by Joanne Fluke
Hannah nodded. She was still too upset to try to speak. As she signed the second card, Doug’s printer activated and a sheet of paper dropped into the tray.
Doug removed the paper and reached across his desk to hand it to her. “Here you are, Hannah.”
“Thank you, Doug.” Hannah signed the last card, stacked them in a neat pile, and pushed them across the desk to Doug. Then she folded the sheet of paper in half and stuck it in her purse. There was no way she could face any more surprises this morning. She’d look at it later, when she was alone in the kitchen at The Cookie Jar.
* * *
Hannah slipped the last pan of cookies onto a shelf in her industrial oven and closed the door. After she’d set the timer, she walked to the kitchen coffeepot and poured herself a cup. A moment later, she was sitting on her usual stool at the work station.
Her saddlebag purse seemed to loom large on the stool next to her. It drew her like a magnet, and her curious mind demanded satisfaction. Go ahead and look, it urged her. You’re alone and you’ve put it off long enough. Everyone else is in the coffee shop, and no one will notice if it upsets you. You want to know, don’t you?
She did want to know, and Hannah reached over to open her purse. She drew out the folded sheet of paper that Doug had given her and held it in her hand. Ross had spent the weeks preceding their marriage telling her not to worry, that they could afford it whenever he spent large sums of money, but was it true? Or would there be some huge credit card bills coming in the mail for her husband?
Hannah sent up a silent prayer that Ross had enough money to pay any bills that would arrive, and then she unfolded the paper.
She was afraid to look at the paper. She eyed the swinging restaurant-style door instead, half hoping that someone would push through and she would have to stuff it back in her purse, but it was perfectly motionless.
Coward! Hannah’s mind chided her. You’ll have to look, sooner or later. Do it right now while you have some privacy. Take a deep breath and just do it!
She took a deep breath and looked down at the printout. The balance of the first account was a little over thirty thousand dollars, and it showed an interbank transfer of sixty thousand dollars. The transfer must be for the money that Ross had deposited in her personal checking account.
The second account was next, and Hannah noticed that it was a money market account. The balance on that account was close to a hundred thousand dollars!
Hannah was so shocked, she dropped the paper. She knew that KCOW paid Ross a good salary, but that couldn’t account for this much money. No wonder he’d told her not to worry, that they could afford to pay for their honeymoon cruise!
She blinked to make sure her eyes wouldn’t add any extra zeros to the balance of the third account. This one was an interest-bearing savings account, and it contained two hundred and twenty-six thousand dollars. Ross had over four hundred thousand dollars in the Lake Eden First Mercantile Bank!
Hannah stared down at the paper in awe. Maybe Ross wasn’t in the same category as Bill Gates or Warren Buffett, but he had more money in the bank than she could ever hope to accrue in her lifetime.
She raised her coffee cup and took a sip. Then she looked down at the paper again. The totals were still the same. She hadn’t imagined it. She pinched herself, just to make sure that this wasn’t a very real dream, and looked again. Still the same. It was really true.
Hannah propped her head up with her hands. She felt slightly light-headed and just a bit dizzy with everything that had happened. Things were moving too fast, moving away from her and out of her control. She reminded herself to breathe deeply, and when she felt more in control, she examined the paper again. The totals were there, clearly printed in black ink.
The timer rang, and Hannah found she was grateful for the interruption. She needed to think about something besides wondering how Ross had accumulated all that money. She grabbed her oven mitts, moved the bakers rack closer to the oven, and took the trays from the shelves, one by one. The Maple Crunch Cookies would have to cool on the pans for a minute or two to crisp up before she placed the cookies on the bakers rack.
Several minutes later, the cookies and their parchment paper lining were on the racks. They smelled wonderful, and Hannah was glad she’d thought to make them. Now all that remained was to taste-test them. If they were good, she would bake more to take to the convention hall to sell as breakfast cookies.
Hannah was about to sit down at the work station again when there was a knock on the back door. It was a knock she recognized, and she hurried to let Norman in.
“Hi, Hannah,” he greeted her, as he hung his parka on a hook by the back kitchen door. “Do I smell fresh cookies? Or are they . . . pancakes?!”
Hannah laughed. “They’re not pancakes, but they do smell like that. They’re Maple Crunch Cookies. Sit down, Norman. I’ll get you a cup of coffee, and then I’ll see if the cookies are cool enough to put on a plate.”
While Norman sipped his coffee, Hannah walked over to the bakers rack to test the cookies. Since they were still warm but not hot, she filled a plate and carried it back to the work station.
“Try one, Norman,” she urged as she set the plate down in front of him. “I’ve never baked these before and I want to know what you think of them.”
Norman reached for a cookie and took a bite. Then he began to smile. “They’re good,” he told her. “I’d like to eat these for breakfast at least twice a week, maybe more. They’re crunchy and sweet, and they taste like maple syrup. They’re even better than pancakes. There’s something else, too. It’s something I like, but I can’t quite figure out what it is.”
“Corn flakes.”
“That’s it!” Norman nodded and reached for another cookie. “So it’s cereal and pancakes, two of my favorites for breakfast. Are you going to try them out on your customers today?”
