Red Velvet Cupcake Murder (18 page)

A
s Hannah prepared to turn in the alley that led to the parking lot behind The Cookie Jar, she noticed that the street ahead was lined with cars. Every single parking spot was taken, even the spot in front of her mother’s antique shop, all the way to the end of the block. Perhaps Claire was having a sale at her dress shop, but it was unusual for her to open in the morning. Ever since she’d married Reverend Bob Knudson and moved into the parsonage with Reverend Bob and his grandmother, Claire’s hours had been noon to five.

The alley was crowded, too. One whole side was lined with cars. It must be a sale. She’d never seen this many cars on their block before. She pulled into her parking lot and found that it was also crowded. Thankfully, her spot was open. What in the world was going on?

When she opened the back kitchen door at The Cookie Jar, a buzz of voices floated out to greet her. It sounded like the coffee shop was packed with customers. As she stepped into the kitchen, she saw Jack Herman refilling several of the large display jars they kept behind the counter.

“Hi, Jack,” she greeted him.

“Hello, Hannah.”

Hannah smiled. It was a good day for Lisa’s dad. He’d been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s over a year ago, and there were times when he forgot who she was.

“It’s noisy out there.” Hannah gestured toward the coffee shop and then she turned to hang her purse on one of the hooks by the back door. “Do we have a lot of customers?”

“We do. It’s crowded, Hannah. And we’re selling lots of cookies. Coffee, too.”

“That’s good. Is Claire having a sale at her dress shop next door?”

“No, Claire is here. She brought Grandma Knudson down the hill and they’re sitting at a table with Ava Schultz and Betty Jackson. Betty ate four cookies already. She loves our new Chocolate-Covered Peanut Cookies.”

Hannah felt more than a little uncomfortable. She’d missed less than a halfday’s work and she was already out of step with what was going on. “I didn’t know we had a new cookie.”

“It was Marge’s idea when she couldn’t find chocolate-covered raisins to make Chocolate-Covered Raisin Cookies. Florence had chocolate-covered peanuts so she changed the recipe a little bit and just used those.”

“Very smart,” Hannah said, still feeling a little like an intruder in her own cookie shop.

Jack glanced up at the clock on the wall. “Only fifteen minutes to go,” he said, picking up the two cookie jars he’d filled and heading for the swinging door that separated the kitchen from the coffee shop. “I’ll be right back. I need to talk to you, Hannah.”

Hannah was still just as puzzled as she’d been when she walked in the door. Only fifteen minutes to go for what? What in the world was going on today?

“Uh-oh!” she groaned as her mind settled on the obvious conclusion. Lisa was telling the story of how Hannah had found Doctor Bev’s body. But how could she tell that story when Hannah hadn’t even told her about it? Unless . . .

“Michelle,” Hannah said, under her breath. She’d told Michelle everything last night and Michelle could have told Lisa. But why would Lisa tell the story without running it past her first?

“Hannah!” Lisa came rushing into the kitchen. “Dad said you were out here. Do you want to listen to the story of how you found Doctor Bev’s body?”

Hannah shook her head. “Not really. Finding her was bad enough. I don’t want to hear all about it again.”

Lisa was silent for a moment and then she sighed. “You’re upset that I’m talking about it, aren’t you?”

“I’m not upset. It’s what we always do. But why did you start telling the story before you checked with me?”

“Because Michelle and I thought you might need the money for your defense fund and we decided to make hay while the sun shines. She talked to Howie this morning and Howie said he’d cut his fees in half for you, but it’s going to cost an arm and a leg if you’re charged and the case goes to trial.”

Lisa had just used two clichés in a row, but Hannah didn’t call her on it. She was too busy with the two other clichés that were warring in her mind. One was
Don’t borrow trouble
, and the other was
Expect the best, but prepare for the worst
.

“We were just trying to help you, Hannah. But if you want me to stop telling the story, I will.”

Hannah thought about that for a moment and then she shook her head. “Don’t stop. You go right ahead and tell it. I have nothing to hide and the fact that you’re talking about it might convince everyone in town that I had nothing to do with Doctor Bev’s death. As a matter of fact . . .” Hannah paused and considered what she’d been about to say. She gave a brief nod and continued. “As a matter fact, let’s do a second act tomorrow.”

“What’s the second act?”

