Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder

by Joanne Fluke

  Bake the cookie dough logs at 350 degrees F. for 35 minutes.

  Hannah’s 4th Note: If you don’t have 3 ovens (and most people don’t!), you will have to bake the 3 cookie sheets in shifts. It’s perfectly all right to put 2 cookie sheets in the oven at once. Just put one on a higher shelf and the other one on a shelf below it. You will have to switch them around, moving the top cookie sheet to the lower shelf and the bottom cookie sheet to the upper shelf approximately halfway through the baking time. To do this, simply set your stove timer for 17 minutes and when it rings, switch the cookie sheets. Then set the timer for 18 minutes. When that rings, your cookie dough logs will have baked a total of approximately 35 minutes.

  When your cookie dough logs have baked the required number of minutes, take them out of the oven, but leave them on the cookie sheets and transfer them to cold stovetop burners or wire racks.

  When all 3 sheets of cookie dough logs have been baked, take them out, but DO NOT SHUT OFF THE OVEN!

  When your sheets have cooled for at least 10 minutes, it’s time to cut your logs into cookies.

  Start with the coolest cookie dough log by transferring it to a cutting board. Place it on the cutting board horizontally.

  Choose a knife and start slicing at one end, cutting slices at a 45-degree angle. The slices should be approximately ¾ inch wide.

  Hannah’s 5th Note: It helps to use a serrated knife or a bread knife to slice the loaves.

  Hannah’s 6th Note: There is an ulterior motive for cutting your cookie logs on a 45-degree angle. If you do this, you will have 2 slices from each end of the log that will be a bit chunky. THOSE ARE YOURS! Enjoy them with a fresh cup of coffee or a cold glass of milk while the rest of the slices are baking.

  Arrange the perfect slices you made on the empty cookie sheets cut-side down. Then move the next cookie dough log to your cutting board and slice that one. When you’re through slicing those cookies, transfer them to the empty cookie sheets and set the other 2 end pieces aside for yourself.

  Proceed in the same way for the third cookie dough log. Transfer those slices to the empty cookie sheet and check to see that your oven is set at the proper temperature of 350 degrees F.

  Bake your cookie dough slices at 350 degrees F. for 5 minutes. Then flip the cookies over and bake the other side for 10 minutes.

  Repeat until all 3 pans of cookies are baked on both sides.

  Set the cookie sheets on cool stovetop burners or wire racks for 5 minutes, then move them to wire racks to cool completely.

  To Make Biscotti:

  Follow the recipe given above for Chocolate Hazelnut Toast Cookies.

  Once your Chocolate Hazelnut Toast Cookies are baked, all you have to do to make them resemble biscotti is to melt 1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips OR white chocolate chips (or vanilla chips) in a wide, shallow bowl in the microwave, according to the package instructions.

  When the chips you’ve chosen are melted and stirred smooth, place the bowl on the kitchen counter.

  Tear off a strip of wax paper and place that next to the bowl with the melted chips on your countertop.

  When the baked cookies have reached room temperature, dip the top of the slices in the melted chocolate.

  Once you’ve dipped a cookie slice, move it to the piece of wax paper until the chocolate hardens.

  If you decided to do the chocolate chip or white chocolate dip, store your “biscotti” in a tin lined with wax paper in the refrigerator. If you haven’t dipped the cookies in chocolate, store them in a tightly covered container in a cool place. These cookies will keep for a week or two if you store them correctly, but I doubt they’ll last that long.

  Hannah’s 7th Note: If your Chocolate Hazelnut Toast Cookies get too hard to chew, add a piece of orange peel to the container and put the lid back on. This will soften the cookies and add a nice flavor as well.

  Serve these cookies with strong black coffee for dipping or icy-cold glasses of milk. Kids love them for after-school snacks and if you pack school lunches, they won’t crumble in a lunchbox like softer cookies will.

  Yield: Approximately 5 dozen delicious Chocolate Hazelnut Toast Cookies, or Nutella Biscotti.

  Hannah’s 8th Note: Norman loves it when I make these cookies to give away for holidays. He says that if people crunch them too vigorously without dipping them in coffee or milk, it could lead to more business for Rhodes Dental Clinic.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Terry Neilson,” Hannah read a name from her suspect list.

