Free Red Velvet Cupcake Murder by Joanne Fluke

seeing her house from above intrigued her.”
    “Tell me about the barricades that were out of place. Andrea and I moved one earlier so that she could show me the lake. It took both of us to do it because it was heavy. Were the barricades that were out of place too heavy for Barbara to move?”
    “No. Barbara’s a strong woman. It would have taken a big effort, though.”
    “What else made you suspicious?”
    “The barricades were dirty. They’d obviously been used in the construction and some of them even had grease on them. It doesn’t seem likely that Barbara would have moved them in her party clothes.”
    “That’s true.”
    “There’s another thing, too. There was dirt on Barbara’s hands, but you’d expect that. She landed in the rose garden. But there wasn’t a trace of grease. I had Doc check.”
    “Is there anything else?”
    Mike shook his head. “Not really. We’re still waiting for the crime lab to do its thing, but I doubt it’ll be very helpful. If someone planned to kill Barbara, they were probably very careful not to leave anything behind.”
    “If someone did try to kill her and didn’t succeed, they might try again,” Hannah voiced her concern. “Do you think Barbara is in any danger at the hospital?”
    “I don’t know. We don’t have enough officers to put a round-the-clock guard on her, but I talked to Doc and he’s already assigned three shifts of nurses for her. And I really don’t think anybody will be brazen enough to try to finish the job while she’s in the hospital.”
    Hannah remembered how much danger Freddy Sawyer had been in when he was confined to a hospital bed.
    “Let’s not put the cart before the horse. We don’t even know, for sure, that somebody did try to kill Barbara.”
    “True,” Hannah said, realizing that he was right, but not believing that for a second.

Chapter Six
    “Y ou’re looking good, Barbara,” Hannah said, even though it wasn’t true. Barbara’s face was puffy and bruised, her left leg was obviously injured in some way because it was elevated in a sling that hung from the ceiling, and both of her arms were heavily bandaged.
    Barbara smiled through caked lips, showing several gaps where teeth had been less than twenty-four hours ago. “Thank you. I feel better. Is my father here?”
    Hannah exchanged glances with her mother, who’d come along on the visit. Both of them knew that Barbara’s father had died years ago when Barbara was still in school.
    “Is he here? I have to know!”
    Barbara sounded desperate and Hannah wasn’t sure what to say. Thankfully, Delores leaned closer to cover Barbara’s hands with her own. “Barbara, dear,” she said, giving Barbara’s hand a comforting pat. “I’m sorry, Barbara, but your father’s not here. He can’t come to see you, dear. Don’t you remember? He died.”
    “Oh, no! That’s . . . that’s awful!” Barbara’s words were slurred, something Doc Knight had warned them about. He’d said that when Barbara became upset, her ability to speak deteriorated. He’d also told them that if she asked any questions, they should answer them honestly. And that was precisely what Delores had done.
    “Don’t think about it now,” Delores urged in an effort to calm Barbara, who was clearly agitated. “Thinking about sad things too much won’t do any good and it will only upset you.”
    Barbara was silent for a moment and then she tried to nod. It must have hurt to move her head, because an expression of pain flickered across her face. “You’re right,” she said. “What was your name again?”
    “It’s Delores.”
    “Oh, yes.” She turned to look at Hannah. “And you are . . . the daughter.”
    “Yes, I’m Delores’s daughter,” Hannah replied, thankful that Doc Knight had mentioned the swelling in Barbara’s brain and how it had affected her ability to remember proper names. “My name is Hannah.”
    “Yes. Hannah. I’ll try to remember. It’s just so sad about my