Red Velvet Cupcake Murder

by Joanne Fluke

  “And since you didn’t give her the coffee, you’re off the official suspect list?”

  “Exactly.”

  Howie looked relieved. “Good! I wasn’t looking forward to that trial. I know I could have gotten you off, but that wouldn’t remove the cloud of suspicion you’d still have hanging over your head.”

  “I know. I’ll have to figure out who killed her in order to completely clear my name.”

  “And you’re going to do that?”

  “I’m going to try to do that,” Hannah corrected him.

  “All I can say is be careful, Hannah! There’s someone out there who doesn’t care if an innocent person is convicted for the crime he or she committed.”

  “I know. I’ll be careful. Send me a bill and I’ll pay you, Howie. I appreciate what you did for me.”

  Howie waved away that suggestion. “No charge, Hannah. Just bake me some Molasses Crackles every once in a while. I love those cookies.”

  “That’s easy,” Hannah said. “We’ll deliver them to your office tomorrow.”

  “Great! I wish every client I’ve lost this week could bake.”

  “You lost another client?”

  Howie nodded. “A big one. I’ve got to admit I’m upset about it. Warren Dalworth switched to a lawyer in the Cities.”

  “Really?” Hannah asked, remembering what her mother had said about the visitor in the three-piece suit who had come to see Warren in the hospital. “How about Roger? He’s still with you, isn’t he?”

  “Yes, but Roger doesn’t do much business with me. Almost everything goes through Dalworth Enterprises and Warren controls that . . . at least for now. I no longer know what will happen when Warren dies. And I understand from Roger that his condition is terminal.”

  Hannah’s antenna for trouble went on full alert. “But Warren’s wife is dead and Roger is his only son. He’ll inherit Dalworth Enterprises, won’t he?”

  “That’s the way Warren set it up with me. I don’t know what’s changed now that Warren has a new will.”

  “There’s a new will in place?”

  “Yes. I never would have known about it, but a guy I knew from law school dropped by to see me at the office the other day. He’s working for a big firm in the Cities. I asked him what he was doing here in Lake Eden and he said he drew up a will for somebody and he had to go to the hospital to get it signed. Of course I asked him who his client was and when he said it was Warren Dalworth, you could have knocked me over with a feather.”

  “Did you try to find out why Warren used someone else?”

  “Of course I did. The next morning I went out to the hospital to see Warren and ask him what was going on. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to talk to him. He was in I.C.U. and the visitors’ list was limited to members of his immediate family. Roger was there, visiting his father.”

  “Did you get a chance to talk to Roger?”

  “Yes. I waited for him to come out and I asked him about the new will. He said that his father had told him about calling in a lawyer from Minneapolis and changing a few things to make it easier for him to take over Dalworth Enterprises when the time came.”

  Hannah was curious. “Do you have any idea what those changes could be?”

  “I don’t have a clue unless circumstances have changed over the past month or so. I thought that Warren and I had every contingency covered in the will I drew up for him.”

  “Did Roger give you any reason why his father called in a lawyer from Minneapolis?”

  “Yes. He was reluctant to say it, but Roger thinks his father’s mind is slipping. He said Warren probably forgot he had a lawyer right here in town.”

  “Poor Warren!” Hannah didn’t like to think that the man most people regarded as the shrewdest investor and developer in the state could be failing mentally. “And poor Roger, too. It must be awful to see your father failing that way.”

  “Roger’s had a lot of grief lately.” He was silent for a moment and then he continued. “Roger was embarrassed. It was clear he didn’t want to go into details, but he said that when he asked Warren what was wrong with the will I drew up for him, Warren didn’t seem to know who I was and he didn’t remember that he even had a will.”

  “That doesn’t sound good.”

  “No, it doesn’t. Of course Warren is on some pretty strong pain medication so we have to make allowances for that.”

  “But do you think he was capable of making out a new will?”

  Howie shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t speak to him. But if what Roger says is true, Warren certainly shouldn’t have drafted a will without the advice and assistance of someone he knew and trusted.”

  “Like you?”

