Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder

by Joanne Fluke

  Hannah’s 1st Note: Now it’s time to add your Peeps. These miniature Peeps come in colors. I found the standard yellow, vivid pink, and pretty lavender. I like to use assorted colors on my Peeps Easter Cupcakes.

  Mix the softened butter with the softened cream cheese until the resulting mixture is well blended.

  Add the teaspoon of vanilla extract and the teaspoon of whole milk. Mix them in thoroughly.

  Hannah’s 2nd Note: Do this next step at room temperature. If you heated the cream cheese and the butter to soften them, make sure your mixture has cooled to room temperature before you complete the next step.

  Add the confectioners’ sugar in half-cup increments, stirring thoroughly after each addition, until the frosting is of proper spreading consistency. (You’ll use all, or almost all, of the powdered sugar.)

  Use a frosting knife or a small rubber spatula to place a dollop of frosting in the center of the tops of your cupcakes. Then spread it out almost to the edges of the cupcake paper.

  Hannah’s 3rd Note: If you spread the frosting all the way out to the edge of the cupcake, your guests will get frosting on their fingers when they peel off the cupcake paper and they’ll have to wash or lick their fingers. Kids enjoy this. Adults, not so much.

  While the frosting is still soft, press a miniature Peep on top of each cupcake.

  Keep your decorated and frosted cupcakes at room temperature until the frosting hardens or is dry to the touch.

  If you have frosting left over, spread it on graham crackers, soda crackers, or what Great-Grandma Elsa used to call store-boughten cookies. This frosting can also be covered tightly and kept in the refrigerator for up to a week. When you want to use it, let it sit on the kitchen counter, still tightly covered, for an hour or so, or until it reaches room temperature and it is spreadable again.

  This frosting also works well in a pastry bag, which brings up all sorts of interesting possibilities for decorating cakes or cookies.

  Hannah’s 4th Note: I made these cupcakes for Tracey and Bethie for Easter last year. Tracey chose the traditional yellow Peeps, but Bethie chose the lavender Peeps. I noticed that Tracey ate her Peep first, before she even took the paper off her cupcake. Bethie took off her cupcake paper first and then removed her Peep from the frosting and placed it in the cupcake paper to eat after she’d finished eating her cupcake. I’m not sure what this means about the difference in their personalities, but it was interesting to watch.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  “Hannah? Are you sleeping, Hannah?”

  Hannah tried to open her eyes and it seemed to take forever. Her eyelids were so heavy, she could barely lift them.

  “Wake up, Hannah. I finished the call.”

  The call. What call was that? And why did she care if someone finished their call? These and other questions occurred to Hannah, but she was too sleepy to ask them.

  “Wake up, Hannah. I’ll take you home.”

  The voice belonged to a man. Was it her father? She must be somewhere else if Dad was telling her that he’d take her home.

  “Do you want me to carry you to the car, Hannah?”

  The question was vaguely familiar and Hannah’s mind began to focus. She’d heard that very same question before. Slowly, her eyes opened and she looked up at . . .

  “Norman!” she gasped, recognizing the man leaning over her. “No, don’t carry me. You’d probably get a hernia!”

  Norman laughed. “That’s what you said the last time you fell asleep.”

  Her mind was beginning to work and Hannah smiled. “You’re right. I did. I’m awake now, Norman. Did you say you’d finished the call?”

  “I did. I found the right truck stop and Mitzi was working. The boss let her come to the phone.”

  “Great!” Hannah said, waking up all the way. “Did you find out what was wrong with Robert’s car?”

  “No, but Mitzi’s going to call you in the morning when she finishes her shift and gets home. She said her husband worked on Robert’s car, but it wasn’t a car.”

  “It was a camper?”

  “That’s right. How did you know that?”

  “Stephanie said that Robert had two vehicles, a small sedan and a camper.”

  “Well, it was the camper.”

  “Yes, but how did Mitzi know it was the camper?”

