Christmas Cupcake Murder

by Joanne Fluke

  It didn’t take long to throw away the paper plates, wipe off the cafeteria table, and push in the chairs. Hannah cut the rest of the bar cookies and put them on paper plates for the nurses and the other hospital workers. Then she washed the knife, put it back in the knife holder in the kitchen, and was about ready to flick off the lights when Doc came back into the cafeteria.

  “Hold on, girls,” he said, walking toward them.

  “Is Joe resting in his room?” Carole asked him.

  “Yes. He was so tired, he fell asleep almost immediately. I just came to tell you girls the latest fact about Joe that I discovered.”

  “What is it?” Hannah asked quickly.

  “He told me that my chair could be saved. The first thing he did was examine the mechanism. It’s an old recliner with springs and wooden slats. It used to belong to Doctor Kalick’s father.”

  “The old doctor who was your mentor?” Carole asked him.

  “Yes. I love that chair, but it’s been damaged. A spring has to be replaced and one of the arms has come loose. Some slats in the back need replacing, too. And the old black and gold material is terribly tattered.”

  “What did Joe say about it?” Hannah asked him.

  “He said it was a fine piece of furniture and it could be a genuine antique.”

  “It’s a good thing Mother didn’t hear that!” Andrea exclaimed. “She’d talk you out of it in two seconds flat!” Andrea winced slightly and looked embarrassed. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

  “Maybe not, but you’re right,” Hannah told her.

  “You’re both right,” Doc said, and then he chuckled. “I don’t think you girls had better tell Lori what Andrea said.”

  Lori! Hannah’s suspicious mind repeated the name Doc had used for Delores. That’s the second time you’ve heard him call your mother that.

  “I know your mother,” Carole said to them. “And I promise I’ll never breathe a word.”

  “Smart move,” Doc said with a laugh. “Lori’s been known to shoot the messenger.”

  Lori, Hannah’s mind repeated again. Lori three times. Hmmm! Hannah deliberately turned her mind to what Doc had told them. “Did Joe say he could find the right kind of spring to fix the mechanism?”

  “No, Joe said he could fabricate a spring to match its mate. And he was sure he could make new slats for the ones that were missing and shore up the rest.”

  “Wow!” Andrea was clearly impressed. “Now I’m even more sure that he worked at a furniture repair place. ”

  “You’re on the right track, Andrea,” Doc told her. “And right after he finished saying he could repair the hardware and the slats, he told me exactly how many yards of upholstery material to buy so that he could reupholster the chair!”

  “Okay.” Carole sounded very sure of herself. “It’s not just furniture repair. It’s antique furniture reconstruction. And I’ll bet that shop he talked about was his, or maybe his and his father’s.”

  PINEAPPLE WHITE CHOCOLATE BAR COOKIES

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

  The Crust and Topping:

  2 cups (4 sticks, 16 ounces, 1 pound) salted butter softened to room temperature

  1 cup white (granulated) sugar

  1 and ½ cups powdered (confectioners) sugar

  2 Tablespoons vanilla extract

  4 cups all-purpose flour (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)

  The Pineapple White Chocolate Filling:

  12.25-ounce jar pineapple ice cream topping (I used Smucker’s)

  12-ounce bag (approximately 2 cups) white chocolate or vanilla baking chips (I used Nestlé)

  1 Tablespoon sea or Kosher salt (the coarse-ground kind)

  Before you begin to make the crust and filling, spray a 9-inch by 13-inch cake pan with Pam or another nonstick baking spray.

  Hannah’s 1st Note: This crust and filling is a lot easier to make with an electric mixer. You can do it by hand, but it will take some muscle.

  Combine the butter, white sugar, and powdered sugar in a large bowl or in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat at MEDIUM speed until the mixture is light and creamy.

  Add the vanilla extract. Mix it in until it is thoroughly combined.

  Add the flour in half-cup increments, beating at LOW speed after each addition. Beat until everything is combined.

  Hannah’s 2nd Note: When you’ve mixed in the flour, the resulting sweet dough will be soft. Don’t worry. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.

  Measure out a heaping cup of the sweet dough you’ve made and place it in a sealable plastic bag. Seal the bag and put it in the refrigerator.

