Fudge Cupcake Murder

by Joanne Fluke

  “Okay, Bill. I’m sure you know best. I’ll pay for the taillight. Just let me know how much it is.”

  “I’ll do that. Do you remember what time you hit my car, Betty? It could be really important.”

  “I remember,” Betty said, and she sounded very confident. “It was ten after nine. I left Lorna’s house at five after, because I wanted to get home in time to feed my cats, put in a load of laundry, and watch the ten o’clock news.”

  “And you’re sure about the time?”

  “I’m positive. I looked at my watch when I climbed into the car. Are you sure you don’t want to file an insurance claim, Bill? I’m clearly in the wrong here.”

  “No need, Betty. And the next time you see me, remind me to give you a big hug.”

  “For hitting your car?” Betty sounded confused.

  “Not exactly. It’s when you hit my car that counts. That was the luckiest accident I ever had.”

  There was a moment of silence and when she spoke again, Betty sounded even more puzzled. “Okay. If you say so.”

  “Do you mind if Mike Kingston calls you tonight to verify what you told me?”

  “No…” Betty sounded a bit dubious. “You’re not going to…uh…charge me with anything, are you?”

  “No way I’d do that. I just need you to tell him what time you hit my car, so he knows it was parked outside my house at the time.”

  “Oh. Well, sure. I can do that.” Betty sounded like she wanted to ask more questions, but she didn’t. “I’m going to watch a movie in twenty minutes. Could you have him call before then?”

  Bill agreed, and right after he’d disconnected the call, he punched in Mike’s cell phone number. Once Mike had Betty’s number and had promised to call right away, Bill hung up the phone and hugged both Andrea and Hannah. “Thanks for all your help. It’s going to be good to get back to work again!”

  “I’m sure it will,” Andrea said, and Hannah noticed that her sister looked absolutely delighted that Bill’s suspension was about to be over.

  “Mike’s going to buy us breakfast to celebrate,” Bill announced, turning to Hannah. “I’m going in at six to go over what he’s done on the case so far, and we’ll meet you at The Corner Tavern at seven-thirty.”

  Andrea’s face lit up with a smile. “Oh, good! I love their pancakes.”

  “Not you, honey,” Bill told her. “You have to stay here with your feet up. Hannah will bring you takeout, right Hannah?”

  Hannah said she would, knowing that her sister was disappointed. But Bill would be working and at least Andrea wouldn’t have to watch him do any more househusband chores. Perhaps it was time to remind Andrea of her blessings. “Look on the bright side, Andrea. Now that Bill’s going back to work, you can sleep in.”

  “Right,” Andrea said, and she looked much more cheerful. “I’ll set the alarm for eight-thirty, Hannah. Then I’ll be up when you bring me breakfast. Can I give you my order now?”

  “Sure.” Hannah grabbed her notebook and flipped it to a blank page.

  “I’ll have pancakes, and blueberry syrup, and a couple of eggs over easy, and bacon and…”

  “No salt,” Hannah interrupted her.

  “Right. No bacon then. I’ll have home fries, whole wheat toast with no butter and lots of those little packets of jelly, and something else on the side instead of meat, like tomatoes sprinkled with sugar.”

  Hannah made a face. Both Andrea and Michelle had adopted Delores’s habit of sprinkling tomato slices with sugar. Hannah, on the other hand, took after their father and liked hers sprinkled with salt.

  “Okay. What to drink?”

  “A chocolate shake. There’s no salt in that.”

  “That’s really strange,” Bill said, frowning slightly.

  “You mean a chocolate shake for breakfast?”

  “Huh?” Bill looked totally confused and Hannah knew he hadn’t been listening while Andrea gave her breakfast order.

  “What’s strange, Bill?” Hannah asked, reaching for her jacket. It was already past eleven and if she didn’t head for home soon, there would be little point in going to bed.

  “There was music playing when Mike answered his cell phone and I know his stereo’s broken.”

