Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder Part 23

"No problem. The pa.s.senger's name was Woodley?"

"That's right," Hannah said, and spelled it out for her. "Benton Woodley."

"I'll have to put you on hold. Just a moment please." There was a brief silence and then music spewed out from the little holes on the receiver. It sounded like the chorus from "It's a Small World," and Hannah was in the process of wondering whether Tammi had chosen the song when her cheerful voice came back on the line. "Mr. Benton Woodley was our pa.s.senger on the two o'clock shuttle. I checked with the driver, but he said he didn't find anything except a pen and a monogrammed handkerchief. Maybe you should check with the airlines?"

"Good idea. Thanks, Tammi. I really appreciate your help." Hannah hung up the phone and thought about what she'd learned. Moishe jumped up on her lap and started to lick her arm with his raspy tongue. He seemed to sense that she was upset and he was doing his best to comfort her. Hannah stroked him absently and thought about the times of the murders. The fact that Benton had taken the two o'clock shuttle didn't rule him out as the killer. He could have flown in the night before, rented a car from Compacts Unlimited, and made a round-trip to Lake Eden to kill Max and Ron. If he'd returned the car to the airport location, he could have walked to the shuttle station and boarded the two o'clock bus to give himself an alibi. But why would Benton want to kill Max Turner? He hadn't visited Lake Eden in years, and as far as Hannah knew, he'd never spoken more than a few words to Max.

Her mind spinning, Hannah reached for the phone again, intending to call Compacts Unlimited to find out if Benton had rented a car. But perhaps she should leave that to Bill. He knew the manager and he could get the information much faster than she could. Hannah punched out Bill's number and reminded herself of the things she had to tell him. There was the photo of the rental folder and her suspicions about Benton. Bill didn't know anything about that. There was also Boyd Watson and she had to tell Bill that she'd eliminated him as a suspect. She wouldn't mention Danielle's painful secret right now. It would be better to wait until she had Bill's full attention. Perhaps they could think of some way to put the fear of G.o.d into The Gull's head coach.

"Bill? I've got some information that..." Hannah stopped short as she realized she was talking to a recorded message. Bill wasn't at his desk. When the beep sounded, she almost hung up in sheer frustration, but better sense prevailed. "Bill? It's Hannah. I eliminated Coach Watson as a suspect. He's got an alibi. But remember those pictures we took in Del Woodley's den? Norman brought them over on his lunch break and one of them showed a Compacts Unlimited rental folder. I figure that Benton must have rented it. Judith wouldn't be caught dead driving a compact and Del's got his fancy Mercedes. The W in Max's appointment book could stand for Woodley, but I don't have a motive. I'm going to nose around to see what else I can find out about the Woodleys."

Hannah sighed and hung up, picturing Bill in the sheriff station's lobby, eating dozens of the cookies she'd baked for the open house and mingling with the people who'd driven out to see their new cruisers. He was probably having the time of his life while she was sitting here agonizing over clues that didn't fit and suspects that disappeared like s...o...b..a.l.l.s in the sun. She was supposed to be a.s.sisting Bill, not doing all of his legwork for him. Who was bucking for detective here, anyway?

Just then the phone rang, jolting Hannah out of her glum mood. She reached out to answer it, expecting Bill, but it was her mother.

"I'm so glad I caught you, Hannah. I have the most amazing news."

"Yes, Mother?" Hannah held the phone an inch from her ear. Her mother could deafen the person on the other end of the line when she was excited.

"I'm here at the mall with Carrie. She needed a new battery for her watch. You'll never guess what I just saw at the jeweler's! What do you think it was?"

Hannah made a face at Moishe. She was almost thirty and her mother still wanted her to play guessing games. "I'll never be able to guess, Mother. You'd better tell me."

"It was Del Woodley's ring!"

"His ring?" Hannah didn't understand what was so startling about that. Everyone she knew took rings to the jeweler's when they needed repair or resizing.

