Peach Cobbler Murder

by Joanne Fluke

“Rowww,” Moishe said, looking up with a perfectly neutral expression.

  “Forget I asked. I’ll go get more cookies. I don’t think chocolate’s good for you, but you can have a little of the frosting.”

  Once she’d carried their dessert dishes back into the kitchen and come back with two more cookies, Hannah applied herself to her role as official tester. The cookies were now at room temperature and they were delicious that way. Delores would love them. She’d always been especially fond of German Chocolate Cake, and these were German Chocolate Cake Cookies.

  The phone rang and Hannah glanced at the clock. Only nine. It could be her mother. But Moishe wasn’t bristling, and that meant it was probably someone else.

  “Hello?” Hannah answered, swallowing her last bite of cookie.

  “Hi, Hannah. It’s Phil from downstairs, except I’m not downstairs, I’m at work.” Phil sighed. “Did that make sense?”

  “Sure. What can I do for you, Phil?”

  “Well, I stopped by Granny’s Attic this afternoon to pick up a painting that Sue really liked. It was a surprise for our anniversary. Your mother waited on me and she mentioned that Moishe was a really good mouser.”

  For one brief moment, Hannah wondered how that conversation had started. Then she placed her hand over the receiver and groaned. She knew what was coming and it was bound to entail a trip down the stairs in subzero cold for both woman and beast.

  “I know it’s late and you get up really early, but this is kind of an emergency. Sue just called me in a panic. She saw a mouse run into Kevin’s bedroom closet and she’s really afraid of mice. I told her I’d set a trap when I got home, but I know she won’t sleep a wink all night. Do you think you could…”

  “Sure,” Hannah said, knowing that nine-tenths of what Sue wanted was to be reassured. “Just let me slip on some boots and put Moishe into his harness, and we’ll go right down there.”

  Much to Hannah’s surprise, Moishe stood on the back of the couch and let her buckle him into his small-dog harness. She carried him down the stairs to save his footpads from the unaccustomed cold, and put him down when they entered the Plotniks’ condo.

  “I really appreciate this, Hannah,” Sue said, looking extremely grateful. “I heard that Moishe liked shrimp and I’ve got a two-pound bag in the freezer to send home with him.”

  “You don’t have to do that,” Hannah protested, thinking about the other bags of shrimp that were already lying in state in her freezer. She’d only used one bag for the gumbo and that left the second bag of salad shrimp that Delores had given her, and the bag of medium tail-on shrimp that Carrie had contributed.

  “I know I don’t have to, but I want to. You have no idea how much I appreciate this, Hannah. I feel better about it already.”

  “But you’re still shaking,” Hannah said, noticing that her neighbor’s legs were trembling. “Is there coffee?”

  “In the pot. I’ll just go and get you a cup.”

  “I’ll get it,” Hannah said, handing Moishe’s leash to Sue. “You’re shaking so hard, you’ll probably spill it on the rug. Cream and sugar for you?”

  “No, just black. The mugs are in the cupboard over the sink.”

  Hannah filled two mugs with coffee and carried them into the living room. She found Moishe sitting in Sue’s lap. He was purring innocently as Sue stroked his fur, but his nose was inching closer and closer to the foil-covered plate Hannah had placed on the coffee table.

  “Oh, no you don’t!” Hannah grabbed her cat before he could commit cookie-cide. “We had our dessert already. These are for Sue.”

  “They look wonderful!” Sue said when Hannah removed the foil.

  “They are. It’s a new recipe, German Chocolate Cake Cookies, and I want you to eat at least two. The endorphins in the chocolate will make you feel better.”

  “That’s the best excuse for pigging out that I’ve ever heard!” Sue said with a laugh, reaching for a cookie. She took a bite, smiled in pleasure, and took another bite. “So this doesn’t count as breaking my diet, since they’re medicinal.”

  “Absolutely right. Medicinal calories have no effect on the body.” Hannah grinned to show she was joking and Sue laughed again.