  “Not necessarily. It could have been someone like Doc Knight, or an old friend he knew in town.”

  “But Warren did it all by himself.”

  “That’s what I understand. And he did it with a lawyer who’d never met him before and couldn’t accurately judge his mental state.”

  Hannah shivered slightly. “What if there’s something . . . wrong in the will?”

  “That’s exactly what Roger asked me. He didn’t see the new will and all he knows about it is what his father told him. He asked me what he could do if his father had done something crazy, like leave Dalworth Enterprises to a total stranger, or a shelter for homeless earthworms.”

  “What did you tell Roger?”

  “I said that if there was something outrageous like that in Warren’s new will, it might go toward proving that Warren was incompetent, or not in his right mind when he instructed his new lawyer and signed the will. The courts have to decide that.”

  “And if they do, then the new will can be . . .” Hannah stopped, unable to think of the correct legal term. “Revoked?”

  “Declared invalid,” Howie provided the phrase. “If Warren was not of sound mind when he signed the new will, it doesn’t exist.”

  Forty-five minutes was long enough to stay at a teenage party even if the teenagers were dancing to music the adults couldn’t hear. Hannah and Michelle got back to Hannah’s condo at five minutes to ten.

  “Do you want to catch Moishe, or shall I?” Michelle asked as Hannah drew out her keys.

  “I’ll do it, but I don’t think he’ll be jumping into anyone’s arms tonight. He was so tired, he was snoring on my pillow when I left.”

  “Cuddles?” Michelle asked.

  “Cuddles,” Hannah confirmed it. “They were playing chase when we left for dinner.”

  Hannah held out her arms, but no orange and white twenty-two-pound cat landed anywhere in the vicinity. They walked in, shut the door, and listened to the faint snoring coming from Hannah’s bedroom.

  “Your guard cat is sleeping,” Michelle commented.

  “I know. How about you? Are you tired?”

  “Not really. Maybe we should bake. That always gets me relaxed enough to go right to sleep.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Hannah said, heading for the kitchen to switch on the lights. “What do you want to bake?”

  “Something we can use tomorrow at The Cookie Jar. You decide.”

  Hannah thought about that for a moment, but before she could decide, the phone rang. She reached up to grab the wall phone that hung near the kitchen table. “Hello?”

  “Thank goodness you’re home, dear!”

  “Mother?” Hannah was surprised. She’d seen her mother less than an hour and a half ago. Surely nothing drastic had happened in that short length of time.

  “You weren’t in bed, were you?”

  “No, Mother. Michelle and I were about to bake. Where are you?”

  “At the hospital. We’re having some trouble with Barbara tonight.”

  “What kind of trouble? She’s not worse, is she?”

  “Not physically. This is very silly, but Jenny’s talked to her, Doc’s talked to her, and I’ve talked to her. We just can’t make her understand that you’re not bringing Moishe back tonight. She insi
sts you said you were.”

  “Uh-oh!” Hannah sighed deeply as she thought back to her parting words. “Barbara asked me if I’d bring Moishe back and I said I would. I had no idea she wanted me to bring him back after dinner tonight.”

  “That’s what we all told her, but she said you promised. And she claims she can’t go to sleep until you get here with Moishe. She’s very agitated, dear. Doc says he can give her an injection that will put her to sleep, but he hates to do that when she’s doing so much better in every other way.”

  “Tell Doc Knight to hold off. I’ll be there in . . .” Hannah glanced at the clock. “Less than twenty minutes. Better warn her though. Moishe’s tired from playing with Cuddles while we were at dinner and he’ll probably just fall asleep on her bed.”

  “I think that’s what she wants, dear. She’s hoping that Moishe can stay overnight. We can rig up a litter box in Barbara’s bathroom. That’s no problem. And I can take the rest of Jenny’s shift and sleep on her cot in the room.”

  Hannah made a quick decision. “No, Mother. I’ll take Jenny’s cot and stay with Barbara and Moishe.”

  GUAC AD HOC

  Hannah’s 1st Note: This is Howie Levine’s guacamole recipe. He’s Lake Eden’s most popular lawyer.

