Cream Puff Murder

by Joanne Fluke

  Andrea glanced at her watch. It was the new high-impact resistant, waterproof, easy-read dial watch she’d bought for the express purpose of exercising. “He’s almost ten minutes late,” she announced.

  “Maybe he’s not coming,” Loretta said in what Hannah thought was a hopeful tone. It was no secret that Loretta didn’t enjoy exercising.

  “He’ll be here,” Immelda said. “Roger has a real sense of duty. He’d call to notify someone if he couldn’t come in.”

  Vonnie looked worried. “I hope he’s all right. The roads were slippery this morning.”

  “He’ll be fine,” Andrea reassured her. “He drives a Range Rover, and Bill says they’re the safest vehicle on the road.”

  Babs Dubinski gave a little laugh. “That’s because Bill wants one. Marvin was in the dealership looking at a used one for Shirley and the kids, and Bill was there pricing the new models.”

  Hannah glanced at Andrea. From her surprised expression it seemed that Bill hadn’t mentioned a word about wanting a new Range Rover.

  “Somebody’s coming!” Vonnie said, glancing toward the door.

  Hannah listened to the sound of footsteps. Someone was coming down the hall. Then the door to their exercise classroom opened, and Ronni Ward stepped in.

  “Sorry about that,” she said, throwing her coat over the handlebars of a stationary bike and stepping up on the platform the instructors used so that the whole class could see and copy their movements.

  “Where’s Roger?” Andrea recovered enough to ask.

  “He’s in the hospital getting a cast on his arm. He was in an accident last night.”

  Suddenly things clicked for Hannah. Mike had mentioned an accident involving Ronni’s ex-fiancé, Wade. And in class yesterday, Roger had told them that he taught fitness classes a couple of evenings a week at a gym in Elk River. He must have been talking about Wade’s gym, and that meant Roger was the injured passenger in Wade’s car.

  “Let’s get started,” Ronni said, giving them all a perky smile that Hannah immediately labeled as phony. “I’ll be taking over this class for the next two months, and we’ll be doing things my way. I know Roger was pretty easygoing with you, but my goal is to get results.” She glanced around the room, and her gaze landed on Vonnie. “What are you doing here? You don’t need to lose weight.”

  “I just wanted to shape up a little,” Vonnie said, and a blush rose to her cheeks.

  Ronni referred to her clipboard. “You’re enrolled in three of Roger’s classes, and you have private sessions with him twice a week. I think I know what you’re after, but take it from me, you don’t stand a chance. Roger likes them a lot younger and a lot prettier.

  “And here we have…” Ronni referred to her clipboard again. “Babs. You’re over fifty, aren’t you, Babs?”

  “Well…yes.”

  “Don’t you think Babs is pretty childish for somebody who’s got grown kids?”

  Babs looked flustered. “I don’t know. I never thought about it. I’ve been Babs all my life.”

  “It looks like you’ve been heavy all your life, too. Let’s get a few pounds off that stomach of yours. It looks like you’re hiding a ten pound rump roast under your shirt.”

  Ronni referred to her clipboard again. “And here’s Immelda, the nun.”

  “I’m not a nun. I’m the housekeeper for Father Coultas.”

  “Nice of him to give you his black sweats. Maybe if you lose some weight and dress like a woman, you can be more than just his housekeeper.”

  Ronni turned away, not a bit concerned about the expression of outrage on Immelda’s face, and zeroed in on Gail Hansen. “You’re getting pretty top heavy there, Gail,” she said. “If somebody shoved you forward, you’d bounce.

  “And there’s the quilting ladies,” Ronni went on. “Didn’t Roger tell you that you’ll never lose weight if you go to Hal and Rose’s after class for pancakes and eggs with a side of sausage?”

  Hannah glanced around the room. Those who hadn’t been bitten by Ronni’s sharp criticism looked nervous wondering if they’d be next. It was time to put a stop to this before someone really got hurt. Ronni turned to face Andrea, but before she could open her mouth, Hannah stepped in.

  “Are you going to lead us through our exercises, or just insult us?” she asked.

