Carrot Cake Murder

by Joanne Fluke

  “Of course not!” Mac shook his head. “I haven’t told anybody except you four. I didn’t even tell Patsy. Since I didn’t see Jack go into the pavilion, I don’t know for sure if he did, or not. I just saw him walking outside. The awful thing is Jack probably doesn’t even remember leaving his cottage.”

  Lisa bit her lip. “You’re probably right, Uncle Mac.”

  “But don’t you get too upset, Lisa. I’ve known Jack for years. He was almost like a brother to me. He’s kind, and loving, and…there’s no way he’d do anything violent to anybody.”

  Hannah was silent, but her mind raced. The fight her mother had told her about between Jack and Gus wasn’t exactly nonviolent. And Doc Knight had backed up that story.

  “I knew if I told the cops about Jack, it would just muddy the waters.” Mac reached out and took Lisa’s hand. “Besides,” he said, giving her hand a squeeze, “we’re family. And family’s got to stick together.”

  “She’s a real trooper,” Norman said, watching Lisa stick candles on top of the birthday cake she’d made for her father while Herb stood by, ready to light them.

  “Yes, she is. And she loves Jack with all her heart.” Hannah thought about how Lisa had given up her college scholarship, two years ago, to stay at home with her father who’d just been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. She’d wanted to become a doctor and Hannah was convinced she would have made a good one. On the other hand, Lisa seemed happy and content with the hand life had dealt her, especially now that she’d married Herb.

  “What?” Norman asked, noticing Hannah’s determined expression.

  “I’ve got to clear Jack. I just have to do it for Lisa!”

  “I know you do, and I’ll help any way I can. How about Mike? Will you tell him what Mac told us?”

  “I promised him that I’d share information.”

  “That’s not what I asked you,” Norman said with a chuckle. “Let me ask again…will you tell Mike?”

  It was Hannah’s turn to smile. “I don’t know. I haven’t made up my mind yet.”

  “And you’ll put off making that decision to give yourself time to clear Jack?”

  “That’s probably right. I just hope my conscience doesn’t get in the way.” Hannah broke into applause as Lisa walked to the table where Jack was sitting, set the cake down in front of him, and led them in singing Happy Birthday.

  “Make a wish and blow out the candles, Dad,” Lisa said, kissing him on the cheek. “It’s like you used to tell me when I was a little girl. If you blow out all the candles, your wish will come true.”

  Jack smiled as he bent over to blow out the candles, and everyone applauded when he extinguished every one. “Marge always tells me I’m full of hot air,” he said, and everyone laughed again.

  “That was great, Jack,” Herb said, patting him on the back. “Now your wish will come true.”

  “It already did. I wished for enough of Lisa’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake for everybody. And Marge and her sister are at the back table right now, dishing it up on the plates.”

  “Why are we here?” Norman asked, following Hannah inside as she opened the door to the cabin Gus Klein had used so briefly.

  “I just want to check on the frog.”

  “What frog?”

  “The one I saw yesterday when I came here looking for Gus. I’m just hoping the crime scene people didn’t trample him, or anything like that.”

  “So you’re going to check to make sure he’s all right?”

  “Yes. Don’t worry. It’ll just take a second and then we’ll rush right back for the cake.”

  Norman chuckled as Hannah turned on the lights and began to look for the frog. “I’m not worried about that. I just thought we were here to check something for your investigation. And now I find out it’s for the frog.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. I think it’s nice of you to be concerned. Do you want me to check the bedroom?”

  Hannah turned to smile at him. “Yes. I’ll get the kitchen. That’s where he was when I left him.”

  While Norman looked in the bedroom, Hannah went into the kitchen. She looked in every cupboard and checked the counters and the sink. There was no little green frog hiding anywhere that she could see.

  “Hannah?”

  Hannah turned to face Norman as he came into the kitchen. He was holding his hands in front of him and they were cupped around something.

  “You’ve got him?” she guessed, hoping that she was right.

  “He was under the bed.”

