Christmas Cupcake Murder

by Joanne Fluke

  Spread the dollop out to cover almost all of the cookie, but don’t go all the way to the edge.

  Hannah’s 2nd Note: If you spread the frosting out all the way, it makes the cookies more difficult to pick up from a platter.

  Once the first cookie has been frosted, put a sugarplum (the sugared date with walnut inside) in the center. Since the frosting has not yet hardened, the sugarplum will stay in place.

  Yield: Approximately 4 dozen buttery, sugary cookies.

  CINFUL SUGAR COOKIES

  Preheat oven to 325 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

  Hannah’s 1st Note: This is an excellent way to make a second batch of cookies from your original Sugar Plum Cookie dough. If you want to make these from scratch, simply reduce the ingredients for Sugar Plum Cookies by half.

  Ingredients:

  ½ of the Sugar Plum Cookie dough

  ½ cup white (granulated) sugar

  1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

  teaspoon ground cardamom (if you don’t have it, you can substitute more cinnamon)

  Directions:

  Prepare your cookie sheets by spraying them with Pam or another baking spray or lining them with parchment paper.

  Place the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom in a ziplock plastic bag.

  Shake the bag until all the ingredients are mixed together thoroughly.

  Place the contents of the bag in a shallow bowl.

  Use your impeccably clean hands to roll the cookie dough into balls that are approximately one inch in diameter. Roll them in the bowl to coat them with sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom mixture.

  Place the dough balls on the cookie sheets you’ve prepared, 12 cookies on each standard-sized cookie sheet.

  Flatten the dough balls with the back of a metal spatula or the palm of your impeccably clean hand.

  Hannah’s 2nd Note: The flatter your cookie dough balls are, the bigger and crispier your cookies will be. They will spread out some in the oven, so try to make them about a quarter-inch thick. If you flatten them more than that, they may fall apart when someone bites into them.

  Bake at 325 degrees F. for 10 to 15 minutes. (The cookies should have a tinge of gold on the top.)

  When your cookies have baked, take them out of the oven and set them on a cold stovetop burner or a wire rack.

  Cool your Cinful Sugar Cookies on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then remove them from the cookie sheet and place them on a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

  Yield: Approximately 4 dozen sinfully rich and tasty cookies that everyone will love to eat. (Grandma Knudson, the grandmother of Reverend Bob Knudson, asked me to describe them that way.)

  Chapter Seven

  Hannah’s breath caught in her throat as Mike Kingston, the chief detective of the Winnetka County Sheriff’s Department, walked in. Mike was one of the most handsome men she’d ever seen, worthy of having the lead in a movie, or posing for super-expensive men’s advertisements.

  “Hi, Hannah,” he said, hanging his parka on one of the hooks by the door. “Hello, Norman. What brings you here?”

  “Joe Smith,” Norman replied immediately.

  “Who?” Mike asked, walking over to the work station, taking a stool, and accepting the coffee that Hannah had brought for him.

  “The homeless man that Hannah’s mother, my mother, and Hannah found in the property that our mothers were looking to rent.”

  “This is the first I’ve heard of it,” Mike said, taking a cookie from the platter. “Did he break in?”

  “No,” Hannah said quickly. Joe Smith had enough problems without getting nailed for breaking and entering. “He was living there, Mike. And he was on the verge of starvation.”

  Mike reached for another cookie. “Good thing you found him then. How’s he doing?”

  “Doc Knight was just here and he’s going to the hospital right now to check on his condition,” Norman told him. “He thinks it’s a possible case of TBI.”

  “Traumatic brain injury. That’s too bad,” Mike said, taking a bite of his cookie. “These are really good, Hannah.”

  “Thanks,” Hannah said. “Doc thinks he’s going to be all right physically, but he doesn’t remember who he is, or where he came from.”

  “There’s a lot of that going around,” Mike said. “Sometimes drugs are involved. Did Doc test him for that?”

  “I’m sure he did,” Norman answered quickly. “Hannah said the man was perfectly coherent when he came to The Cookie Jar looking for work yesterday morning.”

