Coconut Layer Cake Murder

by Joanne Fluke

  To serve, ladle the Meaty Minestrone Soup into soup bowls and sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese, if desired. If you add a small green salad and some crusty Italian bread or garlic bread, you will have an entire meal.

  Chapter Six

  “I’m sorry, Hannah,” Lonnie apologized as he sat at the kitchen table with Hannah and Norman. “I told Michelle she didn’t have to call you and ask you to come home right away. I didn’t mean to spoil your vacation.”

  Hannah smiled at him. Poor Lonnie looked miserable. “You didn’t spoil anything, Lonnie. I was ready to come home. Lynne only has a few things left to pack, and then she’ll call the movers.”

  “When is your mother coming back?”

  “Sometime tomorrow. We could only get one emergency plane ticket and I got it.”

  Hannah took a sip of her coffee, and then she turned to Norman. Dinner was over and all the pleasantries had been exchanged. It was time to get down to business. “Will you take notes, Norman?”

  “Of course I will.” Norman picked up the blank steno book and pen that Hannah had placed on the kitchen table. He flipped to the first page and said, “Okay. I’m ready, and I’ll record it on my phone, too.”

  “I don’t know what I can tell you, Hannah,” Lonnie said, and then he gave a long sigh. “I just don’t remember that much about what happened last night.”

  “It’s okay. Let’s start with the phone call you made to Michelle. What did you say to her?”

  “I asked her if she wanted to go out to dinner and a movie.”

  “And she said . . .” Hannah prompted him.

  “Michelle said she couldn’t, that she had tryouts for the spring play, and then she had to go back to the condo to correct term papers. She invited me over for a night cap, and I told her I’d probably be there later.”

  “But you weren’t,” Norman said.

  “No. Right after I hung up, my cell phone rang again and it was Brian Polinski. He said he was taking Cassie out for her birthday and she wanted me to meet them at the Double Eagle. I told him I’d catch a bite to eat first, and then I’d meet them there.”

  “Where did you go to eat?” Hannah asked him.

  “I just went to Hal and Rose’s Café for a Roast End sandwich.”

  “A Roast End sandwich?” Norman asked.

  “That’s what Rose calls it,” Lonnie explained. “She makes a big beef roast and when she slices it for roast beef dinners, she cuts off the crispy part on the outside and leaves it in the pan. That’s my favorite part and I always ask her to save it for me and give me a call when she’s ready to make me a roast end sandwich. Those crispy parts are really good on rye bread with a little horseradish and ketchup.”

  “That does sound good,” Hannah agreed. “What did you do after you finished your sandwich?”

  “I called Michelle back and told her that I was going to join Brian and Cassie for a birthday celebration. And she said I should stop by The Cookie Jar and pick up a birthday cake to take to Cassie.”

  “And that’s what you did?” Norman asked.

  “Yeah, I stopped by The Cookie Jar and bought a birthday cake right before I drove out to the Double Eagle. Lisa wrote Cassie’s name on it and she even put birthday candles on top.”

  “What happened when you got out to the Double Eagle?” Hannah asked.

  “I lucked out and parked three rows back from the door. Some guy in a pickup truck was just leaving and I got his spot. The parking lot was jammed and the band was playing. I could hear the music before I even opened the door.”

  * * *

  It was cold when he got out of the car, and Lonnie zipped up his jacket before he picked up the cake box and headed for the door. He wasn’t that fond of the Double Eagle, but he hadn’t seen Brian and Cassie in a while. He decided he’d have only one beer, talk to them for an hour or so, and then he’d head on out to see Michelle at the condo.

  Lonnie pulled open the door, stepped inside, and was immediately assaulted by the music. The band wasn’t all that good, but they were loud. There were five or six couples on the dance floor in front of the elevated stage for the band, and Lonnie watched for a moment. Then he scanned the room for Brian and Cassie.

  They weren’t at the tables near the band. That was good. It would be deafening to sit that close to the music. He turned to look at the wooden bar that ran the length of the wall and he spotted Brian. Brian was easy to spot. He’d been a linebacker on their high school football team. Brian was well over six feet tall and weighed in at close to three hundred pounds. Brian was sitting next to two empty stools, and once Lonnie weaved his way through the crowd of people to get to the bar, he tapped Brian on the shoulder.