  “The cookie lady steps up to the plate!” Ronni gave a little laugh. “I wondered how long it would take for somebody to talk back. Get mad, ladies. Get mad and do something to improve your image. If I noticed how bad you look, so does everybody else. Now watch me, and let’s do some bends and stretches.”

  Hannah bent and stretched with the rest of the class, and as she did, she watched her classmates. Vonnie was blinking back tears, Immelda still looked outraged, Gail was clearly humiliated, Trudi and Loretta were just beginning to get over their embarrassment, and Babs had her fists clenched so hard, the knuckles she undoubtedly wanted to slam into Ronni’s face were turning white.

  “How to win friends and influence people,” Hannah said in an undertone to Andrea. “If she treats all her classes this way, I’m surprised someone hasn’t decked her.”

  Chapter Nine

  “I can’t believe Ronni was so awful!” Lisa just shook her head after Hannah told her what had happened at Heavenly Bodies. “I always knew she didn’t care that much for other people’s feelings, but I thought she was just self-centered. Now I’m changing my mind. I think she might actually enjoy hurting other people.”

  “That was my impression. She looked really pleased when Vonnie got tears in her eyes.”

  “And Vonnie’s so sweet. How can they keep Ronni on as a fitness instructor if she treats all her classes like that?”

  “She doesn’t, at least that’s what Andrea told me. She said that Ronni’s entirely different when she teaches a men’s class. Then she compliments them on how well they’re doing, and encourages them to do more. The guys all think she’s great.”

  “That figures.” Lisa got up to bus their coffee cups, but she turned back for one more comment. “I’m glad Herb doesn’t have a membership out there. I trust him completely, but I’d still wonder if the BowFlex machine was the main attraction.”

  Hannah laughed. Marriage had been good for Lisa. Before she’d teamed up with Herb, Lisa had been shy, easily embarrassed, and a very private person. Now that she was happily married, she was much more open about her feelings, and she’d gained enough self-confidence to say what she thought. She still blushed at the drop of a hat, but Hannah found that trait endearing.

  “I almost forgot,” Hannah said, gesturing to the box she’d placed on the kitchen counter. “I found Lisa Colleene’s recipe for Mini Cheeseburger Cookies. Norman and I made some last night. They’re in that box if you want to take a look.”

  Lisa hurried over to the box and lifted the lid. She stared down in silence for a moment, and when she turned back to Hannah, there was a huge smile on her face. “They’re just darling!” she said.

  “I think so too. That’s why I saved the photo and the recipe.”

  “I can try one, can’t I?”

  “Of course. They’re just two different kinds of store-bought cookies held in place with buttercream frosting.”

  Lisa popped a cookie into her mouth and chewed. Then she nodded and swallowed. “You’re right. It’s not the taste that’s so special. It’s the fact they look like cheeseburgers. The kids at the party will just love these, but I think we’ll have to double Mrs. Janowski’s order. They’re pretty small.”

  “Good idea,” Hannah said, and then she started to frown. “Don’t double the price again, though.”

  Lisa laughed. “I won’t. But I might just have to point out what wonderful value she’s getting for her money.”

  Hannah studied the recipe Lisa had found for Emmy Herman’s cream puffs. It seemed to be simple enough, and she wondered why she’d never tried to make cream puffs before. There were only five ingredients in the puff part, and she had plenty
of water, butter, salt, flour, and eggs.

  It didn’t take long to mix up the first batch. Hannah spooned them onto parchment paper, the way it said to do in the recipe, and popped them into a four-hundred-degree oven. In less time than it took her to refill the display cookie jars they kept behind the counter in the coffee shop, her first-ever batch of cream puffs was ready to come out of the oven.

  They were golden brown, puffed up high, and beautiful. Hannah went off to call Lisa to take a look. Several people stopped her to chat, and at least ten minutes passed before she switched aprons with Lisa and sent her partner off to the kitchen to take a look.

  Lisa was back almost immediately, but she didn’t look happy. She was shaking her head slightly as she approached the counter to take back her apron.

  “What’s wrong?” Hannah asked her.

  “I’m not sure, but I think you’d better go look for yourself. Maybe Mom left something out of the recipe.”

