Plum Pudding Murder

by Joanne Fluke

  FROSTING SPLATTERS

  Leftover frosting of any type

  Salted soda crackers in sheets of 4, (if you can find them,) or individual crackers packed in sleeves.

  Lay out the crackers salt side down on a cookie sheet, counter, or platter. Spread the unsalted side with frosting.

  Yield: Makes as many crackers as you have frosting to top.

  Lisa’s Note: Kids love these and so do adults. A few Frosting Splatters might just keep them from digging into the frosted cake until it’s ready to be served.

  Chapter Seventeen

  There was a knock on the back door and Hannah sighed. “That’s got to be Mother. She listens to KCOW radio when she drives to work in the morning and she’s probably dropping by to accuse me of corrupting Norman.”

  “By taking him with you to find murder victims?” Lisa guessed.

  “Exactly right. You know how she feels about my affliction.”

  “Is that what she calls it?” Lisa giggled and Hannah was reminded again how young her partner was.

  “Among other things. It embarrasses her because none of her friends have daughters who stumble across murder victims.”

  “She’s not entirely wrong, you know. You do seem to have a knack for it.”

  “A knack? Now there’s a word she hasn’t used to describe it.” There was another knock at the door, a little louder this time, and Hannah got up from her stool. “I’d better open the door before she freezes out there.”

  “Good morning, dear,” Delores said, as Hannah opened the door and ushered her into the kitchen. There was a smile on her face and Hannah knew instantly that she hadn’t heard about Larry Jaeger. “I just dropped by on my way out to the college.”

  “It’s good to see you, Mother. Would you like a cup of coffee?”

  “I’d love to have a cup of coffee with you. I didn’t have time for breakfast this morning. Do you have any cookies…” Delores stopped speaking as her gaze landed on the baker’s rack that was filled with freshly-baked cookies. “That was a silly question for me to ask. Of course you have cookies!”

  “We have Boggles, Raisin Drops, Spicy Dreams, or Orange Julius Cookies,” Lisa told her, naming the cookies on the rack for Delores.

  “Orange Julius Cookies? I don’t think I’ve ever tasted those.”

  “I know you’ve never tasted them,” Hannah said. “The recipe’s from Andrea’s friend, Kathy Bruns, and this is the first time we’ve baked them.”

  Lisa placed two of the cookies on a napkin in front of Delores. “I’m going to get things ready in the coffee shop,” she said, heading for the swinging door that separated the two areas. “It was nice to see you, Mrs. Swensen.”

  “Lisa’s always so formal and I’ve known her since she was a baby,” Delores said, once Lisa was out of earshot. “What do I have to do to get her to call me Delores…or Mother?”

  “You could adopt her.”

  “Perhaps that would do it,” Delores said with a laugh. “Very good, dear.”

  As Hannah filled her mother’s coffee mug, she thought about her choices. She could wait until Delores heard about Larry’s murder on the radio, or she could take the bull by the horns and blurt it out now. Either way would result in upsetting her mother, but she might be a bit less upset if she heard it straight from the horse’s mouth.

  “I guess you haven’t heard about Larry Jaeger,” Hannah said, placing the coffee in front of her mother and jumping into what could be the frigid waters of motherly displeasure with both feet.

  “What about Larry Jaeger?”

  “Someone murdered him last night.” Hannah waited for her mother’s predictable gasp. Once that occurred, she was about to go on when she had a brilliant idea. Although she’d been the one to spot Larry on the floor, Norman had actually discovered that he had no pulse and was dead. “Norman discovered him dead on the floor of his trailer.”

  “Norman?!” Delores stared at her daughter open-mouthed. “You said Norman found Larry’s dead body?”

  “That’s right. We had dinner at the Inn last night and then we dropped by the Crazy Elf to pick up a check for the cookies I delivered yesterday afternoon. It was all arranged ahead of time and Larry left the gate open for us. When he didn’t answer our knocks at Elf Headquarters, we thought he might be somewhere else in the park and we decided to wait for him inside. Norman opened the door to the trailer and he found Larry dead on the floor.”

