Fudge Cupcake Murder

by Joanne Fluke

  “I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Hannah promised. She knew Claire was nervous about the congregation’s reaction to the engagement. Although no one except Hannah, Andrea, and Norman knew for sure, everyone in town suspected that Claire had at one time been Mayor Bascomb’s mistress. “If anyone gives you a rough time about it, just let me know and I’ll cut them off from cookies for life.”

  Claire laughed, but she sobered quickly. “You know? I believe you would. You’re a good friend, Hannah.”

  “I’m a good friend who wants to pump you for information,” Hannah amended it. “You’ve heard about Bill, haven’t you?”

  “Of course, and the whole thing is absurd. You’re trying to clear him?”

  “Yes. Did Kate and Becky mention the fight that Sheriff Grant had with his wife?”

  “They mentioned it.”

  “Did they happen to drop the name of the renters Nettie wanted for the duplex?”

  Claire shook her head. “I don’t think they knew. They were speculating about it while Becky was trying on dresses. Kate said it had to be someone with a child.”

  “Really?” Hannah’s ears perked up. This was grist for the sleuthing mill. “Why did Kate think that?”

  “Because right before Sheriff Grant drove off, he rolled down his window and shouted out that he wouldn’t have that child under his roof. Except he didn’t say child.”

  “What did he say?”

  “I don’t know, but it must have been bad because Kate said she wouldn’t repeat it.”

  “How about you, Claire? Do you have any idea who the disputed renters could be?”

  “They could be Nettie’s relatives. Last year, she asked my advice on finding a Christmas present for a little girl. I told her about The Pink Giraffe in Anoka, but I warned her that their things were expensive. She said that didn’t matter, that it was for family and she wanted to buy something special.”

  Hannah was impressed. Claire had put two facts together and come up with a very good clue. “Do you happen to know what she bought?”

  “Yes, I do. She told me all about it the next time she came in. She said she found a child’s chair that looked like a seated plush bear and The Pink Giraffe had shipped it free the week before Christmas.”

  Hannah thanked Claire for her help and headed out the back door, racing across the parking lot and into her own warm kitchen. Once she’d washed her hands and put on the apron she used to serve customers, she pushed through the door to the coffee shop and hurried to the counter to relieve Lisa.

  “Oh, Hannah! Thank goodness you’re back!”

  Hannah noticed the distressed expression on Lisa’s face. “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s your mother. She’s called six times in the past twenty minutes.”

  “Uh-oh,” Hannah sighed. No wonder Lisa looked distraught. “Take a break, Lisa. I’ll man the counter for a while.”

  Lisa shook her head. “I don’t need a break. I just need you to run to Granny’s Attic and talk to your mother before she calls here again. She sounded really suspicious the last time she called. I swear she thinks I’m hiding you in the pantry.”

  “Okay. I’m going.” Hannah hung up her apron and dashed out the front door, ducking into the next storefront. The bell tinkled as she pushed open the door and Delores looked up from her position behind the antique counter.

  “Hannah! Well, it’s about time! Come with me.”

  Before Hannah had time to do more than blink, Delores came around the counter, took her hand, and dragged her up the stairs to the room they used for coffee breaks.

  “Sit down, Hannah. I want an explanation!”

  “Of what?” Hannah was thoroughly confused.

  “Why didn’t you tell me yesterday, when we met at the library? A mother shouldn’t be the last one in town to know!”

  Hannah thought fast. It was obvious that her mother had found out about Bill’s suspension. “I would have told you yesterday, but it wasn’t my place. I knew Andrea wanted to be the one to break the news to you.”

  “Oh. That’s different.” The hard expression in Delores’s eyes softened. “I do wish Andrea had told me sooner, but I suppose the poor dear was probably trying to spare my feelings.”

  “I’m sure that’s it, Mother,” Hannah managed to choke out the words.

