Apple Turnover Murder, Key Lime Pie Murder, Cherry Cheesecake Murder, Lemon Meringue Pie Murder

by Joanne Fluke

  “The ceiling?” Hannah breathed, blinking hard. She really had to get a good night’s sleep tonight. Norman had hired excellent carpenters with impeccable references. She must be completely exhausted to imagine that they had built a staircase rising to nowhere. She rubbed her eyes and took another look, but what she’d seen had been so. The staircase was attached at one end to the ceiling.

  “What in the world is…” Hannah stopped speaking, so flabbergasted she couldn’t even form the question, as Norman climbed the staircase with Moishe in his arms.

  “Here you go, Big Guy,” he said setting him down about halfway up, near a plate that had been placed by one of the round windows. “Dinner theater. You can dine on mixed grill and watch the grackles in the side yard.”

  It was a first for Hannah, two dawns in one day. And as the light rose for the second time, brilliant and clear, she realized that her mother was right. Norman had built this house for both of them. The spiral staircase didn’t lead to nowhere. It led to marriage and a special place in their den for her cat!

  “Whoa!” Hannah said under her breath. She knew Norman loved her, but she’d thought his proposal was a reaction to Mike’s declaration, a defense against losing the time they spent together. Norman had seemed perfectly content to see her when it suited them both, but perhaps he hadn’t been quite as complacent as she thought.

  “Did you build that staircase for me?” she asked, the epitome of tactlessness.

  “No, I built it for Moishe,” Norman said with a smile. “It’s working, Hannah.”

  “What’s working?”

  “The change of scene. The Big Guy’s eating.”

  Hannah watched her cat take a morsel of something and swallow it. Then he turned toward the window and stared out at the birds that were strutting around in Norman’s side yard, pecking at things in the grass. Moishe made several ack-ack noises in his throat, licked his lips, and turned back to the plate to take another bite. Norman had figured out a way to get her cat to eat. No doubt Moishe was imagining that he was crunching grackle bones along with the mixed grill Sally had made for him.

  “Great plan, Norman,” Hannah praised him. And then both of them watched Moishe eat for several minutes. Between the birds, the gourmet dinner, and the excitement of a new habitat, Moishe was having a wonderful time dining out. Hannah was just wondering how she could duplicate the same circumstances at her condo when she thought of something she’d forgotten. “Uh-oh!” she groaned.

  “What?”

  “I forgot to bring his litter box.”

  “That’s okay. He’s already found mine.”

  “Yours?” Hannah started to laugh.

  “Well, it’s mine in the sense that I paid for it. But I bought it for him.”

  “You didn’t have to do that. You could have just called and reminded me to bring his. I know you had a busy day down at the clinic today.”

  “Oh, I didn’t get it today. I bought it at the mall a while ago. I wanted it to fit in the nook by the utility closet, and I had to go to a couple of pet stores before I found one that’d work.”

  Hannah was amazed. Norman had planned this out long before he’d invited Moishe to come out to dine this evening. Delores was right. Norman had been planning all along to ask her to marry him. Why else would he buy a litter box when he didn’t even have a cat?

  “Time to eat,” Norman said, startling Hannah out of revelation mode. “The timer just buzzed.”

  “I didn’t hear it.”

  “Of course you didn’t. I’ve got it in my pocket, and it’s turned to vibrate.”

  “I didn’t know you could buy a timer like that!”

  “It’s not really a timer. It’s a feature on my cell phone. Do you want me to take a picture of Moishe eating before I come down?”

  “Sure. I’d like to show Michelle. Do you have your camera with you?”

  “No, but I’ll take it with my cell phone. The resolution’s not quite as sharp, but it’s good enough for our purposes.”

  Modern technology, Hannah thought as Norman pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, pointed it at Moishe, and took what must be a photo of her cat eating Sally’s dinner. “Hold on a second, and I’ll send it to Sally. She was wondering if her dinner would help.”

  “Send it to Sally?” Hannah repeated, feeling a bit like George Washington might have felt if someone had offered to airlift supplies to Valley Forge. “Are you going to print it out and fax it to her?”

  “No, I’ll just transmit it with my cell phone, and she’ll see it on her cell phone. Let’s text her. What do you want to say?”

  Hannah wasn’t completely unacquainted with technology. She watched the news, and she knew that people communicated with each other by pushing the appropriate letters that were teamed with the number buttons on their cell phones. “Just tell her thanks,” she said.