“It’s the story of how Mike came out to the condo to take me down to the station. And how Norman called Howie Levine to meet me there. You can even cover the salient parts of the interrogation. I told Michelle all about it last night and you can get all the details from her.”

“Great! I’ll tease it at the end of the story today and that will bring them in tomorrow.” It was Lisa’s turn to pause and look thoughtful. “Actually . . . we could even do a third act.”

“A third act? What story would
that
be?”

“How the sheriff’s department came in here last night to toss the whole place. And how Herb and I spent all night cleaning up when they left. We can also explore what evidence caused Mike to bring you down to the sheriff’s office to interrogate you. I know your mother can get me a copy of the autopsy report. She already offered to do it.”

“She did?”

“You betcha! She was in here this morning before seven and so was Andrea. Everyone’s pulling for you, Hannah. And they’ll be pulling for you even more when I tell them what a . . . a witch Doctor Bev was to you on the Petersons’ porch. It won’t hurt your defense if it comes to that. The sheriff’s department tossed the Peterson house, too. And they didn’t find any substance that you could have added to the cupcakes to cause Doctor Bev’s death.”

“That’s good to know.”

“Yes, it is. Just forget about the business here. Michelle and I are taking care of it, and Marge and Dad are happy to help. Actually, I think it helps Dad a lot to interact with all these people. We’ll take care of things here, so you concentrate on proving your innocence.”

“I just hope I can do that. It might be easier to prove the killer’s guilt than my innocence.”

“That could be true, but you know you can do it. The lady who hates spiders, but captures them in a napkin to take them outside and set them free couldn’t possibly kill anyone, even a waste of oxygen like Doctor Bev.”

Hannah laughed at Lisa’s description of Doctor Bev. “Are you going to use that line tomorrow?”

“I think so. It’s a real grabber. As a matter of fact, that’ll probably be my last line in tomorrow’s story.”

“You’re a drama queen, Lisa. Just go for it! If I have the stomach later, I’ll even listen to one of your performances. And if I manage to prove my innocence while you’re doing all that, we’ll use the money to go on vacation to someplace where it’s warm next winter.”

 

Hannah had just tasted one of Marge’s new Chocolate-Covered Peanut Cookies when Jack came back into the kitchen.

“You tried one?” he asked, noticing that a cookie was gone from the six dozen on the baker’s rack.

“I did and they’re wonderful. Tell Marge I said so, will you?”

“I will. She’ll like that.” Jack stood there for a moment and then he took a deep breath. “Do you have a minute, Hannah? I need your help.”

“Sure, Jack. What is it?”

“I need to . . .” Jack stopped and looked confused. Then he cleared his throat and began again. “I need to pro . . . pro-something. I always forget that word!”

“Say it in a different way,” Hannah suggested. It was a tactic she’d learned from Lisa. “What does the word mean, Jack?”

“It means to get married. To . . .
propose
! That’s it! I need to propose, Hannah.”

“Okay,” Hannah said, crossing to the coffee pot to pour two mugs, one for each of them. She gestured toward the stools around the stainless steel work island and said, “Come over here and sit. Have a little coffee and tell me all about it.”

Jack smiled as he sat down. “You are good, Hannah. That’s why I want to ask you to help. I can’t ask Marge and I can’t ask Lisa. And Herb’s too busy or he’d do it. That boy loves me.”

“I know he does. So do Lisa and Marge.”

“Yes, they do. But I can’t ask them to help me. They’re in . . . in something. In the middle of it, you know?”

“Involved.”

“Yes. That’s the word. They’re involved. It has to be a secret until I get it right. Then I’ll ask Marge and then I’ll tell Lisa. That’s the way it should be.”

“All right.”

“You won’t tell, will you?”

“No, Jack. I won’t tell.”

“I knew you wouldn’t. Marge is good, Hannah. And I love her. Did you know that she gave her house to the kids when they got married?”

“Yes, I knew. It was an incredibly generous wedding gift.”

“Well, now she doesn’t have a house, but I do. And I want my house to be her house. I want us to have it together. That’s the way it’s supposed to be between a man and a woman. So I want to pro . . . you know . . . ask her.”

“You want to propose to Marge.”

“Yes. But every time I try to work it out, I can’t find the right words. It has to be right, Hannah. She deserves that.”

“Of course she does. Did you want me to help you find the right words?”