  “Poor Bill!” Delores sighed and shook her head. “Poor Andrea! And in her condition, too! Can’t you talk some sense into Mike? Surely he doesn’t actually believe that Bill killed anyone!”

  “I tried, Mother. I talked to Mike about it yesterday, but he wouldn’t budge an inch. He’s as stubborn as an ox.”

  “Well…I’m glad you found that out now. Just think how terrible this would be if you were married to him.”

  “I don’t think there’s any danger of that, at least not right now,” Hannah said under her breath.

  “What was that, dear?”

  “Nothing, Mother. Just thinking out loud.”

  “At least you’ve been warned about Mike’s true nature. That’s certainly worth something.”

  “True.”

  “Andrea said that you’re going to investigate. I want to help you, dear. What would you like me to do?”

  Hannah was about to say she’d have to think about it when she realized that she did have something Delores could do. She needed to find out who’d received that stuffed bear chair from the Pink Giraffe and her mother was the perfect person to find out for her.

  “What is it, dear? You thought of something, didn’t you?”

  “Yes, and here’s the situation,” Hannah said. And then she proceeded to tell her mother all about the fight Nettie’d had with Sheriff Grant on the day of his death and the fact that Nettie had wanted to rent to a family with a little girl. She explained about the Christmas present Nettie had ordered from The Pink Giraffe and then she asked the important question. “Do you think you can find out who got that present?”

  “Why of course I can!” Delores sounded pleased at being asked. “But why don’t you just ask Nettie?”

  “I don’t think it’ll do any good. I already asked her about the fight. She said it was personal and she didn’t want to talk about it.”

  Delores shrugged. “You struck out, dear. If Nettie says she doesn’t want to talk about something, wild horses couldn’t drag it out of her. But finding out about the present should be no problem. They know me at The Pink Giraffe. It’s where I get most of Tracey’s gifts.”

  “Could you call right now and ask?”

  “I could, but it would be better for me to go there in person. It’s much more difficult to say no face-to-face.”

  “You’re right. Could you take a couple hours off this afternoon and drive there?”

  Delores shook her head. “I could, but it won’t do any good. They’re closed during the day on Wednesdays. They open at seven this evening, but I can’t go there tonight.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I have…plans.”

  “Oh?” Hannah waited a moment, but her mother didn’t elaborate. “What kind of plans, Mother?”

  “Personal plans.”

  Hannah digested that answer and when no more elaboration was forthcoming, she began to worry. “Is there something wrong, Mother?”

  “Like what, dear?”

  “Like…your personal plans don’t include a visit to Doc Knight, do they?”

  “Of course not!” Delores gave a little laugh. “If I get sick, you’ll be the first to know about it. This is just something…personal. And I don’t want to discuss it.”

  Hannah took one look at her mother’s set face and knew she’d get nowhere by further probing. Delores could rival Nettie in the wild-horses-couldn’t-drag-it-out-of-her department. Rather than annoy her mother with more questions, Hannah switched gears. “Will you be able to drive to The Pink Giraffe tomorrow?”

  “Yes. I’ll pick up Tracey after morning kindergarten and take her with me.”

  Hannah started to
grin. “That might not be a good idea, Mother. It could be dangerous.”

  “What do you mean? How could going to a children’s store be dangerous?”

  “Oh, it won’t be dangerous for you or Tracey personally,” Hannah said, her smile growing wider. “But taking Tracey inside could put your credit cards in jeopardy.”

  Delores laughed. “You’re right, dear. But Granny’s Attic is doing very well and I can afford to indulge my only granddaughter a bit. Did Claire tell you what Nettie bought?”

  “Yes, a child’s chair shaped like a seated plush bear and she had it delivered in time for Christmas.”

  “I’m sure I can…” There was a crash outside the door and Delores stopped in mid-sentence. “What was that?”

  “I don’t know. It sounded like someone dropped something heavy that rolled…”

  “Sorry.” Luanne Hanks, Delores and Carrie’s assistant, stuck her head in the doorway. “I was carrying a brass umbrella stand and I tripped. Don’t worry. It’s not damaged. I checked.”

