“How much are they now?” Lisa asked.

Hannah held her breath. If Claire mentioned a price that was too low, Lisa would suspect that they were in cahoots.

“They’re both on sale for sixty. That’s two-thirds off the regular price. Believe me, Lisa, you’ll be doing me a favor if you take them off my hands. Returning things to my supplier is a nightmare.”

“Then I’ll take them both.” Lisa was so excited her voice squeaked.

“There’s only one condition.” Claire looked very serious. “You have to promise that you won’t tell anyone else how much they cost. If the other women find out that you paid only sixty dollars for a Beau Monde dress, they’ll all ask for special prices.”

“I won’t tell anyone. Even if I did, they’d never believe me. Thank you, Claire. This is really my lucky day!”

While Lisa changed back into her working clothes, Hannah dashed back to The Cookie Jar. She’d been gone less than fifteen minutes, but there were several people waiting to get in. One of them was Bill, and Hannah pulled him aside, once she’d waited on her customers. “Why didn’t you come next door to get me? I was just helping Lisa buy a dress.”

“That’s okay. You didn’t find out anything new, did you?”

“Not since I talked to you last night.” Hannah shook her head. She’d called the Sparklettes office and confirmed Danielle’s alibi, but there was no reason to tell Bill about that. “Did you check on the bouncer?”

“The maternity ward nurse said that he was at the hospital until nine on Wednesday morning. I just dropped by to remind you that the sheriff’s department’s open house is tomorrow. You’re going to bake cookies for us, aren’t you?”

“Of course I am. It’s on my calendar.” Hannah led the way into the back room and pointed to the huge calendar that hung on her wall.

“What kind are you making?”

“Black and Whites. I might as well start mixing them up right now.”

“Black and Whites?”

“They’re fudge cookies with powdered sugar on top,” Hannah explained. “I developed the recipe last week and I’m naming them after your new squad cars.”

“The guys will like that. Are you going to bake them now?”

“No, not until tomorrow morning. The dough has to chill overnight. I’ll have them out at the station before noon.”

“That’s another reason I came in. Sheriff Grant’s driving the new guy around and he said they’d come in to pick them up.”

“New guy?”

“He’s coming in tomorrow morning. Sheriff Grant hired a really good detective away from the MPD.”

“Why would a Minneapolis detective want to come here?” Hannah was flabbergasted. “It’s got to mean a big salary cut.”

“I know. We only make half as much as the MPD guys do, but I heard that he wanted to move here for personal reasons.”

“Personal reasons?”

“Yeah, he wanted to get out of Minneapolis. I know his wife died. I figure he probably wants to make a fresh start where things don’t remind him of her.”