Coconut Layer Cake Murder

by Joanne Fluke

  With only a tiny shred of worry left about how Michelle would react to his excuse for not driving out to the condo to see her, Lonnie continued down the hallway. The door to Darcy’s bedroom was open and he stopped to glance in. There she was, stretched out in bed with a pillow over her face. She’d probably had the same reaction he’d had to the sun on the blinding-white snow and pulled it over her face so that she could sleep longer.

  Lonnie tiptoed into the room and, very carefully, lifted the pillow from Darcy’s face. He placed it on the bed and stood looking down at her for a moment. There was no movement, no flicker of her eyelids in response to the sunlight that was now hitting her face.

  A sense of dread crept over him. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t normal. Something was very wrong. He stood there for a minute or two, watching her, waiting for the movement of her chest as she breathed in and out.

  There was no movement. Darcy was as still as the pillow on the bed next to her head, as frozen as the statue of Lake Eden founder, Ezekiel Jordan, that sat outside the double doors to their high school, as motionless as a person who was . . .

  Dead. The word flashed through Lonnie’s mind. He made a sound, a whimper of disbelief. No! Darcy couldn’t be dead. She’d been drunk, or drugged, or something or other when he’d helped her to bed last night, but she couldn’t be dead!

  Even though he wanted to turn away, to hurry to the garage and drive home and pretend he hadn’t seen what he had, Lonnie knew he couldn’t leave. He swallowed once. Twice. And then he reached out for Darcy’s wrist to check her pulse.

  No pulse. He pressed a bit harder. No pulse. He bent down to place his palm in front of her mouth. It was open and he stood there for several moments, hoping to feel a slight breath, any movement of air at all that meant she was simply passed out and not dead.

  He wasn’t sure how long he stood there, looking down at her. It could have been only a few minutes, or it could have been much longer. He stayed there, staring, until her motionless image was burned into his mind. And then he backed up several steps and turned away, still not believing what his mind had concluded. Darcy was dead. She’d been alive when he’d helped her to the bedroom and now she was dead!

  * * *

  “Look around the room, Lonnie,” Hannah said quietly, hoping that she wouldn’t rouse him from his memory. “Tell me what you see.”

  Lonnie turned his head slightly, as if he were reliving the moment at her direction. “Yellow curtains. Pretty with sun coming through.” He turned his head slightly more. “Green chair. Padded arms. Table and lamp.” He turned his head yet again. “Dresser. Dark brown with old mirror. Silver lipstick, glass bottle, and . . .”

  Lonnie’s eyes flew open and he stared at Hannah with shock. “I forgot it before! I forgot to tell anyone!”

  “What did you forget?” Hannah asked him.

  “The cake!” Lonnie said loudly. “The Coconut Layer Cake we had for Cassie’s birthday. Darcy asked me to carry it to her bedroom and I did. It was right there on her dresser. That’s where I put it. But when I found Darcy, the box was gone! Somebody took it!”

  * * *

  It was a clue, of sorts, and Hannah was glad that Lonnie had remembered it. He gave them a few more facts before he slipped back in time to when it had all happened.

  “I called Mike,” he told them, and he shivered slightly. “I didn’t know who else to call. It was better than it had been the night before, but I still couldn’t seem to think clearly. All I knew was that Darcy wasn’t breathing and I had to call someone. And I needed to tell Mike what had happened. So I called him.”

  “How long did it take for Mike to get there?” Norman asked him.

  “I don’t know. I don’t remember looking at my watch. Mike would know. He could check his phone to see when the call from me came in.”

  “And you could check your recent calls to see when you called him,” Norman pointed out.

  “I could, but... they took my phone.” Lonnie pulled a phone out of his pocket. “This one’s the replacement I got from Cliff at the hardware store.”

  “Did Mike come out to Darcy’s house right away?” Hannah asked.

