Hannah’s mind was working on this new puzzle when she spotted something else only a few feet away. As she stared at the bulky, snow-covered mound, the anxious, uneasy feeling in her stomach began to intensify. She thrust the lunch bag in the pocket of her parka. She’d dispose of it later. There was no way she was going to let Lisa see what had happened to her caramels. Lisa would be devastated by the fact that Herb had lied to her by saying he liked her caramels and then throwing them away.

As Hannah stepped toward the mound in the snow, she had a very unwelcome thought. It was human-sized. “No!” she gasped as an awful suspicion took root in her mind. “It can’t be!” she exclaimed, aloud.

“Hannah? Are you all right?” Lisa’s voice floated down to her from above.

“I’m okay. I’m just . . .” Hannah thought fast. There was no way she was going to alarm Lisa before she found out what was in that mound of snow. “I’m just winded and I have to catch my breath. The snow is really deep down here.”

Hannah was amazed at how strong and steady her voice was. Perhaps she should join the Lake Eden Players. It seemed as if she could act, since she felt just the opposite of strong and steady. “I’m just going to check out one more thing while I’m down here, and then I’ll climb back up.”

As she approached the hump of snow, Hannah realized that the anxious feeling in her stomach was what Mike had called her slaydar, her uncanny penchant for finding murder victims. Please let it be wrong this time, Hannah’s mind begged, but that sick, sinking feeling grew with each step she took toward the snow-covered mound.

“Please not Herb!” she whispered as she brushed off a layer of snow with her gloves. She swept another layer to the side, and then another, until she had uncovered a cold, dead body that made her give an audible gasp of shock.

“What did you find, Hannah?” Lisa called out from the top of the ditch.

Hannah swallowed hard, and somehow she managed to form the words she needed to say. “Call Mike!”

“Mike? You mean . . . oh, no!”

“Yes!” Hannah answered, and then she swallowed again. “Tell him to get out here right away!”

“I will. Right now. Are you all right?”

“Yes. Hurry, Lisa. Tell him I’ll stay where I am until he gets here.”

Hannah listened as Lisa made the call. Her words were succinct and she sounded in control. Hannah was very grateful that Lisa had pulled herself together. The ditch was deep, and even though she had her cell phone with her, she might not have been able to get reception down there.