“What happened once you got there?” Hannah asked, hoping she wasn’t about to hear something risqué.

“Martin said he had a real problem on his hands, that he’d made an awful mistake.”

“His marriage?” Andrea asked.

“That’s right. He said he was a fool not to realize how much he still loved me. and then he said that just as soon as he could get rid of Brandi, he wanted to marry me again.”

“He said he was going to get rid of Brandi?” Hannah repeated, picking up on that ominous phrase.

“Yes, right away. And I said I’d help him any way I could.”

“Oh, boy!” Hannah sighed, glancing over at her sister who looked equally distressed. “Did you tell anybody else about the conversation you had with Martin?”

“Of course I didn’t. It was private, just between Martin and me. And I knew that if I repeated it, Brandi would be embarrassed. You girls have known me for a long time now. I’m not the sort of person to embarrass anyone in public.”

“Actually … you couldn’t embarrass Brandi if you tried,” Hannah said, deciding it was time to cue Shirley in.

“Why not?”

“Because Brandi’s dead. She was killed out in the parking lot.”

“What?” Shirley gasped, swaying slightly on the heels of her boots and looking completely dumbfounded. She just stared at Hannah for a long moment and then she asked, “Was she in an accident?”

Hannah gestured to Andrea who grabbed Shirley’s arm to steady her for the next bout of bad, or good news, depending on your perspective. “It wasn’t an accident. Brandi was murdered.”

“That’s … that’s horrible! You must have thought I was awful when I was talking about getting rid of her. I meant that Martin was going to divorce her, that’s all.”

“We were sure that was all you meant,” Andrea comforted her.

“Murder,” Shirley repeated, her voice quivering slightly as she looked up at Hannah. “When did it happen?”

“Almost an hour ago.”

”At least no one can blame Martin! I was with him the whole time except for the past twenty minutes or so.”

“Then you alibi each other,” Andrea pointed out. “Nobody can suspect you, either.”

“Thank goodness for that! Does Martin know yet?”

“I’m sure he does, by now,” Hannah said. “I took him up to see Mike about ten minutes ago and he’s probably still there. It’s that little conference room right next to the library. Why don’t you run upstairs and confirm Martin’s alibi?’

“I’ll do that right now.”

“Good. And don’t mention it to anyone else on your way up there. Mike’s trying to keep everything under wraps for now.”

“I won’t, I promise.”

Hannah watched Shirley as she threaded through the crowds of people and reached the stairs. True to her word, Shirley hadn’t stopped to talk to anyone.

“I guess you can cross her off,” Andrea said, “and Martin, too. Who’s left?”

Hannah reached into her pocket and pulled out the crumpled napkin she’d been using for notes, instead of her steno pad. “Babs, and Laura Jorgensen. Let’s get Babs first.”