Peach Cobbler Murder (30 page)

“But . . . he’ll see me!”

“That’s fine. Let him think you were honking at him and keep him talking for a couple of minutes, just long enough for me to get out of the building. Then drive around the back by the Dumpsters and pick me up. You’ll have to dream up some sort of story to explain why you’re here.”

“No problem, I’ve got it.”

“Already?” Hannah was surprised.

“I’m a real estate agent. I’m good at things like that. I’ll just say I have a client who’s looking for a one-bedroom rental until her new house is built. And I’ll ask him questions about his apartment and what he thinks about the management. I can keep him talking for at least five minutes, maybe ten.”

“Great. Now don’t get worried if it takes me a while. If Mother left the money, it might not be in plain sight.”

“Take as long as you want,” Andrea said, reaching in back for the bag of cookies Hannah had brought. “I’ll just eat some chocolate and wait for you.”

Hannah headed for the front of the building at a fast clip, hoping that all the Twin Chocolate Delights she’d packed for Delores wouldn’t be gone by the time they found her. She dashed up the walkway to the front door and pulled it open, not bothering to use her mother’s key. The same applied to the second door. It was still unlocked and Hannah had no doubt it would remain unlocked until some security-minded tenant complained to the management.

There was no way she wanted to brave the elevator with the mirrored walls today, especially since she was wearing her parka coat. She’d look like a gang of chubby, redheaded trolls straight from a Scandinavian ice floe. And even though she knew it would be an optical illusion, it was too much for her to handle right now. Hannah pulled open the door to the stairs and took them two at a time. She was in a hurry. She wanted to replace the photo in Winthrop’s underwear drawer, find the envelope with her mother’s money, and get back out to Andrea’s car before she hit any kind of a snag.

Hannah took a moment to catch her breath once she burst out of the stairwell and into the carpeted corridor of the second floor. She walked sedately to apartment 223 and glanced around to make sure that no one was watching. Then she slid the key in the lock, turned the knob, and stepped quickly inside, locking the door behind her.

Clutching the picture in one hand, Hannah glanced around for the envelope. It had to be here somewhere. It wasn’t on the mantel with the demo pictures in their new frames, and it wasn’t propped up on the coffee table. Hannah was about to head for the bedroom to look there when she heard a sound that made her freeze. Someone had opened a drawer in the bedroom. It had to be Winthrop! But before she could turn and run back outside, the bedroom door opened and Winthrop emerged.

“I thought I heard someone,” he said, staring at her with a frown on his face. “What are you doing here? And how did you get in?”

Hannah thought fast and said the first thing that popped into her mind. “I just came to ask you some questions. And I figured you were here since the door was unlocked. I guess you didn’t hear me knocking.”

“No.” The frown remained on Winthrop’s face and it was clear he didn’t believe her. “What questions did you want to ask me?”

Hannah took a deep breath and went for broke. Maybe she could throw him off base and make a run for it. “Why are you pretending to be Winthrop Harrington when you’re real name is Bobby Joe Peters? And what do you want with my mother?”

“Oh, my dear. I’m so sorry you found out about that,” Winthrop said, losing his English accent in the process. And then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a gun, pointing it directly at her. “Sit down. Right there on the couch.”

Hannah sat. What else could she do? It was as her father, and Mike, had told her repeatedly. If someone points a gun at you, do exactly as they say.

“You think you’re a pretty smart little cookie, don’t you?”

Hannah kept mum. It was a rhetorical question and he didn’t really want an answer. And all the while her mind was spinning, trying to think of some means of escape.

“I assume you figured out that I planned to meet up with Vanessa in Lake Eden after her husband was killed?”

“Killed?” Hannah couldn’t help asking. Her only chance was to keep him talking and perhaps some escape route would open up for her. “I thought her husband died of natural causes.”

“Oh, he did. “Winthrop laughed a mean little laugh that didn’t bode well for Hannah. “The pillow Vanessa put over his face was filled with goose down, and you can’t get more natural than that.”

Hannah came very close to groaning out loud. Winthrop was admitting too much and there was no way he was going to let her go. If she couldn’t figure out some clever way to stop him, she’d wind up as dead as the goose who’d given up the down that had smothered Neil Roper.