  “Poor Norman!” Delores sighed and shook her head. “It must have been awful for him.”

  “He didn’t seem to be terribly upset,” Hannah said, pleased at the way this conversation was going. “I’d like to think that it was because I was with him.”

  “It’s probably because he’s a dentist,” Delores contradicted her.

  “What does being a dentist have to do with it?”

  “Think about it, dear. Dentists are used to the sight of blood and other unpleasant things like that. This must have been just another unpleasant episode in a long line of unpleasant episodes for him.” Delores took another sip of her coffee. “Well, I’m glad you told me about it before I heard it from someone else. Does Carrie know?”

  “I’m not sure. It was late by the time Mike took our statements. Norman might not have called to tell her last night, but he probably talked to her this morning.”

  “No doubt you’re right,” Delores agreed, looking a bit disappointed that she couldn’t break the news to her friend. She took another sip of her coffee and then something shocking must have occurred to her, because Hannah saw her carefully arched brows shoot up toward her perfect coiffure.

  “What is it, Mother?”

  “I just remembered. I’d better tell Nancy.”

  “Nancy?”

  “Dr. Love. We’ve gotten to be great friends, dear. I know she’s considerably younger than I am, but we’re involved in a lot of the same things.”

  “Like what?” Hannah asked.

  “Dorcas Circle, and the Lake Eden Historical Society. She just joined our Regency romance group, and then there’s Christmas For All. That’s where I first met her. It’s an organization for…”

  “Lisa told me all about it,” Hannah cut her off before Delores asked her to join.

  “Nancy says she considers me the mother she never had.”

  Too bad you’re not the mother I never had, Hannah thought, but of course she didn’t say so. She really didn’t mean it. She loved Delores and she respected her as her mother. But it was a very funny comeback and it just about killed her not to say it.

  “What’s the matter, dear? You look strained.”

  “Nothing, Mother.” Hannah put on a smile.

  “Well, I really should see Nancy. She might not have heard about it. It won’t take long, I promise.”

  Hannah frowned slightly. Why was her mother assuring her that her visit with Dr. Love wouldn’t take long? Luanne opened Granny’s Attic for business every day, and Delores and Carrie could come in as late as they pleased. Her mother’s time was her own. She could stay out at the college for hours chatting as long as she liked.

  “Nancy has office hours from eight to ten every morning, so we should be able to catch her.”

  “We?” Hannah asked, zeroing in on the plural.

  “Yes, we.” Delores stopped cold and looked very apologetic. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I’m going to need you to follow me out to the college and then bring me back here. I have to leave my car in the parking lot.”

  “Why do you have to do that?”

  “For Michelle. I’m just so scattered this morning, I forgot to tell you,” she said, by way of apology. “And there’s one other thing. Michelle can stay with you, can’t she, dear? I’m having some painting done.”

  “Michelle’s always welcome to stay with me, but I thought she wouldn’t be home until Christmas Eve.”

  “That was the original plan, but it’s changed. She’s coming in late this afternoon and she needs to borrow my car. I’m go
ing to park it in the college lot and she’ll pick it up after rehearsal this evening.”

  “Why is Michelle coming to the community college?” Hannah asked, struggling to make sense of the disjointed facts she’d learned.

  “Because she has a part in the Christmas Follies. Don’t you remember that nice poetry professor telling us about it?”

  “He’s not nice,” Hannah said, and then she wished she could take back the words. Her comment was sure to elicit a query from Delores. “Of course I remember,” she said quickly, hoping to throw her mother off the track. “Do you know if Michelle’s in a play? Or is it something else?”

  “It’s something else. She’s going to sing.”

  “I didn’t know Michelle could sing!” Hannah relaxed slightly. Her mother was off-topic and that was all to the good. She wasn’t in the mood to discuss her former relationship with Bradford Ramsey, the Lothario of poetry professors.

