Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder

by Joanne Fluke

  “It’ll be cold, though.”

  “I know, but that’s okay. It’s only a couple of blocks to The Cookie Jar and I might need it for deliveries later.”

  Norman turned at the corner and drove to the refurbished garage that was attached to Delores and Doc’s condo building. The garage didn’t have its own heating system, but there were several vents that tied into the lobby heating system and provided enough heat to keep the garage interior from freezing in the winter.

  “Will you be in for coffee later?” Hannah asked as Norman opened the passenger door for her.

  “Yes, Doc Bennett is handling the patients for a few days so I’m free to get some things done in the office.”

  “Then take a plate of the Cinnamon Rolls,” Hannah suggested. “Doc Bennett might like a couple, and you can have more if you want to.”

  “If I want to?” Norman said with a laugh. “I won’t be able to resist, Hannah. I ate three for breakfast and I’ll probably have another two while I’m working on the billing.”

  Hannah gave Norman an assessing look. “You didn’t mention that Doc Bennett would be working for you.”

  “I know. I just arranged it this morning. Doc Bennett wants to go on a Caribbean cruise and he wants extra work this winter.”

  “Does he have a new love interest?” Hannah asked, as Norman walked her to her cookie truck.

  “I’m guessing that’s the reason, but he hasn’t come out and said so.”

  “Did you get him to fill in for you so you would be free to help me with the investigation?”

  Norman looked slightly guilty. “That was part of it. But I really need some time off to work in my office. I’m way behind on my billing, and I like to keep up with the dental journals. I’ve been so busy in the last couple of months that I haven’t had time to spare.”

  Hannah waited while Norman opened the driver’s door of her cookie truck for her, and then she turned to give him a hug. “Thank you, Norman. You know that I always appreciate it when you help me, don’t you?”

  “Yes.” Norman hugged her back. “I like to help you, Hannah. You do so much for me and I feel good when I can give back. I’ll see you on my coffee break, okay?”

  “Okay.” Hannah climbed into the driver’s seat and turned the key in the ignition. The cookie truck started immediately, and she smiled and waved as she backed out of the parking spot and exited the garage. She drove three blocks, turned into the alley behind The Cookie Jar, and parked in her usual spot by the back kitchen door. It was still fairly dark, but the sky was lightening in the east, and she plugged her truck into the strip of outlets on the wall before she walked to the door.

  Once she’d opened the door, she flicked on the bank of kitchen lights and blinked several times at the sudden glare. She placed her boots on the rug by the door, hung up her parka, and hurried to the kitchen coffeepot to put on the coffee. This was one of her favorite times of day. This was her business, her livelihood, and she’d started it herself. She hadn’t known if it would be successful, or if it would fail as so many small, one-owner businesses often did. Opening her bakery and coffee shop was her dream career, what she’d always wanted to do with her life. The Cookie Jar was thriving, and that made her both proud and humble at the same time. She was grateful to Delores for believing in her and helping her start her business, to the customers who loved her cookies, and to Lisa, who had started as an employee but was now her partner. There were others she was grateful for as well: Marge, Jack, and Aunt Nancy were all wonderful additions to the staff at The Cookie Jar.

  One glance at the clock on the kitchen wall told Hannah that it was time to get to work. She’d started to preheat her industrial oven right after she’d turned on the kitchen lights and it would be ready to start baking soon. Now the only question to be answered was what to bake first.

  Hannah poured herself a cup of coffee and went to her walk-in cooler to survey the array of cookie dough she’d mixed up with Lisa and Aunt Nancy the previous afternoon. The cookie dough was arranged on the refrigerated shelf in stainless steel mixing bowls, and the recipes were neatly printed out and displayed on top.

  It didn’t take long to make up her mind. She had a new recipe to try and she wanted to bake that first. Hannah picked up the recipe, lifted the heavy bowl, and carried it to her stainless steel workstation.

  As a precaution, Hannah and her helpers always printed out the recipe and checked off each ingredient as they added it. Everyone who worked at The Cookie Jar knew that it was possible to leave an ingredient out, if they weren’t careful. The checklist made sure that didn’t happen.

