“I’m sure he’ll like that,” Carrie said, pulling Hannah over to a corner. “What’s the matter? Why are you staring at that stall?”

Hannah sighed. She’d obviously been obvious. “I need to know who’s in there.”

“Why?”

“A man sent me in to check on his date. I don’t know her, but she’s wearing a black skirt.”

“Your mother’s right. You don’t have a deceitful bone in your body.”

“What?”

“Tell the truth, Hannah. You made up that whole story about a man and his date, didn’t you?”

“Oh. Well… “

“Never mind. I’m sure you have a good reason for wanting to know. Hold on for a minute and I’ll find out for you.”

Hannah held on. What else could she do? And a minute or two later, Carrie was back.

“Striped skirt, silver and blue,” Carrie announced in a sibilant whisper. “Is that all you wanted to know?”

“That’s it. Thanks, Carrie.” Hannah turned and headed for the door.

“I’ve got a question for you, Hannah.”

Hannah prepared herself mentally to lie again if it was necessary. “What is it?”

“I want to know what you think of Winthrop.”

“Oh. Well … I only met him briefly” — Hannah stalled while she tried to think of something innocuous to say — “but I did think he made a very strong first impression.”

That seemed to satisfy Carrie, and Hannah managed to escape. As she entered the banquet room again, she glanced at her watch. She had five minutes before she could meet her sisters and Norman in the lobby and give them the new information she’d learned. That was just time enough for a fresh cup of coffee.

As Hannah headed for the kitchen, she noticed that Babs Dubinski was sitting alone. Babs looked glum, and Hannah certainly couldn’t blame her. This whole week had been a series of shocks for her. First there was Martin’s unexpected marriage. And then there was his choice of wife, a Las Vegas dancer. There was the money Martin had spent on Brandi, money that should have gone to his sons. Now Brandi was dead, and that was another big shock, even though Babs hadn’t liked her.

Hannah gave a little wave as she neared the table where Babs was sitting. “Hi, Babs. I’m just going to get some fresh coffee. Do you want me to bring you some?”

“That would be nice.” Babs reached out to hand Hannah her empty cup. “No sense dirtying another.”

Hannah took the cup, and that’s when she noticed that Babs had teamed her dark red silk blouse with a black skirt. She was so startled, she almost dropped the cup and that gave her an excellent idea.

“Uh-oh!” Hannah said, and she dropped the cup deliberately. “Good thing it was empty. Hold on a second. I’ll trash it and get you a new one.”