Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder Read online

  Norman looked concerned. “You seem preoccupied, Hannah. Is there something wrong?”

  “No, not really.” Hannah knew she had to think of some explanation. She didn’t want Norman to think that she wasn’t enjoying his company. “I was just thinking about Max. I really need to talk to him.”

  “Max Turner?” Norman stared at her in alarm. “Whatever you do, don’t get involved in any business dealings with that man!”

  “Why?” Hannah was puzzled by the angry note in Norman’s voice.

  “He’ll eat you alive! I could tell you stories about—” Norman stopped, and looked embarrassed. “Sorry. It’s water over the dam now, but I still see red whenever I hear that man’s name.”

  Hannah reached out to touch Norman’s sleeve. “Tell us about it, Norman.”

  “My father borrowed some money from Max Turner and it was the biggest mistake of his life. He’d only been in business for a couple of months and he needed to set up his second examining room. Dental equipment is very expensive and he didn’t have the money for it.”

  “Why didn’t your father go to the bank for a business loan?” Andrea asked.

  “He did, but they told him that he hadn’t been in business long enough to establish an earnings basis. Max Turner offered to take my parents’ house for collateral, even though they’d just bought it and they didn’t have any equity. He told them that all they had to do was convert their mortgage to fifteen years and make every house payment. He even offered an interest-only loan on the money for the equipment, with payments on the principal whenever they had a good month.”

  Andrea winced. “Uh-oh. I know something about loans, and that’s too good to be true.”

  “It was, but my parents didn’t know that. My father believed Max when he said he wanted to encourage new business in Lake Eden and the town really needed another dentist.”

  “What happened?” Hannah asked, even though she guessed how this story was going to turn out. Betty had said that Max was a shark.

  “Max waited until my parents were only a year away from paying off their house. Then he called in the full amount of the loan.”

  “Is that legal?” Hannah asked.

  “Yes. There was a clause that entitled Max to call in his loan early. And since it was a personal loan, ordinary regulations didn’t apply.”

  “That’s terrible, Norman.” Andrea looked very sympathetic. “But your mother still owns the house, doesn’t she?”

  “Yes. Dad called me in a panic and told me that they could lose their house and their business. I was working at a big dental clinic in Seattle at the time, and I managed to get a loan through my credit union. I wired them the money and they paid Max off just a day before the deadline.”

  Hannah felt sick. Shark was too tame a word for Max Turner. It made her wonder how many other Lake Eden residents Max had nearly ruined. She had a feeling that all this somehow related to Ron’s murder, but she couldn’t quite figure out how the pieces fit together.

  “You won’t mention this to anyone, will you?” Norman asked. “Mother’s still embarrassed about it. She’d die if anyone found out that they were so naïve.”

  “We won’t mention it,” Hannah promised. “It’s over now. Nobody needs to know.”

  Norman looked relieved as he stood up and pushed back his chair. “If you’ll excuse me, I’d better dance with Mother. She made me promise. And just because I’m such a nice guy, I’ll dance with your mother, too.”

  “Norman?” Hannah got up and took his arm. “Would you be terribly disappointed if I left now? There’s something I have to do and it can’t wait. You can stay. Andrea will drive me.”

  “Okay.” Norman didn’t look crushed with disappointment, and that made Hannah’s ego twinge a bit. “Is it something about Ron’s murder?” he asked.

  “Yes. I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you any more than that.”

  “Go ahead, Hannah, but we’d better think up a really good excuse for our mothers. Somehow I don’t think that a headache will do it.”

  “How about a migraine?” Andrea suggested. “A migraine’s always worked for me.”

  Hannah shook her head. “I don’t get migraines, and Mother knows it.”

  “No, but I do.” Andrea turned to Norman. “Just tell our mothers that I was in such bad shape, I begged Hannah to drive me home and stay with me until Bill got back.”

  “That should work,” Norman said. “But what if she calls you and you’re not there?”

  “No problem.” Andrea looked triumphant. “Mother knows I always turn off the phone when I have a migraine. I told her that I couldn’t stand the ringing.”

