Babs Dubinski was easy to find. She was still sitting at the same table, drinking coffee and eating a piece of Andrea’s Jell-O Cake. “Hello, girls. This is a wonderful cake. It’s so moist, and it’s pretty, too.”

“Thank you. It’s my recipe.” Andrea gave her a big smile, and it was clear she was pleased. “Did you have some of Hannah and Lisa’s Christmas Sugar Cookies? I think they’re my favorites.”

Babs gestured toward a red and green dessert plate with a few cookie crumbs on it. “I had a star. It was delicious.”

“I need to ask you some questions,” Hannah spoke up before the discussion of desserts could continue.

“You look serious, Hannah. Is there something wrong?”

“I’m afraid so. Can you tell me where you’ve been for the past hour?”

“Me? Well …right here, mostly. Martin came over and talked to us for a while. And then, after he left with Shirley, I went back for some of Kitty’s Salmon Loaf. On the way back, I stopped to talk to a couple of people, and then after Mayor Bascomb made his announcement, I got in line at the dessert table. I went to the ladies’ room, too. I almost forgot about that. And … I really can’t account for every minute, Hannah. Is it important?”

“Very important.” Hannah took a deep breath and prepared to deliver the news. “Brandi was killed in the parking lot.”

“You mean … Martin’s Brandi?” Babs looked astonished when Hannah confirmed the news. “Was Martin with her? Is he hurt?”

“Martin’s fine. He’s upstairs talking to Mike Kingston right now, and Shirley’s with him. And no, he wasn’t with Brandi.”

“Thank goodness for that! So what happened?”

“Someone stabbed her with my mother’s cake knife.”

“Saints preserve us!” Babs fanned herself with her paper napkin. “You mean she was murdered?”

“That’s what it looks like. Mike’s investigating it as a homicide until the results of Doc Knight’s tests are in.”

Babs fanned a bit faster. “I hope no one thinks that Martin did it!”

“No one does. Martin was talking to Shirley at the time, and that provides them both with an alibi.”

Babs looked relieved for a moment, but then she stared hard at Hannah. “So that’s why you were asking me all those questions about where I was! You think I did it!”

“We couldn’t ignore that possibility,” Andrea stepped in, giving Babs her sweetest smile. “Of course, we didn’t really believe you could do anything like that, but we couldn’t let our fondness for you get in the way of a murder investigation.”

Hannah didn’t say a word, but her mind was busy forming compliments for her sister. Good going, Andrea. I wish I could learn to be that smooth. Obviously, the smooth gene passed me by, because I would have grilled her to within an inch of her life.

“I can understand why you suspected me,” Babs said. “It’s no secret that I was upset over Martin’s marriage.”