  Norman shook his head. “She overheard one of the truckers at the counter compliment him on keeping a camper that old in running condition.”

  “What did Robert say to that?”

  “He laughed and said he’d bought it used and he had to keep it running because he couldn’t afford anything newer and he always went camping in national parks every summer with his son.”

  “Did the trucker ask him what was wrong with the camper?”

  “Yes, and Robert said he didn’t know yet, that he’d handed the keys to a mechanic right after he’d driven in, and he hoped to hear something soon.”

  “Did he?”

  “Mitzi didn’t know. Robert was still sitting at the counter when her shift ended and she went home. But she promised me that she’d check with her husband in the morning.”

  “Mitzi’s husband works at the truck stop, too?”

  “Yes, he’s the head mechanic. She promised to check with him and give you a call.”

  “Call me?” Hannah was clearly surprised. “Didn’t you give her your number?”

  “No, I’ve got to go into the office tomorrow morning, Hannah. I’ve got a root canal scheduled the first thing in the morning and Doc Bennett can’t come in until noon.”

  “Did you give Mitzi the number at The Cookie Jar?”

  “No, I gave her your cell phone number. I didn’t know what time you were going in to work tomorrow morning, so be sure to charge your cell phone tonight. As a matter of fact, hand it over and I’ll do it for you when we get to the house.”

  “Good idea. I’m still so sleepy, I might forget to do it.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it. And I’ll make sure you take it with you when we drive to Lake Eden in the morning.” Norman reached out to touch her shoulder. “I want to get you to bed before you fall asleep again and fall off Lisa’s stool.”

  * * *

  Hannah smiled as Norman dropped her off at work the next morning. Her cell phone was fully charged and in her purse, and she’d promised Norman that she’d set it out right on the workstation so that she didn’t have to rummage in her purse for it when Mitzi called.

  “Thanks again for breakfast, Norman,” she said, as he opened her car door and took her key so that he could open the back kitchen door. “Coffee?” Hannah asked him.

  “Thanks, but no thanks. I had enough at the Corner Tavern and I’m awake.” He glanced at his watch. “My patient will be coming in thirty minutes and I want to do a little preparation.”

  “Root canals are involved, aren’t they?”

  “Yes, and I need to sterilize some things. I’ll see you at noon after Doc Bennett comes in.”

  The first thing Hannah did after Norman left was to preheat her industrial oven. Then she put on a pot of coffee and went to the walk-in cooler to look at the array of cookie dough waiting to be baked and decide what to bake first. She’d set the oven for 350 degrees, but she could always change the temperature if she chose something that required a different baking temperature. Most cookies baked at that temperature. She walked back to the stainless steel workstation with a bowl that contained enough dough for a batch of Twin Chocolate Delights and a batch of Short Stack Cookies. Both batches of cookies would bake at 350 degrees, but she’d bake the Short Stack Cookies first because the dough was already chilled and the recipe called for the cookie dough to chill before baking. Twin Chocolate Delights didn’t have to chill before baking, so she’d bake those next after the dough had time to warm.

  Hannah was so busy baking, she didn’t hear Lisa come in the front door. She didn’t realize that she wasn’t alone until Lisa called out her name and came through th
e swinging door between the coffee shop and the kitchen.

  “You’re here early, Hannah,” Lisa said, heading straight to the kitchen coffeepot to pour herself a cup. “Do you want me to fill your coffee cup, Hannah?”

  “Yes, please. Norman had to be at the clinic early this morning,” Hannah explained, “and I decided I might as well start the baking.”

  “That’s great. Aunt Nancy and I would have done it, but it’s wonderful to come in and smell so many good cookie scents.” She stopped speaking and began to smile. “Do I smell Short Stack Cookies cooling on the baker’s rack?”

  “You do! I baked those first thing while the dough was still chilled. Would you like a couple?”

  “What a silly question!” Lisa exclaimed.

  Hannah laughed as she carried the cookies to the workstation. “You’re right. I got a couple for me, too. I love these cookies in the morning.”