  Norman patted Andrea on the back. “Very smart. I think you’re covered. I’ll go find the mothers and tell them.”

  “Norman?” Hannah remembered her manners just in time. “Thank you for a lovely evening. I had a wonderful time.”

  “Me too. You’d better move it, Hannah. And take Andrea’s arm and pretend you’re helping her walk. Here come the mothers and they look loaded for bear.”

  Andrea climbed in behind the wheel and they drove down the long, winding driveway. When they reached the bottom, she turned to Hannah. “Where are we going?”

  “To my place. You can drop me off there.”

  “Drop you off?” Andrea slammed on the brakes and they skidded to a stop at the base of the driveway. “What do you mean, drop you off?”

  Hannah sighed. She was the one who’d gotten Andrea interested in Bill’s case in the first place and she should have known that there would be trouble. “I have to do something and it could be dangerous. I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

  “But you don’t care if you get into trouble?”

  “Of course I care. I’ll be very careful. But you’ve got a husband and a daughter. You have to think of them.”

  “I am thinking of them and I’m going along.” Andrea glared at her. “We’re talking about Bill’s promotion here. If there’s any way that I can help, I’m going to do it.”

  “But, Andrea…you know that Bill would—”

  “Let me take care of Bill,” Andrea interrupted her. “Where are we going, anyway?”

  Hannah sighed and caved in. There was no dealing with Andrea when she got a bee in her bonnet, and this bee was as big as a buzzard. “First we’re switching to my Suburban. I’ve got two of those big flashlights in the back. Then we’re driving to Max Turner’s house.”

  “Why are we going there?”

  “Because Max didn’t leave for the convention when he was supposed to leave. He was still in his office at six-fifteen, having a meeting with someone. Ron saw them.”

  “So?”

  “So Max doesn’t have an alibi for the time of Ron’s death. We know he’s not at the convention and no one’s seen him since six-fifteen on Wednesday morning.”

  “I get it. You think that Max killed Ron and then he took off. But why would Max kill Ron?”

  “Think about what Norman just told us and you’ll have a possible motive.”

  Andrea was silent for a moment. “I got it. You think that Ron overheard Max making some kind of shady business deal? And Max followed Ron on his route and killed him so that he couldn’t tell anyone about it. But how do you know that Ron saw Max?”

  Hannah frowned. She should have known that Andrea was going to ask that. “My snitch told me.”

  “Your snitch?”

  “Actually, she’s more of a witness. The woman with the pink lipstick told me about it. She didn’t see Max or the other person, but when Ron came back out to his truck, he told her that Max was in his office, meeting with someone.”

  Andrea stared out through the windshield for a long moment and then turned to Hannah with a frown. “There’s something I don’t understand. Norman said that what Max did was legal. Why would Max kill Ron if his business deals were legal?”

  “I don’t know,” Hannah admitted. “All I do know is that I have to check out Max’s house.”
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br />   Andrea put the Volvo into gear. “You’re absolutely right. Your place first?”

  “That’s right.”

  They started off for Hannah’s condo complex. They’d only driven a mile or so when Andrea started to laugh.

  “What’s so funny?” Hannah asked.

  “You. Checking out Max’s house won’t be dangerous at all. Max isn’t stupid. If he killed Ron he wouldn’t hole up there, just waiting for someone to put the pieces together and arrest him.”

  “That’s true.”

  Andrea took her eyes off the road to shoot her a curious glance. “Then why did you tell me that it could be dangerous?”

  “Because Max’s house will be locked up tight, and Bill might just kill both of us if we get arrested for breaking and entering.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Hannah turned off the highway and onto the access road that ran past the Cozy Cow Dairy. The huge cinderblock building was deserted this time of night and its white paint gleamed in the thousand-watt glow from the security lights that had been installed on poles around the perimeter. The security lights weren’t really necessary. No thief in his right mind would break into a dairy to steal butter or cream vats, but Hannah supposed that Max had gotten a break on his insurance by lighting the place up.