  “Hey, Cap,” Lonnie said, using the nickname Brian had earned by being chosen as the captain of their Jordan High football team.

  Brian turned around with a smile on his face. “Hey, Lonnie,” he said, patting the stool to his right. “Take a load off.”

  Lonnie slid onto the stool. A fairly tall, muscular man in his own right, Lonnie always felt like a little kid around Brian. He set the cake box on the bar and indicated the empty stool. “Where’s Cassie?”

  “She’s catching a ride out with her sister.” Brian pointed to the bakery box. “Is that what I think it is?”

  “Sure is. I hope Cassie still likes Coconut Layer Cake.”

  “It’s her favorite. Nice of you to bring her a birthday cake, Bro.”

  “No problem. I stopped at The Cookie Jar and Lisa wrote her name on the top with frosting and put some candles on it.”

  “I should’ve thought of that, but I didn’t.” Brian looked a little embarrassed. “All I gave her was a necklace and earrings. Her sister helped me pick them out.”

  “I bet Cassie liked that.”

  “I haven’t given it to her yet. That’s for when we get home.” Brian picked up his drink and took a sip. “What do you want to drink, bro? I’m buying.”

  Lonnie thought about that for a minute. “Tap beer’s fine,” he said, and as he watched, Brian raised his hand, stuck up a finger in the air for the bartender, and yelled, “Tap one for Lonnie.” Before he’d even walked in the door at the Double Eagle he’d set his limit at one beer only. After that, he’d switch to plain Coke. He wasn’t officially on call tonight, but they could still ask him to come in if there was an emergency. The stretch of the interstate that ran past Lake Eden was icy tonight and there could be a multi-car pileup if someone got stupid on the road.

  “Still going out with Michelle Swensen?” Brian asked when he sat back down on his stool.

  “Yeah.”

  “It’s been a while, huh?”

  Lonnie nodded. “Couple of years.”

  “So it’s serious?”

  Lonnie shrugged. It was really none of Brian’s business, but he didn’t want to come right out and say that. “Maybe, maybe not.”

  Brian, who wasn’t usually the sharpest knife in the drawer, began to smile. “In other words, butt out . . . right?”

  Lonnie wasn’t sure what to say, but he was saved from replying when Alvin Penske, one of the long-time bartenders at the Double Eagle, arrived with his beer.

  “Hey, Lonnie,” Alvin greeted him. “Haven’t seen you around in a coon’s age.”

  Most people used that old saying to mean a very long time and Lonnie bit back a grin, wondering what Alvin would say if he learned that raccoons in the wild only lived an average of two to three years. “You’re right, Alvin,” Lonnie responded. “It’s been a while, that’s for sure.”

  “Yeah. Don’t think I’ve seen you since you got that cushy job at the sheriff’s department.”

  Lonnie felt himself bristle, but he managed to keep the pleasant expression on his face as Alvin moved away. Alvin and his brother, Lenny, gave the sheriff’s deputies lots of grief, serving one too many to their customers and sending them out to their cars impaired. The Double Eagle had been implicated in quite a few car accidents, fights, and episodes of general row
diness. The owner had paid the fines and acted chastised in court, but it continued to be a trouble spot in Winnetka County.

  “There’s Cassie,” Brian said, a broad smile spreading over his face. Lonnie was glad to see it. Even though Brian and Cassie had split up for a while, it was clear that Brian was just as crazy about his high school sweetheart as he’d been when they’d gotten married.

  Lonnie put a smile on his face for Brian’s benefit. He’d never liked Cassie all that much, but Brian was a good friend and you had to pretend to like your friends’ girlfriends and wives, even if you didn’t.

  “Lonnie,” Cassie called out, pushing her way to the bar. “Hey! Long time, no see. Don’t you ever get out to our neck of the woods?”

  “Not often,” Lonnie said, giving her a chaste peck on the cheek. “You look great, Cassie.”

  “Thanks.” Cassie turned to Brian. “Hey, honey. Get me a drink, will you? Tonight’s a night for Tequila Sunrises, isn’t it?”

  Brian began to grin wider. “Sure is. Do you want me to order us a flight?”