"It was for sale, Hannah. The jeweler had it displayed in a gla.s.s case and he wanted twenty thousand dollars for it."

"Twenty thousand dollars?" Hannah gasped.

"That's not unreasonable for a platinum setting and a diamond that size. Now why would Del Woodley's ring be up for sale?"

"I don't have the foggiest idea." Hannah took a moment to ponder the question, but it really didn't make any sense. "Are you sure it was Del Woodley's ring?"

"I'm positive. I admired it at their party last year and I noticed this tiny little scratch on the band. The ring I just saw at the jeweler's had the very same scratch. Do you want to know what I think?"

"Sure," Hannah agreed. It wouldn't do any good to say no. Delores would just tell her anyway.

"I think Del's in financial trouble. That's the only reason he'd part with that ring. He told me that he just adored it."

"You're right, Mother." Hannah began to smile. This opened up all sorts of intriguing possibilities. "Did you find out how long the ring has been there?"

"Of course I did. The jeweler said he'd had it for six months."

"Did he confirm that it belonged to Del?"

"No, dear. He said that whenever he accepts any expensive jewelry on consignment, he keeps the ident.i.ty of the original owner confidential."

Hannah thought about that for a moment while her mother went on to describe every detail of her conversation with the jeweler. The Woodleys had spared no expense at their party, but that meant nothing. Judith was proud and she was the type to keep up appearances. If Del's business was in trouble, he could have borrowed money from Max. And if Max had called in his loan, as he'd done with Norman's parents and several other people in town, Del Woodley would have had the perfect motive to murder him.

"I'm sure I'm right, Hannah," her mother went on. "You know how good I am at noticing little details. We stopped in at the antique shop, too. Do you remember those lovely dessert dishes I gave you?"

"Yes, Mother." Hannah glanced over at the dessert dish she'd used for Moishe's ice cream.

"Be careful when you wash them. I only paid twenty dollars for the set at an auction, but they had two in the window of the antique store. They're selling for fifty dollars apiece now."

"Really?" Hannah was highly amused. She could imagine her mother's reaction if she mentioned that Moishe had just finished eating from a fifty-dollar dessert dish.

"I've got to run, Hannah. Carrie wants to shop for some new linens, and there's a line of people waiting to use this phone."

"I'm really glad you called, Mother," Hannah said. And this time she meant it.

There was a spring in Hannah's step as she walked up to the Plotniks door and rang the bell. Delores didn't know it, but she'd been a big help. Phil Plotnik was a night supervisor at DelRay and he might know if Del's business was in trouble.

The door opened and Sue Plotnik stood there, juggling a dishtowel and a crying baby. She looked surprised to see her upstairs neighbor, but she smiled. "Hi, Hannah. I hope Kevin didn't disturb you. He's got an ear infection and Phil's out getting his prescription refilled."

"I didn't even hear him," Hannah rea.s.sured her. "Did I come at a bad time?"

Sue laughed. "There isn't a good time, not with a new baby, but that doesn't matter. Come in and have a cup of coffee with me. I just made a fresh pot."

Hannah didn't really want to intrude, especially when it looked as if Sue had her hands full, but she really needed to talk to Phil. At least she could help while Sue got the coffee.

"I brought some cookies for you." Hannah walked in and placed the bag on the table. Then she held out her arms and smiled at Sue. "Let me hold the baby for you. I'll walk him around while you get the coffee."

Sue handed over the blanket-wrapped bundle with visible relief. "Thanks, Hannah. He's been crying all morning and I dropped his bottle of medicine. That's why Phil had to make a run to the drugstore. Did you get my message about catering next week at Mommy and Me?"

"Yes. Thanks for thinking of me, Sue. I've already written it on my calendar." Hannah jiggled the fussing baby a bit and then she started to pace the floor with him. Mich.e.l.le had been a colicky baby, and Hannah was no stranger to crying infants. As the eldest sister, almost eleven at the time, Hannah had taken over when Delores had needed a break.