  “These are delicious, Hannah.” Sue finished her first cookie and started in on the second. “And so were the wedding cakes you made for Lisa and Herb. Phil got chocolate and I got vanilla, and we switched plates halfway through. Between the candy at the hospital, the dessert buffet at the wedding, and these cookies, my diet’s had a bad week.”

  “You’ll get back on track,” Hannah reassured her, and then she picked up on the first half of Sue’s sentence. “You were in the hospital?”

  “Just visiting. Phil and I went to see his cousin. She slipped on her front steps and broke her ankle. Doc Knight’s keeping her in the hospital for a couple of days because it’s a bad break.”

  “That’s too bad. I hope it’s not too painful.”

  Sue shook her head. “They’ve got her all doped up and when we got there, she was chattering away a mile a minute with Ronni Ward. Ronni’s all doped up, too.”

  “Ronni’s in the hospital?” Hannah leaned forward slightly. This could be important.

  “Ronni broke her ankle at almost the same exact time. Of course they were miles apart when it happened, but it’s kind of a strange coincidence. Both of them were upset about missing Lisa and Herb’s wedding, so we had to promise to bring them a piece of wedding cake.”

  Hannah made a mental note to call her mother and Carrie and tell them they didn’t have to bother to look for Ronni Ward’s name on the guest lists. Then she broached the rodent problem. “I’ll let Moishe loose in Kevin’s room, but I’m not sure he’ll catch your mouse.”

  “I am. Phil said your mother gave him a glowing testimonial and so did Carrie. They said he was better than Professional Pest Control, or Mouse Be Gone.”

  “Well…that’s nice to hear,” Hannah said, wondering what in the world she’d gotten into when she’d assured her mother that Moishe had solved her problem. “Phil said the mouse was in Kevin’s closet?”

  “That’s right. At least I had the presence of mind to shut the door so it couldn’t get out. I wouldn’t worry so much if it was in our closet, but Kevin’s just a baby.”

  “I understand,” Hannah said, gesturing for Sue to lead the way. And then she muttered, sub rosa to Moishe, “Did you hear that? We’ve got to get rid of this one!”

  A moment or two later, Hannah was sitting on the rug in front of Kevin’s closet, armed with a twenty-plus-pound cat. Kevin was sleeping the sleep of the angels, and Hannah wasn’t about to disturb him. She whispered her instructions to Moishe.

  “Try not to wake the baby. Just check to see if there’s a mouse, and if it’s here, get rid of it. You don’t have to kill it if you don’t want to. You can chase it off and that’ll be fine. Just don’t make a lot of noise so Kevin wakes up. And don’t gross me out, okay?”

  Moishe turned to stare at her with his perfectly blank expression again, and Hannah imagined she could read his mind. Now you’re going to tell me how to catch mice? Who’s the cat here anyway?

  “Sorry,” Hannah whispered. “I’m just a little nervous, that’s all. I’ll open the closet door and you can just do your thing.”

  Moishe waited until she opened the door and then he stalked to the closet. A second later, he was inside, burrowing in back of the packages of disposable diapers. And then he was out, grinning at Hannah, the tip of a tail protruding between his teeth.

  “It’s just a tail?” Hannah asked, feeling a bit anxious. “I mean…nothing’s attached to it…right?”

  Moishe didn’t answer. He just sat down on his haunches and purred.

  “So…what should I tell Sue?” Hannah addressed the only one who knew what had happened in the closet. “Did you get the whole mouse? Or just the tail? And is a tail something a mouse can live without?”

  Moishe purred. He purred loudly, the loudest Hann
ah had ever heard him purr. Hannah assumed that was the only answer she was about to get and she led him out of the room.

  “It’s over?” Sue asked when they emerged.

  “I think so. He was in the closet when the…uh…incident occurred. And I saw the tip of a tail peeking out between his teeth.”

  “That’s good enough for me,” Sue said, and reached out to give Moishe a pat. “How about some shrimp for your trouble?”

  Even though Hannah protested and said that was what neighbors were for, Sue refused to let her leave without a two-pound package of frozen shrimp.

  “What now?” Hannah asked as she trudged up the steps, carrying her purring feline. “Shall we put a notice in the Lake Eden Journal and rent you out as a community service?”