  “Yes,” Lonnie said. “I don’t think it took him very long to get there. At least I don’t think it did. Everything’s a little hazy, you know?”

  “That’s okay,” Norman reassured him. “What happened when Mike got there?”

  “Mike told me that he was going to call Doc, and both of them arrived at the same time. And Mike told me to sit down on the couch and stay clear of Darcy’s room, so that’s what I did. I told Doc where she was and he went down the hallway with his bag. And Mike stayed with me.”

  “Did Mike ask you any questions?” Hannah asked.

  “Yeah, he asked me what had happened and I told him all that I could remember. It wasn’t a whole lot. It was like my brain was still asleep and I couldn’t seem to recall very much. I’d just gotten to the part where I helped Darcy to bed when Doc came out of the bedroom.”

  “What did Doc say?” Norman asked. “Try to remember everything, Lonnie.”

  “He said that Darcy was dead. But instead of dying in her sleep, the way I thought, it was a homicide and Darcy had been murdered!”

  “What did you say?” Norman asked.

  “Or do when you heard that?” Hannah added.

  “I . . . I felt really dizzy again and my knees buckled. I almost fell, but I managed to land on the couch. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I’d been right there on the couch all night. Darcy had been murdered and I hadn’t heard anything. I was so shocked, I couldn’t say anything for a couple of seconds. It was like I couldn’t seem to understand why I hadn’t heard anything. I’m a detective. I’ve seen murder victims before. I really thought that Darcy had somehow died in her sleep. And I asked Doc if he was sure.”

  “And Doc said . . .” Norman prompted.

  “Doc said he was sure, that she was smothered with a pillow in her sleep. And that was when Mike turned to me and asked me if I had been there all night.”

  “And you told him you had?” Hannah asked.

  “Yeah, and I said I couldn’t understand why I didn’t hear anything. Darcy’s bedroom wasn’t that far away and I should have heard someone come into the house, walk to her bedroom, and . . . and . . .”

  “Smother her?” Hannah finished for him when it was apparent that Lonnie couldn’t go on.

  “That’s right. I was going to drive home, but I got so dizzy I didn’t think I could drive and I decided to take a short nap. But I passed out and I didn’t wake up until the sunlight came through the living room window. When Doc heard me say I’d been dizzy, he opened his bag and searched for something inside. And that’s when Mike asked me if I’d been drinking.”

  “What did you say?” Norman asked.

  “I said yes, but it was only one tap beer. That was all I had, that the roads were really bad and I thought they might call me in, so I switched to Coke after one beer. And that was when Mike and Doc exchanged glances and Doc pulled a syringe and several vials from his bag. He said he needed samples of my blood and he filled a couple of the vials. Then he handed me a container and asked me to give him a urine sample.”

  “And you did all that?” Norman asked him.

  “Sure. I knew everything would turn out all right, that I hadn’t had any more to drink than that. And then Doc said that he didn’t think one tap beer could have that effect on a guy my size unless I’d been drinking before that.”

  “And you told Doc that you hadn’t?” Hannah asked.

  “I did. I said all I’d had with dinner was coffee when I’d stopped at Hal and Rose’s Café for a sandwich and fries.”

  “And this was before you met Brian and Cassie at the Double Eagle?” Norman asked.

  “Yes, Brian was already at the Double Eagle when I got there. Cassie came a little later.”

  “What happened after Doc took your samples?” Hannah posed the question.

&n
bsp; “There was a knock on the door and Mike answered it. It was two of Doc’s paramedics. Doc said he wanted them to take me to the hospital for more tests. I asked why, and he told me that it was for my protection, that I wasn’t functioning normally and my blood pressure was out of whack. He told me he wanted one of his interns to check me out and run some tests.”

  “So you went to the hospital with the paramedics?” Hannah asked.