It didn't take long for the baby to quiet. Hannah paced rhythmically back and forth with a satisfied expression on her face. It was pretty obvious that she hadn't lost her touch.

Sue came in with two cups of coffee and a plate for the cookies. She set them down on the coffee table and then she stared at Kevin with openmouthed amazement. "How did you do do that?" that?"

"It's easy. You just have to keep your steps slow and a little bouncy. I used to pretend that I was an elephant in a circus parade. I'm going to put him down, Sue."

Sue watched while Hannah walked over to the cradle and tucked the baby inside. There was an anxious expression on her face, but it faded after several long seconds of silence. "You're a genius, Hannah."

"No, I'm not. I've just had plenty of practice, that's all. Mich.e.l.le had at least four bouts of colic before her first birthday."

"You should be a mother, Hannah. All that talent going to-" Sue stopped in midthought and looked very uncomfortable. "I shouldn't have said that."

"That's okay. Just do me a favor and don't mention it to my mother. It'll give her new ammunition."

"She's still trying to fix you up with every man in town?" Sue gestured toward the couch and they both sat down.

"You could say that." Hannah took a sip of her coffee and decided to change the subject. "How's DelRay doing, Sue? That's really what I came down to ask you about."

"Everything's fine now. Phil said Del is even talking about branching out into the mail order business like Fingerhut did in St. Cloud. But it didn't look so good a couple of..." Sue's voice trailed off as she heard a key in the door. "Phil's coming. He can tell you all about it."

Phil opened the door, spotted Hannah, and gave her a grin. "Hi, Hannah."

"h.e.l.lo, Phil."

"Hannah put Kevin to sleep for me." Sue gestured toward the crib. "She just walked like an elephant and it worked."

Phil gave his wife a glance that suggested she might be losing her marbles, but then he shrugged. "Whatever works. Is there more of that coffee?"

"Half a pot in the kitchen," Sue told him. "Get a cup and come join us, honey. Hannah came down to ask us about DelRay."

Phil poured a cup of coffee and came back to sit in the chair across from the couch. He tried a cookie, p.r.o.nounced it the best he'd ever tasted, and then he asked, "What do you want to know about DelRay?"

"I just hoped there wouldn't be any big changes, now that Benton's come back," Hannah went into the opening of the speech she'd planned on her way down the stairs.

"I don't think Benton will last for long." Phil took another cookie and shrugged. "From what I hear, he was living it up on the East Coast and he just came home to make sure that the money wouldn't run out."

"Will it?" Hannah asked the obvious question.

"I don't think there's any danger of that. Sue's sister works in the accounting office and she told me that Del just landed a fat new contract on Thursday."

Hannah nodded, but it didn't really matter. Thursday was the day after after Max had been killed. "How about before that? Was DelRay in trouble?" Max had been killed. "How about before that? Was DelRay in trouble?"

"There was a problem about four years ago. It was right before Sue and I got married and I was already starting to look for a new job."

"Things were that bad at DelRay?"

Phil raised his eyebrows. "Bad? It was gruesome. We lost five big contracts, and the front office cut the workforce in half. They did it on seniority and I'd only been there for a year. I was just lucky I survived the cut. The guy who was hired right after me got pink-slipped. But then Del got some new financing and ever since then we've been doing better."

"New financing?" Hannah's ears perked up. "You mean like a bank loan?"

Phil shook his head. "I don't know where the money came from, but it wasn't a bank loan. Sue's sister told me that the bank turned Del down. Something about being overextended."

"But there hasn't been a problem since that loan or whatever it was?" Hannah took another sip of her coffee and waited for Phil's answer.

"It wasn't so fine on Wednesday morning," Sue spoke up. "Tell her about that, that, Phil." Phil."

"Sue's right. I was a little worried when I came home from work on Wednesday morning."