  “True?” Mike turned to Hannah.

  “True. I don’t know anything about him except that he was very polite and really grateful for the work I gave him.”

  “And that was . . . ?” Mike asked her.

  “I had him scrape my windshield and brush the snow off my cookie truck.”

  “How much did you pay him?” Mike asked.

  “Five dollars. I know that’s a lot for what he did, but he was cold and he was still willing to do anything I asked, even if it was outside. I gave him coffee and a bag of cupcakes. And then I told him to come back in the morning, because I’d have some other work for him. He didn’t have a chance to do that because he collapsed that night.”

  “Must have been your cupcakes,” Mike said, but when he saw the horrified expression on Hannah’s face, he reached out to take her hand. “Just kidding,” he said quickly. “Cop humor and all that. Sometimes this stuff gets to us and we have to joke about it, you know?”

  “I know,” Norman said. “Your work is about as funny as gum disease.”

  “Now, that is funny!” Mike grinned at him and then he turned back to Hannah. “Sorry, Hannah. I didn’t mean to make light of it. And I do feel for the poor guy.”

  “Then you’ll help us? We have to find out where he came from and why he’s here in Lake Eden.”

  “Right. Someone has to do that. Unfortunately, it can’t be me.”

  “Why not?” Norman asked him. “You take missing person cases, don’t you?”

  “Yes, but this isn’t a missing person case. I’ll check, but if no one has reported him missing, I have no authority to try to find out his particulars. I can ask Sheriff Grant, but I’m pretty sure he won’t let me work on the guy’s case.” Mike stopped and frowned. “Unless, of course, he’s a victim of a crime. Then I’m authorized to investigate it.”

  It took a moment to sink in and then Hannah gave a frustrated sigh. “You mean you can’t do anything for us?”

  Mike shook his head. “Not officially, no. But if you ask me a specific question, I can research it. I just can’t enter it as a case on the books and devote any official time to it.”

  “But you could help if it’s not an official investigation?” Norman asked.

  Mike winced slightly. “According to the rules, I should say no. But I’ll help you all I can. I just have to be careful that I don’t break any rules. Sheriff Grant is a stickler for that.”

  Hannah gave a brief nod. “I know. Everything by the book. He’s that kind of guy.”

  Mike bit into yet another cookie he’d taken from the plate and began to smile. “These are great! What are they?”

  “Sugar Plum Cookies,” Hannah told him.

  “Yes, but what are sugar plums?”

  It was Norman’s turn to answer. “No one seems to know, but Hannah came as close as she could.”

  “Well, these are winners as far as I’m concerned.” Mike reached out to the last cookie on the platter. “I like the dates, Hannah. My mother used to make things with dates and nobody does that much anymore.”

  “That’s true,” Hannah said, remembering the sheet cake that her Great-Grandma Elsa used to make. She’d called it Christmas Date Cake and Hannah had loved it. Right then and there, she decided to try to make it as Christmas cupcakes. There was no reason in the world why it wouldn’t work, and everyone who came into The Cookie Jar would love to taste cupcakes with dates, s
ugar, nuts, and chocolate chips.

  “You just thought of something, didn’t you,” Norman asked, and it wasn’t really a question. He’d seen Hannah’s thoughtful expression.

  “I did. I’ll have a new cupcake by this afternoon. Would you two like to come by around two to taste one?”

  Norman looked at Mike and both of them burst into laughter. “Of course we would,” Mike replied.

  “We’ll be here,” Norman agreed, standing up and heading for the door. “Come on, Mike. Let’s go to work and let Hannah get started on those cupcakes.”

  “Not without taking some of these . . .” Mike said, looking perplexed as he realized that the platter was now empty. “Hannah, are there more?”

  Hannah laughed. “Sure, Mike. I see those have evaporated, but I’ll get you a bag to go!”

  As they went out the back kitchen door, Hannah was smiling. Her Sugar Plum Cookies were a success and she had a new cupcake to try. Life was good, especially if she could solve the mystery of Joe Smith’s identity.