  Hannah took a sip of her coffee and glanced at the checkmarks on the ingredient list. Lisa had mixed up these cookies, and every ingredient had been added. Lisa was a careful baker, and Hannah felt a bit foolish for doubting her, but she’d left out ingredients herself and, depending on which ingredient was missing, it could turn into a baking disaster that had to be remixed and redone.

  As Hannah prepared the cookie sheets and formed the cookies, she thought about Mayor Bascomb and the murder suspect list she’d begun the previous night. Since Mike and Lonnie should have interviewed Mayor Bascomb’s secretary, Terry Neilson, by now, there could be additional suspects that she could add to the list in her murder book.

  Shaping the dough went rapidly, and soon Hannah had six cookie sheets filled. She carried the cookie sheets to her oven, slipped them on the shelves that would rotate and bake them evenly, and set the timer so it would ring when it was time to take the cookies out of the oven.

  She was about to sit down on her stool at the workstation when she noticed that her coffee cup was empty. “More coffee,” she said aloud, taking time to wipe down the stainless steel surface of her workstation and then top off her coffee. She brought it back and set it down. She seated herself on her favorite stool and took her first sip of the aromatic brew. “Good,” she pronounced, and smiled happily. Morning coffee was wonderful! She doubted that she could exist without it.

  Her murder book was propped up on the far end of the workstation and Hannah reached for it. She flipped through the pages until she reached the suspect list and read through the names. She just knew she’d forgotten someone, but who?

  “Robert!” she said aloud. Mayor Bascomb’s older brother might be upset that his son, Bruce, had been charged with drunk driving. She would have to find out about that.

  Hannah reached for her purse, rummaged around until she’d found a pen, and wrote Robert Bascomb’s name on her suspect list. Robert lived in Wisconsin now, but it was possible that Bruce had called his father and Robert had driven to Lake Eden to confront the mayor.

  The stove timer rang just then and Hannah was relieved. Checking her cookies to see if they were done was much more pleasant than thinking about murder. She hurried to the oven, pressed the button to stop the rotation of the shelves, and peered in. Her cookies were ready.

  One by one, she removed the cookie sheets from the oven and slipped them on the baker’s rack against the wall. They smelled wonderful, and she had all she could do to resist the urge to pluck one from the sheet to taste it. She knew she had to let them cool to keep from burning her mouth, but it would be almost worth it to take a bite.

  When all the cookies were on the cooling racks, Hannah walked back to the workstation and went back to finish her coffee. When her coffee cup was empty, she went to the walk-in cooler to decide what she should bake next.

  Chapter Nine

  By the time another two hours had passed, Hannah had filled the slots in two baker’s racks and written down another four suspects who might have reason to want Mayor Bascomb dead. She was just about to sit down at the workstation again when there was a knock at the back kitchen door.

  The knock was one she recognized. It was Andrea, and she glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall. It was barely eight in the morning and she hadn’t expected to see her sister until ten or eleven, if at all today.

  “Good morning, Ha
nnah,” Andrea said when Hannah opened the door. She was carrying a box that she thrust into Hannah’s hands and said, “This is for you.”

  “For me?” Hannah was surprised. “What is it?”

  “Easter Bunny Whippersnapper Cookies. I baked them last night after Bill and I got home. Will you try one to see if you like them?”

  “Of course I will,” Hannah said quickly, as Andrea hung up her coat. “Take a seat at the workstation and I’ll get you some coffee.”

  While Andrea seated herself, Hannah poured them both a mug of coffee and put on another pot. Andrea looked tired, and Hannah wondered if her sister had gotten any sleep at all last night.

  “You baked last night?” Hannah asked as she delivered Andrea’s coffee.

  “Yes. When Bill and I got home, we checked on the girls and then we went straight up to bed. Bill went right to sleep, but I just couldn’t seem to get comfortable. I kept thinking about—Andrea stopped and swallowed—about you-know-what.”

  Hannah didn’t say anything. She just nodded.

  “So I got into my robe and slippers and went back downstairs. It was silly to stay in bed when I couldn’t seem to fall asleep. I sat at the kitchen table and thought about things for a couple of minutes, and then I decided to do what you always do when you’re upset . . . bake!”