  With impeccably clean hands, press the rest of the sweet dough into the bottom of your prepared cake pan. This will form a bottom crust. Press it all the way out to the edges of the pan and a half-inch up the sides, as evenly as you can. Don’t worry if your sweet dough is a bit uneven. It won’t matter to any of your guests.

  Bake your bottom crust at 325 degrees F., for approximately 20 minutes or until the edges are beginning to turn a pale golden brown color.

  When the crust has turned pale golden brown, remove the pan from the oven, but DON’T SHUT OFF THE OVEN! Set the pan with your baked crust on a cold stovetop burner or a wire rack to cool. Cool it approximately 15 minutes.

  After your crust has cooled, take the lid off the jar of pineapple ice cream topping and put it in the microwave.

  Heat the pineapple topping for 15 to 20 seconds on HIGH.

  Let the jar cool in the microwave for 1 minute. Then use potholders to take the jar out.

  Pour the pineapple ice cream topping over the baked bottom crust in the pan as evenly as you can.

  Smooth it out to the edges of your crust with a heat-resistant spatula.

  Open the bag of white chocolate or vanilla baking chips and sprinkle them over the pineapple ice cream topping as evenly as you can.

  Here comes the salt! Sprinkle the sea salt or Kosher salt over the chips in the pan.

  Take the remaining sweet dough out of the refrigerator and unwrap it. It has been refrigerated for 35 minutes or more, and it should be thoroughly chilled.

  With your impeccably clean fingers, crumble the dough over the pineapple and white chocolate chip layer as evenly as you can. Leave a little space, so the pineapple sauce can bubble up between the crumbles.

  Hannah’s 3rd Note: If the pineapple topping bubbles up through the top of your bar cookies, it will look very pretty.

  Return the pan to the oven and bake your bar cookies for 25 to 30 additional minutes, or until the crumbles on top are a light golden brown. Remove your bar cookies from the oven onto a cold burner or a wire rack to cool.

  Hannah’s 4th Note: Your pan of Pineapple White Chocolate Bar Cookies will smell so delicious, you’ll be tempted to cut it into squares and eat one immediately. Resist that urge! The bubbly hot pineapple topping will burn your mouth.

  After 5 minutes of cooling time, use potholders to carry the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

  Hannah’s 5th Note: When I bake these bar cookies at home in the winter, I place a wire rack out on the little table on my condo balcony and carry the pan out there. The Pineapple White Chocolate Bar Cookies cool quite fast when exposed to a Minnesota winter.

  When your Pineapple White Chocolate Bar Cookies are completely cool, cut them into brownie-size pieces, place them on a pretty plate, and serve them to your guests.

  Yield: A cake pan full of yummy brownie-sized treats that everyone will love. Serve with icy-cold glasses of milk, mugs of hot chocolate, or cups of strong, hot coffee.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Hannah walked in the door of her condo at precisely five o’clock in the evening. She set down her bag of groceries and her purse, turned the doorknob in one quick motion, and held out her arms.

  “Uuuuhh!” she groaned as twenty-three pounds of orange and white feline hit her squarely in the stomach. “Hello, Moishe,” she said, kicki
ng open the door and carrying him to his favorite perch on the back of the couch. “Did you miss me?”

  “Rrrrow!” Moishe looked up at her with an expression that Hannah interpreted as assent.

  “I missed you, too,” she told him, reaching out to scratch him in his favorite place under the chin. “Just stay here for a second, and I’ll get you one of your favorite treats.”

  The scent that assailed her nostrils as she flicked on the lights and entered her kitchen was nothing short of remarkable. She’d started her Hunter’s Beef Stew in crockpots before she’d left for work this morning and, as far as Hannah was concerned, there was no better perfume for a hungry soul than beef and onions in a rich broth.

  There would be five for dinner around her combination living room and dining room table tonight, and Mike, who she suspected could eat the contents of one of her crockpots himself, would be there. Bill was also a big eater, but he was balanced by Andrea, who would eat one bowl of stew, no more. Hannah would have one bowl, perhaps a half more, and Norman would probably consume two bowls of her stew. There would be plenty of leftovers and she’d sent some home with Andrea for her nanny, Grandma McCann. Grandma McCann had promised to send one of her famous Blue Apple Pies for dessert, and all Hannah had to do to get ready for her dinner company was to add the vegetables to her stew, set the table, take a quick shower, and stick some garlic and cheese bread into the oven a half hour before her guests arrived.