  When Norman was through sending Sally the picture, he came down the stairs and pulled out a stool for Hannah at the bar. Then he ducked behind the glossy surface to set two places with placemats and silverware. He opened the door of the small oven that sat behind the bar for making hot appetizers and pulled out two dinners covered in foil.

  “Sally said to be careful of the steam,” he said, lifting the corner of the foil to release a savory cloud of moisture and then removing the foil all the way. He set Hannah’s dinner on her placemat and duplicated the procedure with his. And once he was seated on his own stool behind the bar, he filled two glasses with sparkling water and raised his in a toast. “To Moishe and the return of his appetite,” he said.

  “To Moishe,” Hannah echoed. And then she added, “And to his best friend, Norman, who went to a lot of trouble to make both of us feel right at home.”

  Naturally they’d talked about Willa’s murder and shed a few tears. Pam had known her the best, and she looked tired and drawn tonight. They’d decided that they couldn’t do a good job judging if they were too busy feeling bad, so they’d agreed to table any thoughts of Willa until the first-place quick bread winner had been chosen.

  “If I have to taste another piece of banana bread, I’m going to end up hating bananas!” Lisa declared, draining her coffee cup and heading for the sideboard to pour more from the thermos she’d brought. “Anyone else?”

  Hannah shook her head. “Not me. I’m actually going to try to get a good night’s sleep tonight.”

  “The caffeine in coffee keeps you awake?” Pam asked, slicing the next quick bread they were scheduled to taste.

  “No, caffeine doesn’t bother me at all.”

  Both Pam and Lisa looked puzzled, so Hannah explained. “It’s all that liquid. Once I start drinking coffee, I usually finish the pot. And then, when I have to get up during the middle of the night, I think of all the things I have to do in the morning and I can’t get back to sleep.”

  “That used to happen to me when I was single,” Pam confided.

  Hannah was perplexed. “But it doesn’t happen now that you’re married?”

  “That’s right. All I have to do is listen to George breathing, and I go right back to sleep. It’s so deep and rhythmic, like waves washing up against the shore.”

  “It’s the same thing with me,” Lisa said. “I used to spend a lot of sleepless nights before I married Herb, but now everything’s changed. I think it’s because Herb’s a warm sleeper and I’ve always been a cool sleeper.”

  “What are those?” Hannah asked, a bit startled by this revelation. Lisa was a very private person, and she seldom discussed anything personal about her marriage to Herb.

  “A cool sleeper needs lots of blankets and quilts or they shiver all night. I used to use a quilt, even in the summer. But a warm sleeper throws off the blanket and quilts because they’re too hot.”

  “That sounds like real incompatibility to me!” Pam remarked, arranging the sample slices on the plates.

  “But it’s not incompatible at all. All I have to do is cuddle up next to Herb, and I’m warm again. He’s
like a cozy fire in the fireplace, or the warm air from a furnace. It only takes a minute or two, and I’m warm again. And then I go right back to sleep.”

  “Well, none of that works with me!” Hannah said, knowing full well that she’d shock Pam and Lisa. “Maybe you didn’t know this about me, but I don’t sleep alone.”

  “Moishe,” Lisa said, giving her a smile.

  “That’s right. And sleeping with Moishe just doesn’t do the trick. For one thing, he snores. Very loudly. Imagine a freight train going by right next to your ear. And for another thing, if I cuddle up next to him I get a nose full of cat hair.”

  Pam was smiling as she carried the three small plates to the table and Hannah was glad. She’d done her best to lighten the heavy mood Willa’s murder and the ensuing investigation had created.

  “This is another zucchini bread,” Pam announced, “but this one has cinnamon topping.”

  “How many zucchini breads have we tasted tonight?” Hannah asked, frowning slightly.

  “Seven. This one is the last one.”

  “The contestant left the peel on,” Lisa commented, staring down at the dark green flecks in the bread. “I don’t like the way that looks.”

  “Then give a lower grade for appearance,” Pam advised.

  Hannah tasted her slice. She wasn’t wild about the cinnamon topping, so she marked the contestant off for that.

  “One quick bread left,” Pam said, as they handed in their scorecards, “and then we can declare the winner.”

  Lisa looked hopeful. “Tell me the last bread isn’t banana.”

  “Or zucchini, or date-nut,” Hannah added.

  “It’s not any of those,” Pam informed them, slicing the quick bread and plating it. “This is Mango Bread.”

  Hannah and Lisa exchanged astonished glances, and Pam laughed. “It’s true,” she told them. “The contestant wrote a note on the back of the recipe saying that she wanted to try something different.”

