Red Velvet Cupcake Murder (12 page)

“I
’ll go pick up Tracey and meet you on the porch,” Andrea said, heading for the kitchen door. But before she got there, she turned to look at the half-pan of Berried Treasure Bar Cookies that were left. “Maybe you could bring those? I mean . . . Tracey hasn’t tasted them yet, and . . . well . . . I could use a couple more.”

Hannah was amused. Andrea had already eaten three and now she wanted more. The Berried Treasure Bar Cookies had been a complete success. The shortbread crust was tender and crisp, the raspberry filling was redolent with the taste of ripe raspberries, and the red raspberry glaze added a burst of tart flavor that contrasted beautifully with the chocolate frosting on top. Everyone at The Cookie Jar had tasted them and pronounced them a hit, and Marge and Jack had both declared they were the best bar cookie recipe Hannah had ever baked.

“Bring those, too.” Andrea gestured toward Hannah’s second experiment of the morning, brownies topped with a raspberry glaze that was covered by fudge frosting. “What do you call them? You can’t have a recipe without a name.”

“Nameless Raspberry Brownies?” Hannah suggested a trifle facetiously.

“Don’t be silly. There’s got to be a better name than that.” Andrea thought for a moment. “Remember that Razzle Dazzle Baked Brie you made for the luncheon at Mother’s Cookie Exchange last year?”

“Of course I do.”

“Well, why don’t we name these bar cookies Razzle Dazzle Brownies?”

“That’s perfect, Andrea.”

“Thanks.” Andrea looked pleased that Hannah liked the name. “I’ll leave the screen door to the front porch unlocked. Just let yourself in if you get there before we do. The Petersons left their porch furniture so we’ll have a place to sit. And the electricity’s still on so I’m going to put soft drinks and bottled water in the refrigerator. Just help yourselves if we’re not there yet.”

“I’m really glad the Petersons listed their house with you,” Hannah told her. “It’s got a great view of the hotel.”

“And the front porch is screened in,” Lisa added. “We won’t be bothered by mosquitoes.”

Andrea nodded. “It’s a great house. If I didn’t live where I live, I’d consider it. See you at two-thirty. And please don’t forget those bar cookies!”

 

Of course there was a complication. There was always a complication when it came to large orders. Hannah and Lisa had boxed all the bar cookies Doctor Bev had ordered and stacked them on the table by the front door of The Cookie Jar to wait for Roger’s two o’clock arrival. But two o’clock came and went and Roger hadn’t appeared. It was now five after two and Lisa and Hannah were more than ready to lock their front door and meet Andrea and Tracey at the Petersons’ front porch. Marge and Jack had already left. Delores had invited them to watch the crane from the second floor of Granny’s Attic, where an impromptu party was taking place.

“What now?” Lisa asked Hannah.

“We give him the time for a full professor and then we take them over to the refreshment tent and dump them in Doctor Bev’s lap.”

“Twelve minutes?”

“Yes. That’s still the rule, isn’t it?”

“It’s still the campus legend,” Lisa amended it. “I don’t think it was ever written down in any rule book. Everybody just knows that you have to wait five minutes for an assistant professor to show up for class, and twelve minutes for a full professor. And if they don’t show up by then, you can leave.”

“It’s good to know things haven’t changed that much since I was in college,” Hannah said, glancing up at the clock on the wall. “Roger’s got four minutes left.”

“And here he comes.” Lisa pointed to the gleaming black Mercedes that had just pulled up in front of The Cookie Jar.

“Ladies,” Roger greeted them with a little salute before he handed Hannah his credit card. “Are you all ready for the big day?”

“We’re ready and so are you,” Lisa told him. “Your order’s on that table. Would you like some help carrying the boxes out to your car?”

“I got it.” Roger aimed his remote out the window and the trunk of his car popped open. “Just help me load up.”

While Hannah ran the card, Lisa loaded Roger’s arms with boxes. When the last one was safely in the trunk, Hannah gave the credit card and the receipt back to Roger.

