Free Lemon Meringue Pie Murder (Hannah Swensen Mysteries) by Joanne Fluke

good in a pinch. She’d driven out to the sheriff’s station on autopilot, trying not to think about the gruesome discovery they’d made. The tennis shoe she’d seen had been lime green and the only person in Lake Eden who wore shoes that color was Rhonda Scharf.
    “Hannah,” Mike smiled as he saw her coming toward his desk. “How’s it going?”
    “Not good. Is there somewhere private we can talk?”
    Mike nodded, led her to one of the conference rooms, and closed the door. When he motioned her to a chair, Hannah noticed that he looked anxious. “Don’t tell me that…”
    “Norman didn’t propose,” Hannah said, guessing what was foremost in his mind. “This is something entirely unrelated.”
    “What?”
    “There’s a body in the basement at the Voelker place. I don’t know for sure, but I think it’s Rhonda Scharf.”
    Mike looked stunned for a moment and then he pulled out his notebook. “You found another body?”
    “Not this time. Mother had that honor.”
    “Delores?” Mike looked even more stunned. “Is she all right?”
    “Yes, if she survives the coffee in your vending machine. Norman’s with her and I gave her a triple dose of chocolate.”
    “What happened?”
    “We were out there looking for antiques and Mother went down to the basement to search for old tools. When she came back up, she told us she’d found a body. Norman and I checked it out, and she was right.”
    “Hold on a second,” Mike interrupted her. “Let me get Bill in on this, and we’ll take your statement right now. We’ll catch your mother later, after she calms down a little.”
    “Good idea,” Hannah said, settling down for a lengthy session. These things always took time and there was no rushing it. She knew that from prior experience.
     
     
    By the time Hannah got back to The Cookie Jar, it was almost four in the afternoon. Jed and Freddy had finished work for the day, the customers had thinned out, and almost all of their cookies had been sold. Hannah joined Lisa behind the counter to tell her what had happened, but she didn’t say anything about the identity of the body. That could wait for official confirmation.
    “Well, at least your mother was first on the scene,” Lisa said, speaking in an undertone so their customers couldn’t hear her. “This time she can’t accuse you of trying to embarrass her by finding dead bodies.”
    “Oh yes she can. I’m not sure how, but I know this’ll wind up being all my fault.”
    “You could be right,” Lisa conceded, grabbing a towel and wiping an already spotless counter. “You’re going to look into it, aren’t you?”
    “No way. We’ve got a lot to do to get ready for the Fourth of July party, and Mike and Bill were pretty bent out of shape the last time I interfered in one of their cases. I am curious about one thing, though. When we got out to the Voelker place, there was one of our Lemon Meringue pies on the kitchen table. I was wondering how it got there.”
    Lisa looked thoroughly stumped. “I know Norman didn’t buy a pie, and Rhonda didn’t, either. Do you want me to check my customer list?”
    “What list?”
    “I keep a record of everyone who buys our pies. I call them up if you’re going to bake their favorite.”
    Hannah was impressed. “That’s smart marketing.”
    “It works,” Lisa said, smiling broadly. “Most of them want me to save one for them and a couple have standing orders. Mrs. Jessup told me to put her down for two pies every time you bake apple.”
    “And you have a record from last Friday?”
    “It’s at home, but I’ll call you tonight and read off the names. It’ll probably be after ten. I’m going out to dinner with Herb.”
    “That’s fine. I really want to know who bought a whole pie and only ate one piece. It’s practically an insult.”
    “I know, especially when it’s your Lemon Meringue.” Lisa looked up to see a customer holding his coffee mug aloft. “Mayor Bascomb wants a refill. Do you