“He got back to you?” Hannah asked, hoping she was right and Norman had learned something that would help them.

“Within the hour. He didn’t know whose work it was, but he had a roster of names from the symposium. There’s one dentist he remembered in particular who was very interested in providing that service for his patients. His name is Leland Jones and he has a practice on Munsington Street in Minneapolis.”

“That’s a great lead, Norman!” Hannah beamed at him. “As a matter of fact, Mike is driving to Minneapolis right now to show the photo of the dead man to Stella Parks.”

“I remember her. She was a nice lady.”

“And a really good detective,” Hannah added. “We already know the dead man doesn’t have a rap sheet. Mike had Lonnie run his fingerprints on the department computer. But if the dead man’s from Minneapolis, someone in their department might have had a run-in with him. Why don’t you call Mike and tell him what you learned about that dentist? Maybe he’ll have time to check out his office.”

“It’s worth a try,” Norman said, pulling out his cell phone. “Shall I have him meet us for dinner if he gets back in time?”

“Sure. I don’t want to wait until tomorrow to find out if he learned anything. I’ll cook. Both of you can come to my place.”

“I’ll take you out. You’ve got too much on your mind to bother making dinner.”

“Is it your mission in life to feed me?”

Norman laughed. “Just because I brought you takeout last night, and lunch today, and I’m taking you out to eat tonight?”

“Yes. What did you bring today?”

“Chinese. I’ve got pork chow mein, kung pao chicken, won ton soup, and brown rice.”

“Sounds like a feast,” Hannah told him, wondering if she could swallow more than a couple of bites. Luckily, everyone said that Chinese food was mostly vegetables and an hour after you ate, you were hungry again. Too bad Winnie hadn’t served Chinese food. Then she would have been hungry by now.

“What’s the matter? Aren’t you hungry?”

There was nothing to do but tell Norman the truth. Hannah sighed deeply and plunged into deep waters. “I ate lunch out at Winnie’s ranch at noon.”

You left out the part about Mike, her conscience prodded her. I know I did, her rational mind answered. There’s no sense in telling Norman all that. He’d only be hurt because he brought me lunch and I had lunch with someone else first. Her conscience took umbrage at this excuse. Mike is his arch rival, it reminded her. He’s more than just someone else.

“Hannah?” Norman asked, and Hannah realized that he was looking at her questioningly.