Kirby stared at Hannah in absolute shock. “Of course I didn’t kill her. I loved Mary Kay. She was my first real girlfriend. I kept thinking about that when the group was playing and remembering how much fun we used to have. You know how you caught me that first time just as I was about to leave on break? And I didn’t want to talk to you because I had something important to do?”

“I remember. What was so important?”

“I was going to find Mary Kay and tell her I’d go with her after all!”

Hannah found Andrea at a table with Claire, Reverend Knudson, and his grandmother Priscilla. She chatted for a few moments and then she turned to Andrea. “Will you meet me in the lobby upstairs in five minutes?”

“Sure,” Andrea said, and there was a question in her eyes.

“I’m going to find Michelle and ask her to meet us, too.” Hannah ignored the question Andrea was dying to ask and excused herself to Claire and the Knudsons.

Hannah’s younger sister was sitting with Luanne Hanks and Danielle Watson. “Hi,” Hannah said, plunking herself down in a chair. “How’s the dance business, Danielle?”

“It’s great. I was just asking Luanne if she knew anyone who might like to handle one of my senior ballroom dancing classes. I’ve got three going now and my waiting list is large enough to start another.”

“That’s just wonderful.” Hannah admired the transformation her friend had undergone. Danielle had been a timid and abused wife when she’d first come to Lake Eden, but now she was a successful businesswoman with plenty of self-confidence. “You’re not trying to recruit Luanne, are you?”

Danielle shook her head. “Are you kidding? Your mother and Carrie would kill me if I tried to hire Luanne out from under their noses.”

“You’ve got that right,” Luanne said with a laugh. “And starting next week I’m going to be even more valuable to them.”

“What happens next week?” Hannah asked.

“Mom, Suzie, and I love into the other half of Nettie’s duplex. That means I can work later in the winter because I won’t have to match my hours to the county snowplow schedule.”

“Good for you!” Hannah said with a smile. She was glad that Luanne was leaving the isolation of her family home at the end of Old Bailey Road and moving to town. And she was doubly glad that Nettie Grant would be able to spend time with Suzie. After the losses the former sheriff’s wife had suffered in the past three years, it was bound to lift her spirits to be around a sunny little girl like Suzie.

“Michelle?” Hannah turned to her youngest sister. “Will you meet me in the upstairs lobby in five minutes?”