  “Rrrrrow!”

  The impatient cry came from the living room and Hannah gave a soft chuckle. Moishe was asking for his treats. She’d deliver them first, then add the vegetables to her crockpots, set the table, take her shower, and then relax with a glass of wine after she prepared the garlic cheese bread.

  Twenty minutes later, with Moishe fed a combination of his favorite tuna and dry kitty kibbles, Hannah was freshly showered and dressed in the aqua sweater that Andrea had given her for Christmas, and her favorite dark gray slacks. A gold necklace that her mother had given her was around her neck and her combination waterproof wristwatch and timer was on her wrist. Her feet were encased in soft-soled moccasins and her unruly, curly red hair was freshly brushed. She was ready for company and all she had to do before she could sit down and have a refreshing glass of white wine was to make the garlic and cheese bread.

  It only took a moment or two to cut the French bread she’d gotten at Florence’s Red Owl Grocery in half lengthwise. Once that was done, she used a garlic press to mince several cloves of garlic and mixed them into a stick of softened, salted butter. She spread the garlic butter over the cut side of the top and bottom of the loaf, sandwiched the two sides together to make a whole loaf, and wrapped that loaf in heavy-duty aluminum foil. Then she stuck the wrapped loaf in the oven, turned the oven on a relatively low heat, shut the door, and went back into the living room to enjoy her wine. Once her company came, she’d take the loaf out of the oven, turn up the heat so that the bread would crisp, and sprinkle freshly grated Parmesan-Romano over the top of both sides of the loaf. Then she’d put them on a baking sheet, cut sides up and separated into two parts, and bake them until they were golden brown and crisp.

  “Rrrrow!” Moishe gave a soft, little yowl, and jumped up in Hannah’s lap. Hannah interpreted that as a pet me plea and she did. A scratch under his chin, and pet all the way down from the top of his head to the base of his tail, and a nuzzle behind both ears did the trick. Moishe began to purr contentedly and Hannah smiled. No wonder Doc claimed that petting a cat or a dog lowered both blood pressure and anxiety. She could feel the whirlwind of a busy day fading and her own contentment setting in.

  Even though she was relaxed and lulled by the sound of her pet’s purring, Hannah’s mind was not idle. She thought about the new facts she’d learned about Joe’s background today. Andrea had been very helpful when it came to asking questions. Her younger sister was never intrusive. Instead, people immediately knew that Andrea was interested in their answers, and truly wanted to know more about them. Before Bill had married Andrea, he’d once told Hannah that Andrea could charm the birds right out of the trees. This had certainly been true with Joe today. He’d told them more about his background than they’d discovered before.

  Hannah had almost finished her glass of wine when her stove timer rang. Luckily, except for Moishe’s contented rumbling, it was quiet in her condo. She gave Moishe a final pat and a scratch, and then she moved him to his own couch cushion so she could go to the kitchen.

  Time passed rapidly when she was preparing food for company. Hannah thought about that as she put the final touches on her meal. Then she got the coffee ready to go, took out the crackers and cheese that she’d bought for an appetizer, and checked her supply of ginger ale for Norman. Mike would have Cold Spring Export beer, Bill would have a glass of red wine, and Andrea would drink white wine. Hannah checked her crockpots a final time, inhaled the rich, beefy aroma that floated up from her stew, and gave a happy smile. Everything was ready to go. All she needed now was for her company to arrive.

  As if in answer to her silent request, her doorbell rang. Hannah got up to answer it and opened the door to Norman, who was carrying several bags of groceries.

  “Hi, Norman,” she greeted him. “What did you bring?”

  “Ginger ale, white wine, red wine, and Cold Spring Export. I know you said you had them, but I thought I’d bring more so you’d have extra for the next time.”