  “We have her down, too,” Mike told her. “Lonnie and I interviewed her last night, after we left your mother’s place. Her account of Andrea’s altercation with Mayor Bascomb matched yours perfectly.”

  “Did Terry have an alibi?” Hannah asked him.

  “Yes, she drove out to the Lake Eden Inn to meet some friends for dinner. I called Sally, and she told me that Terry was there. It was a birthday dinner and they had Sally’s rack of lamb.”

  Hannah swallowed, just thinking about Sally’s rack of lamb. It was one of her very favorite entrées. “It’s your turn, Mike,” she said, trying not to think about the rosemary-scented, succulent lamb. “Who’s next on your suspect list?”

  “Bruce Bascomb, and he has an alibi. He’s in jail until he appears in court on Monday.”

  Mike turned to smile at Hannah. “Your turn, Hannah. Who’s your next suspect?”

  Hannah flipped the page in her murder book. “Robert Bascomb,” she said. “You taught me that family members are automatic suspects.”

  “That’s true. We talked to Robert when he arrived in Lake Eden this morning.”

  “Then Stephanie called him to tell him about the mayor’s death?”

  “Yes, she called him on his cell phone right after we told her. Robert was already on his way here for Bruce’s court date.”

  “And I’m sure he wanted to be here for Stephanie, too,” Norman said.

  “Of course. Robert told us he hoped that the judge would release Bruce in his custody if he promised to enroll Bruce in a residential alcohol treatment program.” Mike looked down at his notes again. “Let’s break for coffee, Hannah. How about another piece of that pie?”

  Hannah smiled. If there had been any doubt that Mike liked her pie, it was certainly erased now. He’d already had two pieces and now he wanted another. “How about some Chocolate Hazelnut Toast Cookies instead? I just made them this afternoon and they’re great with coffee.”

  “Sounds good,” Mike agreed, closing his notebook and returning it to his pocket. “We’re done, anyway. Lonnie and I don’t have any more suspects.”

  * * *

  Hannah had just settled into the passenger seat of Norman’s car when her cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her purse, glanced at the display, and frowned. “It’s Lisa,” she told Norman. “I hope nothing’s wrong.”

  “You go ahead and answer, and I’ll start the car and turn on the heater,” Norman told her.

  “Hello, Lisa,” Hannah said once she’d connected with the call. “What’s up?”

  “It’s Herb. He just remembered something that might have to do with Mayor Bascomb’s murder. Are you back at Norman’s house, Hannah?”

  “No, we’re just leaving the condo. Michelle invited us over for dinner.”

  “Well, I think this might be important,” Lisa said. “Can you stop by on your way back to Norman’s?”

  “Lisa wants to know if we can stop by her house,” Hannah said to Norman. “It has something to do with Mayor Bascomb’s death. It’s something Herb noticed and she thinks it could be important.”

  “Tell Lisa we’ll be there in less than fifteen minutes,” Norman said quickly, backing out of the parking spot and heading for the exit. “Tell her thanks for calling us.”

  “I heard that,” Lisa said, before Hannah could relay Norman’s message. “I’ll put on the coffee.”

  True to his word, Norman pulled up in Lisa and Herb’s driveway with a minute to spare. He cam
e around the car to open Hannah’s door, she got out, and they walked together to the back porch. When they opened the door and stepped inside the long, narrow back porch, Hannah spotted a cookie sheet cooling on a wire rack on the table.

  “What are they?” Norman asked her.

  “I’m not sure. That looks like sugar on top.”

  “It is,” Lisa said, opening the inner door. “They’re a new cookie recipe I tried out tonight. I have a plateful for you to try on the kitchen table. Just leave your boots on the rug by the door and come inside. Herb is in the kitchen, waiting for you.”

  “Hi, Hannah,” Herb greeted her when they stepped into the kitchen. “Good to see you, Norman. Sit down and try one of Lisa’s new cookies.”

  Norman sat down next to Herb. “We just came from the condo. Michelle made dinner and we’ve had two desserts already, but there’s no way I can resist trying a new cookie.”

  “A guy after my own heart.” Herb patted his stomach. “There’s always room for more dessert, right, Hannah?”

