Why did it look bad? Was there something she’d missed? These and several other questions occurred to Hannah. She wanted to ask them, but she didn’t. It was an old interrogation trick she’d learned from him. If you remained silent, a guilty person kept right on talking and trying to explain. The increasingly frantic explanations resulted in inconsistencies. Once the inconsistency is addressed, lies tumble out pell-mell and eventually lead to the truth.

“She was really upset after she broke up with Wade, you know,” Mike went on. “She needed a friend, a shoulder to cry on. I guess I knew she was using me, but I didn’t mind being helpful.”

I’ll bet! Hannah said, but not out loud. And she continued to play the waiting game.

“Maybe I let her depend on me a little too much. I mean, maybe I gave her the wrong idea. She was always calling me to come over for something and I went because…well…we had a lot in common since we both worked for the sheriff’s department and all.”

Right. Sure. Hannah clamped her lips shut. No way was she going to comment.

“When I said that about looking bad? I know it’s going to come out that I slept at her place a few nights. We’d be watching a movie or something, and I’d fall asleep on her couch. She never woke me. She’d just go to bed and let me wake up on my own the next morning. That’s all it was. Really.”

Ah-ha! Now we’re at the crux of it! Hannah’s mind crowed with victory, but her stomach felt a little sick. Hearing the truth could be very unpleasant, especially when it was something you didn’t want to know.

“I just wanted to get everything straight with you, Hannah. You know how important you are to me.”

Important enough to tell me that you spent several nights at Ronni’s place? I could stand to be a little less important than that, thank you very much!

“Hannah? You believe me, don’t you?”

“Of course,” Hannah said, being entirely truthful. She did believe he’d spent several nights at Ronni’s place. Perhaps that wasn’t precisely what he was asking, but it would have to do for now. “Tell me about Stella Parks,” she said.

“Stella? Why are you asking about her?”

The way Mike asked the question made Hannah pause. It was pretty obvious he hadn’t heard about his replacement. “Bill asked the Minneapolis Police Department if he could borrow her to head up Ronni’s murder case.”

“I didn’t know that. She’s a tough cop, and she happens to be a good detective. Stella took over for me when I left the M.P.D. to come here.”

“So you think she’ll catch Ronni’s killer?”