  * * *

  “Hello, Hannah,” Vonnie Blair, Doc Knight’s secretary, greeted her as she came into his office. “Is Doc expecting you?”

  “No,” Hannah said truthfully. “I just thought I’d drop by with some cookies for both of you.”

  “Really?” Vonnie said, accepting the cookies with a smile that told Hannah that she hadn’t accepted that excuse for a second. “You came out to see Joe, right?”

  “Right,” Hannah admitted. “How’s he doing, Vonnie?”

  “Better than he was last night. Now that he’s all cleaned up, he’s a pretty good-looking guy. If I wasn’t married, I might be interested. Just wait until you see him.”

  “Do you think Doc will let me?”

  “Probably, since you’re the only one of us who’s met him before. But, you can ask him yourself. He should be here in a minute or . . .” Vonnie stopped speaking mid-sentence and gestured toward the door. “Hello, Doc. Hannah’s here to see you and she brought us cookies.” She looked down at the plate on her desk. “Cinful Sugar Cookies?”

  “That’s right,” Hannah said, smiling at Doc. “That’s what I made with the other half of the Sugar Plum Cookie dough.”

  “Let’s go take some to Joe,” Doc said, taking a step toward Vonnie’s desk.

  “I have more with me,” Hannah said quickly, noting Vonnie’s panicked expression. It was clear that Vonnie didn’t want to give up the plate that Hannah had given to her.

  As she went out the door with Doc, Hannah heard the relieved whoosh of breath that Vonnie gave. “Your half of those cookies might be gone by the time you get back to your office, Doc.”

  “I know they will be. Vonnie loves your cookies. But you say you have more?”

  Hannah held out the bag she was carrying.

  “That should be about enough. We’ll call for coffee and enjoy them with Joe.”

  “Did you find out any more about him?” Hannah hurried to keep up with Doc’s long strides.

  “Some. He suffered a blunt force head injury.”

  “Does that mean somebody hit him on the head?”

  “Not necessarily, but the placement of the impact lends itself to that scenario. Something fairly round hit him in the back of the head. It could have been an object like the butt of a revolver, a nightstick, or a round, smooth rock.”

  “Then you think it was intentional?”

  “Either that, or it was accidental. It’s possible that he fell on something matching that description.”

  “Did you learn anything that might help us find out something about his background?”

  “Not really. He did say one thing I found curious, though. ”

  “What was that?”

  “One of the nurses wheeled him past the charge nurse’s desk on his way to the X-ray department. He noticed that there was a large scratch on the surface of her desk and he asked her how it happened. She said she didn’t know because it had been there longer than she had. Then he asked if he could take a closer look, and she said he could.”

  “So he looked at the scratch?” Hannah asked.

  “Yes. He told her that he could fix the scratch, that all he needed was a couple of things from the hardware store. He told her what they were and she wrote them down and gave the paper to me.”

  “What are you going to do with it?”

  “I’m going to call Cliff and ask him if I can send someone to pick up the things on the list this afternoon. And then I’m going to let Joe try to fix the scratch.”

  “Do you think he can?”

  “I don’t know. I asked him and he said it was child’s play, that he’d fixed worse scratches than that. His only concern was that he might not be able to stand on his feet for that long, but we’ll figure a way around that.”

  Hannah’s mind went through the possibilities. “Do you think he could have worked in a furniture shop?”

  “I asked him that. He thought about it for a minute and he said he didn’t remember, but he was pretty sure he knew how to do it.”

  Hannah began to smile. “And you’re going to let him try.”

  “Why not? I was planning to buy a new desk, but if Joe can fix it, I won’t have to.”

  “And we’ll know that he must have worked on wood some time in his life.”

  “That’s right.” Doc stopped by a doorway. “This is his room. Wait here, Hannah. I’ll make sure he’s ready to have visitors.”

  Hannah waited while Doc went into the room. She heard him talking for a moment and then she heard Joe answer, but she couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. A moment later, Doc came back out into the hall.