  “I’m just so proud of her!” Delores continued. “I’d assumed that she couldn’t sing. You certainly can’t, and Andrea’s never been able to carry a tune. That’s why I told you to whisper the words to the hymns in church. It was embarrassing when you girls tried to sing out loud. Everybody in the pew in front of us turned around to look.”

  Hannah remembered her mother’s admonishment about singing out loud in church. Delores had never told them why it was preferable for them to whisper, but now she knew why.

  “Your father couldn’t sing a note,” Delores said, smiling fondly at some private memory. “He sounded like a dying bullfrog.”

  “Have you ever heard a dying bullfrog?” Hannah couldn’t resist asking.

  “Of course not. I was just hypothesizing, dear. In any event, I’m fairly certain that Michelle inherited her vocal talents from me.”

  I hope not! Hannah thought, remembering the night her mother and Carrie had entered a Karaoke contest. “Is Michelle part of a group?”

  “No, she’s doing a song and dance number from a musical that a Macalester graduate wrote. It’s never been performed before.”

  “That’s great,” Hannah said, hoping that Michelle’s number would be a huge success. “I can hardly wait to see it.”

  “So will you please follow me out to the college, dear? I know you’re busy and I hate to ask, but I tried calling Carrie several times this morning and she’s not answering her phone.”

  Maybe she’s still with Mr. Suede Boots, Hannah thought, but she didn’t say it. There would be plenty of time to tell her mother about Carrie’s romance once they learned the identity of the man she was dating.

  “And take some chocolate cookies, will you, dear? Nancy might need the endorphins.”

  It only took a moment to scoop up a half-dozen Chocolate Highlander Cookie Bars and stack them in one of The Cookie Jar’s distinctive carryout bags. Then Hannah grabbed her parka, told Lisa she’d be back just as soon as she could, and headed out to her cookie truck to follow her mother.

  It was snowing lightly as Hannah turned onto the highway behind her mother’s car. Delores immediately increased her speed, widening the distance between them exponentially, and forcing Hannah to tromp on her accelerator just to keep up. What in the world had gotten into her mother? Delores was usually a careful driver who prided herself on the fact she’d never been in an accident, but that claim could change today. Hannah watched, open-mouthed, as her mother fairly flew down the roadway like a winged rodent emerging from eternal damnation.

  There was nothing to do except follow and pick up the pieces if something happened. Hannah pushed her cookie truck to the max and hoped that she wouldn’t get a speeding ticket in her effort to keep her mother in sight.

  “Uh-oh!” she groaned, watching helplessly as Delores swerved on a patch of ice. Her father had done most of the driving in bad weather. Did Delores know how to steer out of a skid? Hannah had her answer several heart-pounding seconds later when the heavy sedan Hannah’s father had bought only six months before he died stabilized and resumed a normal course. Hannah managed to avoid that very same patch of ice, and she hoped that her mother’s reaction time was keen this morning. Delores was weaving in and out of traffic, kicking up the light coat of powdered snow that covered the asphalt and sending it airborne to shower against Hannah’s windshield.

  There was no way Hannah was going to risk life and limb to keep up with her mother. She slowed to a comfortable pace and made her way to the college, turning in at the parking lot just in time to see her mother exiting her car.

  “Wait up!” she called out, pulling into the space next to her mother’s car and jumping out. “Why the big hurry? You took some chances out there on the highway.”

  To Delores’s credit, she looked quite contrite. “I know,” she said. “I shouldn’t have driven so fast. It’s just that I was worried about how Nancy would take the news, and I wanted to be the one to tell her.”

  Hannah reached in to grab the cookies, locked her truck, and scurried to catch up with her mother. “Why were you so worried about Nancy? Does she know Larry Jaeger?”

  “Oh, my yes! You’ve heard her radio program, haven’t you?”

  “A few times, yes. I don’t usually listen to talk radio, but she has some good advice to give.”