  2 ounces cream cheese

  4 ripe avocados (I used Haas avocados)

  2 Tablespoons lemon juice (freshly squeezed is best)

  1 clove garlic, finely minced (you can squeeze it in a

  garlic press if you have one)

  cup finely chopped fresh oregano leaves

  1 Italian (or plum) tomato, peeled, seeded, and

  chopped

  4 green onions, peeled and thinly sliced (you can use

  up to 2 inches of the green stem)

  ½ teaspoon salt

  10 grinds of freshly ground pepper (or teaspoon)

  ½ cup sour cream to spread on top

  Bacon bits to sprinkle on top of the sour cream

  Tortilla chips as dippers

  Howie’s Note: I use chopped oregano because Florence doesn’t always carry cilantro at the Lake Eden Red Owl. This guacamole is equally good with either one.

  Heat the cream cheese in a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl for 15 seconds on HIGH, or until it’s spreadable.

  Peel and seed the avocados. Put them in the bowl with the cream cheese and mix everything up with a fork. Mix just slightly short of smooth. You want the mixture to have a few lumps of avocado.

  Add the lemon juice and mix it in. It’ll keep your Guac Ad Hoc from browning.

  Add the minced garlic, chopped oregano leaves, tomato, sliced green onion, salt, and pepper. Mix everything together.

  Put your Guac Ad Hoc in a pretty bowl, and cover it with the sour cream. Sprinkle on the bacon bits. If you’re NOT going to serve it immediately, spread on the sour cream, but don’t use the bacon bits. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate it until time to serve. Then sprinkle on the bacon bits. (My bacon bits got a little tough when I added them to the bowl and refrigerated it. They were best when I sprinkled them on at the last moment.)

  Hannah’s 2nd Note: Mike and Norman like this best if I serve it with sliced, pickled Jalapenos on top. Mother won’t touch it that way.

  Yield: This amount of Guac Ad Hoc serves 4 unless you’re making it for a Super Bowl game. Then you’d better double the recipe.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  “Thank you for coming, Hannah,” Barbara said, reaching out for Hannah’s hand once Moishe was settled comfortably on her bed. “You don’t know how much this means to me.” She turned to Jenny. “You can leave now, Jenny. You must be tired. Delores said you worked two shifts today.”

  “I can stay if you need me,” Jenny offered.

  “No, but thank you,” Hannah said. “You should go home and sleep in your own bed. I’ll stay here with Barbara and Moishe.”

  “A moment, Hannah?” Jenny asked, gesturing toward the hallway outside Barbara’s door.

  “I’ll be right back, Barbara,” Hannah said, getting up from the chair to follow Jenny out.

  “That’s all right. I’ve got my nice big Moishe to protect me.” Barbara stroked Moishe’s fur and he purred. “Take your time, Hannah. I’ll be fine with Moishe here.”

  Jenny led Hannah a few steps down the hallway before she spoke. “It’s amazing how calm she is now,” Jenny said in a hushed voice. “We were all terribly worried about her. Doc Knight took her blood pressure and it was through the roof. Then, the moment we told her that you were on your way with Moishe, she calmed right down. I took her vitals right before you came and everything was perfectly normal.”

  “Has she mentioned her brother or the white monster again?”

  “No, and Doc Knight took her down to radiology when he got back here from dinner. The swelling’s almost gone. We’re all hoping that’s why she hasn’t mentioned her brother or the white monster again.”

  “Me, too. Are there any instructions for me? Anything I should or shouldn’t do?”

  “Nothing. A nurse will come in to check on her every hour or so. She’s off most of her pain meds and those are delivered by the IV drip anyway.”

  “So nobody will be replacing any bags of medication or anything while I’m here?”

  “Not until six in the morning. That’s when her day nurse comes on. Do you want me to leave instructions for her to wake you?”

  “Yes. That’ll give me time to drive home, catch a quick shower, and go to work.”

  “If you can sleep on that cot. It’s not the most comfortable bed in the world.”