“Yes! That’s exactly what I want. And then, once I know what the words are, I want you to help me re . . . re . . . rehash isn’t right. It’s a different word. It means to do like actors do.”

“Rehearse?”

“That’s it! You’re so smart, Hannah. I want you to help me rehearse so I can propose to Marge. Will you? Please?”

“Of course I will. When do you want to start?”

“Right now? They said I could take a break. Is right now good for you?”

“It’s perfect,” Hannah said, even though she had more cookies to bake. Helping Jack rehearse his proposal to Marge was a lot more important than mixing up cookie dough.

L
isa was between performances when Delores and Jenny came in. She led them back to the kitchen and smiled as she saw that Hannah had baked more cookies. “Thanks, Hannah. We were getting close to running out.”

“You won’t run out. I’ve got six pans of bar cookies in the oven right now.”

“Great.” Lisa turned to the smiling, brown-haired woman standing next to Delores. “Jenny? This is Hannah.” And then she turned to Hannah. “I told Jenny and your mother we’d have coffee in the kitchen if you weren’t too busy back here.”

“I’m not too busy. Nice to meet you, Jenny. Sit down and I’ll get our coffee.”

“I’ll do it,” Lisa said quickly. “All I’ve been doing is telling stories since we opened. With Marge, Dad, and Michelle here, I haven’t had to wait on a single table.”

“This story was very dramatic,” Delores said, sitting down on a stool at the work island. “Good job, Lisa.”

“It was scary too,” Jenny added, taking the stool next to Delores, “especially the part about her hair floating in the currents.”

Delores gave a slight shiver. “I know. I think I ate two cookies without even knowing I was eating them.” She turned to Hannah. “You were very brave to dive down there, dear.”

“Brave or foolish, I’m not sure which,” Hannah said, accepting a mug of coffee from Lisa.

“Your slaydar makes you do it,” Delores said. And when Jenny looked puzzled she explained. “Slaydar is like radar except you don’t use it to find speeders. Hannah uses it to find murder victims.”

“That’s cute,” Jenny said, and then she frowned slightly. “Or maybe it’s not. It must be frightening to discover murder victims.”

“It’s not all fun and games,” Hannah admitted. “Unfortunately, I can’t seem to stop doing it.”

“I know. I read about you in the paper, Hannah.”

“The
Lake Eden Journal
?” Hannah asked her.

“No, the
Minneapolis Star Tribune
.”

“Really?” Delores looked impressed. “When was that, Jenny?”

“It was when Hannah caught Buddy’s killer.”

Hannah went on full alert. Jenny hadn’t said
When Hannah caught that keyboard player’s killer
, or
When Hannah caught that jazz musician’s killer
, or even
When Hannah caught Buddy Neiman’s killer
. She’d said
When Hannah caught
Buddy
’
s
killer,
as if she’d known him. “Did you know Buddy Neiman?” Hannah asked.

“No, but I felt almost like I did. Clay talked about him a lot. He told me he thought there was something very secretive about Buddy. And Clay was right.”

“Clay,” Hannah repeated. “Are you talking about Clayton Wallace?”

“Yes.”

“Then you knew
him
?” Hannah asked, drawing the obvious conclusion.

“Oh, yes. I was his nurse. And we were . . . friends. Good friends. I love to cook and I used to cook dinner for him every once in a while.”

Hannah remembered the bottle of premium Chianti, and the gift-wrapped box of truffles that Mike said the Minneapolis police had found in Clayton’s house. “Do you like to cook Italian food?” she asked.

“It’s my favorite. It was Clay’s favorite, too. He always brought me a bottle . . .”

Hannah held up her hand. “Let me guess. A bottle of premium Chianti and a box of Fanny Farmer truffles?”

Jenny looked mystified as she nodded. “How did
you
know?”

“I knew because the Minneapolis police found those two items in his house. Were you planning on having dinner with him right after his trip to Lake Eden?”

“Yes,” Jenny said, and her voice shook slightly. “He was such a nice man and I was hoping that . . .”

Hannah didn’t say anything. She just gave Jenny some time to compose herself. A few moments passed and Hannah waited until Jenny was calm again before she asked the next, very critical question. “You said you were Clayton’s nurse. Where was that?”

“At the Hennepin Eye Clinic. He was so brave and his sense of humor was wonderful. He knew he was losing his sight, but somehow he managed to cope with it. I think that’s why I fell in love with him. And then, after he died, I just couldn’t work at the clinic anymore. There were too many memories and I had to go somewhere else.”