  Hannah gave Andrea a look and Andrea gave it right back to her. After seeing Mike at Bertanelli’s with Shawna Lee, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Mike might have gone home with her. And if he had, that meant he hadn’t been exactly pining away for the eldest Swensen sister while he’d been on her persona non grata list.

  Chapter

  Sixteen

  M

  onday morning came earlier than Hannah anticipated. It arrived at four-thirty in the morning when she rolled over on what felt like small boulders in her bed and discovered that Moishe had brought her the contents of his food bowl during the night.

  “All right, I give up,” Hannah sighed, sitting up to switch on the lamp by her bed and jam her feet into her slippers. Moishe wanted his regular food back. That much was clear. And perhaps he’d done her a favor by waking her up this early. If she could manage to get ambulatory and awake enough to drive by five, she could get to work early and finish the baking before she left to have breakfast with Mike and Bill.

  Hannah fed Moishe his regular fare and downed a second cup of the strong coffee her grandmother had called Swedish Plasma, then walked back to the bedroom to excavate her sheets from beneath the senior cat food rubble. Rather than try to save the nuggets, Hannah opened the bedroom window, brought the corners of the sheet together to make a bundle, and shook it out as an offering to passing cats that were not as discriminating as Moishe.

  “What would you like, Hannah?” Mike said, smiling at her across the table.

  An explanation of what’s going on with you and Shawna Lee, Hannah thought, but she said, “Pancakes, maple syrup, and eggs sunny side up.”

  “Coffee?” the waitress asked, favoring Hannah with a smile.

  “Yes, please. And lots of it. I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

  “Me, neither,” Mike said, and Hannah clamped her lips shut. No way she was going to ask why!

  “I slept like a baby,” Bill volunteered. “I think it was because the pressure was off. It was awful not being able to prove I didn’t do it.”

  “Just be glad you’re not in France.” Mike reached out to pour a cup of coffee for Hannah from the carafe. “Their system is guilty until proven innocent, not the other way around like us.”

  Hannah clamped her lips shut. It seemed to her that the Winnetka County Sheriff’s Department had adopted the French system. Bill had been suspended until he could prove his innocence.

  Twenty minutes later, their food had been served and they’d done a good job of cleaning their plates. Bill went up to the counter to order Andrea’s takeout breakfast while Mike stayed behind in the booth with Hannah.

  Mike gave her a big smile and reached out to touch her hand. “I’ve really missed you the past couple of days, Hannah.”

  It’s been seven days, and that’s more than a couple, Hannah thought, keeping her expression as neutral as possible. She could have argued with the verb in Mike’s sentiment as well. How could sharing a booth at Bertanelli’s with Shawna Lee Quinn possibly be construed as missing her?

  “I sure could have used your help last night,” Mike went on.

  “Oh, really?” Hannah’s eyebrows shot up. From where she’d been sitting it hadn’t looked as if Mike had needed help from anyone! “With what?”

  “Remember the secretary I introduced you to the last time you came out to the station?”

  Hannah looked thoughtful, pretending to make an effort to remember. “You mean the new one? Sharon Lee, or something like that?”

  “Shawna Lee. She was with the Minneapolis Police Department. I used to work with her.”

  Hannah did her best to look innocently interested. “I think you might have mentioned that.”

  “She’s only be
en here for a month and she doesn’t know anyone in town. She could really use a friend.”

  How about an enemy? I could manage that, Hannah thought, but she didn’t say it. Jealousy was an ugly emotion and it was better to keep it close to the vest. “I’m sure she’ll find one. People are friendly around here.”

  “That’s true. I didn’t really expect you to take her on as your pet project, but I thought maybe you could introduce her to somebody that…”

  “Ronni,” Hannah interrupted him.

  “What?”

  “Ronni Ward,” Hannah named Lake Eden’s three-time bikini contest winner and the biggest flirt in Winnetka County. “Does she still teach that step aerobics class out at the station?”

  “Yes, she does. It’s really popular with the deputies.”

  “I’m sure it is. Maybe Shawna Lee should enroll. I think she’d have a lot in common with Ronni and they’re about the same age.”

