'd turned down his proposal.

"Well...if you're sure you're getting one anyway..." she said.

"I am. What color would you like?"

"You decide," Hannah told him, because it didn't really matter to her. Coordinating colors in her condo was not a high priority. There was also the fact that almost everything she owned came from the Lake Eden Helping Hands Thrift Store, and if she had a decor at all, it was economical eclectic.

"Okay, where do you want to put it?"

"You can decide that, too."

"How about right next to your desk in the living room? That way Moishe will have something else to do, and he won't bother you when you use your computer."

"Good idea," Hannah said, not willing to admit that the only time she used her computer was when Norman came over to give her a word processing or Internet lesson.

Norman stared at her for a moment, and then he shook his head. "There's something wrong, isn't there," he said, and it was more of a statement than a question.

"What could possibly be wrong? Didn't I just agree with everything you suggested?"

"That's just it. You agreed with everything I suggested. That's not normal for you, Hannah. I think you're still in shock."

"Maybe I am," Hannah said, and only after the words had left her lips did she realize that she was agreeing with him again. "I guess I must be," she concluded.

"Then you need a dose of your own medicine. Hold on a second and I'll get some."