Carrot Cake Murder Part 23

"Not really. I'll pick up what I need at the airport."

"How about clothes?"

"I've got what I'm wearing, and I can pick up another s.h.i.+rt. If Gus's nightclub really is as fancy as he claimed it was, it'll probably have a dress code. I'm just glad I've got my suit hanging in the car, and I can take off for the airport from here."

Hannah just stared at him for a moment as the gears in her brain whirred and then meshed. Pieces of the puzzle clicked into place, and she reached out to hug him. And then, because that wasn't enough, she placed a big kiss on his lips.

"Wow!" Norman said when she released him. "If I'd known that flying to Atlantic City would affect you that way, I would have done it a long time ago!"

"That's not it," Hannah said, still slightly breathless from the way Norman had returned her kiss.

"Then what is it? Not that I'm complaining, of course."

"Remember the suitcase on the bed?" she waited until Norman nodded. "And the empty closet at Gus's cottage?"

"Yes."

"And the linen suit hanging in the Jaguar?"

"Of course I remember. I'm the one who climbed the fence at the impound lot. But what does that have to do with me?"

"Gus didn't unpack and hang up his clothes, because he knew he wasn't staying. And he hung his linen suit in the car when he changed clothes for the dance because he was planning on leaving later that night."

"How do you know all that?"

"Everything adds up. Ava told me he ga.s.sed up his car before he even found out which cabin was his. That tells me he was planning to take off again before Ava opened up in the morning."

"Okay. Anything else?"

"There's the pill I saw him take at the dance. He said it was an antacid, but I described it to Jon Walker and he thought it was a type of amphetamine. Gus wanted to be alert so he could drive back to Atlantic City. That's why he bought all those candy bars and snacks. He told Ava they were for his breakfast, but they weren't. That's why he bought the disposable cooler, too. And made his ham and cheese sandwiches at the bar in the pavilion. He was going to take them with him in the car and drive all night."

Norman thought about it for a moment. "That does make sense. But why did he want to leave after only one day? The reunion doesn't end until Sat.u.r.day night."

"My guess is that he never planned to come to the reunion in the first place. He just saw the posters Lisa and Herb hung on Main Street and thought it was a handy excuse. He came for another reason."

"To see his family?"

Hannah shook her head. "I really doubt that. If he'd wanted to reconnect with his relatives, he would have stayed for the whole reunion. My guess is that Gus came for a purpose. And he must have accomplished it before he hung that linen suit in his car and took that pill to keep him awake."

"Okay," Norman said, standing up and giving Moishe a scratch behind the ears before he headed to the door. "I'll find out why he came here. And I'll check out his apartment to see if he really had a safe with watches and jewelry."

"Be careful," Hannah warned, feeling strangely bereft as he pulled her into his arms for a hug.

"I will be. Where's your cell phone?"

Hannah got her purse and rummaged around until she found her cell phone in the bottom. "Here it is," she announced, handing it to him.

"The battery's low," Norman said, turning it on and pressing some b.u.t.tons that emitted squeaky sounds.

"Moishe likes those sounds," Hannah said, noticing that her cat had perked up his ears. "It probably sounds like a mouse symphony to him."

Norman laughed as he shut the phone and handed it to her. "Put it on the charger tonight, and don't forget to take it with you tomorrow. I'll call you when I get to Atlantic City, but you have to remember to turn your cell phone on so it'll ring."

"I will. I'll charge it up the second you leave, and I'll take it with me when I go to work tomorrow. And I'll turn it on and leave it on in my purse."

"Good. Don't forget. And be careful, Hannah."

"I will be."

"Do you promise?"

Hannah smiled. Norman really did care about her. "I promise," she gave her word.

"If you figure out who killed Gus before I get back, don't take any chances. And whatever you do, don't go after his killer alone. Call Mike and make sure he's got your back."

"Okay."

"Do you promise, Hannah?"

It was a much harder promise, but Hannah could see how much it meant to him. "I promise, Norman," she said.

Chapter Twenty-Three.

The coffee was on, Moishe's food and water bowls were filled, and she'd checked to make sure the little locks that Bill had installed on every window were engaged. All she had to do was wash her face, brush her teeth, put on the oversized T-s.h.i.+rt she used for a nightgown in the summer, and crawl under the covers.

"Come on, Moishe," Hannah said, picking him up from his perch on the penthouse floor of his Kitty Kondo. "It's getting late, and I really need to..."

She was interrupted by a knock on the door, three sharp raps that she thought she recognized. A second later, there was a second series of similar raps.

"...answer the door," Hannah finished her sentence, and put Moishe back on the penthouse floor. "Who's there?" she called out, even though she thought she knew.

"It's Mike. I need to talk to you. You're still up, aren't you?"

No, I'm sound asleep! Hannah felt like saying, but of course she didn't. What she said was, "I'm up. Hold on a second, and I'll get the door."

"Thanks, Hannah." Mike stepped into her living room. "I figured you were still up. I saw Norman driving out."

"Did you talk to him?" Hannah asked, hoping that he'd say no. Norman was a law-abiding citizen. If Mike had asked him where he was going, Norman would have told him.

"I just waved. I was in a hurry to get over here."