  When Hannah pushed through the swinging door to the kitchen, she saw why Lisa had looked unhappy. The cream puffs weren’t puffed any longer. They’d collapsed and now they resembled…she didn’t really want to think about what they resembled, but she’d stepped over a few the last time she’d walked through a cow pasture.

  When something didn’t work, she wanted to know why. Hannah broke one puff open and stared at the wet strands of dough inside. Steam was the culprit and she knew what to do about that. It was the final step in Bernadette’s Popover recipe. She should have released the steam by poking the puffs with the tip of a sharp knife right after she’d taken them out of the oven.

  While she was at it, there was another change she could make in Lisa’s mother’s recipe. Hannah picked up a pen and wrote in an additional ingredient. She’d add a little safeguard to help with the rising and stabilize the puffs. Baking powder should do it.

  Tasting was next. Hannah broke off a little piece of puff and sampled it. She could taste the egg, and the dough was slightly salty, but that was about it. Perhaps real cream puff aficionados wanted a perfectly bland puff to show off their fillings, but Hannah didn’t see why the outside shouldn’t taste as good as the inside. A little sweetness would help, and there was no sugar in Emmy Herman’s recipe.

  Since she didn’t think it would disturb the balance of wet and dry to add a bit of sugar, Hannah wrote in a second ingredient, a tablespoon of white granulated sugar. She was about to add some cinnamon or nutmeg, but she reconsidered. The puffs would have various flavors of fillings. Not all of those fillings would be enhanced by her choice of spices.

  Hannah spent the next hour making another batch of cream puffs from her revised recipe. She pierced the side of each puff when they came out of the oven, placed them on a cooling rack away from any drafts, and sat at the stainless steel workstation, sipping a cup of coffee and waiting to see if disaster would strike twice.

  Ten minutes passed, and the puffs were still high and golden. The baking powder had worked! She was about to go out and get Lisa when her partner stuck her head into the kitchen.

  “Look at these, Lisa,” Hannah fairly crowed.

  “They’re beautiful. I’m almost sure they rose higher than Mom’s ever did.”

  “Really?”

  “I think so. Did you change the recipe?”

  “Just a little. I added baking powder and sugar. And I pierced them to let out the steam when they came out of the oven. Your mother’s recipe is a good one, Lisa. I’m going to call them Emmy’s Cream Puffs.”

  Lisa shook her head. “I think you should name them something else, Hannah. Mom’s recipe was just a jumping-off place for you.”

  “Well…maybe you’re right,” Hannah conceded. “But I made a batch of your mother’s vanilla custard, and I didn’t change a thing. I’ll name that Emmy’s Vanilla Custard if it’s okay with you.”

  “It’s fine with me,” Lisa said with a smile.

  “I thought we could have a taste test with different fillings if we have enough customers willing to sample them for us.”

  Lisa laughed. “Are you kidding?! Get busy and fill them. It’s just about time for the midafternoon rush, and I can guarantee we’ll have plenty of customers ready to taste them.”

  Hannah didn’t know when she’d felt so good. Delores and Carrie had come in, and both of them had gone into raptures over the cream puffs. Her mother had pronounced them even better than the ones her Aunt Bertha had baked. Now Hannah was in the kitchen making a third test batch. They were mini cream puffs, the bite-size kind she wanted to serve at her mother’s book launch party. She’d just opened the three cans of pie filling Florence had hand-delivered from the Red Owl in return for a dozen Walnuttoes, when Lisa appeared in the doorway.

  “Mike’s here,” she said. “Do you want me to send him back?”

  “Sure.” Hannah sliced the top from a mini puff and spooned in strawberry pie filling. She alternated between the three flavors, strawberry, lemon, and blueberry, placing them on a platter with the ones she’d already filled with Emmy’s vanilla custard and the rich, homemade chocolate pudding that her great-grandmother had made. Hannah had just replaced the tops like jaunty berets on top of the cream puffs and dusted them with powdered sugar when Mike walked into the kitchen.

  “Hey, Hannah. What are those?”

  “Mini Cream Puffs. I’m testing them out for Mother’s book launch party.”

  “Need any help?”

