“Rhodes Dental Clinic. Norman Rhodes speaking.”

“Hi, Norman. It’s Hannah Swensen.”

“Hello, Hannah.” Norman sounded pleased to hear from her. “Did you call your mother yet?”

“My mother?”

“She called me this morning to ask if I’d seen you. She said she’d left a bunch of messages on your answering machine, but you hadn’t called her back.”

“Guilty,” Hannah admitted. “I didn’t check my machine until this morning and then I was in a rush. I don’t suppose you happen to know what she wanted?”

“Not really. But she did ask what my intentions were toward you.”

“What?”

“Relax, Hannah. My mother’s the same way. It must be in the genes. They never stop trying to control your life.”

Hannah wasn’t about to ask Norman what he’d said. She really didn’t want to know. “I’ve got a question for you, Norman. Did Ron LaSalle come in to see you yesterday morning?”

There was a long pause and then Norman sighed. “I’m sorry, Hannah, but I can’t tell you that. All information regarding a patient’s visit is confidential.”

“Then Ron was your patient?”

Hannah heard a distinct gulp on the other end of the line. “I didn’t say that!”

“Of course you didn’t.”

“Then why did you assume that he was?”

Hannah smiled, very pleased with herself. Perhaps she’d actually learned something in that required logic course she’d taken. “If Ron wasn’t your patient, you could tell me he wasn’t. There’s no breach of ethics in that. But you said that you couldn’t tell me and that means he was.”

There was another beat of silence and then Norman chuckled. “You’re quick, Hannah. And you’re right. I guess it can’t do any harm to tell you now. Ron was my first appointment of the morning. He came in presenting considerable pain from a fissured molar.”

“A cracked tooth?”

“Yes, in layman’s terms. I’m sorry, Hannah. I’ve got a patient in the chair and I can’t talk now. Just hang on and let me check my schedule.”

Hannah waited, shifting from foot to foot. This was important. Norman might have been the last person to talk to Ron.

“Hannah?” Norman came back on the line. “I’m booked solid this morning, but I don’t have anyone scheduled for one. If you come in then, I’ll tell you all about it.”

“You want me to come in?”

“I think it would be best, don’t you? We really shouldn’t talk about something this sensitive on the phone. I’ll pick up salads and sandwiches at the cafe and we’ll have lunch while we talk. I have something very important to ask you.”

Hannah made a face. The last thing she wanted to do was have lunch with Norman, but if she wanted to help Bill solve Ron’s murder, she had to gather all the facts. And the one person left alive who could tell her what had happened during Ron’s dental appointment was the dentist himself.

“All right, Norman,” Hannah caved in to the inevitable with all the good grace she could muster. “I’ll see you at one.”