Hannah had just finished mixing up the dough for the Boggles when there was a knock on the back door. She hurried to answer it, assuming it was Norman, but instead came face-to-face with her very agitated sister.

“Andrea. Come in.” Hannah took her sister’s coat, hung it on the pegs by the back door, and led her to a stool at the workstation. “You’re shaking. Don’t tell me there’s been another murder!”

“No, but it’s almost as bad as that. I need to calm down, Hannah. Do you have any chocolate?”

“You’ve come to the house of endorphins, the source of the Dark Chocolate River, the heart of the Milk Chocolate Valley, and the foothills of the White Chocolate Mountains.” Andrea gave a wan smile, acknowledging the attempt at humor, but Hannah noticed that her sister was still shaking. “Hold on a second. I’ll get you chocolate you’ll never forget.”

Two minutes later, four Brownies Plus from a catering order and a full mug of coffee sat in front of Andrea. Three minutes later, only two Brownies Plus remained. Another minute and a half, and Andrea was wiping her face and sipping her coffee. That was when Hannah figured it was time to speak. “So tell me what’s wrong,” she said.

“Everything. Remember Shawna Lee?”

“How could I forget?” Hannah gave a deep sigh. Shawna Lee was the last woman who had trifled with Mike’s affections. Or perhaps Mike was the trifler and Shawna Lee was the triflee. Then again, both of them could have been triflers…or triflees. Hannah just wasn’t sure.

“Well, it’s Shawna Lee all over again!” Andrea pronounced.

“Because of Mike? I already know Bill took him off the case.”

“That’s part of it, but it’s even worse than that. It’s Section Fourteen, Article Six of the Winnetka County Sheriff’s official rulebook. A detective must be excused from duty or reassigned at the sheriff’s discretion in the case of personal involvement with the victim. When Shawna Lee was murdered, Bill had to take two detectives off the case.”

“I know that.”

“Well, this time Bill had to take off three detectives!”

“Three detectives were personally involved with Ronni?”

“Yes. And that includes Lonnie.”

“Uh-oh,” Hannah breathed. “Michelle’s going to be livid.”

“That’s what I thought. I called her to break it to her gently, but she already knew because Lonnie called her just as soon as it happened. She’s going to take a midterm early and catch the bus this afternoon. It’ll get in at the Quick Stop at five forty-five tonight.”

“Uh-oh. We’d better meet her and check for weapons. She probably wants to grind Lonnie into little pieces and use him for hamburger.”

“Wrong.”

“Wrong?” Hannah stared hard at her sister.

“She told me they were testing their relationship by dating other people.”

Hannah shook her head. “You’re kidding!”