  “What’s a flight?” Lonnie asked.

  Cassie laughed. “Three drinks, silly. They call it a flight ’cuz after three of ’em you feel like your feet don’t touch the floor.” She moved closer to Lonnie, wrapped her arms around him, and gave him a little squeeze. “That’s cute, huh?”

  “Cute,” Lonnie repeated, hoping his friends weren’t going to get too drunk. He pushed the cake box over to Cassie. “This is for you, Cassie.”

  “For me?” Cassie lifted the lid on the box and began to smile. “How did you remember that it was my birthday?”

  “I told him we were celebrating tonight,” Brian said, before Lonnie could answer. “Lonnie picked up a Coconut Layer Cake for you.”

  “My favorite!” Cass was all smiles as she wrapped her arms around Lonnie and hugged him again. “And it’s even got candles and my name on it!” She let Lonnie go and turned to Brian. “Light the candles, will you, Baby?”

  “Sure.” Brian took out his lighter, lifted the cake out of the box, and lit the candles. “Happy birthday, Cassie,” he said. “I’m not going to sing, okay?”

  “It’s more than okay. It’s a real present!” Cassie retorted with a laugh. “You’re a lousy singer, Baby.”

  “I know. You keep telling me that.”

  There was a little edge to Brian’s voice and Lonnie stepped in quickly.

  “I promise you that I won’t sing, either,” Lonnie told Cassie. “I tried out for the men’s chorus in high school and I didn’t make it.”

  “I never tried out,” Brian said with a laugh. “I knew better. I joined the band instead.”

  “You played drums, didn’t you?” Lonnie asked him.

  “Yes, and he was good,” Cassie said quickly. “My baby’s really great at banging things.”

  Brian looked slightly embarrassed at the double entendre, but he laughed anyway. So did Lonnie, mostly because it was expected, and Cassie leaned over so that she could kiss Brian.

  Lonnie drew a breath of relief. Cassie always flirted outrageously with him and it made him more than a little uncomfortable. She’d always been a real flirt, and her marriage to Brian hadn’t changed that.

  “I was going to tell you to order two flights for us, but maybe we’d better split them three ways. We’ll do two for me, two for you, and two for Lonnie.”

  “No can do,” Lonnie said, shaking his head. “Thanks, but I can’t drink hard booze when I might be called in.”

  “Okay, then you can have another couple of beers,” Cassie decided for him.

  “I’m switching to Coke after this one.” Lonnie gestured toward his half-empty glass.

  Cassie gave an exasperated sigh. “Party pooper!” She turned back to Brian. “Order Lonnie a Coke. And we’ll split one flight of Tequila Sunrises.”

  “Two for you and one for me?” Brian asked with a grin.

  “Nope. One for me and two for you. And if they total you out, I can drive.” She turned back to Lonnie. “Is that okay, Mr. Deputy?”

  “That’s perfect.” Lonnie gestured toward the cake. “Make a wish, Cassie. You’d better blow out the candles before they scorch the frosting.”

  Cassie closed her eyes and looked thoughtful. When she opened them again, she was smiling. “Okay. I made a wish. Let’s see if it’s going to come true.”

  Lonnie watched as Cassie bent closer to the top of the cake. She took a deep breath, blew it out, and managed to extinguish every one of the candles.

  “Nice!” Lonnie complimented her. “What did you wish for?”

  Cassie shook her head. “I can’t tell you or it won’t come true.”

  “I know what you wished for,” Brian told her.

  “Maybe you do and maybe you don’t,” Cassie said, slipping her arm around his waist and hugging him tightly before she straightened up again.

  “I’d better sit over here, Baby,” she said to Brian, taking the stool on the other side of him. “Lonnie doesn’t have a girlfriend tonight and he might put the moves on me!”

  “You’re safe tonight, Cassie,” Lonnie said quickly, knowing that Cassie was the type of woman who really believed she was irresistible to men.

  “I am?” Cassie gave him a flirtatious look. “Why’s that?”

  “I’ll probably get called in later,” Lonnie answered quickly. “Were the roads still bad when you came out here?”