  “Is he all right?”

  “He’s fine. Where do you want me to put him?”

  “Up here on the counter. I’ll run a little water in the sink. I know he can hop down, because he was up here when I saw him the last time.”

  Norman placed the frog on the counter while Hannah turned the faucet on and off. “Anything else?” he asked her.

  “Can you open one of the windows a little in case he wants to hop out?”

  “I already did,” Norman said with a smile.

  “Okay, then. We can go now.”

  They turned off the lights and started down the road toward the scene of the party. Jack’s birthday celebration was still going strong if loud voices and laughter were any indication. Norman held the flashlight in one hand, and he held Hannah’s hand with the other. “Have you figured out a time line for Gus?” he asked.

  “I think so. Herb took a run to the house after church and found Gus waiting. It’s the old family house. Marge and Herb’s dad took it over after her parents died. Gus didn’t know that she gave it to Lisa and Herb, of course.”

  “The old family home was the logical place to go.”

  “That’s right. Herb brought Gus to the church, and then he took everyone out to brunch at the Inn. Mother said the brunch ran late and Gus was still there when they left at two. By the time he paid the bill and left, it had to have been at least two-thirty. Then Gus drove back to Lisa and Herb’s house and looked through the trunk his parents packed from his old bedroom. It was probably four thirty by the time he left there. It’s thirty minutes from Lisa and Herb’s house to the lake, so Gus couldn’t have gotten to the cottage until almost five. Then he changed clothes and went to the dinner buffet at the pavilion.”

  “And that started at six. I know. I was there to take pictures. So that means he spent all of an hour at the cottage?”

  “That’s right, give or take thirty minutes or so.” Hannah was almost sorry as they approached the lights and music of the party. She really enjoyed the time she spent alone with Norman. “I’m sorry I didn’t explain about the frog, Norman.”

  “You shouldn’t be. I think you’ve got your priorities straight, Hannah.”

  “I do?”

  “Yes. Maybe a murder investigation is more critical, but the welfare of a frog is important, too.”

  It was almost nine in the evening by the time the party began to break up. Tomorrow would be what Lisa and Herb were calling, “Games Day.” There would be the usual summer picnic games, like kickball, three-legged races, sack races, biking expeditions, tricycle parades, and team softball. There would also be water games, like swimming and diving competitions, water polo, canoe and rowboat races, and even a synchronized swimming demonstration by three junior-high girls who hoped to make their high school team. Anyone who didn’t want to or couldn’t play in the games was recruited to be a volunteer judge. Others were encouraged to sit in lawn chairs and cheer on the contestants.

  Hannah glanced at her watch and turned to Norman. “I’m going to help clean up, and then I’m heading home. I’d invite you over, but I really need to get a good night’s sleep. I haven’t had my full six hours for at least a week.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me when I called this morning?” Norman sounded surprised.

  “Tell you what?”

  “That Moishe acted up again. I thought the Kitty Kondo did the trick.”

  “I think it did do the trick. He certa
inly enjoyed playing with the mouse this morning. And the fact that I lost sleep last night has nothing to do with Moishe. It’s Mother’s fault.”

  “Your mother called you in the middle of the night?”

  “No, she gave me a deadline for Jack’s Red Velvet Cookies, and I promised to do my best to have them by tonight. When I got home last night, I researched them and mixed up three different test batches. I didn’t get to bed until midnight, and Moishe started playing with the squeaky mouse at four in the morning, a minute or two before my alarm went off.”

  “But he didn’t tear up any pillows or race around inside your bathtub?”

  “No. I’m beginning to think you were right, Norman, and he was acting up because he was bored.”

  Once Norman had hugged her and they’d said their good-byes, Hannah started to pick up paper dessert plates and put them in the trash. In the space of fifteen minutes, the picnic tables had been wiped down and the dishes had been scraped and put into the dishwashers. Hannah was more than ready to drive home and go to bed, but there was one more thing she had to do first.