“Yes. They love it when we try out new cookies.”
“Because they enjoy giving you their opinion?”
“That’s part of it. The other part is taste-testing cookies for us means that they’re free.”
“That’s always a bonus.” Norman took another cookie and pushed the plate toward Hannah. “Put those away, please. They’re addictive, and I’ll eat them all if you leave them here.”
Hannah was smiling as she removed the plate and placed it on the kitchen counter, but her smile faded as she approached the work station again. “I need to show you something, Norman. I need your advice.”
“Okay. What is it?”
“Cyril gave me a check for five hundred dollars this morning. He said his profit from selling Ross’s car was more than the cost of Michelle’s car.”
“That’s great, Hannah!”
“Yes, but what happened after that wasn’t so great. Or maybe it was. I need you to tell me.”
“Okay. What happened?”
“I stopped by the bank to deposit Cyril’s check to my personal account and I discovered that there could be a big problem.”
“It’s okay, Hannah. If you need money, I’ll be glad to lend it to you.”
“It’s not that, Norman. As a matter of fact, it’s exactly the opposite.”
“Exactly the opposite?” Norman looked puzzled. “What do you mean? You’d better start from the beginning, Hannah.”
MAPLE CRUNCH COOKIES
DO NOT preheat oven—dough must chill before baking
2 cups white (granulated) sugar
2 cups salted butter (2 sticks, 8 ounces, ½ pound),
softened to room temperature
2 large eggs beaten (just whip them up in a glass with a fork)
½ cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour (pack the flour down in the cup when you measure it)
½ cup crushed corn flakes (measure AFTER crushing – I used Kellogg’s
Corn Flakes)
1 cup (6-ounce package) white chocolate or vanilla
chips
½ cup white (granulated) sugar (for later, to coat the cookie dough balls you will make before baking your cookies)
Hannah’s 1st Note: To measure maple syrup, spray the inside of the measuring cup with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray. If you do this, the syrup will not stick to the inside of the measuring cup.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: You can make these cookies by hand in a large mixing bowl with a wooden spoon, but using an electric mixer is a lot easier.
Place the white sugar and the softened salted butter in the bowl of an electric mixer.
Beat them together until they are smooth and creamy.
Add the beaten eggs and mix them in thoroughly.
Add the maple syrup and mix it in until it is well combined.
With the mixer running on LOW speed, beat in the baking soda, baking powder, salt, and vanilla extract. Mix until everything is well combined.
Measure out the flour and add it to the bowl in half-cup increments, mixing thoroughly after each addition.
Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl and remove it from the mixer.
Add the crushed corn flakes and white chocolate chips to your mixing bowl and stir them in by hand. Continue stirring until they are evenly distributed.
Give your Maple Crunch Cookie dough a final stir by hand with a wooden spoon.
Chill the dough for at least 1 hour before baking. (Overnight is fine, too.)
When your dough has chilled, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
While your oven is preheating, prepare your baking sheets by spraying them with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray or lining them with parchment paper.
Measure out the ½ cup of white sugar and place it in a shallow bowl. You’ll use this to coat your dough balls.
Roll the dough into walnut-sized balls with your hands.
Roll the dough balls in the bowl of sugar and then place them on the prepared cookie sheets, 12 to a standard sheet.
Flatten the dough balls just a bit with a metal spatula. (This will keep them from rolling off the cookie sheet as you carry it to the oven.)
Bake your Maple Crunch Cookies at 350 degrees F. for 10 to 12 minutes or until they are golden brown.
Take the cookies out of the oven. Cool them on the cookie sheets for no more than 2 minutes. Then remove the cookies and place them on a rack to complete cooling. (If you leave them on the cookie sheets for too long, they’ll stick.)
Michelle’s Note: Andrea says that Tracey and Bethie are trying to convince her to bring them down to The Cookie Jar so that they can eat these cookies instead of the bowls of cereal that Andrea usually gives them for breakfast.
Chapter Fourteen
“Here’s what happened,” Hannah said, sitting down on the stool across from Norman. “I put my personal checkbook in my purse because I didn’t want Michelle to have to pay any extra money for whatever car she chose. I knew my balance and I was hoping that I had enough in my account to cover the difference.”
“That was nice of you, Hannah.”
“Thanks. I wanted to do it for her, Norman. She never lets me pay her for helping out at The Cookie Jar and I owe her a lot. I didn’t have that much in my account, but I was hoping it would be enough. And if it wasn’t, I was going to put the rest on time with Cyril and pay it off.”
“I would have given you the money if it had been more, Hannah. All you had to do was let me know.”
“Thank you, Norman.” Hannah thought again about how sweet and caring Norman was, and then she went on with her explanation. “As it turned out, I certainly didn’t need any more money!”
“Because of the check from Cyril?”
“That’s just a small part of it. When I took Cyril’s check to the bank and deposited it, I said something to Lydia about how I hoped I wasn’t overdrawn. She checked my balance and she looked really shocked when she wrote the total on the deposit slip. It was sixty thousand dollars more than I thought I had.”
“The bank made a mistake?”