  “Thanks! That was nice of you, Norman.” Hannah watched as Norman carried his purchases into the kitchen and put them on the counter. “Would you like a ginger ale now, while we’re waiting for everyone else to arrive? ”

  “I would, and I’ll get it. How about you, Hannah?”

  “I’m fine. I’ve still got wine and I really don’t want more.”

  “Can I help you with anything in the kitchen?”

  “No, thanks. I have everything ready to go.”

  Norman carried his glass of ginger ale to the couch and sat down next to Hannah. Moishe immediately jumped into his lap and Norman petted him. “How are you, Big Boy?” he asked Hannah’s pet.

  “Rrrrow!” Moishe answered.

  “I love the way he does that. When I ask him a question, he seems to know he should answer.”

  “He’s always done that. Moishe knows when someone is talking to him.”

  “Speaking of talking, did you visit Joe today?” Norman asked her.

  “Yes, and Andrea went with me. We found out a few more things about his background, and I’ll tell you after everyone else gets here.”

  Again, right on cue, Hannah’s doorbell rang. “I’ll get it,” Norman said, moving Moishe over to another couch cushion and standing up. “It’s probably Mike. He always gets here early when there’s food involved.”

  Hannah knew that was true. Mike loved to eat and unfairly, as far as Hannah was concerned, he could put away multiple helpings of whatever she served and never gain an ounce.

  Norman took Mike’s parka, hung it over the back of a chair, and got him a Cold Spring Export. Mike took a swig of his beer and then he turned to Hannah. “Did you see Joe today?”

  “Yes, and Andrea went with me. We learned a couple of new things, but I’ll wait until Andrea and Bill get here to talk about it. How about some cheese and crackers while we’re waiting?”

  “Sounds great!” Mike answered quickly. “I’m really hungry. I didn’t go to the café for coffee early enough this afternoon, and when I got there, Rose’s rhubarb pies were gone.”

  Hannah began to smile. Mike never missed having some sweet treat on his afternoon coffee break. “So what did you order instead?”

  Mike gave a mournful sigh. “I had to settle for a couple of slices of her banana cake.”

  “I’ll be right back with the cheese and crackers,” Hannah said, rising from the couch and beating a hasty retreat to the kitchen just in time to stifle her mirth. Mike was an eating machine. He could eat anything that struck his fancy at any time of night or day
and his Winnetka County Sheriff uniforms still fit, while she couldn’t even walk past the Fanny Farmer candy store at the Tri-County Mall without gaining a pound or two. Life simply wasn’t fair and she had to learn to accept that fact.

  It only took a minute or two to lay out the slices of cheese in a nice design and surround them with crackers. Hannah was just ready to pick up the appetizer tray and serve it when she heard the doorbell ring. That meant Andrea and Bill were here, and she poured a glass of wine from the huge jug she’d purchased at CostMart for her sister. Then she put the jug back, hiding it behind a six-pack of Cold Spring Export. Andrea loved the white wine that Hannah served. She thought it was expensive and hard to find. Every time she tasted it, Andrea praised it and Hannah didn’t want to disillusion her by admitting that it was nothing but jug wine that cost less than a six-pack of soda.

  “Hi, Hannah!” Andrea greeted her as she came breezing into the kitchen. “Do you want these two pies on the counter?”

  “Yes, please.” Hannah gestured toward the two wire racks she’d placed on her kitchen counter, just in case the pies were still warm from the oven. “They smell wonderful!”

  “They are wonderful,” Andrea told her. “I’ve had Grandma McCann’s pies before and they’re incredibly good.” She walked over to the crockpots and peeked at the contents through the glass lids. “Hunter’s Stew?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Oh, good! It’s Bill’s favorite!” Andrea took the glass of wine that Hannah handed her and took a sip. Then she gave a sigh of satisfaction. “I love this wine! It’s a coquettish little temptress with a hint of sun-ripened peach and a slight undertone of crisp apple. Tell me you’re ready to give up your secret, Hannah. I really want to know where you buy it.”

  “I can’t,” Hannah said, crossing her fingers behind her back to negate the lie. “The sommelier swore me to secrecy. ”

  “Ah-ha!” Andrea looked very excited. “You had it first in a restaurant then! I’m going to ask Dick and Sally at the Lake Eden Inn if they know.”