“Vanessa wouldn’t cut me in. I thought that was pretty rotten, considering we’d hatched up the whole scheme together. she said she should get all the money since she’d had to put up with the old man for almost a year.”

Hannah judged the distance between Winthrop’s gun and her own position. Too far. Even is she were a martial arts expert, which she wasn’t, she still wouldn’t be close enough to kick the gun out of his hand.

“The first day she got to town, I went right over to see her. I figured everything was just fine, you know? We had long-range plans in place and both of us had done our part. But all that money had changed her. She thought she was too good for me. She actually had the nerve to threaten to turn me in as a fugitive if I didn’t get out of town right away.”

Hannah knew it was risky, but she risked a comment. “But you didn’t get out of town. You’re still here.”

“That’s because it was a standoff between us. She couldn’t turn me in, because I knew exactly how she killed her husband. And I couldn’t turn her in, because she knew I’d escaped from prison.”

“So why didn’t you let it go on like that, a standoff with nobody getting hurt?”

“Because we had a deal, that’s why! And because she was trying to get out of it!” Winthrop’s eyes glittered with hatred and Hannah was sorry she’d asked. “There was no way I was going to let my partner get away with that!”

The words flashed before Hannah’s eyes, been known to work with a female accomplice. Vanessa Quinn Roper was the female accomplice mentioned in the printout Norman had given them.

“I kept my end of the bargain. They would have reduced my sentence if I’d named her, but I didn’t.”

Hannah reminded of a phrase her Grandma Ingrid had used. There was no such thing as honor among thieves. Once the code of ethics had been broken in one area, it was weakened and that much easier to break in another area.

“I couldn’t let her get away with threatening me, not after I taught her everything I knew and helped her get started. It was just a question of waiting for the right time.”

“The wedding,” Hannah breathed, remembering how Winthrop had gone to get the rice for her mother.

“That’s right. I let everybody see me at the church with your mother. And then, when I forgot the rice in the car, I told her I’d run right out and get it.”

“And you did. But not until after you’d taken a little side trip to Magnolia Blossom Bakery.”

“That’s right,” Winthrop said, beaming at her like a teacher rewarding a bright pupil. “You catch on fast. Too bad you’re so honest. You would have made a great partner.”

Hannah wasn’t sure is she should thank him or not. Being considered for the position of accomplice to a con man wasn’t exactly a compliment. She felt around behind her for something to use as weapon, but the only things that came to hand were soft pillows. And then she heard honking. Andrea was honking her horn in the parking lot, but she wasn’t supposed to honk unless Winthrop drove up. And Winthrop, or Bobby Joe, or whatever his real name was, was right there pointing a gun at her. “But Vanessa wasn’t at the bakery that afternoon,” she said, still stalling for time.

“That’s right, but I don’t know that.”

Hannah looked down at the package in her lap. It was the framed picture of Winthrop and Vanessa, and the frame had sharp edges. It wasn’t much, but it would have to do if she couldn’t find anything else. She just hoped that Andrea wouldn’t try to come up here and walk straight into trouble. “So what happened when you got to the Magnolia Blossom Bakery? It was snowing, right?”

“That’s right. It was snowing pretty hard by then. I went around to the back of the shop and I saw Vanessa taking something out of the oven.”

“But the woman you saw wasn’t Vanessa.”

“I know that now, but I didn’t know it then. The window was steamy and I wiped it a little on the outside. That didn’t help much. Then I fired the first shot through the window, but I missed her.”

“You fired two shots?”

”That’s right. She turned and I nailed her. I didn’t realize I’d killed Shawna Lee until the next day. That was when Delores told me that Vanessa had gone to Georgia for a couple of days.”

“So you killed the wrong sister,” Hannah said.

“It’s just a temporary setback. I’ll get Vanessa when the time is right. I just have to wait until your disappearance blows over.” Winthrop gestured at her with the gun. “Get up. We’re going to the basement. There’s a little room next to the furnace and I’ll put you there. It’s noisy and nobody can hear you scream.”

“You’re going to . . . kill me?” Hannah asked, still stalling for time. Shouldn’t the cavalry arrive about now? Or shouldn’t her sister start honking the horn again to distract him?