  Delores pulled open the door to Stewart Hall and they stepped inside. She took a moment to take off her gloves and slip them inside her pocket. “You must have heard her mention the Lunatic. She talks about him on almost every show.”

  “The Lunatic,” Hannah said with a smile. “The worst husband a girl ever had. He taught Dr. Love everything she knows about what a husband should never do in a marriage.”

  “That’s right.”

  “She’s really funny when she talks about him.” Hannah recalled several instances when she’d laughed out loud over the stories Dr. Love told on the air. “He’s her ex-husband, isn’t he?”

  “He was her ex-husband.”

  It didn’t take Hannah more than the time it took to take three steps to draw the obvious conclusion. She stopped cold and grabbed her mother’s arm. “Don’t tell me that the Lunatic is…”

  “Lunatic Larry Jaeger,” Delores confirmed it. “And that’s why I want to be the first one to tell her.”

  ORANGE JULIUS COOKIES

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

  2 and ¼ cups flour (don’t sift—pack it down in the cup)

  ¼ teaspoon salt

  ¾ teaspoon baking soda

  2 sticks (8 ounces, ½ pound) softened butter

  ½ cup white (granulated) sugar

  ½ cup brown sugar

  1 beaten egg

  3 teaspoons grated orange zest (that’s the orange part of the peel)

  12-ounce bag white chocolate morsels (2 cups) (I used Nestle’s Premium White Morsels)

  Prepare your cookie sheets by spraying them with Pam (or another nonstick cooking spray.) You can also use a parchment-lined cookie sheet if you prefer.

  In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking soda. Stir well and set aside.

  In another bowl, beat the softened butter, white sugar, and brown sugar.

  Add the beaten egg to the bowl with the butter and the sugars. Stir it all up. Then stir in the grated orange zest.

  Stir in the flour, salt and baking soda mixture and mix well.

  Stir in the white chocolate chips.

  Drop by teaspoonfuls on a prepared cookie sheet, 12 cookies to a standard-size sheet. Flatten the cookies in a crisscross pattern with a fork, the way you’d do for peanut butter cookies.

  Bake the cookies at 350 degrees F. for 10 to 12 minutes. (Mine took 11 minutes.)

  Leave the cookies on the cookie sheet for a minute or two, and then remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.

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

  Hannah’s Note: Delores thinks these cookies taste just like the drinks from the Orange Julius stand at the mall.

  Chapter Eighteen />
  “Delores!” Dr. Love was clearly pleased when she saw who was knocking on her office door. “And Hannah, too! Come in. What brings you out here so early this morning?”

  Dr. Love started to rise to greet them, but Delores waved her back down to her chair. “You’d better sit down, Nancy,” she said. “I have some bad news for you.”

  Hannah saw Dr. Love’s posture stiffen. It was clear she was bracing herself. “What is it?” she asked.

  “Larry Jaeger is dead. Someone murdered him last night.”

  There was a moment of disbelief. Hannah could see it on Dr. Love’s face. And then an expression replaced it, an expression that Hannah didn’t understand, but could only be described as profound relief.

  “Well, that saves me a whole lot of trouble!” Dr. Love said.

  There was a moment of absolute silence. Both Hannah and Delores were at a loss for words.

  “I…don’t understand,” Delores ventured at last.

  “Of course you don’t.” Dr. Love gestured. “Sit. You probably think I’m in shock.”

  That’s exactly what Hannah thought. She exchanged a glance with her mother, who made a gesture with her hands. Hannah interpreted instantly and she set the bag of cookies on Dr. Love’s desk.

  “Chocolate?” Dr. Love asked with a small smile.

  Hannah nodded. “Endorphins. Mother thought they might help if you were upset.”

  “How sweet!” Dr. Love smiled at Delores and then she turned back to Hannah. “Do you really believe that chocolate is a cure for anxiety, grief, and depression?”

  “Maybe not, but it can’t hurt,” Hannah said, turning to her mother. It was time for Delores to take the lead in the conversation.