“Of course you did,” Delores said, patting Jenny’s hand.

“I have one more question,” Hannah told her. “How bad was Clayton’s eyesight when he drove the Cinnamon Roll Six here? It’s important.”

“Not bad enough to cause an accident,” Jenny said, sitting up a little straighter. “I can give you his complete diagnosis and his prognosis, but you probably won’t understand it. To put it in layman’s terms, his vision was disintegrating from the center out. That means he had just started having trouble seeing small items in the center of his field of vision.”

Like pills
, Hannah thought, her heart beginning to pound faster. “By small items do you mean things like pills?” she asked.

“That’s it exactly. He said he was having trouble putting pills in the proper compartments of his pill box. He said he might need help doing that very soon and I told him to call me any time he needed me.”

“When did he say that?”

“The afternoon he left for Lake Eden. He told me he’d managed to do it, but it had been difficult. And I never . . .” Jenny stopped and swallowed hard. “I never heard from him again.”

“Would you be willing to tell all this to a detective from the sheriff’s department?” Hannah asked her.

“Yes, but . . . I don’t understand. Why does the sheriff’s department want to know about it?”

“Because the Minneapolis police concluded that Clayton’s death was a suicide. And you can prove it wasn’t.”

Quickly Hannah explained about Clayton’s son and how the insurance company wouldn’t honor Clayton’s policy if the cause of death was suicide. Jenny’s eyes flashed with anger.

“Of course I’ll help you clear this up!” she promised. “Clay told me all about the provisions he made for his son, and there’s no way I’ll let the insurance company get away with that!”

Once they’d made some plans and had their coffee and cookies, Jenny and Delores left. Lisa went back to tell her story to the next group of customers, and Hannah was left alone in the kitchen.

“This one just fell in my lap,” she said to absolutely no one as she removed the pans of bar cookies from the oven and slid them onto shelves on the baker’s rack. “I must have done something right because I really lucked out with Clayton.”

Then she poured a fresh cup of coffee, sat down on her stool again, and fervently wished that proving herself innocent in Doctor Bev’s death wouldn’t be as difficult as she thought it would be.

 

“Once more from the heart, Jack,” Hannah told him. “And remember to keep it simple. All you have to do is tell her you love her and say you want her to be your wife. After that just say,
Will you marry me, Marge?
”

“But what if I forget her name like I did the last time we rehearsed? It won’t be good if I forget her name.”

“You only forgot because you were nervous.”

“I know, but what if I’m nervous again?”

Hannah thought about that for a moment. “You can work around it. Just say,
Will you marry me, my love?
”

“That’s good. I can do that. Let’s do it again, Hannah.”

“Okay.” Hannah stood up and Jack got down on one knee. He took her hand and kissed it.

“My dearest,” he began, looking up at her. “I love you so much. You’re so good, and kind, and . . . and sweet. I want you to be my wife. Please be my wife. Will you marry me, my love?”

Hannah was about to tell him what a wonderful job he’d done when she heard two gasps from the doorway that led into the coffee shop.

“Uh-oh!” Jack said, getting to his feet as fast as he could. “We’re busted!”

Hannah swiveled around to see Lisa and Marge standing there with identical expressions of shock and dismay on their faces.

“Jack!” Marge gulped.

“Dad!” Lisa exclaimed, sounding stunned.

If they’d all been acting in a romantic comedy, it would have been hilarious. But this was no comedy and Hannah knew it wouldn’t be romantic for very much longer unless she explained things fast.

“It’s not what you think,” she said. “Jack’s not proposing to
me
. I’m just helping him rehearse.” She turned to Jack. “Ask her now!”

“Right now?”

“Yes, right now!”

“But we’re not through rehearsing.”

“Yes, we are. Do it now, Jack!”

As Jack walked over to Marge, Hannah realized that everything was going to be all right. Marge’s lips were twitching and she was shaking slightly, as if she was holding back laughter. One look at Lisa further reassured Hannah. Lisa was holding her hand over her mouth and her eyes were bright with suppressed mirth.

“My dearest,” Jack said and then he stopped. “Do I have to get down on my knee? This floor is hard and I did it five times already.”

“Here, Jack,” Marge said, grabbing a towel from the counter and tossing it to him. “Use the towel to cushion your knee.”