  “Come on, Hannah,” Doc beckoned to her. “Joe says he wants to see you.”

  “Hello, Joe,” Hannah greeted the man in the bed. He was propped up on pillows and he smiled at her. “I’m sorry I didn’t come to see you this morning.”

  “That’s okay, ma’am. I had an interview with an MRI machine anyway.”

  Hannah had all she could do not to laugh. An interview with an MRI machine? She really hoped he was being intentionally funny, but she didn’t want to ask.

  “I’ll go tell the nurse we need coffee,” Doc said, heading for the door. “You two go ahead and get reacquainted.”

  “You look a lot better than you did the last time I saw you,” Hannah told him. There was a bit of color in his face and he wasn’t shaking the way he’d been the previous morning.

  “I feel a lot better. They’re taking good care of me, Miss Swensen.”

  Hannah was surprised. “Did Doc tell you my name?”

  “No, I saw it on the front window of your coffee shop yesterday, and I remembered it. Doc said you were one of the ladies who found me. Thank you for that. I was just so cold I couldn’t seem to get warm.”

  Doc came back, just in time to hear Joe’s comment.

  “That’s because you were malnourished and you were coming down with a bacterial infection. It’s the reason they’re giving you antibiotics.”

  “And that’s why I have this needle in my arm?” Joe gestured toward his left arm.

  “That’s right. You also needed to be hydrated. Is the IV bothering you?”

  Joe nodded. “Yes. I’m used to using my hands, and I’m feeling a little confined.”

  “Let me check your vitals right now. If you’re anywhere close enough to normal, I’ll remove it.”

  “That would be great! Thank you so much. It’ll make it a lot easier when I fix that desktop for you.”

  “Do you want me to leave?” Hannah asked Doc.

  “No, not unless Joe minds. I’m just going to take his blood pressure, listen to his heart, and take his temperature.” Doc turned to Joe. “Would you be more comfortable if Hannah left, Joe?”

  Joe shook his head. “No, that’s okay. She can stay.”

  Joe trusts you, Hannah’s rational mind told her.

  Not necessarily, the suspicious part of her argued. Joe could be an exhibitioni
st, or something like that.

  But it’s not like Doc’s going to ask him to take off his hospital gown, the rational part of her mind argued. I’m sure Joe trusts her. After all, she found him and called for the paramedics.

  Wrong, the rational part of her mind insisted. Hannah’s mother was the one who called for the paramedics.

  Oh, don’t be so literal! her suspicious mind chided.

  I can’t help it, I’m rational and you’re not!

  Hannah made a conscious effort to stop listening to the internal argument. Instead, she concentrated on Doc, who had just finished taking Joe’s temperature.

  “Do I still have a fever?” Joe asked.

  Doc shook his head. “It’s normal now. We’ve been pumping you full of antibiotics ever since we got the results of your blood panel.”

  Doc took out his stethoscope and listened to Joe’s heart. He gave a nod and patted Joe on the shoulder. “Everything’s fine,” he said. “If you’ll agree to take the antibiotics by mouth, we can take out our IV now.”

  “You betcha!” Joe agreed, and Hannah made a mental note to jot down that he’d used a common, regional midwestern term. That didn’t necessarily mean that Joe had come from the Midwest, but she’d jot it down in her steno book.

  Doc turned a valve on the bag that was hanging on a stand by the side of Joe’s bed, and made short work of removing Joe’s IV. He replaced the bandage he’d taken off with a smaller one and stepped back. “All done,” he said.

  “Thank you, Doc.” Joe looked a bit worried. “Do you mind if I call you Doc? That’s the name most of the nurses here use for you and I don’t know your last name. ”

  “It’s Knight, but you can call me Doc. That’s what everyone in Lake Eden calls me.”

  “What a wonderful name!” Joe exclaimed.

  “Knight?” Hannah asked.

  “No, but that’s a nice name, too. I was talking about Lake Eden. It’s like the Garden of Eden, and the Bible tells us that it was beautiful.”