“Thanks, ladies,” Roger said, writing in the total and signing his name. “See you at the spectacle.”

Once Roger had driven away, Lisa went to lock the front door and turn the OPEN sign to CLOSED. Hannah headed for the cash register with the credit card receipt and as she slipped it into the section they used for receipts, she glanced at the total.

“Guess what, Lisa. Roger tipped us twenty dollars.”

“Wow!” Lisa exclaimed, looking impressed. “That’s more than most people around here tip.”

“Well, he can afford it. Are you ready to go?”

“Yes.” Lisa gave a final glance around the room as Hannah flicked off the overhead lights. “Uh-oh!”

“What?”

“I forgot to load Roger up with the cupcakes you baked for Doctor Bev. There wasn’t room on the table where we stacked the bar cookies and I put them on the table next to it. They’re still sitting there.”

Hannah shrugged. “That’s not the end of the world. Doctor Bev’s not going to serve those anyway. We can just drop them off at the refreshment tent.”

“Correction.
I
can just drop them off at the refreshment tent. As far as Doctor Bev knows, I have no quarrel with her.”

“But you actually
do
have a quarrel with Doctor Bev?”

“Of course I do, but
quarrel
isn’t really the right word.
Despise
would be more like it.”

Hannah was surprised. Lisa was slow to anger and even slower to hate. Spite was a very strong emotion and Hannah had no idea what Doctor Bev had done to Lisa to deserve being despised. “What did Doctor Bev do to you?”

“Oh, she didn’t do much to me except treat me like a hired hand. That’s to be expected with people like her. I don’t like what she did to you and Norman. She’s scum of the earth and she has no conscience.
That’s
why I despise her.”

 

The view from the Petersons’ porch was perfect and the wicker porch furniture was truly comfortable even though the wicker was made out of plastic and the cushions were weatherproof in case the rain came through the screens in the summer. There was a colorful rug on the porch floor and Hannah smiled as she recognized the braided material. “That rug is made from plastic bags, isn’t it, Lisa?”

“Yes. It could be one of my mother’s rugs. She used to make them for rummage sales at St. Jude’s church.”

“I always liked them. They’re practically indestructible.”

“That’s true. All you have to do is hose them off in the yard if they get dirty and hang them over the clothesline to dry. The only bad thing is that it’s a lost art.”

“What do you mean? People still make braided rugs, don’t they?”

“Sure, but they’re talking about banning plastic bags. They’re bad for the environment.”

“I know. Florence doesn’t use them anymore at the Red Owl. It’s paper or your own shopping bags that you bring in with you.”

“Remember the recycling drives we had at Jordan High to make money for new band uniforms and things like that?”

“I remember.”

Lisa looked thoughtful. “Maybe we should have a plastic grocery bag drive before they’re all gone. We could store them somewhere for the ladies who still make braided rugs. I think I’ll talk to Herb about that.”

“Hi, everybody!” Andrea opened the porch door and stepped in. Tracey was right behind her and she hurried over to give Hannah a hug.

“Isn’t this exciting?” she asked, hugging Lisa, too. “We saw Mr. Dalworth and he said the crane is going to be late because they ran into some traffic. The driver called him and said they’d be here at three o’clock.”

After soft drinks were dispensed and everyone had pulled chairs into good viewing positions, they sat and watched the cars and the walkers go by. It seemed the whole town of Lake Eden was turning out for what Roger had called the spectacle.

“It’s hard to believe, isn’t it?” Andrea commented as the red Maserati convertible went past the house for the third time.

“It’s Doctor Bev’s car,” Tracey told them. “I asked and she said Mr. Dalworth gave it to her.”

Andrea turned to her eldest daughter. “When did you see Doctor Bev?”

“Remember when you were working in your office and you said I could walk down to Hal and Rose’s Café?”

“Yes. I gave you money to get a sandwich.”

