Cream Puff Murder (32 page)

T he rhythmic swooshing of the cross-country ski simulator was soothing, releasing her mind for other pursuits. Hannah watched the video of a winter scene rolling past on the screen in time with her movements, and she relaxed. Only a small portion of her mind took charge of the repetitive motion and pace, and she began to think of what she’d learned about Ronni’s murder.

Swooshing down the hill, push with the left foot, push with the right foot, to the first clue that entered her mind. Sonny Newberg told Sue Plotnik that his uncle Tad gave flowers to Nikki. It was pretty clear that Nikki was a nickname and Tad had nicknames for the women he liked. Ronni’s real name was Veronica, but what if Tad gave her his own personal nickname? Could it have been Nikki, based on the last part of her name?

According to Frank, Tad didn’t have much luck with women. That meant his self-confidence was probably low. When Ronni had refused to take his flowers and insulted him at her birthday party in front of the other guests, it must have been a terrible blow to Tad’s ego. Could he have gotten embarrassed enough and angry enough to go back when all the party guests had left and kill Ronni?

Hannah thought about that on a slight downhill slope as she skied her way past a small stand of pines. Dig in with the right pole, dig in with the left pole, swoosh to the next clue to Ronni’s killer. There was the security tape of the parking lot with Ronni’s old car in the picture. Mike said Ronni hadn’t driven it recently and Hannah believed him. What if the tape she’d watched hadn’t been recorded on the night of Ronni’s death? What if it was an old tape slipped into a new sleeve, a tape that had been made when Ronni’s car was still working?

It would have been easy for Tad to switch the tapes. And if Tad had killed Ronni, he might have wanted to set it up so that everyone who came to Ronni’s birthday party was automatically a suspect. It would certainly muddy the waters and hinder the investigation, especially since quite a few attendees were members of the Winnetka County Sheriff’s Department.

Hannah’s hips swiveled and her legs shot back and forth on the pretend skis. Right leg forward, left leg forward, skiing up a slight rise to the suspect list. Tad wasn’t listed as a suspect…or was he? The only three suspects left on the page were the stalker, the suspicious man in the blue parka, and the unknown suspect with the unknown motive. Tad saw Ronni every day on the security cameras in the exercise rooms. Ronni knew she was on camera and she certainly wouldn’t think of that as spying. But Ronni had specifically mentioned the Jacuzzi to the bartender at The Moosehead and there was no security camera in there.

The Jacuzzi! With a gasp, Hannah remembered the interference on Andrea’s cell phone. That had happened in the room with the Jacuzzi. Andrea thought it was a low battery, but Hannah had experienced a similar interference when she’d been standing next to the kitty-cam Mike had installed in her condo kitchen. What if there was a surveillance camera hidden in the room with the Jacuzzi and Ronni had somehow sensed it? Mike had mentioned that the mall security staff tested surveillance cameras for the same company. It was entirely possible they’d been given a camera identical to Mike’s and Tad had installed it in the room with the Jacuzzi so that he could spy on Ronni.

There was only one way to find out. Hannah jumped off the ski simulator at the top of a steep incline dotted with bumpy snowdrifts. But instead of tumbling head over heels with arms and legs akimbo as a real skier might have done, she hit the floor running, grabbed her purse, and headed for the Jacuzzi at a trot.

When she arrived at the steps leading up to the thatched-roofed hut, Hannah took her phone out of her purse and switched it on. Then she punched in the number for time of day and listened to the recorded voice. There was no interference. She continued to listen as she climbed the steps and stepped into the hut. There was a high-pitched squeal that grew louder as she approached the spot where Andrea had answered her phone. Another step and the squeal intensified even more. It was loudest right next to the wall.

Since she could no longer hear the recorded voice, and she didn’t really care what time it was anyway, Hannah switched off the phone and slipped it back in her purse. And then she began to examine the wall to see if she could spot the lens of the camera.

The thatched-roof hut had been decorated like a tropical paradise with hanging ferns and flowering trees in earthenware pots, and the wallpaper picked up on the lush jungle theme. Glossy leaves, thick green vines, and riotously colored flowers snaked their way up to the ceiling. Exotically shaped tree branches displayed tropical birds in splendiferous plumage, including an impressively large toucan just above Hannah’s head.