  “It’s creepy out here at night.” Andrea’s voice was shaking slightly and Hannah suspected her sister was having second thoughts about demanding to come along. “Doesn’t Max have a night shift?”

  “No. There’s nothing to do until the tanker trucks come in from the farms in the morning. Except for his deliverymen, nobody comes in until seven-thirty.”

  “I feel silly, dressed like this.” Andrea glanced down at the black pullover sweatshirt and jeans that Hannah had insisted she wear. “Your jeans are too big for me. I had to roll the legs up three times and pin them at the waist. And this hooded sweatshirt smells like it came out of a trash bin. Why did we have to dress up like a couple of cat burglars, anyway? Max’s house is at least a half-mile from the road. There’s no way that anyone will spot us.”

  “Sorry, Andrea. My wardrobe isn’t as extensive as yours. That’s all I had that would almost fit you, and I didn’t think you wanted to wear your party dress.”

  Andrea let her breath out in a long sigh. “You’re right. I’m just a little nervous, that’s all. I keep thinking about how mad Bill’s going to be if we get caught.”

  “We won’t. I told you before, if we have to break in, I’ll do it. And if worse comes to worst, you can tell him that you tried to stop me, but I wouldn’t listen.”

  “That’ll go over like a lead balloon.” Andrea sighed again, and then she winced as they bumped over a rut in the road. “With all Max’s money, you’d think he’d have his driveway graded once in a while.”

  They rode in silence for another minute or so. As they neared Max’s house, Hannah cut her lights and drove the rest of the way by moonlight.

  “He must be gone. There aren’t any lights,” Andrea whispered as Hannah pulled up in front of Max’s garage and shut off the engine. “I told you Max wouldn’t be home.”

  “I didn’t really expect him to be, but I’m going to ring the doorbell, just in case.”

  “What if someone answers?” Andrea sounded scared.

  “Who?”

  Andrea shivered. “I don’t know. Just someone.”

  “Then I’ll think of something to say.” Hannah got out of her Suburban and marched up to the doorbell, wishing she were as confident as she’d sounded. If Max answered the door, she’d have some tall explaining to do. But Max didn’t answer and Hannah walked back with a smile on her face. “Nobody’s there. Come on, Andrea. Let’s check out his garage. We can peek through the windows.”

  “How?” Andrea got out of the Suburban to stare up at the high narrow windows that ran in a strip across the top of the garage door. “They’re too high for us to see in.”

  “No problem.” Hannah climbed up on the hood of her Suburban and motioned for Andrea to hand her a flashlight. She directed the powerful beam through the narrow strip of windows and what she saw made her gasp in surprise.

  “What is it?” Andrea whispered. “What’s in there, Hannah?”

  Hannah climbed down, trying not to look as shocked as she felt. “Max’s car is still there.”

  “If his car is there, he’s got to be home!” Andrea was so astonished, she forgot to whisper. “Let’s get out of here, Hannah!”

  Hannah’s instinct to flee was every bit as powerful as her sister’s, but her sense of duty took over. “We can’t just leave. If Max is inside, he could be sick, or injured, or…even worse.”

  Andrea gasped, and Hannah knew she’d understood the reference to “even worse.”

  “Don’t be a fool, Hannah. Let’s go get Bill.”

  “You go. The keys are in the ignition. I’m going in to check on Max.”

  “B-But…” Andrea started to stammer, and Hannah knew she was scared spitless. “I can’t leave you here alone, Hannah. What if Max is dead and his killer is inside?”

  “If Max is dead, his killer is long gone. Be reasonable, Andrea. If you killed someone, would you stay in the house with him for two whole days?”

  “No,” Andrea admitted. “But I just can’t help feeling that something really bad is going to happen. Remember Charlie Manson?”

  “That was California. Just stay here and be a lookout for me. If you see any headlights coming down the driveway, ring Max’s doorbell.”

  “No way, Hannah. I don’t want to say here alone.”

