“Okay, we’re all set.” Hannah clicked off the kitchen light and let Moishe precede her into the living room. He hopped up on the coffee table and waited for Hannah to set down the dessert dish. “You can start, Moishe. I’ll drink my wine while I talk to Bill.”

Hannah watched as Moishe began to lap up the yogurt. She didn’t know if it was usual feline behavior since she’d never shared her home with a cat before, but Moishe had perfected the act of eating and purring simultaneously.

Bill hadn’t arrived at the fundraiser by the time she’d packed up, and Hannah assumed that he was still at his desk, doing battle with the quadruplicate forms that were required by the latest paper-reduction act. She punched out the number of the sheriff’s station and was rewarded when Bill answered on the first ring.

“Bill?” Hannah frowned. Her favorite, and only, brother-in-law sounded tired and out of sorts. “It’s Hannah. I managed to identify the woman with the pink lipstick, but I can’t tell you who she is.”

Bill’s reaction was loud and predictable, and Hannah set the phone down on the table. She knew she should have been more careful about the way she’d phrased that particular bit of information, but she’d exceeded her tact quotient for one day.

When the volume of irate squawks had diminished somewhat, Hannah brought the phone back to her ear. “Listen up, Bill. This woman doesn’t have anything to do with the murder. I’d stake my life on it. And she split up with Ron right after they stocked the school cooler. The only way I could get her to tell me anything at all was to promise that I wouldn’t reveal her identity.”

The squawks were fewer this time around and Hannah settled for merely holding the receiver away from her ear. When they stopped, she continued. “I can’t break my promise to her, Bill. You know how the people in Lake Eden are. If the word gets out that I betrayed a confidence, nobody’ll trust me enough to give me the time of day.”

“I don’t like it, but I guess we’ll just have to play this your way.” Bill sounded mollified. “You can talk to this woman again if we need her, can’t you?”

“Of course I can. She was cooperative and she’s very grateful that I’m keeping her identity a secret.”

“You’ll probably get further with her if she thinks of you like a friend. Remember, Hannah, I don’t want you to tell anybody that you’re in on the investigation. You can talk to Andrea, but that’s it. I’m not writing your name on my reports. I’m just referring to you as my snitch.”

“Your snitch?” Hannah took a sip of her far-from-premium wine.

“A snitch is a person whose identity is protected by the investigating officer. You must have learned that from those detective shows you’re always watching.”

Hannah rolled her eyes at Moishe. “I know what a snitch is. Why can’t I be your undercover agent?”