“Of course I’m going to kill you. You’re smart enough to know I can’t let you live.”

“How about Mother?” Hannah asked, her heart beating hard at the thought that Winthrop might harm her mother. “You won’t hurt her, will you?”

“No reason to hurt her. She’s a foolish old lady, but that’s the way I like them. The old ones are grateful for the attention.” Winthrop stopped and frowned. “What’s that?”

“What’s what?” Hannah asked, although she’d heard something, too. It had sounded like someone was outside in the hallway, but she wasn’t about to mention that.

“I thought I heard something.”

“I didn’t hear anything,” Hannah said, parrying that the cavalry, any cavalry, was coming.

“Whatever it was, it’s gone now. You’re actually doing me a favor, you know? The old lady’s been worried that you don’t like me. Now you’ll be out of the way. I’ll give her lots of love and comfort when she hears about her daughter’s tragic accident and she’ll give me even more money.”

Hannah clutched the picture frame. She’d learned something. Winthrop was planning to disguise her death as an accident. That meant he wouldn’t shoot her unless he had no choice, because there was no way he could explain away a gunshot as a tragic accident.

“Get up. Now!” Winthrop waved the gun again.

Hannah stood up, watching his eyes. The slightest evidence of inattention and she’d lunge with the picture frame, and pray for the best. That was when something happened that shocked both of them. The front door to the apartment flew open and a whirling dervish blew in.

“You unmitigated scoundrel!” Delores shouted. She grabbed an umbrella from the stand next to the door, held it in front of her like a foil, and hurtled it a Winthrop full bore.

“Mother!” Hannah screamed, lunging for Winthrop’s arm with the picture frame and succeeding in knocking the gun out of his hand.

Winthrop yelped in pain as the point of the umbrella plunged into a soft spot near his shoulder. It wasn’t a killing blow, but he was down and Hannah jumped on him before he could get back up. “Find something to tie him up with, Mother.”

“Certainly,” Delores said, recovering some of her equilibrium. “How about an extension cord? There’s one behind the television set.”

“That’ll be fine. Just unplug it and hand it to me. And then call the paramedics.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s bleeding. The point of the umbrella went into his chest.”

Delores shrugged. “He’s not bleeding that much. I’ll call the sheriff’s department and tell them to come. They can decide if he needs paramedics.”

“Okay,” Hannah said, bowing to the higher authority of a woman who’d been insulted. It was obvious that Delores had heard what Winthrop had said about her.

Since it was a long extension cord, Hannah bound Winthrop’s hands and his feet, trussing him like a Christmas goose. Then she spotted his robe on the back of the bathroom door and took the belt to gag him. There was no way she was going to let him insult her mother again!

“Why do you have him gagged, dear?” Delores asked, coming back from the kitchen where she’d gone to use the wall phone.

“He’s said enough. I don’t want to hear any more.”

“Very good.” Delores gave Hannah an approving nod. “The dispatcher said a squad car should be here any minute.”

“It can’t be soon enough to suit me. Thank you, Mother.”

“For calling the sheriff’s department?”

“No, for getting here in the nick of time. You saved my life.”

Delores gave a little shrug. “Perhaps I did, but you were very good with that picture frame.”

“Thanks, Mother. What were you going at the door? Coming in to give Winthrop money?”

Delores looked unplussed for a moment and then she gave Hannah a questioning look. “That doesn’t really matter now, does it?”

“Not really. Not the way it turned out. The bad guy’s down and the good women won.”

“That’s the way it should be.” Delores perched on the arm of Winthrop’s sofa. “So what did you think of my technique, dear?”

“What technique?”

“I took fencing in high school. Of course we used foils and not umbrellas, but the concept’s the same.”

“Your technique was perfect, Mother. You won the match.”

“Yes, I did, didn’t I?” Delores gave a pleased smile.

Hannah signed her statement and passed the pen to her mother, who signed hers. They were sitting in one of the interrogation rooms at the Winnetka County Sheriff’s Department and they’d been there for the better part of an hour, waiting for their statements to be typed. Since Andrea had been in her car the whole time and not party to what had happened in the apartment, Mike had told her to go home to her children, and Bill would take her statement in the morning.