"A little little worried?" Sue laughed. "You were ready to start sending out resumes again." worried?" Sue laughed. "You were ready to start sending out resumes again."

"That's true. When I was leaving the plant, I saw the old man and he looked pretty grim."

"What time was that?" Hannah held her breath. The pieces were starting to fall in place.

"About six-fifteen, give or take a couple of minutes. I just got off shift and I was heading out to the parking lot when I saw him talking to the night shift supervisors."

Hannah was confused. "I thought you you were a night shift supervisor." were a night shift supervisor."

"I am, but these guys are one level up from me. That's why I thought there might be trouble. The old man never comes in before nine, unless there's a real crisis."

Hannah spent another couple of minutes making conversation and then she said she had to go. As she climbed up the steps to her own unit, she tried to fit the new pieces of the puzzle into place. Del Woodley couldn't have killed Max, not if Phil had seen him at the plant. But it was certainly possible that Del had secured a loan from Max Turner four years ago. She had to check on that, and there was only one person who might know.

When she unlocked her door, no furry orange ball barreled across the room to meet her. Hannah glanced around anxiously. Where was Moishe? Then she saw him sitting on the back of the couch. The novelty of having her dash in and out had obviously worn off for him.

"Hi, Moishe." Hannah walked over to pet him anyway. "Go back to sleep. I just came home to make another phone call."

Moishe yawned and settled back down, and Hannah reached for the phone. Betty Jackson might know if Del Woodley had borrowed money from Max four years ago.

Betty's extension was busy and Hannah had to press the redial b.u.t.ton a dozen times before she finally got through. When she said h.e.l.lo, Betty immediately started to tell her what was going on.

"It's been a madhouse out here!" Betty sounded even more harried than usual. "I can't get into Max's office. There's yellow tape blocking the doorway, and Bill warned me not to go in there. And everybody in town has been calling me to find out what's going to happen to the dairy."

"Do you know yet?"

"Yes. I just got off the phone with Max's nephew and he's planning to move here and take over the operation. He asked me to call an employee meeting and tell everyone on the payroll that he's not planning to make any changes. Isn't that wonderful?"

"It certainly is." Hannah did her best to sound enthusiastic. She was glad that the dairy was staying open, but she had a lot of other things on her mind. "I'm sorry to bother you, Betty, but I need to ask you a very important question. Do you know if Max ever had any business dealings with Del Woodley?"

"Just a minute and I'll get that invoice for you. Could you hold, please?"

There was a thunk as Betty set the receiver down on her desk, and Hannah heard her tell several people to leave her office because she had an important supplier on the line. A few seconds later, there was the sound of a door closing and then Hannah heard heavy footsteps as Betty returned to her desk.

"Sorry, Hannah. I didn't want to say anything while there were people in the office, but Max did have dealings with Del Woodley. I'm not supposed to know anything about it, but I just happened to pick up the extension while Max was talking to Del."

Hannah grinned. It sounded as if Betty spent most of her working hours listening in on conversations that she wasn't supposed to hear.

"Del called a few months ago," Betty continued. "It was about a personal loan. He was complaining about the high interest rates, and Max wasn't very nice to him."

"Really?" Hannah feigned surprise.

"As a matter of fact, he was very nasty. Max told Del that if he didn't like the interest rates, he could just come up with the money and pay off the loan."

"Did Del pay off the loan?"

"I don't know, Hannah. Del didn't call again and that's the last I ever heard about it."

"Thanks, Betty." Hannah hung up the phone and dropped her face in her hands. This was all very confusing. Perhaps she should take a run out to the dairy and look at the crime scene again. It was possible that Bill might have missed something that pertained to the loan that Del had taken out with Max.

"I'm leaving again, Moishe," Hannah announced as she stood up and felt around in her pocket to make sure she had her keys. But Moishe didn't rush to the food bowl as he usually did. He just opened his good eye and gave her what amounted to an extremely bored kitty shrug.

Chapter Twenty-Five.