Double Fudge Brownie Murder (Hannah Swensen series Book 18)

by Fluke, Joanne

  “You’re emerging from the Dark Ages?”

  “I guess you could say that. It shouldn’t take long. Tracey’s an expert when it comes to the new phones. She’ll steer me in the right direction.”

  “I have no doubt of that. Tracey’s a genius when it comes to anything electronic. When you talk to Andrea, ask her to think of another couple we can invite. The more people we have, the more the distraction. And the more the distraction, the less the tension.”

  After Michelle went back to the coffee shop, Hannah got herself a big glass of water. She felt like she’d been hit between the eyes with a sledgehammer. She’d really had no concept of the problems she’d created by inviting Norman. Now they’d have only forty-eight hours to plan and prepare a dinner party and that meant more work for both of them.

  “I think we’ve got it, Hannah,” Andrea said. They were sitting at the work island and all three sisters had just sampled Hannah’s latest batch of cookies and pronounced them excellent. “Read the list of guests and we’ll see if we have enough.”

  “You and Bill, Michelle and Lonnie, Lisa and Herb, Norman, Mike, and Ross. Counting me, that’s ten.”

  “I think we need a couple of single women,” Michelle suggested. “They’ll be a distraction for Mike and Norman. With other women there, they won’t be concentrating so much on you.”

  “Agreed,” Andrea said. “It’s really too bad Mother and Doc aren’t here. Mother could distract anyone.”

  “Is that a compliment?” Hannah asked her.

  “I don’t know. Mother does tend to dominate the conversation, but in this case, we need someone who can do that.”

  “I’ve got an idea,” Hannah said. “How about Tracey and Bethie? I think they’d be just as distracting as two single women.”

  Andrea groaned. “I know they’d be distracting, especially in Bethie’s case. Grandma McCann just taught her the ‘Itsy Bitsy Spider’ song and she wants everyone to sing it with her. And Tracey can take you away from the group by helping you with the new phone she helps you buy.”

  “Then Tracey and Bethie are in.” Michelle sounded very certain. “Kids are a great distraction. And we’ll ask Norman to bring Cuddles.”

  “He’s bringing her,” Hannah said. “I already asked him to.”

  “That means Feet Up. It’s a perfect distraction. Let’s make sure we drop little pieces of pork chop to bait them.”

  “Let’s ask Grandma McCann, too,” Andrea suggested. “That way she can take the girls home at bedtime, and Bill and I can stay until Mike and Norman leave.”

  “Good idea,” Michelle gestured for Hannah to write it down.

  Hannah flipped the page in her notebook and added her nieces and Grandma McCann. “We’ve got thirteen.”

  Andrea frowned. “I’m not that superstitious, but thirteen is an unlucky number.”

  “In some cultures it’s a lucky number,” Hannah told her.

  “But we don’t live in those cultures. I think we ought to have at least one more. How many people can you fit around your table, Hannah?”

  “I have fourteen chairs and a highchair for Bethie. Fifteen would be crowded, but it’s possible, especially since Tracey is small.”

  “It is fourteen counting Cuddles,” Michelle pointed out. “Moishe and Cuddles are distractions, too.”

  “And they don’t have to sit at the table,” Hannah said with a laugh.

  “You’re right, Michelle,” Andrea agreed. “I think we’ve got the ideal crowd to take Hannah off the hot seat.” She turned to Hannah. “I can bring some applesauce to go with the pork. Grandma McCann makes it from scratch.”

  “Applesauce would be great with pork,” Hannah told her, looking down at her notebook and flipping the page to the menu they’d come up with earlier. “We’ve got your applesauce with Michelle’s Lick Your Chops Pork.” She turned to her youngest sister. “Your pork dish has potatoes, doesn’t it?”

  “Yes. It has potatoes and gravy, with onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms on the side. It’s yummy and goopy, if you know what I mean, so we’ll need some kind of bread to soak up the gravy.”

  “How about a quick bread?” Hannah suggested.