  “If I don’t, I’ll give Michelle my truck and sleep when I get home. I’ll be fine, Jenny. Don’t waste time worrying about me. I do have a question, though. What do I do if Barbara can’t sleep?”

  “If you can’t sleep either, you can play the name game with her. She loves to play that.”

  “What is it?”

  “It’s a game Dr. Schmidt taught me. She’s testing it with patients who have brain injuries and also with Alzheimer’s patients. The object is to alleviate the anxiety of attempting to remember and simply have fun with silly rhymes and amusing mental pictures.”

  “And this game is Dr. Love’s . . . uh . . .” Hannah stopped speaking and mentally kicked herself for using Dr. Schmidt’s radio name. It wasn’t public knowledge that Dr. Schmidt, head of the psychology department at the community college, was the voice behind the Dr. Love advice to the lovelorn show on KCOW radio.

  “That’s all right, Hannah. I know she’s Dr. Love. She’s my college advisor and she told me.”

  “That’s a relief! I knew I was going to slip up sometime, and I’m glad it happened with someone who already knew. What I meant to ask you was whether Dr. Schmidt’s name game is a kind of mnemonic device.”

  “Yes. That’s exactly what it is. And it’s certainly worked well with Barbara. She remembers your name by rhyming it with your banana cookies. When I say, What is the Cookie Lady’s name? She pictures you with a plate of your banana cookies and says, Banana Hannah.”

  “How about my mother? Does she remember that her name is Delores?”

  “Yes, and we had a terrible time thinking of a rhyme or a mental picture for her. Barbara came up with it herself. She imagines your mother singing with a chorus and says Delores .”

  Hannah laughed. “I’m willing to bet that Barbara’s never heard my mother sing! What does she do for her dad?”

  “His name is Patrick, but that was a little too difficult. I found out from your mother that all his friends called him Paddy. Barbara takes that literally and imagines him eating a patty melt at the café. Patty sounds like Paddy and she remembers that his full name was Patrick. That seems to be her most difficult name. Sometimes she remembers it, but at other times she tells me she can’t remember her father’s name. There seems to be some sort of mental block. I haven’t figured out what it is yet.”

  “Are there any other names I can ask?”

  “Yes
. Her mother’s name, the sheriff’s name, the detective’s name, and her dentist’s name.”

  “She doesn’t call Norman my dentist any longer?”

  Jenny shook her head. “She calls him Norman or Dr. Rhodes. She has an image for both names.”

  “Hannah? Are you coming back?”

  It was Barbara’s voice and Hannah realized she’d been gone long enough to make Barbara nervous. “I’d better go. I’ll let you know how everything goes if we play the name game.”

  When Hannah walked into the room, Barbara’s face lit up in a huge smile. “You’re back!” she said. “I’m glad, Hannah. Moishe and I were getting worried.”

  “You didn’t have to worry,” Hannah told her. “Jenny was just teaching me how to play the name game with you.”

  “Can we play it now? I think Moishe is asleep. He’s snoring.”

  Hannah listened for a moment and then she laughed. “He certainly is! He sounds like a buzz saw. Do you remember your dentist’s name?”

  “I see him with an umbrella in a rainstorm! Storm! That’s it! Stormin’ Norman!”

  “Very good!”

  “I just learned that one today. Why did you want to talk about Norman?”

  “Because he has a cat named Cuddles.”

  “That’s a cute name. Does Moishe know Cuddles?”

  “Moishe went to play with Cuddles while Norman and I went out to dinner with Doc Knight and my mother.”

  “You mother is in a chorus. That means your mother is Delores!”

  “That’s right. Norman and I left Moishe at his house with Cuddles. They played chase.”

  “Moishe chases Cuddles? Or Cuddles chases Moishe?”

  “Cuddles always initiates the chase, but it goes both ways. It’s a good thing Norman has a big house. They get a lot of exercise.”

  “And that’s why Moishe is so tired.” Barbara reached out to stroke Moishe’s back as if in sympathy. “Cuddles is younger, isn’t she?”