Hannah was puzzled. “What are you talking about?”

“I saw your mother on the highway when I drove to town. She was heading in the opposite direction, and unless she was going out to the mall three hours before it opens, she was heading out to the hospital.”

“What time was that?”

“And hour or so ago. I stopped at Hal and Rose’s for breakfast, dropped in at the office to go over the mail, and then I came over here.”

“Perfect. Mother should be here any . . .” Hannah stopped speaking as they heard a series of knocks at the door. “There she is now.”

“Do you want me to get that?” Michelle asked from the other side of the kitchen.

“Yes, please,” Hannah answered. “It’s Mother.”

“On my way, Hannah. I’ll let her in, pour her some coffee, and then I’ll put more cookies on the plate I was fixing for you and Norman. Mother loves these Angel Jellies, and they’re cool enough to eat now.”

A second or two later, Delores came in. She took a stool next to Norman at the workstation and plunked a manila envelope in front of Hannah.

“Is that what I think it is?” Hannah asked her.

“Yes, if you think it’s the autopsy report.” Delores tapped the envelope with one impeccably manicured nail, and smiled smugly. “I assumed that you’d need it?”

“You assumed right. Thank you, Mother. You’re wonderful to do this for me.”

“I like to help,” Delores said modestly, but Hannah noticed that her smug smile was still in place. “And this time I took an extra precaution. I called Andrea last night and told her I was going to get it and she didn’t have to sneak it out of Bill’s briefcase and scan it before she put it back.”

“Was Andrea grateful that you were getting it and she didn’t have to?” Hannah asked the question, even though she thought she already knew the answer.

“Actually . . . no. I thought she’d be relieved. She takes an awful chance, you know. Bill would be so upset with her if he ever caught her. But she sounded almost . . .”

“Deprived?” Norman provided the word.

“Why, yes! That’s right. And all I was trying to do was help.”

“Of course you were,” Hannah said quickly. “And I’m sure that Andrea realizes that. It’s possible you just caught her at a bad time when you called.”

Delores thought about that for a moment, and then she gave a little nod. “You’re right, dear. I did catch her at a bad time. Grandma McCann had taken Tracey and a friend ice skating at the school rink, and Andrea was trying to put Bethie to bed. I heard Bethie say that she wouldn’t go to bed without raffey and Andrea had no idea what a raffey was.”

“Does Bethie have a toy giraffe?”