  Hannah was pleased, but she was also puzzled. Andrea was not a baker. Whippersnapper cookies were the only things she’d ever successfully baked. “Did baking help?” she asked.

  “Oh, yes! By the time I’d baked two batches, I was so tired I almost fell asleep at the table. And when I went upstairs to bed again, I went to sleep right away.”

  “Good.” Hannah took the lid off the box and looked inside. “These are pretty!” she said immediately. “And you’re calling them Easter Bunny Whippersnapper Cookies?”

  “That’s right. I use a carrot cake mix to make them, and bunnies like carrots. And I decorated them for Easter with the jelly beans on top of the powdered sugar, but you could leave off the decorations and use them anytime.”

  “You’re right.” Hannah selected a cookie and took a bite. She noticed that her sister was watching anxiously, so she smiled, swallowed, and took another bite. “Good!” she said, the word muffled by the fact she was still chewing. “I like them a lot, Andrea.”

  “Do you think they’re good enough to serve here?”

  “Yes, I do. Let’s try them out on our early customers. Lisa should be here soon and we’ll find out.”

  Andrea smiled, and then she looked a bit nervous. “Do you think they’ll like them?”

  “Yes, definitely. They’re chewy, but not too chewy, sweet, but not too sweet, and they taste great! I think all of our customers will love them and if we decorate them the way you did, they’ll order them for Easter.”

  “Oh, good!” Andrea’s smile was radiant. “I can show Lisa and Aunt Nancy how to make them.”

  Hannah bit back a smile. Lisa and her aunt Nancy had made countless dozens of Andrea’s Whippersnapper cookies, and they certainly didn’t need Andrea’s instruction. She wasn’t about to mention that to her sister, though. She’d simply warn Lisa and her aunt to be properly appreciative when Andrea showed them how to make her newest cookie.

  “I’ve got something for you to try this morning,” Hannah said, walking over to the kitchen counter and unwrapping the package she’d brought with her from Norman’s kitchen.

  “What is it?” Andrea asked, sounding pleased.

  “Cinnamon Rolls with raisins.”

  Andrea looked curious. “You never made your Cinnamon Rolls with raisins before, did you?”

  “No, but Norman likes raisins, so I decided to try it. Both of us really liked them. Would you like to try one?”

  Andrea looked slightly dubious, but she nodded. “Sure.”

  “They’re golden raisins, and I plumped them in rum before I put them in the rolls.”

  Andrea smiled. “Then I’ll try them for sure! I love the taste of rum.”

  “We did, too. I’ll just heat a couple slightly in the microwave and you can try them.”

  “Okay.” Andrea put on a smile, but she still looked a bit dubious, and she watched while Hannah heated two rolls for a few seconds in the microwave and carried them to the workstation, along with a table knife and a dish with softened salted butter. “Are you supposed to put butter on them?” she asked.

  “You can eat them with or without butter. I had my first roll without butter and it was good, but I liked the second one with the butter even better.”

  “How about Norman? Did he use butter?”

  “Yes, on both of his rolls.”

  “I’ll do it your way,” Andrea said. “Then I can decide which way I like them best.” Andrea picked up the roll and took a bite. She chewed, swallowed, and smiled. “They’re good with raisins!”

  Hannah chuckled. “I’m glad you like them, but you didn’t have to sound so surprised.”

  Andrea took another bite of her roll and gave a nod since her mouth was full. “It’s just that I’ve never really liked raisins before, but these are plump, juicy, and . . . and rummy!”

  Hannah watched as her sister generously buttered her roll. Andrea was a bit of an anomaly. She loved salted butter and ate it on practically everything. She slathered it on her pancakes when they went out to breakfast at the Corner Tavern, she used tons of melted butter on the popcorn she made at home, and for someone who always seemed to be on a diet to maintain her flawless figure, Andrea had taught Tracey and Bethie the trick she’d learned from their grandma Ingrid, which was dredging dry Cheerios in salted butter and popping them into their mouths for a snack.