  “Thanks, Hannah.” Mike gave her a smile that sent Hannah’s blood pressure soaring. “I knew you’d come up with something. You’re the nicest person I know and you’re a real problem solver.”

  Hannah was just wondering if putting two flirts together would neutralize them, like subtracting a number from itself, when she looked up to see Bill approaching the booth. It was amazing what a difference an alibi made. Now that he was back on the job, Bill was standing up straighter, walking with more confidence, and smiling a whole lot more.

  “They said Andrea’s takeout will be ready in ten minutes and the waitress will bring it over to you. Mike and I should leave. We’ve got a lot to do today.”

  “I’m really glad I’m not in the doghouse with you anymore, Hannah.” Mike scooted over to Hannah’s side of the booth and kissed her on the cheek. Hannah had the urge to turn her head so that his lips connected with hers, but since Bill was watching, she didn’t. “I bet you’re really relieved,” Mike said with a grin.

  Hannah wasn’t at all sure what he meant. “Why would I be relieved?”

  “Because now that Bill’s back on the case with me, you can drop your murder investigation.”

  “That’s right,” Bill said, smiling at Hannah. “We’re really grateful for everything you’ve done so far, but it’s time for you to step aside and let the professionals take over.”

  Hannah’s mouth fell open and she clacked it shut again, hoping that no one had noticed. “You…um…want me to step aside?”

  “Yes.” Bill zipped up his jacket. “Don’t worry, Hannah. Now that we’re both on the case, we’ll have two trained observers to assess the situation.”

  And this from the trained observer who was ready to paint Andrea’s light blue living room with bright yellow enamel! Hannah thought.

  Mike began to frown and Hannah knew that he, at least, had noticed her lack of enthusiasm. “I really hope you’re not going to interfere in our investigation. You are planning to drop it, aren’t you?”

  Hannah just stared at Mike for a moment. Who did he think he was kidding? Dropping her investigation now would be like jerking a cake from the oven before it had time to rise. But both Mike and Bill seemed very serious and Hannah knew it wouldn’t be prudent to tell them that it was simply not in her nature to leave a job half-finished.

  “Of course I’ll drop it,” Hannah said.

  “I really thought they were smarter than that,” Andrea said digging into her stack of pancakes. “They actually expect us to drop it?”

  “That’s what they said. And I told them I would.”

  “You did?” Andrea’s fork dropped from her fingers with a clatter. “But you were lying, weren’t you?”

  “I wasn’t exactly lying. I prefer to think of it as a half-truth. I promised them I’d drop the investigation, but I didn’t say when I’d drop it.”

  “That’s different.” Andrea gave a relieved smile. “So what do we do next?”

  “Since you can’t be on your feet, you can run our office from here.”

  “We have an office?” Andrea looked amused.

  “We do now.”

  “Okay, I’ll run the office. Do you want me to call the rest of the names on that list Nettie gave us and see if they have alibis?”

  “That would be great. You’re really good on the phone.”

  “Of course I am. I’m a real estate agent. What are you going to do?”

  “I’ll run out to the sheriff’s station and pump Barbara Donnelly for information about those old cases Sheriff Grant may have stolen. And while I’m there, I’ll ask her about his work schedule. If we can figure out what he was doing and who he saw the day he was killed, that might help.”

  “A timeline,” Andrea said, nodding wisely. “That’s what they do in all the detective movies, but it hasn’t really helped us yet.”

  “I know.” Hannah sighed deeply. Establishing a timeline for the day of Sheriff Grant’s death would probably work about as well as standing at graveside, attempting to spot anyone suspicious.

  “Well, there’s always a first time.” Andrea, ever the optimist, grabbed the maple bar Hannah had brought her for dessert and took a big bite.

  “Okay, I’m out of here,” Hannah said, plumping Andrea’s pillows, moving the phone closer so that it was at hand, and fetching a second pen just in case the first ran out of ink. Then she waved goodbye and went back out to her cookie truck. She’d stop in to say hello to Lisa, ask her to tell Herb to call off the search for roofing trucks, stop at the vet’s office to ask for more advice about Moishe and their on-going battle with the senior food, and deliver cookie orders on her way to the sheriff’s station. And if she just happened to run into Shawna Lee Quinn while she was walking down the ugly green corridors of the sheriff’s station, she planned to nicely, very nicely, put a little crimp in her plans to snare Mike.

