Fudge Cupcake Murder (29 page)

"Hi, Hannah." Lisa breezed in the door, wearing her cat costume. She had the long, stuffed tail taped in place on her shoulder and it looked very strange. "Don't ever try to drive with a tail."

Hannah laughed. "I'll keep that in mind. What happened?"

"It wrapped itself around the gearshift lever and I had to untangle it every time I backed up. It was a real nuisance."

"So you taped it to your shoulder?"

"Reverend Knudson did it when I delivered the cookies for his meeting. If it didn't look so bad, I'd leave it taped for the rest of the day."

"Leave it for now," Hannah said as an idea popped into her head. "I've got a plan that'll fix it for good. All I have to do is take a quick run to the drugstore."

"Go ahead. I'll take care of everything here. Do you think you could stop off at the Red Owl on the way back? We're running low on pancake syrup and Reverend Knudson ordered a whole batch of Short Stack Cookies for social hour after church services on Sunday."

"No problem," Hannah said, heading off to the drugstore to stock up on the things she needed to fix her partner's problematic tail.

Hannah came out of Lake Eden Neighborhood Pharmacy smiling. Jon Walker's clerks had done a marvelous job of decorating the drugstore with cutouts of black cats and swooping bats suspended from wires attached to the ceiling. Jon had done his mad chemist act just for her and it had been every bit as good as last year. To make things even better, he gave her a Halloween discount on the items she'd bought for Lisa.

"Hi, Hannah," Florence Evans, the owner of the Red Owl, greeted her as she stepped through the door. One of the checkers must have called in sick, because Florence only worked at the checkout stand when they were shorthanded. "Where's your costume?"

"Back at the shop," Hannah said, not wanting to get into a discussion about costumes or the lack of them with Florence, who held the current record for the lengthiest conversation in Lake Eden.

"So what's new, Hannah?" Florence asked.

"Nothing," Hannah said, knowing that it was wise to give Florence a one-word answer quickly followed by a grocery question. "The pancake syrup's still in aisle three, isn't it, Florence?"

"Yes, and I just got in some wonderful new flavored…”

"Thanks, Florence, but all I need is maple," Hannah interrupted what was surely going to be a lengthy description of the new items the Red Owl was stocking. "Lisa's waiting for it back at the shop."

Hannah turned on her heel and headed for aisle three, but Florence had other ideas. Before Hannah could blink, she'd flicked off the light above her register, and stepped out from behind the counter.

"You really should take a look. Those new flavors are really special." Florence linked arms with Hannah and headed toward the rear of the store. "Come along with me and I'll show you."

"There you are!" Lisa looked relieved when Hannah came back into The Cookie Jar. "It's been an hour and I was getting worried."

"Remember the television ad for the Roach Motel?" Hannah asked, setting her bags on the counter.

"I think so. Isn't that the one that said, Roaches check in… but they don't check out?"

"That's the one. Well, Florence was working the check stand at the Red Owl."

It took Lisa a moment, but then she burst of laughing. "She wouldn't let you check out?"

"That's right. She followed me back to aisle three to show me the new pancake syrups, but what I thought was going to be a real delay turned out to be a lucky break."

"Florence told you something about the murder?" Lisa guessed.

"It wasn't that lucky, but she did teach me something about Alma's cupcakes." Hannah opened the grocery bag and pulled out a bottle. She held her hand over the label and asked, "Does this look familiar?"

"That bottle looks just like the ones Beatrice brought in when she was testing salad dressings."

"And where did Beatrice say she got the bottles?"

"From her mother-in-law's basement. And she also said that Alma had lots of them and Ted thought she was crazy for bringing them home."

"Turns out that Beatrice was brilliant for bringing them home. I never would have guessed Alma's secret ingredient if I hadn't seen those bottles."

"You mean you know what it is?" Lisa looked excited when Hannah nodded.

"If I'm right, this is it."

Lisa took the bottle and looked at the label. "Raspberry syrup? That's got to be it, Hannah! And it explains why Alma put a raspberry on top of the cupcakes. You and Edna both thought that it would be a thick liquid and syrup is thick. And Beatrice said they tasted fruity."

"She also said that they tasted German and they're very big on chocolate and raspberry in Europe."