  Andrea had just finished her second roll when they heard the front door to the coffee shop open. “I have to go see Lisa,” Andrea said, pushing back her stool and standing up. “I want to tell her about finding Mayor Bascomb so she can tell the story of his murder today.”

  “You’d be okay with that?” Hannah asked quickly, clearly shocked by her sister’s words.

  “Yes, I don’t have to listen and it’s good for business, Hannah. I can stay back here with you, can’t I?”

  Hannah began to frown slightly. “Of course, but are you sure you want to do that?”

  “Yes, maybe one of your customers will think of someone we’ve missed for your suspect list. As a matter of fact, I thought of something this morning while I was driving here.”

  “Who is it?”

  “It’s not a who, it’s a when.”

  Hannah was thoroughly puzzled. “What do you mean, Andrea?”

  “I mean that this could date back to a childhood grudge. People hold grudges for years. Mother might know about that. Or it could be someone who had issues with Mayor Bascomb when he was in college.”

  “That’s a good point,” Hannah told her. “I don’t even know where he went to college.”

  “I’m sure that Stephanie knows. Do you think that she’d talk to us about it?”

  “Maybe. We could always ask Mother’s opinion about that.” The words had no sooner left Hannah’s mouth than there was a knock on the back kitchen door. “Mother,” Hannah said.

  “That’s her knock?”

  “That’s right. I’ll pour coffee for her, if you go let her in.”

  While Andrea let Delores in and hung up her coat, Hannah poured coffee and set it down in front of their mother’s favorite stool. Then she walked to the kitchen counter and retrieved Andrea’s box of Easter Bunny Whippersnapper Cookies.

  “Hello, Mother,” Hannah said, taking the box to the workstation.

  “What’s this, Hannah?” She gestured toward the box.

  “I’ll let Andrea tell you.” Hannah turned toward her sister. “Go ahead, Andrea.”

  “Well . . . I couldn’t sleep last night, so I baked a new kind of Whippersnapper cookie.”

  “You sound just like Hannah,” Delores told her. “She always bakes when she’s upset.” Delores watched as Andrea took the cover off th
e box. “Oh, my!” she said, smiling broadly. “They’re very pretty, dear. And I love all your Whippersnapper cookies.”

  “Thank you!” Andrea was clearly delighted, and she chose a cookie for Delores.

  “So pretty,” Delores repeated, taking the cookie. “Are they chocolate, dear?”

  “No, they’re made from a carrot cake mix.”

  Delores looked pleased. “I love carrot cake. When I married your father, we both chose to have carrot cake as our wedding cake.”

  “I didn’t know that!” Andrea said, obviously surprised as she turned to Hannah. “Did you know?”

  Hannah shook her head. “I had no idea. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you talk about it, Mother.”

  “That’s because there’s not that much to tell. Both of our families wanted us to have a big wedding, but when we sat down with our parents to plan it, the list of people they wanted to invite was huge. We were ready to go along with that, but there was a problem with the seating for the reception. My aunt Minnie couldn’t be seated next to Uncle Fred because they couldn’t stand each other, and my brothers had a real feud going about a girl both of them wanted to date. My cousin Mary Sue hated her cousin Mavis. And Lars and I knew we didn’t dare ask both of them to be bridesmaids, but choosing one over the other wasn’t going to work, either.”

  “So what did you do?” Andrea asked her.

  “We talked to Reverend Knudson, Grandma Knudson’s husband, about it, and he suggested that we have a private wedding with only the parents in attendance. That sounded really good to Lars and to me, so we had a private family wedding at the church and then we met everyone for a big celebration.”

  “And that worked out?” Hannah asked her.

  “Yes, but it took some planning. My parents had a lake cabin and so did his. We rented four more cabins, and there was enough room so that the family members who didn’t get along could avoid each other.”

  “And that worked?” Andrea asked her.

  “Like a charm. Everything was fine except for my aunt Helen and Dad’s aunt Muriel. Both of them had terrible tempers and they got into an argument near the lakeshore. It got so loud that their husbands went out to try to calm them down, but they wouldn’t listen to reason and Aunt Helen ended up shoving Aunt Muriel into the water.”