  “They’re breakfast, and I didn’t bother making breakfast this morning. Herb left early for a breakfast meeting at Hal and Rose’s Café with the town council, and I didn’t feel like eating alone.”

  “I don’t blame you. I don’t particularly like to eat alone, either.”

  “But you don’t usually eat alone, do you?”

  Hannah considered that for a moment. “Not often,” she answered. “If I cook or Michelle does, there are almost always guests. Now that I think about it, I don’t remember the last time I had breakfast by myself.”

  “That’s the great thing about The Cookie Jar,” Lisa said, reaching for her second cookie. “There are always cookies for breakfast. And even if you’re alone here, you’re not alone for long because you know there are going to be other people coming in soon.”

  Comfort zone, Hannah’s rational mind told her. Lisa thinks The Cookie Jar is a comfort zone. Isn’t that wonderful?

  Hannah assumed that the suspicious part of her mind would think of some reason to contradict this, so she simply stopped listening. “I’m glad you feel that way, Lisa,” she said. “I feel exactly the same way. It can get a little hectic, but I love it here, too.”

  Lisa finished her second cookie and stood up. “I’d better get everything organized in the coffee shop before our first customers come in. Shall I send Aunt Nancy back here when she comes in to help with the baking?”

  Hannah glanced at the baker’s rack. “I’m almost through and I don’t really need help baking, but you can send her back to fill the display jars with cookies.”

  Hannah baked another batch of cookies before Aunt Nancy came in. Aunt Nancy filled the display jars, set them out on the shelf above the bar they’d converted to a counter, and their first customers of the morning began to arrive.

  The buzz of conversation from the coffee shop began to grow louder as the number of customers grew, and after another energizing cup of coffee, Hannah decided to try out one of the new recipes she’d written.

  Untried recipes were separated from their regular tried and true recipes by a red-colored divider. Hannah flipped to the pages in the loose-leaf binder that were in back of the divider.

  “Perfect!” she said aloud as she saw the recipe for Coconut and Cherry-Cranberry Cookies. The cookies weren’t that difficult to make, and they would look quite festive with maraschino cherry halves pressed into the sugar that coated the cookies.

  Hannah had just gathered all the ingredients, grateful that she’d stocked up on Cherry Craisins at the Red Owl’s latest sale, when her cell phone rang.

  “Hello, this is Hannah,” she said when she answered the call.

  “I’m glad I caught you, Hannah. It’s Mitzi from the truck stop. Norman asked me to call you after I talked to my husband about his friend’s camper.”

  “Hi, Mitzi,” Hannah greeted her, grabbing her murder book, which was turned to a blank page in preparation for Mitzi’s call. “Norman said he thought your husband could tell us what was wrong with Robert’s camper.”

  “I could, but my husband’s right here at the counter, taking his morning break. Would you like to talk to him? His name is Ronnie.”

  “That would be great! Thank you, Mitzi.” Hannah pushed her pen out of the spiral on her notebook.

  “Hannah?” a man’s voice said. “It’s Ronnie, and Mitzi said you wanted to ask me about the camper.”

  “That’s right.”

  “The guy’s not upset about what we charged him, is he?” Ronnie asked, sounding slightly suspicious.

  “Not at all. He told my boyfriend he thought it was fair and he was grateful to get it fixed.”

  “He sure seemed grateful,” Ronnie responded, and Hannah thought he sounded a bit relieved. “Actually, there wasn’t that much wrong. It was just a matter of fixing a fluid leak and filling it up with transmission fluid again.”

  “My boyfriend was curious. He used to race cars and the guys in the pit told him that all three fluids could look alike if they were dirty and they’d turned brown. You said that Robert’s camper was leaking transmission fluid?”

  “That’s right and what was left was dark brown. He told us that the camper hadn’t been driven since he’d gone to Mount Rushmore in the summer, and he couldn’t remember the last time he’d drained it and put in new transmission fluid. That’s the problem with people who don’t know that much about cars. Fluids can get old and even if you haven’t driven that much, you have to replace them every once in a while.”

