They found Andrea and Bill by the buffet tables, and from the satisfied look on Bill’s face, Hannah suspected that he was about to enjoy his second or third helping of food.

“Hi, Hannah. Good to see you, Norman,” Bill greeted them. “Some spread, huh?”

Hannah turned to Norman. “Will you keep Bill company, Norman? I really need to talk to Andrea for a minute.”

Bill gave her a conspiratorial smile, and for a moment Hannah was confused. Then she realized Bill thought she was giving him the opportunity to ask Norman about Ron’s dental visit.

Hannah took her sister’s arm and led her away to a relatively private place by the side of the room. “I’m sorry, Andrea. I came over to warn you the minute I saw Benton, but it was already too late.”

“Warn me?”

“Yes.” Judging from the puzzled expression on her sister’s face, Hannah knew she’d better explain. “I just thought it might be uncomfortable for you to run into Benton again.”

Andrea stared at her for a minute and then she began to smile. “I get it. That was nice of you, Hannah, but seeing Benton didn’t bother me at all. I got over him ages ago.”

“Good! I never liked his attitude and I still don’t. Do you know that he called The Cookie Jar ‘a quaint little shop’?”

Andrea sighed and shook her head. “Don’t mind Benton. He was always a snob. Did he tell you that he came back to help his father at DelRay?”

“That’s what he said.”

“He told us the same thing, but it was a lie. He was flicking his fingernail with his thumb when he said it.”

“What?”

“It’s something Benton does when he’s lying,” Andrea explained. “I picked up on that when we were dating and it came in handy. It’s one of those unconscious gestures that people make when they’re trying to pull something over on you.”

“Did Benton tell you any other lies?”

“He told us he was glad to be back home in Lake Eden and that he was really looking forward to working at DelRay.”

“And he was flicking when he said it?”

“Click, click, click. The only time he didn’t flick was when he said that I looked ravishing.”

“You always look ravishing.” Hannah smiled at her sister, but she thought back to when Benton had told her the same thing. Perhaps it was a good thing she hadn’t known about the fingernail-flicking lie detector test until now. “Did he tell you how long he’d been in town?”

“Bill asked him that. Benton said he’d flown in on Wednesday and taken the shuttle from the airport.”

“Was he flicking then?” Hannah was curious.

“I couldn’t see. He turned toward Bill to answer him. Can we talk about something else, Hannah? Benton Woodley bores me to tears.”

“Sure.” Since Andrea was so observant, Hannah decided to ask her about Danielle Watson. “I talked to Coach Watson’s wife at the mayor’s fundraiser. What do you think of her?”