“That’s what I thought, and Lydia did, too. She looked at the teller’s initials and said that Doug Greerson had handled that deposit.”
“Doug?”
“Yes, and I went straight into his office to talk to him about it. It turned out it wasn’t a mistake at all, that Ross had come in to see Doug right before he left town, and he’d deposited sixty thousand dollars in my personal account!”
Norman gave a low whistle.
“Don’t whistle yet. That’s not all. Doug said Ross had added my name to all of his accounts and he had the signature cards for me to sign so that I would have full access. Ross has a lot of money in the bank, Norman. It’s much more than I ever would have guessed!”
Hannah had just given Norman that shocking news when there was a knock at the back kitchen door. It was rhythmic, three short knocks and then a louder one, almost like a snare drum cadence.
“Andrea,” Hannah informed Norman. “If you go let her in, I’ll pour a cup of coffee for her.”
“You’d better put this back in your purse for safekeeping,” Norman said, handing her the paper with the bank balances.
“Good idea.” Hannah took the paper and slipped it into her purse. Then she walked to the coffeepot to pour coffee for Andrea.
By the time Hannah was back with a fresh mug of coffee, Andrea had seated herself on the stool next to Norman. “Sorry, Hannah,” she said, looking very apologetic. “I’ve been out talking to people, and I couldn’t find anyone who . . .” She stopped speaking and glanced at Norman. Then she gave Hannah a distressed look. “Sorry, Hannah. I’ll tell you later.”
“I don’t have any secrets from Norman,” Hannah reassured her. “Tell me now.”
“Okay.” Andrea turned to Norman. “Hannah asked me to talk to people to find out if anyone seemed to have a grudge against Ross or disliked him for any reason. She said she didn’t know if that drugged candy was meant for P.K. or for Ross, and she didn’t think anyone would tell her anything negative about Ross.”
“I understand,” Norman told her.
“But there was nothing,” Andrea said. “I talked to everyone I could think of, even Irma York, and you know what a big gossip she is. Even Irma couldn’t think of anything bad about Ross, and neither could anyone else. Everyone really likes him. He’s very popular in Lake Eden.”
“How about work?” Norman asked. “Is there anyone at KCOW Television who might feel it wasn’t fair when Ross was hired and thought that they should have gotten his job instead?”
“I have to check that out later. I didn’t get time to go out there today.” She stopped and glanced at her watch. “I can’t go now. I have an appointment. Is it all right if I do that tomorrow, Hannah?”
“You’ve done enough, Andrea. And believe me, I appreciate it. I’ll run out to KCOW later and see if anyone there knows anything.”
“I did find out one other thing, but it’s not about Ross,” Andrea told her. “Grandma Knudson told me that P.K.’s funeral is going to be held tomorrow.”
Norman looked over at Hannah. “Are you planning to go?”
Hannah made an instant decision. “Yes, I want to go.”
“I’ll go with you,” Andrea told Hannah. “Detectives always learn something at a murder victim’s funeral. That’s true in almost every detective show.”
“You watch detective shows?” Hannah asked, knowing that Andrea preferred shows that involved fashion or interior decorating.
“Bill watches them. And since I like to spend time with him when he actually gets home at a reasonable time, I watch them, too. I’m definitely going to the funeral, Hannah. All those detective shows can’t be wrong, and you never know who might talk to one of us and tell us something we need to know.”
Once Andrea had left with a bag of Maple Crunch Cookies for Tracey and her friends, Norman turned
to Hannah. “I’d better go. If I stay here, you’ll never get any work done.”
“Oh, yes, I will,” Hannah said with a laugh. “All I have to do is bake some bar cookies and we can talk while I mix them up.”
“Okay,” Norman agreed, sitting back down again. “What are you making, Hannah?”
“Sweet and Salty Strawberry Bar Cookies. I love the combination of sweet and salty.”
“So do I. I can remember my mother sprinkling sea salt on chocolate sundaes. She said it brought out the richness of the chocolate.”
“And she was right.” Hannah made a quick trip to the pantry and came out carrying the ingredients she needed. She softened some butter, mixed it in with the white sugar she’d already placed in the bowl of the industrial stand mixer, and gave a little sigh. “What do you think it means, Norman?”
“I can only guess, but it’s clear Ross was worried he’d be gone for a while and he wanted to leave you with enough money.”
Hannah smiled as she realized that Norman had correctly interpreted her ambiguous question. “You knew exactly what I was asking, didn’t you,” she said, and it was a statement rather than a question.
“Yes. I could see that it bothered you the entire time Andrea was here. You were listening to her, but you were thinking about what Doug Greerson told you.”
“You’re right,” Hannah admitted, mixing the ingredients for the crust. Once the crust had been thoroughly mixed, she removed enough of the sweet dough for the crumble topping, wrapped it in plastic wrap, and stuck it in the walk-in cooler. Then she filled the bottoms of the pans she’d prepared with the remaining sweet dough, smoothed out the bottom crusts with the blade of a metal spatula, and slipped the pans onto the shelves in her industrial oven. She closed the oven door, set the timer, and came back to the work station to join Norman.