“Thanks, Marge.” Jack positioned the towel, got down on one knee, reached up to take Marge’s hand and kissed it. “I love you so much. You’re so good, and kind, and sweet. I want you to be my wife. Please be my wife. Will you marry me, my love?”

Marge reached down with her other hand and helped Jack to his feet. Then she smiled and kissed him. “Of course I’ll marry you,” she said.

“Lisa?” Jack turned to his daughter. “Is it okay with you?”

“It’s perfect with me, Dad,” Lisa said, going over to give him a hug. “Herb and I were wondering when you’d get around to it.”

 

Hannah had just finished mixing up her last batch of cookies, Oatmeal Raisin Crisps this time, when there was a knock on the back door. She crossed the room and pulled the door open to reveal someone she’d never expected to see.

“Mike!” she exclaimed.

“Hi, Hannah,” Mike said, standing there obviously ill at ease. “Is there anyone with you in the kitchen?”

“No.” Hannah remembered how hard and cold he’d looked last night when he’d questioned her. He didn’t look like that now, but perhaps he was playing good cop today. “You don’t have an audience this time around. Should I invite some people so that you can arrest me in front of a crowd?”

Mike looked pained as he shook his head. “Don’t be like that, Hannah. I know last night was bad for you, but I was just doing my job.”

“I think that’s what they said in Nazi Germany!”

“Hannah . . . can you please forget last night for a minute? I’m sorry about what happened. I really am. But I had to follow the rules and do my duty.”

“And you’re not doing your duty now?”

“No. It’s exactly the opposite. I shouldn’t be here. I could be fired for being here. It’s against every rule in the book. So I’m not here, okay? You can’t let anyone know I’ve been here. I could be brought up on charges if anyone sees me here.”

Hannah had the urge to slam the door in his face, but she thought better of it. Mike was here for a reason and unless she was drastically mistaken, it wasn’t to try to fool her into incriminating herself.

“Hannah? Please. Can I come in?”

“Okay,” Hannah said, relenting. “Come in then. But I’m warning you that you could be seen. Lisa’s started telling her story, but Jack, or Marge, or Michelle could come into the kitchen at any time.”

Mike stepped in and glanced around the kitchen. “Can we talk in the pantry? We could shut the door. If someone came in they wouldn’t see me.”

“That’s okay, I guess.” Hannah led the way, opened the door, and flicked on the light. “Come in.”

Mike stepped in and Hannah shut the door behind them. “It’s a big pantry,” he said.

“I know. Lisa and Herb came down here after your detectives searched it last night. She said it took them a couple of hours to put everything back in place. Were they looking for poison?”

“Not poison. Tranquilizers.”

“What?”

“Doc Knight ran more tests and he found traces of a powerful tranquilizer in her system. It was enough to stop her heart.”

“Then she didn’t drown?”

“No. She was dead when the car hit the water.”

“So your guys were searching for tranquilizers when they trashed the pantry last night.”

“Yeah.” Mike looked a little sick. “I’m sorry, Hannah. I wish I could have come down here with them, but I couldn’t. I was busy with other things.”

“Things like interrogating me.”

“Yeah.” Mike sighed again, and then he reached out and wrapped his arms around Hannah. “I’m so sorry, Hannah. You have no idea. I didn’t sleep at all last night. I felt so bad about questioning you that I couldn’t get to sleep. All I kept seeing in my mind was the way you looked at me. Your eyes seemed to say,
You betrayed me
. And that just about killed me.”

“It wasn’t a whole lot of fun for me, either.” Despite herself, Hannah moved a little closer. She wasn’t quite ready to forgive Mike, but his arms felt good around her. “I felt like I’d just lost my best friend.”

“Me, too,” Mike said. “I didn’t want to come and get you last night, but I didn’t trust anyone else to do it. I knew I had to do everything by the book and I hated it. But when Doc gave us the list of her stomach contents and Mayor Bascomb said she was eating one of your cupcakes when he went for a ride with her, we had to bring you in for questioning.”

“Did you pull the car out of the water yet?”

Mike shook his head. “Not yet. Earl’s replacing the carburetor on the county tow truck and he’s waiting for parts. He thinks it’ll be ready by late tomorrow afternoon.”

“Then you don’t know if there were any cupcakes left in the bakery box,” Hannah said.