  But Moishe just purred. And he continued purring as Hannah opened the door, took off her boots, and got the coffee ready to go off automatically in the morning. He purred as she washed her face and brushed her teeth, and put on the long, oversized sweatshirt that served as her winter nightgown.

  Hannah set the alarm, switched off the light, and climbed into bed. Moishe was still purring when she upended him from her goose-down pillow and moved him over to the identical goose-down pillow she’d bought for him. He purred his permission as she cuddled him close and he didn’t draw away and move down to the bottom of the bed.

  “You’re really mellow tonight,” Hannah said, stroking his soft fur. It was highly unusual for Moishe to let her pet him this long. Usually three pats were all she was allowed before he moved out of reach.

  Hannah was wondering if mice had endorphins that made cats happy, similar to the effect the endorphins in chocolate had on people, when Moishe opened his mouth. She let out a little gasp as she saw something small, and fast, and dark streak down to the foot of her bed. A second later, the small dark thing hurtled off into space, hit the floor scrambling, and hightailed it into her walk-in closet.

  “No wonder you were purring!” Hannah gasped, sitting straight up in bed and flicking on the light in time to see her resident feline jump off the bed with a thump worthy of a much larger species, and set off in hot pursuit. “You brought Sue’s mouse home to play!”

  GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE COOKIES

  Do not preheat oven yet—make cookie dough first

  COOKIE DOUGH:

  1 cup butter (2 sticks)

  1 cup milk chocolate chips

  2 cups white (granulated) sugar

  2 eggs

  ½ teaspoon baking powder

  ½ teaspoon baking soda

  ½ teaspoon salt

  2 teaspoons vanilla

  3 cups flour (no need to sift)

  FROSTING:

  ½ cup firmly packed brown sugar

  ¾ cup tightly packed coconut

  ½ cup chopped pecans

  ¼ cup chilled butter (½ stick)

  2 egg yolks, beaten

  In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter and chocolate chips on HIGH for 2 minutes. Stir until smooth.

  In another mixing bowl, mix the sugar and the eggs. Add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and vanilla.

  Stir the melted chocolate until it’s fairly warm to the touch, but no longer hot. Add it to the mixing bowl and mix it in thoroughly.

  Add the flour and mix well. (Dough will be stiff and a bit crumbly.)

  Cover the dough and set it aside while you make the frosting.

  Combine the sugar and coconut in a food processor. Mix with the steel blade until the coconut is in small pieces.

  Add the chopped pecans. Cut the butter into four chunks and add them. Process with the steel blade until the butter is in small bits.

  Separate the yolks, place them in a glass, and whip them up with a fork. Add them to your bowl and process until thoroughly incorporated. (If you don’t have a food processor, you can make the frosting by hand using softened butter.)

  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

  Chill the frosting while the oven’s preheating. It’ll make it easier to work with. This will be especially true if you’ve made the frosting by hand and haven’t chopped the coconut into shorter shreds.

  Pat the cookie dough into one-inch balls with your fingers. Place the balls on a greased cookie sheet, 12 to a standard sheet. Press down in the center of each ball with your thumb to make a deep indentation. (If the health board’s around, use the bowl of a small spoon.)

  Pat the frosting into ½-inch balls with your fingers. Place them in each indentation.

  Bake at 350 degrees F. for 10 to 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then remove them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

  Yield: 5 to 6 dozen, depending on cookie size.

  Chapter Fifteen

  By the end of the day, Hannah’s feet were aching. The customers had come in a steady stream, not even tapering off for their predictable eleven-thirty lull, a time when people thought it was too late for a breakfast cookie and too early for a lunch cookie. During the day, Hannah had manned the counter while Lisa had dashed back to the kitchen to mix up and bake a triple batch of Hannah’s Bananas. When it was clear that they would sell out, Hannah left Lisa to man the counter while she mixed and baked a triple batch of Oatmeal Raisin Crisps.