  “Yeah, I asked if I could drive there because I didn’t want to leave my car. Doc said no, it wasn’t a good idea for me to drive in my condition. Mike told me not to worry, that one of the other deputies would come out to drive my car back to my place. And . . .” Lonnie gave a little shrug. “I went with the paramedics and it’s probably a good thing I did, because they put me on a cot in the back and I slept all the way to the hospital.”

  “How long were you in the hospital?” Hannah asked him.

  “I got out that afternoon and the first thing I did was call Michelle at school. She picked me up and brought me here.” Lonnie gave a heartfelt sigh. “I’ve never been so glad to see anyone in my whole life!”

  The doorbell rang, startling all three of them, and Hannah gave Norman a nod before she turned to Lonnie. “That’s enough for now,” she told him. “I think we’ve got all the basics. Let’s go in the living room and see who just came in.”

  Hannah led the way as all three of them left the kitchen. They found Andrea and Mike sitting on the couch with Michelle.

  “Hi, Mike,” Hannah greeted him.

  “Hannah!” Mike jumped up to greet her. “Boy am I ever glad to see you!”

  Hannah laughed. “You mean because you missed me so much?”

  “Well . . .” Mike looked uncomfortable. “Sure, I did. And I’m really glad you realized we needed you here and you came right away.”

  “And so am I!” Andrea stood up to give Hannah a hug. “Sorry to cut your vacation short, but you’re the only one who can get us out of this . . .” She turned to look at Lonnie. “I’m not sure what to call it, Lonnie.”

  “A real mess,” Lonnie supplied the words.

  “You’re right, Lonnie,” Andrea agreed. “It is a mess. And I realize that. And so does Mike, and that’s why we’re all here tonight. We have to put our heads together to figure out what to do.”

  “But not before we taste some of your new cookies,” Hannah reminded her. “Michelle’s been telling us how wonderful they are. You brought some, didn’t you?”

  Andrea pointed to the container she’d placed on Hannah’s dining room table. “Of course I did. Do you have coffee?”

  “We always have coffee,” Hannah told her. “I put on a fresh pot before I left the kitchen. Let’s take a couple of minutes to relax and have dessert. And then we can get down to the business of figuring out what we have to do to get Lonnie out of trouble.”

  CONFETTI BLIZZARD WHIPPERSNAPPER COOKIES

  Preheat oven to 350°F., rack in the middle position.

  1 cup white chocolate or vanilla baking chips (I used Nestlé)

  1 cup (8 ounces) sweetened coconut flakes (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)

  1 box Pillsbury Funfetti cake mix (the kind that makes a 9-inch by 13-inch cake)

  2 cups of original Cool Whip (not low-fat Cool Whip)

  1 large egg, beaten (just whip it up in a glass with a fork)

  ½ cup powdered (confectioners) sugar (for rolling the cookies—there’s no need to sift unless it’s got lumps)

  15 maraschino cherries cut in half lengthwise (you can also use candied cherries, either red or green or a combination of both)

  30 minutes before you’re ready to bake, stick a teaspoon from your silverware drawer in a large freezer-safe mixing bowl. Place the bowl with the spoon in the freezer to chill.

  Measure out one cup of white chocolate or vanilla baking chips.

  If you have a food processor, attach the steel blade. If you don’t, you’ll have to do your chopping with a knife.

  Put the white chocolate or vanilla chips in the bottom of the food processor bowl.

  Measure the sweetened coconut flakes. Make sure to press them down in the cup to fill it to the top.

  Put the sweetened coconut flakes on top of the white chocolate or vanilla chips.

  Process the chips and coconut in an on-and-off motion with the steel blade. Continue to process until they’re in very small pieces.

  Either spray a cookie sheet with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray, or line it with parchment paper and then spray that.

  Hannah’s 1st Note: When Andrea makes these cookies, she uses parchment paper, so all she has to do when she takes them out of the oven is pull the parchment paper over on a wire cooling rack.

  Remove the large mixing bowl from the freezer and add approximately half of the Funfetti cake mix from the box.