"Is there a break in the case?" Hannah asked, sending up silent thanks to her lucky stars that Mike had been in a hurry.

"Nothing new." Mike did a double take as he saw what was on the wall by her desk. "What's that?"

"Moishe's new Kitty Kondo activity center. Norman installed it yesterday." Hannah stopped and thought fast. She didn't want to make Mike feel bad for not thinking of getting one for Moishe. "Thanks to the Animal Channel number you gave me, and his new activity center, Moishe's not destroying things anymore."

"Great! I've got something for him in the cruiser. I'll go down and haul it up here before I leave. I just stopped by to ask you if you learned anything I should know about."

"Actually...yes," Hannah said, leading him over to the couch. And then, because she was a good hostess, she asked, "Coffee?"

"Thanks, but I'm all coffeed out. I think it's because I've been drinking the swill at the station. But I wouldn't mind something sweet if you've got it."

"I've got it. I baked almond cake tonight. How about a slice with a gla.s.s of milk?"

"Sounds great!"

"Make yourself comfortable and I'll get it." Hannah made a quick trip to the kitchen. When she came back, Mike was sitting on the couch with Moishe in his lap.

"Here you go," she said, setting the cake and the milk on the coffee table. "Try the cake and see how you like it."

Mike took a bite and nodded. "I like it a lot, unless you've been watching a.r.s.enic And Old Lace."

"I haven't seen it for years, and my almonds aren't bitter," Hannah said, referring to the fact that a.r.s.enic tasted like bitter almonds. "How did they discover that, anyway?"

"You mean about the bitter almonds?"

"Yes. You can't ask dead people how the poison that killed them tasted."

Mike threw back his head and laughed. "You're right. Somebody must have tasted it without swallowing. Or reported the taste before they died."

"Gruesome. And that reminds me, did Doc Knight run a tox screen on Gus Klein?"

"Yes. It's standard operating procedure."

"Did he happen to find any traces of amphetamine?"

"Why do you want to know that?"

Hannah sighed. Mike wasn't being very cooperative. "I saw Gus take a green-and-white capsule at the dance. When I asked him if he should mix alcohol and medicine, he said it was an over-the-counter antacid."

"And you didn't believe him?"

"I believed him at the time. But then I started thinking about it, so I described it to Jon Walker and asked him what it could have been."

"And he told you it could have been an amphetamine?"

"Yes."

"Jon's right. It was an amphetamine. It showed up on the tox screen."

Hannah felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. "When did the tox screen come in?"

"With the autopsy. Doc put a rush on it, and I had it first thing Tuesday morning."

"But I saw you late Tuesday morning at The Cookie Jar! Why didn't you tell me about it?"

"Because it's an official doc.u.ment. It's against regulations for me to share official reports and doc.u.ments with you."

"So there are things you're not telling me?" Hannah asked him, feeling betrayed.

"A few, yes, but only if they're something confidential that only authorized personnel can know. Besides...the amphetamines didn't kill him. He was stabbed with an ice pick or similar object."

The lightbulb of suspicion that had been flickering in Hannah's mind ever since she'd talked to her sisters about sharing information with Mike turned into a steadily glowing globe. She knew the truth now. Mike was holding out on her. Perhaps he didn't mean to. She'd give him the benefit of the doubt. He might truly believe that he was honoring the pact they'd made.

"What about the suitcase on the bed?" she asked. "Were there any more pills in it?"

"Come on, Hannah." Mike gave a weary sigh. "The suitcase is in the evidence room."

"And only authorized personnel can know what's in it?"

"That's right. Some of the contents could be important during the trial."

"What trial? You haven't arrested anyone yet."

"No, but we will. And there's no way I want the killer to walk on a technicality because I've been careless with the evidence."

"I understand," Hannah said, and she did. Mike had never said much about it, but Hannah knew that the gang member who'd shot and killed Mike's wife when she was pregnant with their first child had gotten off on a technicality. Bill had told her all about it. It was one of the reasons Mike was so determined to follow police procedure to the letter. No criminal he caught was going to walk free on a technicality if he could help it.

"I'll tell you what I can, Hannah. You know I will."

"I know." Hannah knew that Mike was sharing some information with her. But the information she would get from him wouldn't be critical to the case. He was treating her like an outsider, not a member of his team. And while he might honestly want things to be different, they wouldn't be.

"What's the matter?" Mike asked, frowning slightly.

Nothing that you'd understand, Hannah almost said, but she bit the words back. It was silly of her to be disappointed. She should have known all along that Mike's two-way street was really one-way. He might want to break the rules for her, but he wouldn't.

"Hannah? What's wrong?" Mike asked again.

"I'm just tired," Hannah said, uttering the first thing that popped into her head.

"I'd better go, then. Lock the door behind me, and I'll run down and get that present for Moishe I told you about. I'll knock when I come back up."

Hannah waited, her eye to the peephole. She was expecting to see a distorted image of Mike as he came up the stairs, but instead she saw something huge, bright pink, and fuzzy.

"Okay, Hannah. It's me."

The huge, pink, fuzzy object had Mike's voice, so Hannah opened the door. And then she started to laugh as she saw what he was carrying.

"It's a flamingo," Mike explained unnecessarily. "Didn't you tell me that Moishe liked flamingos?"