  It took a while to find Lisa. Hannah finally spotted her alone at a picnic table under a pine tree. No doubt her partner wanted to be alone to think about what Mac had told them, but thinking alone wouldn’t solve the problem.

  “Lisa?” she said, sitting down across from her partner.

  “What is it?”

  Lisa’s voice sounded thick, as if she’d been crying, but Hannah didn’t mention that. “I need to talk to your dad for a minute,” she said. “Do you think you could find us a nice quiet spot?”

  “He’s in a nice quiet spot right now. Herb took him back to the cottage so they could watch what’s left of the ballgame. The Twins had a doubleheader with the Angels today.”

  “Will he mind if I interrupt him?”

  “He won’t mind. It’s probably over by now, anyway.” Lisa got up and led the way. “Are you going to ask him questions about the night of the murder?”

  “Yes. I need as much background as I can get. Don’t worry, Lisa. I’ll do my best not to upset him.”

  “I don’t think you’ll upset him. You never have before. And I know that he really likes you.”

  Lisa opened the screen door and they stepped into the small cottage where Jack and Marge were staying. “Hi, Dad,” she greeted her father with a kiss on the cheek, and then moved over to Herb. “How did the ballgame go?”

  “Twins won the first, but the Angels won the second,” Herb told her.

  “Oh, well.” Lisa sat down next to her father. “Hannah needs to ask you some questions, Dad. Herb and I are going to leave you with her for a couple of minutes. Hannah’s our good friend, and you can tell her anything, okay?”

  “Okay.” Jack nodded and watched his daughter walk off. “She’s a good girl,” he said.

  “Yes, she is. You’re lucky to have her, and she’s lucky to have you.” Hannah moved a little closer to keep his attention and asked her first question. “Is it possible you went for a walk on Sunday night after the dance?”

  “Yes, it’s possible. It was the first night in a different bed. I always sleep better at home, you know.”

  “And you might have gone for a walk if you couldn’t sleep?” Hannah asked him.

  “I might have…Hannah. It’s Hannah, isn’t it?”

  “That’s right. You remembered!”

  Jack shrugged. “It comes and goes. I just try not to get too…what’s the word that’s the opposite of calm, Harriet?”

  Hannah resisted the urge to correct him. “Agitated? Frustrated?”

  “Both of those. If I stay quiet, I’ve got a better shot at remembering. Say, Helen…he wasn’t shot, was he?”

  “No, he was stabbed with an ice pick.”

  “Too bad. If he’d been shot, I’d be in the clear.”

  “Really?”

  “That’s right. Emmy wouldn’t let me have a gun in the house. She was always afraid the kids would get hold of it and shoot each other, or some such thing. And now my little girl’s a trophy winner in that cowboy game with Herb. Life’s iron…iron…what’s the word?”

  “Ironic?”

  “That’s it. Life’s ironic, Hazel.”

  “It’s Hannah,” Hannah corrected him before she could think better of it.

  “I know you’re Hannah. I just wanted to see how many times I could call you the wrong name before you corrected me. That must have just about killed you!”

  Hannah gave him a startled glance and then she started to laugh. “You’re like the guy who got a hearing aid and didn’t tell his family he was wearing it.”

  “And changed his will a dozen times,” Jack finished the old joke. “You’d be surprised what I remember and what I don’t. There’s no rhyme or…whatever that other R word is…to it. Sometimes a smell will spark something I haven’t thought of in years. And other times it’s something I eat, or a car I see in an old movie, or an antique around the house.”

  “You told me that once before,” Hannah said. “I was hoping those Red Velvet Cookies I made for your birthday would bring back the memory of the fight you had with Gus the night he left Lake Eden for good. I think that’s one of the keys to this whole thing, Jack. I wish you could remember what that fight was about.”

  “So do I. But I’ve tried and I can’t.”

  “Don’t try so hard. Just eat another couple of the cookies tomorrow. Your daughter, Iris, said Emmy used to bake them when Iris was really little.”