  In a separate bowl, measure out 2 cups of original Cool Whip.

  Add the beaten egg to the Cool Whip. Using a rubber spatula, fold the egg into the Cool Whip. Be careful not to stir too much. Keep as much air in this mixture as possible.

  Return to the large mixing bowl, the one that you chilled and now holds half of the Funfetti cake mix.

  Add the chopped white chocolate or vanilla chips and the chopped sweetened coconut flakes to the large bowl with the cake mix. Mix them in thoroughly.

  Add the contents of the smaller bowl to the large bowl. Using the rubber spatula again, fold in the Cool Whip and egg mixture. Try to do this gently to keep the air in the mixture.

  Sprinkle on the rest of the Funfetti cake mix on top, and fold it in gently with the rubber spatula. Continue to fold until everything is well mixed.

  Open the packet with the multi-colored candy sprinkles and scatter them over the top of the mixture in the large bowl. Again, using the rubber spatula, fold them in.

  Continue to fold until the multi-colored sprinkles begin to leave streaks of color in the cookie dough.

  Place the half-cup of powdered sugar in a shallow bowl. Dust your impeccably clean hands with powdered sugar.

  There are two ways to form dough balls with this sticky cookie dough. One is to scoop out dough with your chilled spoon and place it in the bowl of powdered sugar, rolling it around with your fingers until it forms a small ball. The other, easier way is to dust your hands with powdered sugar, pinch off a small amount of dough, place it in the bowl of powdered sugar, and shape it into a ball with your fingers.

  Use your favorite method (you may want to try both to see which one works best for you) to form 12 dough balls for each cookie sheet.

  If you don’t have double ovens, place the remaining cookie dough in the refrigerator to wait until you have room to bake a second sheet of cookies. If you forget to do this and leave the bowl with the dough on the counter, it will be even stickier and more difficult to form into dough balls!

  Place one-half of a maraschino cherry, cut side down, on top of each cookie ball on the sheet. Flatten the balls just a bit by pressing down on the cherry halves.

  Bake your Confetti Blizzard Whippersnapper Cookies at 350°F. for 15 minutes.

  Remove your cookies from the oven and let them cool for 2 minutes on a cold stovetop burner or a wire rack.

  When 2 minutes have passed, remove the cookies from the sheet with a metal spatula and place them on the wire rack to complete cooling. If you used the parchment paper, this is simple. Simply pull the paper off of the cookie sheet and onto the wire rack. The cookies can stay on the paper until they’re cool.

  Hannah’s 2nd Note: Confetti Blizzard Whippersnapper Cookies are very pretty. Lisa and I are going to make them for Christmas parties using both red and green cherries on top.

  Andrea’s 1st Note: Bill always wants me to make these cookies so that he can take them to the sheriff’s station. And now that Tracey’s in school, she asks for these cookies every time there’s a holiday and mothers bring refreshments for class parties.

  Yield: 2 to 3 dozen very pretty and tasty cookies.r />
  Andrea’s 2nd Note: Tracey wants these cookies for her birthday party. She made me promise not to serve them to anyone except family until then.

  Chapter Ten

  When they’d eaten every single cookie that Andrea had brought, Hannah refilled coffee cups and gave Lonnie an assessing look. Lonnie’s face was pale and he still looked as if he wished he were anywhere except here, discussing the fact that any day now, he could be charged with first-degree murder.

  “Would you like to take a break, Lonnie?” Hannah suggested. “If you don’t mind, we’ll play your interview for Mike so we can bring him up to speed. You don’t want to listen to it, do you?”

  Lonnie shook his head. “No. If I do, it’ll be like I’m . . . I’m back there again . . . you know?”

  “I do know. Why don’t you and Michelle put on your parkas and take a little stroll around the complex? And if you’re interested, Michelle can show you the gym. There’s a brand-new machine down there that nobody’s ever touched. You use the gym at the sheriff’s station, don’t you, Lonnie?”