  Andrea looked puzzled. “What’s a quick bread?”

  “A bread without yeast,” Hannah explained. “Savory muffins are a quick bread and so are biscuits. Actually, so is banana bread, but I wouldn’t serve it with pork chops. How about cranberry biscuits? Cranberries go well with pork.”

  “Do you have a recipe for those?” Andrea asked.

  “No, but I can wing it. I’ll try them out later this afternoon to see if they work.”

  “I’ll be at the office until five,” Andrea informed her. “You can always call me and I can taste them for you. I could even take a couple home to Bill to get his opinion.”

  Hannah smiled. She knew exactly what Bill’s opinion would be. He loved biscuits in any way, shape, or form and he was also fond of cranberries. “Good idea,” she told Andrea. “I’ll call you when they’re ready.”

  Hannah was just sitting down with her mid-afternoon cup of coffee when Lisa came into the kitchen carrying an empty display jar. “Thanks for the invitation, Hannah. Herb and I would love to come to dinner at your place.”

  “Good,” Hannah said, motioning toward an empty stool. “Did Michelle cue you in about my goof with Norman?”

  “Yes, between delivering cookies and refilling coffee cups, I got the whole story in eleven parts and we’ll be glad to help you out.” She glanced at the empty package of sweetened dried cranberries on the counter. “Are you making Boggles? Or cranberry muffins?”

  “No, but you’re close. I’m not making cookies and I’m not making muffins. I’m baking Cranberry Biscuits.”

  “Are they an experiment?” Lisa guessed.

  “Yes. If they turn out all right, we’ll serve them for dinner Thursday night.”

  Just then the timer rang. Lisa followed Hannah to the oven and watched as she opened the door. “They smell good,” she said. “Hold on for a second and I’ll get the empty baker’s rack.”

  Hannah waited until Lisa wheeled the rack into position and then she took out the first two pans of biscuits. She slid them onto the rack and was just turning around to grab another set of pans when Lisa spoke again.

  “They look good, too. I think you’ve got a winner, Hannah.”

  “We’ll have to taste them before we know for sure,” Hannah said as she took out another two pans. As she placed them on the racks, she decided that Lisa was right. The biscuits were a beautiful golden color and they smelled so good her mouth began to water.

  “I don’t know if I can wait until they cool,” Lisa said, her eyes fixed on the top rack as Hannah removed two more pans.

  “Wait for what?”

  Both Hannah and Lisa turned to see Michelle standing in the doorway.

  “Wait for these cranberry biscuits of Hannah’s to cool,” Lisa explained.

  “You’ll have to wait a few minutes at least,” Michelle informed her. “Everyone is clamoring for you to tell the Judge Colfax story again. Bertie Straub is back for the fourth time today.”

  Lisa turned back to Hannah. “Promise to save one of those cranberry biscuits for me?”

  “I promise, but I don’t think that’ll be a problem. I just baked eight pans.”

  Lisa hurried back into the coffee shop and Michelle went to the full baker’s rack to fill the empty display jar Lisa had brought in with Peanut Butter and Jam Cookies. “Mike came in a couple of minutes ago. He said he wanted to listen to Lisa’s story. Do you want me to send him back here when Lisa finishes so that you can invite him to dinner in person?”

  Hannah almost groaned. She really didn’t want to see Mike. She’d already done the wrong thing with Norman and that made her leery of doing the wrong thing with Mike, too. She wanted to ask Michelle to invite him, but since she’d invited Norman, she supposed it was only right to invite Mike herself and not rely on a third person to
do it. When she did, she’d be very careful what she said.

  “Okay,” Hannah gave a little nod. “Tell Mike I’d like to see him. I’ll be right here, reading over the notes I made at the courthouse this morning.”

  After Michelle left, Hannah got out her notes. Dave had given her the names of five suspects. One was Chad Norton. She’d already written his name on her list, but she made a notation next to it. Temper, she wrote. Court ordered anger management course.

