“Come on, Hannah.” Andrea took her arm. “We have to rescue Norman before the Hollenbeck sisters drive him crazy.”

“I know. I just wish I could go home and think about this. There’s something I’m missing.”

“Later. I’ll come over and you can run your theories past me. Bill won’t be home until late, anyway.”

“How do you know that?” Hannah turned to her in surprise.

“Reverend Knudson told me.”

“How does he know?”

“Sheriff Grant paged him a couple of minutes ago. He said that some of the crash victims needed spiritual comfort.”

“Uh-oh.” Hannah winced. “They don’t bring in the reverend unless it’s really bad.”

“I know. Sheriff Grant paged all three of them. Reverend Knudson is driving out there, and Father Coultas and Reverend Strandberg are riding with him.”

Hannah figured it must be a truly massive pileup. It would take a disaster of that magnitude to get all three local clergy into a common car. Father Coultas hadn’t spoken to Reverend Knudson since the Lutherans had beaten the Catholics at softball, and Reverend Strandberg had been privately denounced by the other two as a Bible-thumping zealot.

They found Norman still talking with the Hollenbeck sisters. He motioned for them to wait for just a moment and then he turned back to Marguerite. “I’ll see you at ten tomorrow, Miss Hollenbeck. I know you’ll be pleased with the new technique. It’s completely painless and you’ll walk out of the office looking so beautiful, your own sister won’t recognize you.”

Hannah waited until they had walked away and then turned to Norman. “Your own sister won’t recognize you?”

“Okay. Maybe I was laying it on a little thick, but I know she’ll be happy. Say, how about coming in for—”

“Forget it, Norman,” Hannah interrupted him. “I know you’re in recruiting gear, but don’t even try. How about hitting the buffet tables before they pack up the food?”

Andrea, catching Hannah’s attempt to change the subject from dentistry to food, agreed. “Good idea. I had a bite with Bill, but I’m hungry again.”

Norman took Hannah’s arm. “That’s fine with me. My mother’s on a health kick and she doesn’t cook anything except chicken and fish. If I don’t get some red meat soon, I’m going to lose every ounce of my fabulous muscles.”

Andrea burst into delighted laughter and then she took Norman’s other arm. “You know, I’m really beginning to like you, Norman.”

“That’s what they all say.” Norman looked smug. “I tend to grow on people.”

“Like mold?” both Hannah and Andrea asked in unison and then broke into laughter with Norman.

As Hannah filled her plate from the array of food, she mulled over the new facts she’d learned tonight. Gary Mielke had told her that delivering the opening speech was an honor and there was no way that Max would have willingly missed it. Gary had also told her that he’d looked for Max when he’d noticed that his convention pass was still behind the counter at the hospitality booth. Since it was impossible to get into any of the meetings without it, he’d assumed that Max was ill and hadn’t been able to come.