  Andrea had called in with her report. She’d driven out to the sheriff’s station, intending to ask about the electronic gate card log for the time of the wedding, but she’d run into Marjorie Hanks in the parking lot. Marjorie had just picked up her check for cleaning the station on Valentine’s Day. When Andrea asked her why she’d worked on a holiday, Marjorie had said that she preferred to work when most employees were gone, because then there were less people to get in her way. Further probing on Andrea’s part had established that Marjorie had walked past Mike every ten minutes or so as she’d carried out trash and cleaned the various cubicles. He hadn’t left the station. Marjorie had been sure of it.

  “I served more coffee today than I’ve served in a week!” Lisa announced, coming through the swinging restaurant-style door that separated the coffee shop from the kitchen.

  “How many urns did we go through?”

  “I don’t know. I stopped counting at a dozen. That’s over…thirty times twelve…three hundred and sixty cups!”

  “Is there any coffee left?”

  “Just dregs. I’ll dump it out and make a fresh pot here in the kitchen for your strategy meeting. Do you want me to sit in?”

  “Of course, if you have time.”

  “I do. Herb isn’t picking me up for another twenty minutes. I talked to him on the phone and he wanted me to ask you if there was anything he could do to help you. The Pretty Girl Cosmetic husbands are taking a bus to the Indian casino tomorrow, so Herb doesn’t have to help Dick entertain them.”

  “Herb doesn’t want to go to the casino?”

  “Not really. He’d rather help you if you need him. He said this life of leisure is getting to him.”

  “The wedding was only two days ago,” Hannah said with a laugh.

  “I know. But Herb really loves his job and I think he misses the excitement of law enforcement.”

  Only because you’re not there to provide another kind of excitement, Hannah thought, but she didn’t say it. Lisa was a very private person and she considered some topics off-limits, even for friends and business partners.

  Hannah’s oven timer dinged and she went to take a final pan of cookies out of the oven. She’d finished baking the German Chocolate Cake Cookies and she was eager to try them out on her mother.

  Five minutes passed while Hannah arranged cookies on a plate and Lisa made coffee in the kitchen pot. Then the two partners sat at the workstation for a moment, both of them lost in thought, until there was a knock on the back door and Lisa went to open it.

  “Hi, Mrs. Beeseman,” Norman said, chuckling when Lisa glanced around to see if Herb’s mother was standing behind her. “That’s you now, Lisa. Unless you’d prefer to be called Ms. Herman.” />
  Lisa shook her head. “Mrs. Beeseman sounds nice. I’m just not used to it yet. I wonder how long it’ll take me.”

  “At least a year,” Andrea said, coming in the back door, “especially since you’re working in a casual environment and everyone calls you Lisa anyway. If you worked in a big office and they called you Mrs. Beeseman all the time, you’d get used to the name in a hurry. Is there coffee? I’m dying of caffeine withdrawal here.”

  “Coming up.” Lisa grabbed a mug and filled it. She added real cream and sugar, the way Andrea liked it, and set it down in front of her. “You look like you’ve been running all day.”

  Andrea took a big gulp of coffee. “That’s right. I worked for three hours this morning entering listings in the computer, and then I went out to the sheriff’s station and got the scoop on Mike. After that, I showed three houses, got another listing from the neighbor next door to one of the houses I showed, picked up Tracey and her friends from school, and dropped them off at dance class. Now all I have to do is run out to the mall to order some pens that Al wants to have made, and be home by nine to relieve Mrs. McCann so that she can watch Hot Pix on the Romance Network.”

  “What’s that?” Lisa asked, expressing more interest than Hannah had expected. Perhaps marriage was widening her horizons.

  “It’s the most romantic movie of the week. The one tonight got five hot peppers and that means it really sizzles. Hot Pix is one of the reasons Mrs. McCann agreed to stay in our guest room and take care of Bethany for three months. She doesn’t have a dish out at the farm and all she can get are the regular channels.”

  “I wonder if we should think about getting Mother a…” Hannah stopped and began to frown. Perhaps Delores would be better off not having a dish. It might give her even more romantic ideas about Winthrop. “Never mind,” she said.

  “Because it might…you know?”