  “Hannah? Is that you?” Shawna Lee’s mouth curved up in a smile as Hannah walked into the sheriff’s outer office. “Mike told me all about you and how nice you were. I know I only met you once before, but I feel as if we’re friends already!”

  Hannah forced a pleasant expression. There was a limit to how much bubbling enthusiasm she could take in any one day. One more comment from Shawna Lee and she’d be on overload. “Hi, Shawna Lee. Is Barbara on a break?”

  “No.” Shawna Lee put on a tragic face. “It’s just so sad, Hannah. Barbara took a leave of absence…you know, one of those compassionate things? I’m afraid it’s of indefinite duration.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means we don’t know how long she’ll be gone,” Shawna Lee answered Hannah’s question literally. “Barbara worked with Sheriff Grant for years, you know. And she said she just wasn’t sure she could come back to work without him. They were like partners. You know what I mean?”

  “Sure,” Hannah said. “So you’re filling in for Barbara until she comes back?”

  Shawna Lee nodded and her ash blond curls bounced. Then she leaned a little closer and said, “Just between you and me, I don’t think Barbara will be back. She really lost it when she heard that Sheriff Grant had been killed. She even misfiled a bunch of daily reports.”

  “She did?” Hannah was surprised. Everyone said that Barbara was a great secretary and it would be out of character for her to misfile reports. “Do you remember what was in those reports?”

  “Not really. I didn’t pay that much attention. I just looked for the ones that were misfiled and put them back in the proper places. It took me hours and I found all but one. Just as soon as I get some extra time, I’m going to go through the folders paper by paper until I find it.”

  “I’m curious,” Hannah said, giving Shawna Lee a smile that she hoped would invite confidences. “How do you know there’s still one report missing?”

  “I can tell by the file folder.”

  “What file folder?”

  “There’s a hanging file folder with nothing in it.”

  “Oh. And you don’t think Barbara was in the habit of storing her hanging f
olders that way?”

  Shawna Lee shook her head. “I know she wasn’t. There weren’t any other empty folders in the cabinet and there’s half a box of them in her supply drawer. There’s a report missing. I’m sure of it.”

  “Well, good luck in finding it,” Hannah said, turning to go. That missing report could be important and Shawna Lee had already told her everything she knew. Now Hannah needed to talk to Barbara Donnelly.

  “I’m really glad you dropped by, Hannah.”

  “You are?” Hannah turned back.

  “Yes. I wanted to find out how your sister was. I bet she’s really relieved that her husband is back at work. She’s about ready to have those twins, isn’t she?”

  “She’s not having twins.”

  “Really?” Shawna Lee looked surprised. “But the last time I saw her out here at the station, she was so big and awkward. Of course that’s understandable. It must be terribly difficult to look attractive when you’re that pregnant.”

  “Andrea manages,” Hannah said, bristling. Shawna Lee had no right to criticize her sister.

  “She does have some very cute maternity outfits. Still, I’m sure she’ll be glad to get her shape back. Bill will probably be glad, too.”

  “Why’s that?” Hannah asked, just waiting for Shawna to say something catty and seal her fate.

  “It can’t be any fun for a guy to get close and personal when his wife looks like a balloon.” Shawna Lee gave a little laugh and she didn’t seem to notice that Hannah hadn’t joined in. “I really hope you’ll put in a good word for me with your sister and Bill. I’m a good secretary and I’d love to get this job and work for Bill, especially since he’s bound to win the election now.”

  Hannah smiled and it wasn’t a nice smile. “You’re wrong, Shawna Lee. Bill might not be the next sheriff.”

  “But why not? He’s the only one running now that Sheriff Grant is dead.”

  “True. But Sheriff Grant could still win. The ballots are already printed and his name is on them.”