“That’s what Doc Knight said,” Hannah confirmed.
“How about you, Aunt Lisa?” Tracey asked, turning to her. “I should have asked you before. You were there with Aunt Hannah and I didn’t even ask you how you were.” She hurried over to Lisa and gave her a hug. “I’m so sorry I was . . . negligent. That’s the right word, isn’t it?”
“That’s the right word, but you weren’t negligent. You were just too worried about your Aunt Hannah to think about anyone else. But I still want to know who told you about the accident.”
“It was Karen Dunwright. She’s in my class. And she heard it from Calvin Janowski. We were out for recess this morning and Calvin’s mother called him to tell him she might be late to pick him up because the road was still blocked off for the crime scene investigation. She even sent him a picture of all the police cars parked on the road.”
“Cell phones strike again,” Hannah said in a tone that she thought was under her breath, but Tracey turned to look at her.
“Most of the kids have them,” she explained. “I have one too, but I can’t use it except in emergencies.” She stopped speaking and looked worried again. “You weren’t talking on your cell phone when you had the accident, were you, Aunt Hannah?”
“No.”
“And you weren’t texting either?”
“No.”
“Oh, good. Dad says at least half of the accidents around here are caused by people texting.”
“You don’t have to worry about me texting, Tracey. My cell phone is old and I don’t think it has that capability.”
“You have a phone that can’t text?” Tracey asked, looking shocked.
“I think so. And even if it can, I don’t know how to do it.”
“I could teach you. I know how to text.”
Now it was Hannah’s turn to be shocked. “Your parents let you text?”
“No, but I know how. I watched some of the older kids and it’s easy. You just have to know all the abbreviations like LOL and TC.”
“I know LOL is laughing out loud,” Lisa said. “What’s TC?”
“Teacher coming. That’s for if you’re texting in class.” Tracey stopped and looked a bit apprehensive. “You won’t tell Mom I know how to text, will you, Aunt Hannah?”
“Not as long as you don’t do it when you’re not supposed to.”
“Oh, good. I dodged a bullet that time, huh?”
Hannah glanced at Lisa who was biting her lip to keep from laughing. “I guess you did.”
“Anyway, can I help you and Aunt Lisa bake? Bethie’s down for a nap and Grandma McCann can’t come to pick me up for at least a half hour.”
“Of course you can help. You can be our official stirrer. Lisa and I are going to test a recipe for Treasure Chest Cookies.”
“Oh boy!” Tracey said, clearly delighted as she ran to get the extra apron that Hannah kept in a drawer for her. “I think today is my lucky day because I’ve never even heard of a Treasure Chest Cookie before!”
TREASURE CHEST COOKIES
(Lisa’s Aunt Nancy’s Babysitter’s Cookies)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
The Cookie Dough:
½ cup (1 stick, 4 ounces, ¼ pound) salted butter, room temperature
¾ cup powdered sugar (plus 1 and ½ cups more for rolling the cookies in and making the glaze)
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons milk (that’s cup)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 and ½ cups all-purpose flour (pack it down when you measure it)
The “Treasure”:
Well-drained Maraschino cherries, chunks of well-drained canned pineapple, small pieces of chocolate, a walnut or pecan half, ¼ teaspoon of any fruit jam, or any small soft candy or treat that will fit inside your cookie dough balls.
The Topping:
1 cup powdered (confectioners) sugar
To make the cookie dough: Mix the softened butter and ¾ cup powdered sugar together in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Beat them until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Add the salt and mix it in.
Add the milk and the vanilla extract. Beat until they’re thoroughly blended.
Add the flour in half-cup increments, mixing well after each addition.
Divide the dough into 4 equal quarters. (You don’t have to weigh it or measure it, or anything like that. It’s not that critical.)
Roll each quarter into a log shape and then cut each log into 6 even pieces. (The easy way to do this is to cut it in half first and then cut each half into thirds.)
Roll the pieces into balls about the size of a walnut with its shell on, or a little larger.
Flatten each ball with your impeccably clean hands.
Wrap the dough around a “treasure” of your choice. If you use jam, don’t use over a quarter-teaspoon as it will leak out if there’s too much jam inside the dough ball.
Pat the resulting “package” into a ball shape and place it on an ungreased cookie sheet, 12 balls to a standard-size sheet. Push the dough balls down just slightly so they don’t roll off on their way to your oven.
Hannah’s 1st Note: I use baking sheets with sides and line them with parchment paper when I bake these with jam. If part of the jam leaks out, the parchment paper contains it and I don’t have sticky jam on my baking sheets or in the bottom of my oven.
Bake the Treasure Chest Cookies at 350° F. for approximately 18 minutes, or until the bottom edge is just beginning to brown when you raise it with a spatula.
Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool on the sheets for about 5 minutes.
Place ½ cup of powdered sugar in a small bowl.
Place wax paper or parchment paper under the wire racks.
Roll the still-warm cookies in the powdered sugar. The sugar will stick to the warm cookies. Coat them evenly and then return them to the wire racks to cool completely. (You’ll notice that the powdered sugar will “soak” into the warm cookie balls. That’s okay. You’re going to roll them in powdered sugar again for a final coat when they’re cool.)