The best way to proceed was methodically. Hannah started at the top left corner of the wall and let her eyes scan to the right, almost as if she were reading a line of very large print. She told herself to ignore the designs on the wallpaper and concentrate on finding any irregularities in the wall itself. Once she’d reached the right corner, she dropped her focus down six inches or so, and let her eyes move in a horizontal line to the left. She repeated this pattern over and over, lower and lower with each trip from left to right and then back again.

It wasn’t until she’d reached an area about a foot over her head and midway between the left and right walls, that she discovered something unusual. It had to do with the toucan. This particular bird had only one eye as the artist had rendered it in profile.

The eye of the toucan bulged out slightly, just like the lens of her kitty-cam. But wallpaper was flat. It didn’t bulge unless there was something behind it. Hannah reached up to feel the bird’s eye and touched a glass lens. There was a kitty-cam hidden behind the wall by the Jacuzzi. Except it wasn’t a kitty-cam. It was a killer-cam! No wonder Ronni had felt that someone was spying on her! Someone was. And that someone was Tad Newberg.

Hannah grabbed her purse and pulled out her phone. She had to call Mike and tell him to arrest Tad Newberg right away. He had killed Ronni. She was sure of it! She punched in the number and waited breathlessly for it to ring. But the interference was so heavy she couldn’t hear anything but a high-pitched whine. The best thing to do was to go out to the security station and call from…

Uh-oh! Hannah’s mind said. You’re out here alone and this is where Tad works. What if Tad comes in early and realizes that you know? The best thing to do was to get to safety first, and then stop somewhere to call Mike. She raced across the floor, fairly flew down the steps, and crashed straight into the arms of Frank Hurley.

“Frank!” she gasped, shaking with relief. “You have no idea how glad I am to see you!”

“And you have no idea how glad I am I caught you before you left,” Frank said. “You figured it out, didn’t you, Hannah?”

There was a note of menace in Frank’s voice that Hannah had never heard before. It puzzled her and her mind spun through the possibilities until it came to a shuddering halt at a terrible suspicion. She tried to step back, but Frank’s arms were like bands of steel around her.

“Figured what out?” she asked, hoping he’d think she was thoroughly mystified by his question.

“You found the camera,” he said.

Careful. If you’re careful, you may be able to talk your way out of this. You have to give him a kernel of truth so he thinks you’re ingenuous and you can’t let him guess that you suspect him.

“Yes. Yes, I did find the camera. I’m really sorry, Frank. I know you’re just as disappointed as I am.”

An expression of doubt crossed Frank’s face. “Disappointed?”

“Yes. I really like Tad, but he shouldn’t have hooked up that surveillance camera so he could spy on Ronni. That wasn’t a nice thing to do. I can’t say I blame him though. I know he was crazy about her. I’m right, aren’t I?”

“He was crazy about her, all right!”

“Ronni brought this on herself, you know. She was horribly mean to Tad at her birthday party when he gave her those lovely flowers. I can’t say I entirely blame him for waiting until everyone else had left and fighting with her in the hot tub. I’m sure he didn’t mean to kill her though. Tad’s no killer.”

“You’re right about that! So that’s what you figured out, huh?”

“Yes. I just called Mike and he’s going to go talk to Tad.”

Frank laughed and it wasn’t a pleasant sound. “No, you didn’t. I was watching you on my laptop monitor. You never got through to him.”

“You’re right. I was going to call him, but I couldn’t get a good signal, not with all that interference. But he’ll be here any minute anyway. He’s picking me up. I’ll tell him to talk to Tad then.”

“You won’t be telling him anything, not where you’re going.” Frank pulled his gun, whirled her around, and stuck the barrel against her back. “Walk. It’s cold in here, and you’re going to spend some time in the sauna. Too bad you’re going to overdo it. You’ll suffer a heat stroke and die, and everyone will think it’s a terrible accident.”

“Why are you doing this?” Hannah asked, willing her voice not to shake. “I told you I didn’t think Tad killed Ronni on purpose. Once he explains, I’m sure everyone will believe that it was an accident.”

“But it wasn’t an accident.” Frank laughed again and prodded her with the barrel of the gun to make her move faster. “And it wasn’t Tad either. It was me. I killed Ronni.”

