“Tell me anyway, Mr. Harris.” Hannah maintained her professional voice.

“As I approached the dairy, a car pulled out of the driveway. The driver was in a real hurry. He skidded over the centerline, and I had to swerve to avoid him.”

“You said he, Mr. Harris. The driver was a man?”

“I’m not sure. I didn’t actually see him. The sun visor was down.”

“Very good.” Hannah grabbed the notebook and pen that were sitting on the coffee table and made a note. “Could you describe the car?”

“It was a small black compact with a rental sticker on the window. The sticker was white with red lettering, but I didn’t see the name of the company. I always use Hertz, myself. My company gets a special rate from them.”

“Then you don’t own a car, Mr. Harris?” Hannah winked at Andrea. Her question had nothing to do with the investigation, but she wanted to find out if he’d told Andrea the truth.

“I have a vintage Jaguar, but I prefer not to drive it out of the city. I’m certainly glad I didn’t drive it on Wednesday! That other driver came very close to hitting me. I just wish that Marshal Beeseman had been there to give him a ticket.”

Hannah’s eyebrows rose and she jotted another note. “You’re acquainted with Marshal Beeseman?”

“Yes. He saw my car parked in front of the Peterson place and drove up to ask me what I was doing there.”

Hannah wrote down Herb’s name. “What time was this, Mr. Harris?”

“A minute or so past eight. I was listening to the radio and the eight o’clock news had just started.”

“You’ve been very helpful, Mr. Harris.” Hannah turned to wink at Andrea before she asked her final question. “Perhaps this has nothing to do with our case, but could you tell me why you decided not to buy the Peterson property?”

For a moment Hannah thought that Mr. Harris would refuse to answer, but then he cleared his throat. “My fiancée said she wanted to live in the country, but she broke off our engagement on Tuesday night. That’s why I came to Lake Eden so early. I couldn’t sleep and I decided that driving might make me feel better. I suppose I should have told Mrs. Todd the reason that I passed on the house, but I really didn’t want to discuss it.”

“That’s certainly understandable.” Hannah made a note on her pad and passed it to Andrea. “Thank you, Mr. Harris. We appreciate your cooperation.”

Andrea waited until Hannah had hung up the phone and then she pointed to the note. “Mr. Harris was buying the Peterson place for his girlfriend?”

“That’s what he said. She broke off their engagement on Tuesday night. You would have sold it if she’d hung on for just one more day.”

“Oh, well. You win some and you lose some.” Andrea shrugged and drained the last of her wine. “After all I’ve been through tonight, I think I deserve another glass of wine. It’s really excellent, Hannah. I wasn’t sure at first, but it definitely has legs. There’s more, isn’t there?”