  Delores walked over to put her arm around Luanne’s shoulders. “I don’t care about the umbrella stand. I’m much more concerned about you. You’re shaking, Luanne. And you’re as pale as a ghost. Are you hurt?”

  “No, I’m fine. I was just worried that I’d damaged the umbrella stand.”

  “Nonsense! You know it’s not worth more than twenty dollars. And that’s on a good day.”

  Hannah glanced down at the floor. She didn’t see anything that Luanne could have tripped over.

  “Oh, there’s nothing there,” Luanne said, correctly interpreting the direction of Hannah’s gaze. “I just tripped over my own feet, that’s all.”

  “Well, I’m glad you’re all right,” Hannah said, waving goodbye to her mother and Luanne, and heading down the stairs. If she remembered correctly, Luanne had been on the girls’ gymnastic team before she’d dropped out of high school. She was normally as surefooted as a mountain goat and it was doubtful that she’d trip over her own feet. Something was wrong. Luanne had looked absolutely terrified when she’d poked her head in the doorway and Hannah was sure it had nothing to do with worrying about whether she’d damaged the umbrella stand. Why was Luanne so frightened? And did her fright have anything to do with Sheriff Grant’s murder?

  Hannah’s Bananas

  Do not preheat oven—this

  dough must chill before baking

  1 ½ cups melted butter (3 sticks)

  2 cups white granulated sugar

  ¾ cup mashed very ripe banana (2 medium or 3 small)

  4 teaspoons baking soda

  1 teaspoon salt

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

  4 cups flour (no need to sift)

  2 cups finely chopped walnuts or pecans (measure AFTER chopping)

  ½ cup white granulated sugar for later

  Melt butter in a large microwavable bowl. Stir in the sugar, beaten eggs, baking soda, and salt. Choose bananas that have black freckles on the skin so they’re almost overripe. Mash them until they’re smooth ( you can do this in a food processor or by hand ). Add the banana puree and mix thoroughly. Mix in the flour and then the nuts. Cover your bowl and refrigerate it for 4 hours ( overnight is fine, too ).

  When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.,

  rack in the middle position.

  Roll the chilled dough into walnut-sized balls with your hands. ( This dough is quite sticky—you can wear plastic gloves if you like, or wet your hands slightly so the dough won’t stick to them. ) Put 1/2 cup white sugar in a small bowl and roll the balls in it. Place the dough balls on a greased cookie sheet, 12 to a sheet. Press them down just a little so they won’t roll off on the floor when you put them in the oven. Then return your bowl to the refrigerator and let it chill until it’s time to roll more.

  Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees F., or until they’re lightly golden in color. They’ll flatten out, all by themselves. Let them cool for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet and then move them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

  These cookies freeze well. Roll them up in foil, place the rolls in a freezer bag, and they’ll be fine for 3 months or so, if they last that long.

  Yield: Approximately 10 dozen, depending on cookie size.

  Lisa’s cousin Beth says these are great when they’re dunked in hot chocolate.

  Carrie Rhodes also loves these cookies. She says that middle-aged women should eat bananas every day because they need extra potassium. ( I bit my tongue when she said “middle-aged”—Carrie’s at least fifty-five and people don’t usually live to be a hundred and ten! )

  Chapter

  Ten

  H

  annah was still thinking about Moishe when she pulled into her parking spot at The Cookie Jar on Thursday morning. When she picked up a replacement tip sheet this morning, Sue assured her that one of the ten suggestions was bound to work and that Moishe couldn’t hold out forever. But Hannah knew Moishe much better than that. If her cat decided that he didn’t want to eat his senior food, he could be even more stubborn than the other Lake Eden male who had once been part of her life, Mike Kingston.

  “Hi, Lisa,” Hannah called out as she came in the back door. “Sorry I’m late.”

