“Of course I did! I had him completely on the defensive from the very start. Ricky-Ticky was all set to spend a few intimate hours with Brandi when he went to Vegas last October, but he had a few too many and passed out in his hotel room before he could meet her in the bar for their date.”

“Date? That’s a polite way of putting it.”

“That’s exactly what I said. And then I asked him if he had to pay her anyway.”

“Mother!”

“I was curious.”

“So am I. Well? Did he pay her?”

“Only half. That was the up-front part. He was supposed to pay the other half later.”

“Do you think he was telling the truth?”

Delores nodded. “I’m almost positive he was. It would have been less embarrassing if he’d lied and said he’d been with her.”

“You’re right. Good work, Mother. It’s too bad Mrs. Bascomb doesn’t know she has nothing to worry about on the Brandi front.”

“I’d tell her, but Ricky-Ticky deserves a rough time for his past flirtations.”

“Nicely put, Mother.”

“Yes, wasn’t it? And speaking of flirtations, I think I’d better get back to Winthrop before my partner and the woman I hope might be your future mother-in-law does something I can’t forgive.”

Hannah ducked into the kitchen to see if she could find an empty spot to gather her thoughts. Earl Flensburg had obviously finished eating and left, because the circular booth the builder had put in to accommodate the kitchen workers was empty. Hannah carried Earl’s plate to the sink, rinsed it off, and slipped it into the hot soapy water that Edna had left for dishes that came in after the load in the industrial dishwasher had been started. Then she grabbed a mug of coffee from the kitchen pot, slid into the booth, and pulled her stash of crumpled napkins out of her sweater pockets.

Once she’d straightened out all the napkins and placed them in order, Hannah surveyed the results of the investigation so far. They’d eliminated two suspects, Martin and Shirley, and although Babs didn’t have an alibi, her motive was weak. Babs had been prepared to get along with Brandi for her son’s sake. She might have hoped that Brandi would leave Martin, but it was unlikely that Babs would have killed her new daughter-in-law just to get her out of the way.

Mayor Bascomb’s name was under Babs Dubinski’s. Hannah had written it down when Michelle had told her that Lake Eden’s first couple was fighting about Brandi. But Delores had found out that nothing happened between the mayor and the stripper-turned-bride. Hannah picked up her pen and drew a line through Mayor Bascomb’s name. If nothing happened between them, the mayor had no reason to kill Brandi.