When the cookies are completely cool, place another ½ cup powdered sugar in your bowl. Roll the cooled cookies in the powdered sugar again. Then transfer them to a cookie jar or another container and store them in a cool, dry place.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: I tried putting a couple of miniature marshmallows or half of a regular-size marshmallow in the center of my cookies for the “treasure”. It didn’t work. The marshmallows in the center completely melted away.
Lisa’s Note: I’m going to try my Treasure Chest Cookies with a roll of Rollo’s next time I make them. Herb just adores those chocolate covered soft caramels. He wants me to try the miniature Reese’s Pieces, too.
Yield: 2 dozen delicious cookies that both kids and adults will love to eat.
Chapter Five
It seemed like forever, but at last Hannah’s day was almost over. As Delores had promised, she had called after the board member luncheon to say that none of Doc Knight’s paramedics or hospital staff had recognized the man that Hannah had hit. She’d also said that, just as Hannah had suspected, the man’s neck had been broken. Doc was planning to perform an autopsy later in the afternoon to ascertain the exact cause of death.
Everyone else was gone and the shop was closed. Andrea had left when they locked the front door and Herb had come to get Lisa. Lisa’s car was ready. Herb had checked, and they were picking it up at Murphy’s Motors before they went home. Hannah and Michelle had done the prep work for the morning and, except for the two of them, The Cookie Jar was deserted.
“Are you almost ready to go, Hannah?” Michelle came out of the walk-in cooler after stashing the final batch of cookie dough for the morning’s baking.
“I’m ready, but my truck’s not here yet.”
“I know. Lonnie just called me on my cell and said that they need to keep it overnight.”
“Oh, great!” Hannah said sarcastically
. “What are we going to do for transportation?”
“Lonnie took care of that. He checked with his dad and a couple of Cyril’s mechanics are dropping off a loaner for you from the shop. You can keep it until you get your truck back.”
“That’s nice of Cyril, but I wonder why they need to keep my truck so long.”
“Lonnie said something about waiting for the autopsy report so they could make sure the man’s injuries were consistent with the damage to your truck.”
Hannah thought about that for a moment. “Okay. I guess that makes sense.”
Both sisters sat down at the workstation and propped their feet up on neighboring stools. They munched on a couple of Treasure Chest Cookies, which both of them agreed were perfect for Little Matt’s party, until there was a knock on the back door and the mechanics with the loaner arrived. Less than twenty-five minutes after that, the two sisters were pulling into Hannah’s condo complex. Michelle was driving. Hannah had explained that she didn’t want to drive any motor vehicle quite yet, and Michelle had volunteered.
“Home never looked so good!” Hannah said as her sister drove down the ramp of her underground garage and pulled into her parking spot.
“Home’s a good place to be after a rough day.” There was empathy in Michelle’s voice. “And you had a very rough day.”
“Not as rough as the man I hit.” Hannah got out of Cyril’s loaner, which was a newer model Buick with air-conditioning that actually worked, and started up the stairs. For the first time she wished her garage didn’t have stairs to the street level and her condo wasn’t on the second floor. She felt like a zombie and she simply had to get back some energy before Norman arrived to take her out to dinner.
“Your turn, or mine?” Michelle asked when they arrived at Hannah’s door.
“Yours. I’ll unlock and open. You brace yourself.”
“Ready.”
Hannah opened the door and quickly stepped to the side. Michelle jumped into position in front of the doorway and braced herself for what was about to happen. Both of them heard the thump as Moishe jumped off the back of the living room couch and streaked toward the door. A second later, he was airborne until he landed in Michelle’s outstretched arms.
“That was a good one, Moishe,” Michelle said, giving him a scratch under the chin as she carried him inside and placed him in his favorite position on the back of the couch. Then she turned to Hannah. “Is he getting heavier?”
“I don’t know. He could be. He’s been really hungry lately. Maybe I’d better put him on a diet.”
As if in response to Hannah’s comment, Moishe let out a yowl. Then he turned to give Hannah a baleful look.
“I think he knows that word,” Michelle said.
“I think you’re right. He just gave me the same death ray glance Mother used to give us when we did something really bad. I should have said that I might have to change his eating habits.”
Both sisters turned to look at Moishe, but his expression was perfectly neutral and he made no sound. “That works,” Michelle said.
“It works for now, but he’ll figure it out. Moishe’s a really smart cat. I’ll call Dr. Bob and see if I can get an appointment for tomorrow. They can check him out and put him on the scale.”
Moishe gave another yowl and the fur on his back began to bristle.
“He doesn’t like Dr. Bob anymore?” Michelle asked, staring at the cat who had narrowed his eyes and laid back his ears.
“He adores Dr. Bob. And Sue, too. That’s not it. He just heard me say the word . . .” Hannah stopped until she thought of another word . . . “weighing device. I think he caught that particular phobia from me. I don’t like to step on the weighing device either.” Hannah gave Moishe a little pat and headed for the kitchen. “Since I’m going out with Norman, you’re going to need something for dinner. I’ll see what’s in the refrigerator.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m sure there’s something. And if there’s not, I can always call out for a pizza. Lonnie said Bertanelli’s delivers in the summer.”