  Mike looked hopeful, and Hannah gave a little laugh. “Sure. Which do you like best, strawberry or blueberry?”

  “Blueberry.”

  “Okay.” Hannah picked up a blueberry mini cream puff and set it on a plate. “Now choose between lemon and vanilla.”

  “Vanilla, as long as there’s lots of vanilla.”

  “There is.” Hannah set a mini puff filled with Emmy’s Vanilla Custard on the plate. Then she added her final choice, a puff filled with her great-grandmother’s homemade chocolate pudding.

  “They’re pretty,” Mike said when she delivered them with a steaming mug of coffee. “It’s almost a shame to eat them.”

  “But you’ll make the sacrifice?”

  “You said it!” Mike popped a puff into his mouth, and an expression of bliss crossed his face. He chewed, swallowed almost reluctantly, and followed that with a gulp of coffee.

  “Good?” Hannah asked him.

  “Better than good. I really like the blueberry. And there’s something else I like, too.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You filled them up full, and I can see what kind they are. The blueberry was peeking out at me. It’s not the box of assorted chocolates thing, you know?”

  Hannah knew exactly what Mike meant. Unless you remembered the candy maker’s code for swirls that meant one type of filling and lines and squiggles that designated others, you could be disappointed in the chocolate candy you chose.

  “Here goes the vanilla.” Mike picked up the mini puff and turned to look at Hannah. “You made the filling, right?”

  “Right. It’s Lisa’s mother’s recipe for vanilla custard.”

  “Oh, boy!” Mike popped the confection into his mouth and made a little sound of satisfaction. When he’d finished it, he took another swallow of coffee and sighed. “That was really good. And this is chocolate?”

  “It’s not just any chocolate. It’s the richest chocolate pudding I’ve ever made.”

  “I think I love you,” Mike said as he picked up the last mini cream puff and popped it into his mouth. He was smiling as he finished it, licked his fingers, and drank more of his coffee. “Correction,” he said. “I know I love you.”

  “Actually, you love my great-grandma Swensen. It’s her recipe for chocolate pudding.”

  “But she’s not here, and you are. How much would you charge for a tray of those?”

  Hannah shrugged. “I’m not sure. I wasn’t really planning on offering them for sale.”

  “Well, what are you going to do with those?” Mike pointed to
the array of mini cream puffs arranged on the counter.

  “I’ll freeze some so I can see how they thaw. That’s important to know for Mother’s book launch party. And the rest I guess I’ll…”

  “Eat,” Mike interrupted her.

  “Not on your life! The only thing I’ve tasted is the dough from the first batch, and that was only a crumb.”

  Mike looked pleased. “Good for you! So they’re not even tempting you?”

  “Oh, they’re tempting me, all right!”

  “’Course they are. Tell you what…I need something special for a birthday. I was going to run to the Red Owl and pick up a cake, but those cream puffs would make it a really special party. How about selling me half of what you have there? You can keep the rest for freezing and whatever else you want to do with them.”

  “Deal.” Hannah started arranging the cream puffs on a platter. “Bring back the platter, okay?”

  “You got it. This is going to make for a really special birthday.”

  Hannah placed the last cream puff and covered the platter with plastic wrap. “If you’re not going to serve these right away, refrigerate them. They should be fine for hours. Whose birthday is it anyway?”

  “Somebody at the gym.” Mike handed her some folded money and picked up the platter. “Just let me know if that’s not enough. Now I’d better get going or I’ll be late. I’ll call you and tell you how it goes, Hannah. Everybody’s going to just love these.”

  HANNAH’S VERY BEST CREAM PUFFS

  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

  1 cup water

  1/2 cup (1 stick, 8 Tablespoons, 1/4 pound) butter

  1/4 teaspoon salt

  1 Tablespoon white (granulated) sugar

  1 cup flour (pack it down in the measuring cup and level off with a knife)

  1½ teaspoons baking powder

  4 extra large eggs (at room temperature)

  Spray a cookie sheet with Pam (or any nonstick cooking spray that doesn’t contain oil or butter), or line it with a sheet of parchment paper. (You’ll need 2 cookie sheets for mini cream puffs.)