“But why?” Hannah gasped, stumbling a bit as she moved forward. She had to keep him talking, distract him, and figure out some way to escape.

“Tad’s like a son to me. My sister died when he was born and the poor kid never had anyone. Tad’s father always blamed him for my sister’s death. Tad’s older brother got all the attention. The only one who ever cared about Tad was me. I knew Ronni was a bad influence the first time I saw her flirting with Tad.”

Hannah tried to slow her steps, but every time she hesitated, Frank prodded her with the gun again. Her eyes scanned the deserted hallway, hoping for something she could grab, whirl, and use to hit him, but the hallways were perfectly empty. “Did you try to warn Tad off?”

“’Course I did. What kind of fool do you take me for? I told him she was the kind to play games with men and I proved it by showing him the tapes of her in the Jacuzzi with other men.”

There was a broom leaning up against the doorway to the Snack Shack. If she could just get close enough to grab it, she could use it to knock him off balance and…

“Don’t even think about it,” Frank warned her, effectively reading her mind and pushing her over to hug the far wall. “I’ll shoot you here if I have to.”

Hannah told herself there’d be another opportunity. There had to be! And then she went on asking questions. “What did Tad say when you showed him the tapes of Ronni in the Jacuzzi with the other men?”

“He was upset, but he wasn’t mad at Ronni. He said she hadn’t dated the right man yet, but the minute she realized that he was perfect for her, she’d settle right down with him and be happy.”

“Are you serious?” Hannah asked, stopping in her tracks and turning around to look at him.

“Yes, I am.”

“Poor Tad!” Hannah said, and she meant it. But in the meantime, they’d stopped moving forward and were now standing still facing each other. This was good. Hannah knew she had to delay for as long as she could. “He was really that out of touch with reality?”

“Oh, yes. He was delusional when it came to Ronni. Nothing she did was her fault and he wouldn’t listen to the truth.”

“But you tried to tell him what Ronni was really like?”

“I talked until I was blue in the face. Nothing sunk in. It was like she’d put blinders on him and he couldn’t see any of her bad qualities.”

“But blinders come off eventually,” Hannah said. “It might take a while, but people wise up.”

“That’s exactly what I was afraid of. I knew the day would come when Tad would see Ronni for what she really was, and…” Frank stopped and swallowed with difficulty. “And when that happened, it would destroy my boy. Someone had to put a stop to it and that’s what I did.”

Hannah was silent. She wasn’t sure what to say next.

“Walk!” Frank grabbed her shoulder, whirled her around, and pushed her so hard she almost stumbled. “Get going! I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

They rounded the corner and arrived at the door to the sauna. Hannah was still searching for some way to delay him, but she’d run out of all but the final question. “Do you really think you’ll get away with it?” she asked.

“Of course I will. You’re the only one who even came close to figuring it out, and you can’t tell anyone if you’re dead.” Frank’s eyes glittered dangerously. “Too bad you have to pay the price, but my boy comes first. It would kill him if he ever found out what I did to Ronni.”

Her purse. If he forgot and left her with her purse, everything would be okay. Her cell phone was in her purse and there would be no interference in the sauna. She could call Mike and…

“You won’t need this.” Frank grabbed her purse and tossed it aside, and then he thrust his hand into the long patch pocket of her sweatshirt and drew out the bag with the rose. “What’s this?”

“It’s a rose. My sister gave it to me.”

“Nice,” he said, opening the door, shoving her inside, and tossing the rose in after her. “If it doesn’t melt, it’ll be a nice start on your funeral flowers.”

O f course she had tried the door. It was the first thing she’d done. He’d locked it from the outside, and there was no way she could force it open. She prowled around the walls, searching for any weak spots she could use for ventilation. The south wall bordered the parking lot, but she’d leaned up against it yesterday, talking to Andrea after their morning class, and it hadn’t been any warmer than the wall on the other side of the backdoor. Even if she did manage to pry off a section of redwood, or cedar, or whatever wood it was, she’d only encounter a thick concrete wall between her and the outside world.

It was getting hotter. The warmth that would have been welcome only minutes ago was now her enemy. Hannah wiped the moisture from her forehead with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. How hot was it? How long would it take her to lose consciousness? Was it true that your life passed before your eyes when you were about to die? She didn’t want to know. Not now. Not ever.