  The next suspect she’d added was Sheila Dortweiler. She noted the fact that Sheila had inherited from her father and that she was supporting her musician son. Hannah would definitely go to visit Sheila in Annandale.

  Seth Dortweiler was the third suspect on Hannah’s list. She’d talk to Michelle about going to see Seth when he was performing with Liquid Steel.

  And then there was Nora Colfax, Judge Colfax’s widow. Hannah added her name to the suspect list because family members of the victim were always suspect until proven innocent.

  That left only two other suspects and Hannah wrote in Margaret George and her daughter. As she wrote them down, she frowned slightly. She’d met a woman with the last name of George, but she couldn’t remember where. She had a feeling it was right here in Lake Eden, but she wasn’t sure. It was a pity that Delores couldn’t answer her cell phone while she was on the ship. She knew everyone in Lake Eden and if there was a woman named Margaret George, in town, Hannah’s mother would know of her.

  The enticing aroma of the Cranberry Biscuits pulled Hannah off her stool. She followed the scent like a hunting dog and touched a biscuit on the top rack. It was still a bit on the hot side of warm, but she didn’t care. She simply had to taste one to see if she’d succeeded.

  Hannah didn’t bother with a napkin. She juggled the hot biscuit from hand to hand as she walked back to the workstation. She broke it open, dropped the two halves quickly, and went after the butter. She got a stick out of the walk-in cooler and placed it on a plate. Of course, she’d prefer softened butter, but the biscuits were still so hot, they’d melt the butter in no time at all.

  A moment later, part of the biscuit was buttered. She’d been right. The butter melted almost immediately. Hannah picked up her creation and bit into it, chewing rapidly so that she wouldn’t burn the inside of her mouth. The cranberries were tender and the taste was good. As a matter of fact, it was much more than good. Her Cranberry Biscuits were incredibly delicious and that meant she’d succeeded!

  CRANBERRY BISCUITS

  Preheat oven to 425 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

  3 cups all-purpose flour (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)

  2 teaspoons cream of tartar (this is important)

  1 teaspoon baking powder

  1 teaspoon baking soda

  1 teaspoon salt

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

  8-ounce package cream cheese, softened (I used Philadelphia in the silver box)

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

  1 cup sour cream (8 ounces)

  ½ cup milk (see Hannah’s 1st Note)

  ½ cup sweetened dried cranberries (I used Craisins)

  Hannah’s 1st Note: Sometimes you may need to add more or less milk so that all the ingredients combine in a wet/dry mixture that’s about the consistency of cottage cheese. I’ve made these biscuits several times and I’ve never had to use less or more than a half-cup of milk. I don’t think you’ll have to adjust it either, but you can if you need to.

  FIRST STEP

  Prepare your baking sheets by spraying them with Pam or covering them with parchment paper. If your baking sheets are small, you may need to prepare 2 sheets since this recipe makes 12 very large biscuits.

  SECOND STEP

  Use a medium-size mixing bowl to combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir them all up together. Cut in the salted butter just as you would for piecrust dough.

  Hannah’s 2nd Note: If you have a food processor, you can use it for the first step. Cut ½ cup COLD salted butter into 8 chunks. Layer them with the dry ingredients in the bowl of the food processor. Process with the steel blade in an on-and-off motion until the mixture has the texture of cornmeal. Transfer the mixture to a medium-sized mixing bowl and proceed to the next step.

  THIRD STEP

  Stir in the softened cream cheese. Add the beaten eggs and the sour cream in that order. Mix everything all up together.

  Add the milk and stir until everything is thoroughly combined.

  Sprinkle in the sweetened dried cranberries and mix them in thoroughly.

  FOURTH STEP

  Use a soup spoon to drop the biscuits by rounded spoonfuls onto the baking sheet(s) you’ve prepared. Leave at least and inch and a half clearance between each biscuit.

  Once the biscuits are on the baking sheet(s), wet your fingertips and shape them into nice-looking rounds. (I leave mine slightly irregular so everyone will know that they haven’t come out of a paper tube in the refrigerated section of the Red Owl.)