  Hannah laughed. “When it comes to Lisa’s cookies, you’re right. Did you ever think about how lucky you are to be married to such a talented baker?”

  “I think about how lucky I am every day,” Herb said, turning to smile at his wife. “And baking’s not the only talent Lisa has.”

  “That’s enough, Herb,” Lisa said, smiling at him as she refilled his coffee mug. “We both lucked out in the marriage department.”

  Once Lisa had given them all mugs of coffee, she set the pot on a trivet on the table and sat down next to Herb. “Tell them what you saw the night that Mayor Bascomb was murdered, Herb.”

  Herb nodded. “Lisa and I were talking about it after dinner tonight and I didn’t realize that it might be important until Lisa pointed it out to me. I was working in my office, finishing up some reports, when I heard someone go up the main staircase to the second floor. That was a little unusual because it was after hours and the other offices close at five. I just figured that someone must have a late appointment or one of the secretaries forgot something and came back to get it.”

  “Did you happen to see who it was?” Hannah asked, unconsciously crossing her fingers for luck.

  “No, I didn’t get up to look, but I did glance at my wall clock. It was ten after seven.”

  Hannah pulled her murder book out of her purse, found a pen, and made a note of the time. “Did you hear anything else?”

  Herb shook his head. “No, but I’ve learned to ignore the sounds from upstairs. The only time it gets really loud is when it’s right above, like when someone gets a new executive desk and they’re moving it in.”

  “But you don’t hear people talking or anything like that?” Norman asked.

  “No, it’s got to be really loud for me hear it down there. And I’m not there very often in the daytime. I’m usually out on patrol.”

  “Do you think you’d hear it if someone were shouting in an office upstairs?”

  “Maybe, but not if I had my door closed.”

  “And it was closed that night?” Norman asked him.

  “Yes, it was.”

  “Did you hear Andrea’s altercation with Mayor Bascomb that afternoon?” Hannah asked him.

  “No, I was out on patrol.” Herb exchanged glances with Lisa. “I almost wish I’d been in the office to hear it. Lisa told me that Andrea slapped the mayor so hard he fell backwards out of his chair.”

  It was Hannah’s turn to smile. “That’s true, it was EPIC!”

  “Tell them what happened when you left your office, Herb,” Lisa prompted him. “I think that’s the most important part.”

  “Okay.” Herb took a swallow of his coffee. “Lisa called me to ask when I was coming home from work. I glanced at the wall clock and noticed that it was already seven thirty, so I promised her that I’d leave right away.”

  “And you did?” Hannah asked.

  “Yes, I put on my parka, turned off the lights, shut and locked my office door, and went out the back way to the employees’ parking lot behind the building. That’s when I noticed that it was starting to snow again.”

  Hannah had a momentary flashback to pouring champagne for her mother in the garden while lazy flakes of snow began to fall on the dome that covered the penthouse garden.

  “You’re right about the time,” Norman said to Herb. “I poured white wine for Michelle and I noticed the snow outside the window. It wasn’t snowing heavily then.”

  Herb nodded. “I noticed something else, too. I heard Earl in the section of the parking lot that we rent out for county vehicles. He was already there, firing up the county snowplow.”

  “Earl must have gotten a call from the county,” Hannah speculated, knowing that Raine Phillips, the KCOW-TV weatherman, always notified Earl whenever snow was predicted.

  “The whole state does a good job with snow removal,” Norman commented.

  “That’s because they get out the minute the snow begins to fall and don’t quit until it’s over,” Herb said. “Other states wait until the snow stops and by then it’s heavy and hard to plow.”

  “So Earl was there with the plow?” Hannah asked, wondering why Lisa thought that this was so important to their investigation.

  “Yes, he came around the corner just as I was getting into my car. Both of us noticed that there was a bare spot next to me on the concrete that was just beginning to get covered with snow.”

  Hannah felt a tingle of excitement. “So someone had just left?” she asked.

  “That’s right, and I wondered if the car that had been parked there belonged to the person I’d heard going up the stairs.”

  “Did you mention that to Earl?” Hannah asked him.