"You've got it, Hannah. I don't think I ever would have figured it out."

"You would have if Florence had gotten a hold of you," Hannah said, smiling at her partner. "But let's not crow too much until we test it. Do you want to do it, or shall I?"

"You do it. I'll stay out here since I'm in costume."

"And that reminds me…" Hannah grinned as she handed Lisa the white bag from the drugstore. "This ought to fix that tail of yours."

"A sling?" Lisa asked, looking dumbfounded as she drew it out of the bag.

"A sling and a bandage. You know how Moishe's tail is bent at the tip?" Hannah waited until Lisa nodded. "Doctor Bob said it's common for street cats to break the tips of their tails."

"So you want me to break my tail?"

"Yes. Just bend it at the tip and bandage it. Then you can put it in a sling that hangs around your neck and it won't get in your way."

"Those cupcakes smell wonderful!" Lisa sighed in longing as she opened the swinging door between the kitchen and the coffee shop. "You frosted them, too?"

"I thought I should. This has to be a complete test."

"Of course it does. And I really love that fudge frosting. You want me to taste a cupcake, don't you?"

"Help yourself. I'm so sure this is it, I baked a double batch."

Lisa made a beeline for the bakers' rack and grabbed a cupcake. Her mouth headed for the frosting like a child bobbing for an apple and, in keeping with her costume, she practically purred as she tasted it. "This frosting is so good, Hannah."

"I know. I licked out the pan. Do you want me to take a turn up front while you eat your cupcake?"

Lisa shook her head. "There's nobody there. We haven't had a customer for the past thirty minutes."

Hannah considered what Lisa had said. Almost everybody in town was getting ready for Halloween and there wouldn't be many customers for the remainder of the afternoon. It was silly for both of them to stay here, especially when Hannah knew that Lisa was itching to go down to the community center and help her father and the seniors put the finishing touches on the decorations for the Halloween party.

"Here you go, Lisa," Hannah put six cupcakes into a takeout box and handed it to Lisa. "Take off your apron and get out of here."

Lisa caught Hannah's meaning immediately and she began to grin. "You're kicking me out?"

"I am. There's no reason why both of us should be bored, and I have to stay here to make some phone calls anyway."

"Well, if you're sure you don't mind…”

"I don't mind," Hannah said. "Go help your dad decorate."

"I will." Lisa looked very pleased as she picked up the cupcake box. "Do you want me to take the Halloween cookies?"

"I'll bring them when I come with Tracey. If you take them, the kids will just get into them early."

"Okay. See you tonight, Hannah. I'll be the cat with the broken tail and Herb's going to be an outhouse."

"An outhouse?" Hannah repeated, not sure she'd heard Lisa correctly.

"That's right. He made his costume himself. It's a big box with the bottom cut out and holes in the sides for his arms. The box goes up to the top of his head and he's got a toy rooster he's gluing on the top."

Hannah tried to imagine it, but she couldn't quite do it. "If his head's in the box, how does he see?"

"He made cutouts of a moon and stars and he looks through those. A lot of outhouses have those for ventilation. But that's not the best thing."

Hannah was almost afraid to ask, "What's the best thing?"

"He rigged it so the door opens. And when we dance, I'm going to open the door and step in. Isn't it just great, Hannah? I really think he's going to win the prize."

"Great," Hannah said, and she gave a little wave as Lisa went out the back door. If Herb didn't win the prize for best costume, he certainly should get points for the strangest.

Hannah glanced out the plate glass window and sighed. It was four o'clock in the afternoon and the only customer she'd had was Freddy Sawyer. Doc Knight had placed an order for four-dozen Halloween cookies so that Freddy could dress up in a Superman costume and pass them out to the nurses and patients tonight.

A Siberian husky on a leash trotted past the window and Hannah watched for the owner. It seemed to take a very long time and, for a moment, Hannah thought perhaps someone was playing a Halloween joke. Then Eleanor Cox came into view, holding the handle of a retractable leash. She waved at Hannah, Hannah waved back, and that was Hannah's only excitement for the next fifteen minutes.

Time had never gone so slowly. Hannah decided she should do something more constructive than count the birds that landed in the huge pine across the street, and she reached for the phone. Beatrice hadn't been home the last time she'd called to invite her to taste the cupcakes, but perhaps she'd returned by now.