  “Then come with me.” Hannah knew they were wasting precious time. “Make up your mind, Andrea. I’m going in.”

  “I’ll come with you. It’s better than staying out here by myself. How are we going to get in?”

  “I don’t know yet.” Hannah stepped back to survey the house. There wasn’t any easy way inside. “I guess I’m going to have to break a window.”

  “Don’t do that. Bill says lots of people leave the door that connects their garage to their house open and that’s how burglars get in. Maybe Max left his unlocked.”

  “That’s great, but how are we going to get in Max’s garage without a clicker? He’s got an automatic garage-door opener. I saw the hardware when I looked inside.”

  “I know how.” Andrea sounded very proud of herself. “I watched Bill do it once, when our clicker didn’t work. He pulled up really hard on the door handle and it slid up a couple of inches, just enough for me to wiggle through. I think we could do it if we lift together.”

  “It’s worth a try. Let’s find something to prop it open after we lift it.”

  “How about those boxes?” Andrea pointed to the pile of old-fashioned wooden milk boxes that were stacked at the side of Max’s driveway.

  “They’ll do.” Hannah walked over to retrieve a milk box. She positioned it next to her foot and then she grasped the handle of the garage door. “Come over here and help me lift. If we can get it open, I’ll kick the milk box under with my foot.”

  It took a couple of tries, but they managed to lift the door almost a foot. Hannah propped it open with the milk box and stepped back to eyeball the opening. “It’s pretty small. I don’t think I can get under there.”

  “I can.” Andrea sounded frightened, but she managed to give Hannah a grin. “I’m only a size five. Just hand me a flashlight when I get inside.”

  Hannah watched as her sister stretched out on the driveway at the corner of the door, where the opening was larger, and began to wiggle through. Andrea hadn’t wanted to break in, but here she was, inching her way inside the dark garage.

  “Okay, I’m in.” Andrea stuck her hand out of the opening. “Give me the flashlight.”

  Hannah handed her the flashlight and watched the light grow fainter as Andrea moved deeper into the garage. A few moments later, the garage door slid smoothly open and Hannah stepped inside.

  “Hannah?” Andrea motioned her over to Max’s car with
the beam of her flashlight. “I think you’d better look at this.”

  For a minute Hannah didn’t know what her sister was talking about. Max’s new Cadillac looked perfectly all right to her. But then she noticed that there was a see-through garment bag hanging on the hook in the backseat. Two suitcases were standing near the truck, as if someone had planned to stow them inside later, and a briefcase sat open on the passenger seat.

  “Max was packing his car, but he didn’t finish.” Andrea gestured toward the suitcases.

  “Because something or somebody stopped him,” Hannah stated the obvious conclusion. Max had intended to go to the Buttermakers’ Convention. His suits were hanging in the garment bag, his suitcases were ready to stash in the trunk, and his briefcase was on the seat. “Turn on the garage light, Andrea.”

  Once the garage was flooded with light, Hannah walked around the Cadillac and opened the passenger door. She glanced down at Max’s briefcase and took a deep breath. Max’s wallet was inside and she picked it up.

  “Do you really think you should snoop through his personal things?”

  Hannah turned to give her sister a long, level look. “Why not? It didn’t seem to bother you in Norman’s office.”

  Andrea’s cheeks turned a dull red and she snapped her mouth shut. She didn’t say a word as Hannah opened the wallet and counted the bills inside.

  “Twelve hundred in cash, his driver’s license, and a folder of credit cards,” Hannah reported.

  “Then Max didn’t kill Ron and run away.” Andrea sounded very sure of herself. “He might have left the credit cards and his driver’s license, especially if he was afraid of being traced. But the cash? He would have taken the cash.”

  “You’re right.” Hannah flipped through the papers in the briefcase and pulled out an agenda for the Tri-State Buttermakers’ Convention. A line was highlighted in yellow and it read: Opening Address by Maxwell Turner—10 A.M.

  “Look at this, Andrea.”

  Andrea stared at the highlighted line. “The speech Max didn’t give.”