“I did. I had a grilled cheese. Rose made it for me.”

“That’s Mrs. McDermott.”

“But she told me to call her Rose.”

“If she said to, then it’s okay.”

“I know. Anyway, I was almost done with my sandwich when Uncle Norman came in. He sat down next to me at the counter and asked if he could buy me dessert.”

“That was nice of him,” Hannah said with a smile. Norman was really good with kids and Tracey was one of his favorites.

“I said I couldn’t have dessert because we were going to go to meet Aunt Hannah and Lisa and have it later.”

“But did you thank him for offering?”

“Yes, Mom. That was the first thing I did. I said,
Thanks, but I can’t
. And then I told him why. And then Doctor Bev came in.”

Andrea and Hannah exchanged glances. Sisterly radar was about to take over. Andrea’s look said,
Go ahead and ask her if you want to know more.
And Hannah’s return glance answered,
I will, thanks. Don’t worry. I won’t put her on the spot.

“You were nice and polite, Tracey,” Hannah complimented her. “And we did bring dessert so you won’t miss out. Did Doctor Bev have dessert?”

“No. All she did was ask Uncle Norman to come for a ride with her in her new Mister-rati.”

“Maserati,” Hannah corrected her and then she wished she hadn’t because she’d interrupted Tracey’s story. “Did Uncle Norman take a ride?” she asked the most important question.

“Not right away. Uncle Norman said he had to get back to the office, but Doctor Bev said no, he didn’t, that she’d talked to Doc Bennett and he said he’d stay longer so that Uncle Norman could go for a ride with her.”

Uh-oh! She’s scheming again!
Hannah’s mind said and she totally agreed. But what she said out loud was, “So Norman went for a ride with her?”

“Not right then. Doctor Bev sat down on the stool next to me and asked me if I’d like to go for a ride in her brand new car as long as Uncle Norman came too.”

That’s despicable!
Hannah thought, exchanging glances with Andrea.
She was going to get Norman in that car any way she could, even if she had to use my six-year-old niece to do it!

“What did you say to that?” Andrea asked, looking anxious.

“I was going to say yes until I remembered that I wasn’t supposed to go for rides with anyone who wasn’t a relative or a friend. You told me that a long time ago.”

“So you said no?” Andrea quizzed her.

“Not exactly. That was when I remembered another thing you told me a long time ago, so I said yes.”

Andrea looked shocked. “What did I tell you?”

“You said,
Don’t worry, Tracey. The dentist is your friend.
And since Doctor Bev is a dentist and so is Uncle Norman, I said yes.”

“I guess that came back to bite me,” Andrea said under her breath to Hannah and Lisa. And then she turned back to Tracey. “Okay, honey. Tell us what happened on the ride with Doctor Bev.”

“Well . . . she wanted Uncle Norman to sit in front, but he said I should sit in front because I could see better up there. So I did and it was fun. We went up by the church and Grandma Knudson’s house, and then we went past the old lumber yard at the end of Main Street, and we turned on the street with the hotel to drive by that and the school. Her new car makes noise. It sounds like a roar. People heard us coming and they came out of their houses to see the car go by. They all waved so I waved back and Doctor Bev tooted the horn. It was so much fun!”

“I’m sure it was,” Hannah said, wondering whether Norman had gone along on his own volition, or whether he’d decided he should keep an eye on Doctor Bev with Tracey.

“Anyway, Doctor Bev wanted to go drive around the lake, but I thought you might worry if I was gone too long, so I asked her to drop me off on the corner by the real estate office. And she did.”

“And Uncle Norman stayed in the car and went out to the lake with her?” Andrea asked.

Tracey gave a little shrug. “I guess. The last thing I saw, he was climbing into the front seat, and they were driving off.”

The next question was Hannah’s. “Toward the dental clinic?” she asked.

“No, the other way. That’s all I know. Could I have one of your new bar cookies now, Aunt Hannah? Especially since I missed dessert with Uncle Norman?”