After ten rings, Hannah disconnected the call and punched in her youngest sister's number. Since she was having no luck reaching Beatrice, she might as well try Michelle again. The phone rang once, twice, and then Michelle answered.

"Michelle?" Hannah asked, hardly daring to believe her good luck. "I'm really glad I caught you."

"Hi, Hannah. What's up?"

"It's Lonnie. I tried everywhere, but I can't find him."

There was a long silence and when she spoke again, Michelle sounded wary. "Why do you need to find Lonnie?"

"I found his incident report in Sheriff Grant's briefcase and I think it might have something to do with the murder."

"What murder?!"

Hannah froze for an instant. Was it possible that Michelle hadn't heard? "You know about Sheriff Grant, don't you?"

"What about Sheriff Grant?"

"Somebody killed him last Monday night. They hit him over the head and toppled him into a Dumpster in the Jordan High parking lot. I found him when I carried out the garbage from my cooking class."

Michelle gulped so loudly Hannah could hear it over the phone. "That's just awful! And it happened last Monday night?"

"That's right. And Mike suspended Bill because Bill was a suspect, but we managed to clear him and he's back on the job."

"I really don't believe this, Hannah." Michelle gave a huffy sigh. "I'm less than a hundred miles away, and nobody bothers to tell me anything! Are you sure you didn't leave anything out?"

"Just one thing. Doc Knight ordered Andrea to stay home with her feet up and she's going crazy."

"This is surreal, Hannah. Mother called me last night and she didn't say a word about anything! She just asked me if I knew where Lonnie was and when I said I didn't, she hung up."

"Sorry, Michelle." Hannah began to feel guilty that she'd left her baby sister out of the loop. "I should have called you, but I figured you must know. I can't believe you didn't hear anything about it. You'd think the murder of a county sheriff would make the news."

"Um… it might have made the news. It's just that I've been out of touch for a while. I've been really busy… uh… studying."

"Right," Hannah said, not believing a word of it. Michelle was hiding something and Hannah was pretty sure the thing she was hiding was a who. "Let's cut to the chase, Michelle. Go get Lonnie and put him on the phone. I need to know more about that incident report."

"Lonnie? Um… what makes you think that Lonnie is here? When Mother called last night, I told her I hadn't seen him."

Hannah sighed. "That was Mother. This is me. Let me talk to him, Michelle. And stop hedging. I won't tell anybody he was with you."

"He's not exactly with me, Hannah. It's a big house and there's plenty of room."

"Right," Hannah said, grinning a little.

"Well, there is. It's not like we're staying in the same room, or anything. I just didn't want Andrea or Mother to know. They'd never understand."

"How about Raj?" Hannah used Roger Allen Jensen's nickname. He was the college boy Michelle had been dating when she came home last July. "Does he understand?"

"Raj is history. We broke up the day after I got back to school. I got really tired of his superior attitude."

"That would do it, all right," Hannah said, remembering how Raj had referred to Michelle's Lake Eden background as colorful and quaint.

"Hold on. I'll get Lonnie. Be careful how you break it to him, Hannah. He's been with me the whole time and he doesn't know anything about Sheriff Grant's murder, either."

"Hi, Hannah," Lonnie greeted her. He sounded a bit guilty and Hannah hoped it was the result of going off without telling anyone where he was going, rather than for any other reason. "Shelly says you've got something important to tell me."

Shelly? Hannah's brows headed skyward. Michelle didn't like to be called Shelly. She'd told Hannah that it made her feel like a turtle.

"Um… yes, I do have something important to tell you," Hannah said, wondering why Lonnie was permitted to use the nickname Michelle disliked. "I've got some bad news, Lonnie."

"My folks are okay, aren't they?" Lonnie asked, before Hannah could follow up her initial statement.

"They're fine," Hannah reassured him. "Your whole family's fine. Everybody in Lake Eden is fine, except for Sheriff Grant."

The minute the words were out of Hannah's mouth she wished she'd thought of another way to phrase it. She'd never been a master at tact.

"What's wrong with Sheriff Grant?" Lonnie asked, exactly as Hannah had expected he would.