“And because she’s your mother, she’ll make you eat a caseload of crow before she forgives you,” Hannah added.

Andrea’s cell phone rang. She retrieved it from her purse and flipped it open. “This is Andrea.” She listened for a moment and then she smiled. “We can do that, honey. We’d like to meet her, too. We can’t stay long, though. I haven’t given Hannah your notes yet, so I’m running out there before I come home.”

“What notes?” Hannah asked when Andrea had closed her phone and returned it to her purse.

“Bill gave me a list of things he thinks you should do to solve the case. I’ll tell you all about it later.”

“I’ve got notes, too,” Michelle told her. “One set from Lonnie, and another set from Rick.”

“Same here,” Norman added. “Mike came in this afternoon and gave me a whole list of things he thought you should do.”

“Catching a killer by committee,” Hannah said with a sigh. Even though she wasn’t looking forward to getting instructions from four different sources, she’d have to listen to all of their suggestions and either accept or reject them. Mike, Lonnie, Rick, and Bill were expecting the impossible if they wanted her to accomplish everything a whole division of detectives would do on a murder case.

“Ready?” Andrea said, pushing back her chair.

“Ready,” Hannah answered. It was going to be another long night, just like the previous several nights. As she followed Andrea out of the alcove, she felt a little silly for even hoping that maybe, perhaps, possibly she might get a full night’s sleep.

If anyone had asked Hannah to describe Detective Stella Parks in one word, that word would be formidable. She was tall, perhaps even an inch or two taller than Hannah. Although her hair was gray and she was clearly a woman in her fifties, she looked to be in excellent physical shape, and Hannah added the phrase fit as a fiddle to the list of clichés that Bill had ascribed to her. She wasn’t beautiful, and Hannah doubted that most people would call her pretty, but she was striking with her silver hair, deep blue eyes, and strong features.

“I’m glad to meet you, Hannah.” Stella reached out to shake Hannah’s hand. It was a no-nonsense grip, and Hannah added down to earth to her list of clichés. “Bill’s told me that although you’re not officially sanctioned, you’ve helped the department solve several homicide cases in the past.”

“Well…yes, that’s true,” Hannah said, wondering exactly what Bill had told her.

“Are you working on Miss Ward’s murder?”