  FIFTH STEP

  Bake the biscuits at 425 degrees F. for 12 to 14 minutes, or until they’re golden brown on top.

  Cool the biscuits for at least 5 minutes on the cookie sheet, and then remove them with a metal spatula. Serve them in a towel-lined basket so that they stay warm.

  Yield: Makes 12 large biscuits that everyone will love, especially if you use them to accompany ham, pork, or turkey!

  Hannah’s 3rd Note: If there are any leftover biscuits, store them in a plastic bag at room temperature. They’re wonderful for breakfast the next day. All I do is split them, toast them, and slather them with butter.

  Lisa’s Note: I’m going to try these for turkey sandwiches the day after Thanksgiving. I think Herb will love them!

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Hi, Hannah,” Mike said, coming in the swinging door from the coffee shop. “How are you?”

  “I’m fine,” Hannah said.

  “How was Vegas?” Mike asked. “I was going to ask you right away, but I had a lot on my mind when I saw you at the courthouse yesterday.”

  Interrogated me would be a better description than saw me, Hannah’s mind said. And of course you couldn’t ask me when you came to the condo, because you were too busy continuing to interrogate me!

  “Vegas was good.” Hannah answered, leaving it at that. She knew that Mike was going to pump her for information right after he’d finished with the niceties. That was his pattern. She also knew because he was wearing the perfectly innocent expression that she’d seen on Moishe’s face as he waited for exactly the right instant to pounce on a mouse. “The wedding was great.”

  “That’s what Norman told me. He said that Ross was Doc’s best man. And he told me that Ross is coming to Lake Eden for an interview at KCOW Television.”

  “That’s right.”

  “Is he moving back to Lake Eden?”

  There was no hint of jealousy in Mike’s voice and Hannah realized that Norman hadn’t acted very jealous either. Perhaps neither one of the men she’d dated would be upset if Ross got the job and returned to Lake Eden. Hannah wasn’t sure if she should be relieved, or upset so she tabled that thought to think about later. “I don’t know if that’ll happen or not, but we have an invitation for you. Michelle and I are throwing a little dinner party for Ross on Thursday night. Can you come?”

  “Sure. It’ll be good to see Ross again. What time?”

  “Six o’clock. We’ll probably eat around six-thirty.”

  “Okay. What are you baking, Hannah? Whatever it is, it sure smells good.”

  That was a hint if she’d ever heard one! Hannah’s lips twitched in amusement. Mike was never subtle. “I have some Secret Spice Cookies that should be cool enough to eat. Would you like to try one?”

  “That’d be great! I had a couple of Lovely Lemon Bar Cookies in the coffee shop, but I missed lunch and it wasn’t quite enough.”

/>   Hannah plucked three cookies off the top shelf of the baker’s rack and carried them to Mike. “Here you go. This is a new recipe from Lisa’s Aunt Nancy. Let me know what you think.”

  Mike took a bite and chewed. “Nice spice,” he said, taking another large bite. “These cookies are really good. They’re unusual, too. I can taste cinnamon and nutmeg and maybe cloves, but there’s some spice in there I can’t identify.”

  “I know,” Hannah said, getting up to fetch another couple of cookies as Mike wolfed down the second one. She carried them to the work island, set them down, and said, “It’s ketchup.”

  “What?!”

  “There’s ketchup in these cookies.”

  “You mean like what you put on hamburgers?”

  “The very same thing. Lisa’s Aunt Nancy fools people with these cookies all the time. Nobody can guess the secret spice.”

  Mike took another cookie and chewed thoughtfully. “I can almost taste it, but not quite. And I never would have guessed it. I’ll buy two dozen before I leave and take them out to the sheriff’s department. Wait until Lonnie and Rick taste these! They’ll never believe what’s in them. Are you going to serve them for dessert Thursday night? I bet Ross won’t be able to guess it either.”

  “Probably not. Aunt Nancy says nobody ever has. But I’m serving Tangerine Dream Cake on Thursday.”