  “Yes, and Earl looked at the bare spot the car had left. He pointed out that it was a really big spot, so the vehicle must have been larger than my Cadillac.”

  “Interesting,” Norman commented, looking over at Hannah. “I wonder if there was anything else that either of you noticed about the vehicle’s footprint.”

  “Footprint,” Herb repeated, giving a little chuckle. “I like that. It’s like those carbon footprints the environmentalists are always talking about, but a car footprint makes more sense to me.”

  “Maybe chassis-print would be more accurate,” Lisa said, and Herb laughed.

  “You’re right, honey. You learned something from those brothers of yours when they used to park their cars in the yard and work on them.”

  “I learned a lot of things,” Lisa said. “I learned how to get oil spots out of jeans. They were always crawling under their cars to do something or other.”

  Norman glanced at Hannah and took a cookie from the plate that Lisa had provided. They’d been so interested in Herb’s account of the night that the mayor had been murdered that they’d forgotten to taste Lisa’s new cookies.

  “Let’s take a little break,” Hannah suggested, also reaching for a cookie. “I want to taste Lisa’s newest creation.”

  “I’ve already had three,” Herb told them, “but I’m up for another one. You’re really going to like these, Hannah. I know you like peanut butter.”

  Hannah bit into a cookie and began to smile. “You’re right,” she told Herb. “I really like them! Will you test them out on our customers tomorrow, Lisa?”

  It was Lisa’s turn to smile. “Yes, I can do that. I made enough for a test, Hannah.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I think so.”

  “Well, I’m not sure. I want to take a whole plateful home with Norman and me.”

  Lisa laughed. “I can always make more, Hannah. What time are you getting there in the morning?”

  “Probably my usual twenty minutes before the angels get up.” Hannah took a moment to think about it. “Seriously, I can be there at five thirty if you need me.”

  “I don’t need you that early. You look tired, Hannah. Why don’t you sleep in tomorrow and come around seven. Aunt Nancy’s coming in early and so is Marge. She wa
nts to be there early because she’s taking Dad to see Doc at the hospital at noon.”

  Hannah felt a twinge of fear. “Is there something wrong with your father?”

  “No, but he’s due for his annual physical. Marge wants to get that out of the way before the rush starts for Easter orders. And that reminds me . . . Marge has a new cupcake she wants you to try for St. Jude’s Easter luncheon.”

  “Great! I’ll be there at seven, Lisa.” She turned to Herb. “And thank you, Herb. That bare spot next to your car might be important.”

  Once Hannah and Norman had said their good-byes and gotten back into Norman’s car, Hannah leaned back in her seat. “That was very interesting,” she said.

  “Do you think it’s important?” Norman asked her.

  “It could be. I’ll have to talk to Earl to see if he noticed anything else about that vehicle’s footprint.”

  “Now?”

  Hannah glanced at her watch, but it was too dark to see the time. “I’m not sure. Do you know what time it is, Norman?”

  Norman pushed a button on his phone, which was nestled in the receptacle he’d installed in his cup holder. “It’s ten minutes before nine,” he told her. “Do you want me to call to see if my mother and Earl are still up?”

  Hannah considered that for a brief moment and then she shook her head. “No, I just want to go back to your house and curl up on the couch in your den. It’s been a long day, Norman.”

  “It has,” Norman agreed. “Just lean back and rest, Hannah. We’ll be there in a few minutes and then both of us can relax.”

  Hanna leaned back and gave a deep sigh. She was very tired. It had been an exhausting day, starting with the baking and then Andrea’s arrival, Lisa and Aunt Nancy’s arrival, and then the interview with Grandma Knudson and Claire. She’d baked all day, trying out several new recipes, and once Michelle had come in after school and invited them for dinner with Mike and Lonnie, she’d worked overtime to finish everything before it was time for Norman’s arrival and the trip to the condo.

  Dinner had been delicious, but the pressure on Hannah hadn’t abated. She’d been anticipating the predictable fencing match with Mike, where he’d tried to find out everything she knew and she attempted to find out everything Mike had learned. It had happened exactly the way she’d expected until, instead of insisting Hannah back off and let the “authorities” handle it, Mike had actually asked for her help in solving Mayor Bascomb’s murder case.