  “They did taste familiar. It’s probably why I thought they were so good. I miss her, you know.”

  “Your wife?”

  “That’s the hardest thing about getting old. Everybody you knew when you were young is dead.”

  “It must be horribly depressing,” Hannah commented, feeling horribly depressed just thinking about it.

  “It is. But then there’s the upside.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You get to outlive your enemies. That’s the good part…unless you’re the guy that killed them, of course.”

  CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CAKE

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

  WARNING: THERE ARE PEANUTS IN THIS RECIPE. MAKE SURE YOU ASK IF ANYONE IS ALLERGIC TO PEANUTS BEFORE YOU BAKE AND SERVE THIS CAKE!!!

  Hannah’s 1stNote: Lisa says she got the idea for this cake by watching Marge make her Cocoa Fudge Cake. Since Herb is crazy about Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Lisa’s cake combines peanut butter and chocolate.

  Butter and flour a 9-inch by 13-inch sheet cake pan. (You can also spray it with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray and then just lightly dust it with flour. You can also do what Lisa did and spray it with a product that mixes nonstick cooking spray with flour.)

  Hannah’s 2ndNote: I was really leery of the nonstick cooking spray mixed with flour, but Lisa says it works just fine.

  2 cups white (granulated) sugar

  2 cups flour (don’t sift—just level it off with a knife)

  —————

  1 cup butter (2 sticks, ½ pound, 8 ounces)

  1 cup peanut butter (Lisa used Skippy creamy peanut butter)

  1 cup water

  —————

  ½ cup cream (or evaporated milk, if you’re all out of cream)

  1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  1 teaspoon baking soda

  2 eggs, beaten (just whip them up in a glass with a fork)

  Hannah’s 3rdNote: Lisa used the mixer down at The Cookie Jar to make this cake. She says you can also do it by hand if you don’t have an electric mixer.

  Mix the sugar and the flour together at low speed.

  Put the butter, peanut butter, and water into a medium-sized saucepan. Turn the burner on medium heat and bring the mixture ALMOST to a boil. (When it sends up little whiffs of steam and bubbles start to form around the edges, take it off the heat.)

  Pour the peanut butter mixture over the sugar and flour, and mix it all up
together.

  Rinse out the saucepan, but don’t bother to wash it thoroughly. You’ll be making a frosting and you can use it again before you really wash it.

  Whisk the cream, vanilla extract, baking soda, and eggs together in a small bowl.

  SLOWLY, add this mixture to the large mixer bowl and combine it at medium speed. (You have to go slowly with this step because you have the hot peanut butter mixture in your bowl and you’re adding an egg mixture. This cake wouldn’t be wonderful if you ended up with peanut butter flavored scrambled eggs!)

  Scrape down the mixing bowl with a rubber spatula, remove it from the mixer, and give it a final stir by hand.

  Pour the batter into the 9-inch by 13-inch greased and floured cake pan.

  Bake at 350 degrees F. for 30 to 35 minutes. When the cake begins to shrink away from the sides of the pan and a long toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, it’s done.

  Hannah’s 4thNote: Lisa uses my Neverfail Fudge Frosting on this cake. It’s given as an alternative frosting at the end of Marge’s Cocoa Fudge Cake recipe, but I’ll write it down again here.

  NEVERFAIL FUDGE FROSTING

  ½ cup (1 stick, ¼ pound, 4 ounces) salted butter

  1 cup white (granulated) sugar

  1/3 cup cream

  ½ cup chocolate chips

  1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  ½ cup chopped salted peanuts (optional)

  Place the butter, sugar, and cream into a medium-size saucepan (You can use the one from the cake that you didn’t wash.) Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Turn down the heat to medium and cook for two minutes.

  Add the half-cup chocolate chips, stir them in until they’re melted, and remove the saucepan from the heat.

  Stir in the vanilla.

  Pour the frosting on the cake and spread it out quickly with a spatula. If you’re pouring it on a warm cake or a cold cake, just grab the pan and tip it so the frosting covers the whole top.