  “But the camper’s okay to drive now?”

  “Absolutely. The engine was in great shape and so is the body. Robert told me he’d bought it used and he got a real gem.”

  Hannah’s mind was working at warp speed. There was one other question she had to ask Ronnie. “Do you have time to answer one more question for me?”

  “Sure, if it’s quick. I have to get back to work in five minutes.”

  “It’s quick. Did you happen to see the camper when Robert drove into the truck stop?”

  “Yeah, I noticed it while he was still on the highway. It’s unusual to see a camper that old still running.”

  “Did you happen to notice if Robert was coming from the east or the west?”

  “I did because it was unusual. He was coming from the west, but he told me that he’d driven in from Wisconsin and that’s east of here. We’re on I-90 and we’re right before the turnoff for Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. I figured he must have overshot the exit and turned around at the next exit to come back. Is there anything else? I’ve gotta get going.”

  “No, there’s nothing else. Thank you so much, Ronnie. And please thank Mitzi for me, too. Robert did remember to tip her, didn’t he? I talked to him this morning and he was a little worried about that.”

  “He tipped her and she said he was pretty darned generous.”

  “Good. I’ll set his mind at ease on that score,” Hannah promised. “Thanks so much, and I hope you have an easy day at work.”

  Hannah was thoughtful as she disconnected the call. Ronnie had told her some things that puzzled her, and she decided that the best way to clear her mind was to mix up her Coconut and Cherry-Cranberry Cookies and bake them. Since she was trying a new recipe, she’d have to concentrate, but she could think about things and try to put together everything she’d learned while she was mixing the cookie dough and shaping the cookies.

  COCONUT AND CHERRY-CRANBERRY COOKIES

  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

  Ingredients:

  30 maraschino cherries to garnish your cookies

  1 and ¼ cups white (granulated) sugar

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

  4 ounces cream cheese, softened (the brick kind, not the whipped kind—I used Philadelphia Cream Cheese in the silver box)

  3 large eggs

  ½ teaspoon salt

  1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg (freshly grated is best, of course)

  1 teaspoon baking soda

  1 and ½
cups flaked coconut, finely chopped (measure AFTER chopping)

  2 cups Cherry Craisins

  3 and ½ cups all-purpose flour (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)

  ½ cup white (granulated) sugar for rolling dough balls

  Set the maraschino cherries out on paper towels to dry them.

  Hannah’s 1st Note: Unless you have a very strong stirring arm, use an electric mixer to make this cookie dough.

  Place the white granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer.

  Place the butter and the cream cheese, which must be softened to room temperature, on top of the sugar.

  Turn the mixer to LOW speed and mix for one minute.

  Gradually increase the speed of the mixer, shutting it off and scraping down the sides of the bowl frequently.

  Beat your cookie dough one minute at each level until you arrive at the highest speed.

  Beat at the highest speed for at least 2 minutes or until the resulting mixture is very light and fluffy.

  Turn the mixer down to LOW speed, and add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.

  Continue to mix on LOW speed while you add the salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking soda. Then mix until everything is thoroughly incorporated.

  If you haven’t done so already, place approximately 2 cups of flaked coconut in the bowl of your food processor with the steel blade attached. Process in an on-and-off motion until the coconut flakes are chopped into very small pieces.

  Measure out a cup and a half of finely chopped coconut, pressing it down in the cup when you measure it.

  Add the finely chopped coconut flakes to your mixing bowl.

  Measure out the Cherry Craisins and sprinkle them into the mixing bowl on top of the coconut.

  Turn the mixer on LOW speed and mix until the finely chopped coconut flakes and the Cherry Craisins are thoroughly incorporated.

  With the mixer running on LOW speed again, mix in the flour, a half-cup at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. (You don’t have to be exact—just add the flour in 4 increments.)