“That’s true. They hire high school kids with their own cars and pay them mileage. It’s good for the kids and Bert told me that it’s great for their business.”
Hannah had just stepped into the kitchen when the phone rang. “I’ll get it,” she called out to Michelle, and picked up the wall phone by the kitchen table. “The Cookie Jar. This is Hannah speak . . . oops!”
There was laughter on the other end of the line. “Did you forget you’d left work?” her caller asked.
“I did. Hi Ken.” Hannah recognized Kenneth Purvis, the Jordan High principal’s voice. “What’s up at the school?”
“The combined sports teams just held the drawing for their annual raffle.”
“That’s nice,” Hannah said, wondering why Ken was calling to tell her about it.
“I’m calling to tell you that you won the grand prize, Hannah!” Ken answered her unspoken question.
“I did?” Hannah was completely astounded. She vaguely remembered buying raffle tickets from several members of the Gulls football team when they came into The Cookie Jar. The Jordan High combined sports teams held a big raffle every year to raise money for athletic uniforms and sports supplies, but she didn’t remember anything about the prizes for this year. “That’s just fantastic, Ken! What did I win?”
“You don’t remember what the grand prize was?”
“Actually . . . no. I didn’t think I’d win and I really didn’t pay any attention to the flyer. I just bought the tickets the way I do every year to help out the school.”
“Well, you’re in for a big surprise then. The grand prize is magnificent and it’s worth over a thousand dollars!”
“Wow!” Hannah could feel her excitement grow. “Tell me, Ken. What is it?”
There was silence for a moment and then Ken chuckled. “I’m not going to tell you. I’m just going to let them deliver it on Monday and surprise you. Can you be home between one and two?”
“No, but can’t you deliver it to me at The Cookie Jar?”
“It’s too bulky for that, and too heavy, too. You’d never get it home on your own. Besides, the boys have to assemble it, set it up, and plug it in. Do you have anyone that can let us in? A friend? A neighbor who lives in the complex?”
Hannah thought fast. “My downstairs neighbor could do it, but she works afternoons for Janice Cox at Kiddie Korner. Her husband’s home, but he works the night shift at DelRay Manufacturing and he’ll be sleeping. Maybe Norman could come out to let them in, but I really hate to ask him. Doc Bennett’s on vacation and Norman’s been really busy at the dental clinic.”
“Not a problem. How about if we stop by your shop and pick up a key? The four boys delivering it are trustworthy and I’ll ride along in the truck to supervise.”
“That’ll work. Just be careful of Moishe. I don’t want him to get out.”
“That won’t be a problem. I’ll recruit Kathy. She loves cats and she’ll ride along to take care of Moishe.”
“Perfect,” Hannah declared, remembering how enamored Ken’s wife had been with Moishe when he’d spent his days at The Cookie Jar during the production of the independent feature that Ross Barton had filmed in Lake Eden.
“One other question,” Ken said. “Where do you want us to put it?”
Several of the words Ken had used to describe her prize flashed through Hannah’s mind. Assemble. Set up. Plug in. Her thousand dollar prize could be anything from a new big screen television to a refrigerator with a water and ice dispenser in the door. “I have to know what it is before I can tell you where to put it.”
“And I’m not going to tell you and spoil the surprise. Do you trust us to decide? I’ll consult with Kathy to get the woman’s viewpoint. And if you don’t like the place we choose, all you have to do is call us and we’ll move it to wherever you’d rather have it.”
“That works for me. Thanks, Ken. This is exciting. I’ll expect you at The Cookie
Jar on Monday. And when I get home from work, I can ooh and ahh over my wonderful grand prize.”
When Hannah had replaced the receiver in the cradle, she turned to see Michelle standing behind her.
“I heard,” Michelle said. “You’d better buy a lottery ticket tonight. The jackpot is way up there and your luck’s changing for the better.”
“Thank goodness for that! It certainly didn’t start out being very lucky.”
“I know, but it’s a lot better now. You won a raffle and you’re going to have dinner at the best restaurant in the Lake Eden area with a man you love. What could be better than that?”
Nothing unless I can go back to this morning and avoid killing that man, Hannah thought, but she didn’t say it. That thought was depressing and she didn’t want to voice it. “Let’s put your theory to the test. I’ll open the refrigerator door and see if I can find something perfect for you to eat,” she said, crossing to the refrigerator, opening the door, and perusing the contents of the shelves inside.
“Do you have any bread?” Michelle asked, peering around her.
“Yes.”
“How about butter?”
“I always have butter.”
“Then I’ve got the perfect dinner if that box behind the sour cream is what I think it is.”
“This one?” Hannah moved a box of Velveeta cheese to the front of the shelf.
“Yes. I’ll have a grilled cheese with some sliced tomatoes on the side. It’s one of my favorite meals. And I saw the ketchup so I’m all set. I just love grilled cheese cut in quarters and dipped in ketchup.”
Blackberry Pie Murder (A Hannah Swensen Mystery) Page 5
