“A double batch of what?” Mike asked, sniffing the air as he walked into the living room. “Whatever it is, it smells great!”

“Michelle baked cookies earlier,” Hannah told him, getting up to greet them, “and she’s making Grilled Ham and Double Cheese Sandwiches.” She turned to smile at Lonnie. “Hi, Lonnie. I guess you two guys are working late tonight.”

“We’re waiting for Doc to finish the autopsy,” Mike explained. “And I have to complete your statement. After that, we’re through.”

“Except for being on call,” Lonnie added. “We’re on call twenty-four-seven during homicide investigations.”

“Do you want to interview Hannah now?” Michelle asked Mike. “Or would you rather wait until after you eat?”

“Now. I’ve got most of what I need, and it shouldn’t take more than ten minutes.” Mike walked over to the couch, sat down, and patted the cushion next to him. “Come over here, Hannah. Lonnie can keep Michelle company in the kitchen.”

Hannah took a seat on the cushion next to Mike. “What else do you need to know?”

“I need answers to a couple of questions that occurred to me after you’d left. Did you see the body from the top of the ditch?”

“No. The ditch is quite deep, and it was too dark to see much of anything. I just happened to notice something red in the snow, and I went to see what it was.”

“Did you think it was blood?”

“No, not at all. Both Lisa and I could see that it was something made of cloth. I thought it was a mitten, or a glove, or maybe a scarf. And since it wasn’t that far from the lip of the ditch, I told Lisa that I was going to climb down to get it.”

“You told me that earlier, but you didn’t tell me why.”

For a moment, Hannah was puzzled. “Why what?”

“Why did you go down to get it?”

“Oh. Because somebody had obviously lost whatever it was and I thought they might have wanted it back.”

Mike smiled at her. “That figures. You’re just a helpful person by nature. Why didn’t Lisa go with you?”

“She would have, but the snow was deep and she was wearing ankle boots. I had my regular boots on and they’re knee-highs. It was a good thing, too. The snow was really deep down there.”

“And the cloth you spotted was . . . ?”

“A Santa hat. I picked it up and I intended to climb right back up when I saw something else.”

“The body?”

“Actually . . . no. I hadn’t seen that yet. It was at the bottom of the ditch. I thought I’d spotted something else, but I couldn’t find it again when I got down there. But I did find something else quite near the bottom.”

“What was that?”