  “That’s okay. I thought you’d be even later.” Lisa’s voice floated out of the coffee shop and a moment later she pushed through the door, carrying a steaming mug of coffee. “Did you get your problem solved with Moishe?”

  “No. I got a tip sheet for switching him to the new food, but whoever wrote it doesn’t know Moishe.”

  “True. How about sprinkling a little fresh catnip on his new food?”

  “That’s tip number seven.” Hannah held out the sheet. “And number eight is drizzling some tuna juice over the top of his bowl. I don’t have high hopes for any of them.”

  Lisa looked thoughtful. “Maybe Moishe’s just too smart to be fooled by tricks. Have you had a heart-to-heart with him and told him why his new food is good for him?”

  “Of course. I felt a little stupid getting down on the floor with him, but I did it anyway. I think he understood me, Lisa. He really paid attention to everything I said. But after I finished and I was getting up off the floor, he stomped over to his food bowl and tipped it over with his paw.”

  “Uh-oh. You’ve got a real problem on your…” Lisa stopped talking as the back door opened and Andrea stood there. “Hi, Andrea. Come in.”

  “Thanks. It’s nice and warm in here.” Andrea walked over to one of the stools at the workstation and sat down.

  “How about some coffee?” Hannah asked.

  “Yes! I’ve been saving up my coffee allotment, Hannah. Yours is a lot better than my instant.”

  Hannah headed for the coffee pot. Everyone knew that instant couldn’t hold a candle to real coffee brewed from scratch.

  “Here you go.” Hannah set the mug in front of her sister. “What brings you out so early?”

  “I got a phone call from the supervisor. She checked the records for me.”

  “Fun in the Sun?” Hannah asked, reaching for her notebook.

  “That’s right. One of their representatives called Bill at eight-twenty and the call lasted one minute.”

  “Good. Just let me jot that down.”

  “The only thing is, I don’t think it helps Bill any. I drove from our house to the school and timed the trip. It took me twenty minutes. Not that he did it, of course, but Bill could have killed Sheriff Grant at eight and gotten home in time to take the Fun in the Sun sales call.”

  “Wrong,” Hannah said, flipping through the notebook until she found the right page. “I was standing right there in the parking lot while Mike looked for bloodstains. He found they were heaviest right next to Sheriff Grant’s car and Mike said that’s where it happened. Since the car was at least ten yards away from the Dumpster, it must have taken the killer at least a couple of minutes to drag Sheriff Grant’s body there and put it inside.”


  “And if Bill had done that, he would have missed the Fun in the Sun call by a couple of minutes?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Thanks, Hannah.” A relieved smile spread over Andrea’s face. “Could the other call, the one from the roofing company, clear Bill completely if it came in at the right time?”

  “Maybe. Didn’t you tell me that you got home from the movie with Tracey at nine forty-five?”

  “That’s right. I looked at my watch when we got out of the car. I was feeling a little guilty because I’d kept Tracey up so late on a school night. I told her to go in the house, kiss her dad, and go straight to bed.”

  Hannah turned to a clean page in her notebook and crunched the numbers. “The second call could clear Bill if it came in at approximately ten minutes after nine. The time frame’s tight, but that would do it.”

  “Great! I’m going to drive around and look at more roofs, Hannah. I’ve got to find out who made that second call.”

  “Take your coffee with you,” Hannah urged, dumping the contents of Andrea’s mug into a disposable cup.

  “Thanks. I’ll be back if I find anything.”

  Lisa waited until Andrea had left and then she turned to Hannah. “What’s this about roofs?”

  It took Hannah a moment or two, but Lisa caught on right away when she explained about the time frame and how the second telemarketing call could provide an alibi for Bill.

  “I’ll call Herb right away,” Lisa promised.

  “Are you going to ask him if he got the same telemarketing call?”

  “That wouldn’t do any good. Herb always hangs up the minute they say, And how are you this evening? I just thought that since he makes his rounds every hour, he could keep his eye out for roofing trucks.”