  “They were awful! My sister almost slid off the road twice! And we were just crawling along.” She turned to Brian. “We can’t drink too much tonight, Baby. Lonnie’s right. The roads are miserable.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll only have two more drinks, that’s it. And I’ll do the driving. Before we start for home, I’ll have a couple of cups of black coffee. You won’t have to drive home, honey. And once we get there, we’ll open that bottle of champagne we’ve been saving from the wedding.”

  “Perfect!” Cassie gave him a radiant smile and stood up again. “I’m going back to the kitchen to see if I can get us some plates and forks.”

  “Four plates?” Brian asked when Cassie came back and placed everything on the bar in front of them.

  Cassie nodded. “I promised the cook I’d bring him a piece. And then Lonnie can take the rest of the cake home. These jeans are getting tight and I want to drop a couple of pounds.”

  “But this is your favorite,” Brian argued.

  Cassie laughed as she reached out to pat his stomach. “Yours too. I’m saving us from ourselves, Baby. If we take the rest of that cake home, it’ll be crumbs by midnight.”

  Lonnie’s slice of cake was almost gone when his cell phone rang. He glanced at the display, almost hoping that he was being called in to work, but the caller ID on the display read SUSPECTED SPAM. He answered anyway and got a recorded message that tried to sell him solar panels. Since he didn’t own a house, he hung up and slipped the phone back into his pocket.

  Since Cassie and Brian were talking to each other, Lonnie glanced around the cavernous interior of the Double Eagle. It was a huge barn of a place with tables on the floor and booths that were elevated two steps up on a riser. The booths were full, but there were still several empty tables on the ground level. He was scanning the tables when the couple sitting there caught his eye. The woman looked vaguely familiar, but it took a second and then a third glance before he recognized her. It was Darcy Hicks, another one of their former classmates.

  “Isn’t that Darcy?” he asked Brian and Cassie, gesturing toward the table.

  “That’s her,” Cassie said.

  “I thought so. Who’s the guy with her? I don’t recognize him.”

  “That’s because he didn’t go to school with us,” Brian explained. “He’s from Upsala and his name is Denny Jameson. He was on their football team.”

  “Okay, now I remember him,” Lonnie said. “He was the quarterback, wasn’t he?”

  Cassie nodded. “Yes, and he was good. They beat us in the homecoming game.”
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br />   “That’s right. Everybody said he was going to go pro.”

  Brian shook his head. “He didn’t. And I heard that just about killed him when he wasn’t chosen in the draft. That’s when he started drinking and put on weight. Booze’ll do that to you if you’re not careful, and he’s a heavy drinker.”

  Cassie nodded. “I heard he had a slew of DUIs and he just got his license back last month.” She turned to Lonnie. “You’re not going to bust him, are you?”

  Lonnie shook his head. “I’m off duty right now. I might tell Alvin he’d better eighty-six him, though.”

  Cassie looked relieved. “Okay. That wouldn’t be a bad idea. I’d hate to see him busted when they just got engaged.”

  “Tonight?” Brian looked surprised.

  “No, last week. A guy at work told me. I got a feeling it’s going to be a really short engagement.”

  “You could be right,” Lonnie told her. “They sure don’t look very happy about it.”

  Brian nodded. “They’re getting off to a bad start, that’s for sure. He looks really mad and he just banged his fist on the table. And I can see that Darcy’s been crying.”

  “Do you think I should go over there and see what’s wrong?” Lonnie asked.

  Cassie shook her head. “That’s a bad idea. He looks too mad to be reasonable and he’s bigger than you are.”

  Alvin came over with a tray of drinks and placed them in front of Cassie. “Here’s your flight of Tequila Sunrises. Are you going to share them with Brian?”

  Cassie nodded. “I’m only having one. The other two are Brian’s. And Lonnie wants Coke after he finishes his beer.”

  “Figures,” Alvin nodded, side-stepping to the soda gun behind the bar, filling a glass, and stepping back to set it in front of Lonnie. “You’re being careful tonight, huh, Lonnie?”

  “You bet. It’s nasty out there on the highway and I could get called in at any time.”

  “You’re right and the Coke’s on the house. The boss likes to support our law enforcement officers.”

  Lonnie nodded, knowing that wasn’t true. The last people the owner wanted in his establishment were law enforcement officers who might pick up the Double Eagle customers on their way home.