  “It’s different, all right!” Lisa said. “I don’t think I’ve ever tasted a mango. Where did she get them?”

  “She went all the way to The Cities to get hers. They have them at some of the specialty produce places in the summer. But she said that if you can’t find mangos, you can use fresh or canned peaches.”

  “Really?” Hannah was intrigued. “Peach Bread is pretty unusual, too.”

  “Well, she baked both so that we could compare them.” Pam carried the plates to the table. “The Mango Bread is on the left, and the Peach Bread is on the right. Let’s try the Mango Bread first.”

  There was silence while all three of them tasted and Lisa was the first to break it. “I like the Mango Bread,” she said.

  “So do I,” Pam agreed. “Hannah?”

  “It’s very good.”

  “Okay,” Pam said, reaching for her scorecard. “Mark your scorecards and then taste the Peach Bread.”

  Again, the room was perfectly silent and this time it was Hannah who was the first to speak. “I like the combination of peaches and almonds. Did she use almond extract in place of the vanilla?”

  Pam reached for the second recipe card and flipped it over. “Yes, she did. And I like it, too. Which bread do you like best?”

  Lisa shrugged. “It’s like comparing apples and oranges.”

  “Or mangos and peaches,” Hannah quipped. “They both have their strong points, but I think I like the Peach Bread best.”

  “Mark your scorecards,” Pam said, and all three of them wrote down their scores. Pam collected them and handed the calculator to Lisa, who added the scores while Hannah read them aloud.

  It didn’t take long with all three of them working and less than ten minutes later, they were through. Pam signed the final sheet and looked up to smile at them. “Want to guess which one came in first?”

  “The Mango Bread?” Lisa guessed.

  “No.”

  “Then was it the Peach Bread?” Hannah asked.

  “Not exactly.” Pam laughed at their puzzled expression. “It’s a dead heat. We have a tie for first place.”

  “So we have to taste them again to see which contestant is the winner?” Lisa asked, obviously remembering the quick rundown Pam had given her on the rules.

  Pam shook her head. “We already know which contestant is the winner.”

  It took Hannah a second, but then she nodded. “The Mango Bread and the Peach Bread tied for first place.”

  “Exactly right. And since both entries were baked by the same contestant, we don’t have to do a thing. Now…” Pam turned to look at the sideboard filled with loaves of quick bread. “Who wants to take what home?”

  MANGO BREAD

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

  ¾ cup softened butter (1 ½ sticks)

  1 package (8 ounces) softened cream cheese

  (the brick kind, not the whipped kind)

  2 cups white sugar (granulated)

  2 beaten eggs (just whip them up in a glass with a fork)

  ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

  1½ cups mashed mangoes (you can use fresh and peel and seed your own, or you can buy them already prepared in the ready-to-eat section at your produce counter)

  3 cups flour (don’t sift—pack it down in the cup when you measure)

  ½ teaspoon baking powder

  ½ teaspoon baking soda

  ½ teaspoon salt

  1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

  Hannah’s 1st Note: This is a lot easier with an electric mixer.

  Beat the butter, cream cheese, and sugar together until they’re nice and fluffy. Add the beaten eggs and the vanilla, and mix them in.

  Peel, seed, and slice the mangos (or drain them and pat them dry if you’ve used prepared mangoes). Mash them in a food processor with the steel blade, or puree them in a blender, or squash them with a potato masher until they’re pureed. Measure out 1½ cups of mashed mangoes and add it to your mixing bowl. Stir well.

  In another bowl, measure out the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix them together.

  Gradually add the flour mixture to the mango mixture, beating at low speed until everything is incorporated.

  Mix in the walnuts or pecans by hand.

  Coat the insides of two loaf pans (the type you’d use for bread) with nonstick cooking spray. Spoon in the mango bread batter.

  Bake at 350 degrees F. for approximately one hour, or until a long toothpick or skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. If the top browns a bit too fast, tent a piece of foil over the top of the loaves.

  You can also bake this in 6 smaller loaf pans, filling them about half full. If you use the smaller pans, they’ll need to bake approximately 45 minutes.

  Cool on a wire rack in the pan, loosen the edges after 20 minutes, and turn the loaf out onto the wire rack.

  Yield: Makes two bread-sized loaves, or 6 small loaves.

  Hannah’s 2nd Note: This bread is also good toasted. Lisa took it home from the contest and tried it the next morning for breakfast. She said she liked hers plain, but Herb wanted butter on his.

  PEACH BREAD

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

  ¾ cup softened butter (1 ½ sticks)

  1 package (8 ounces) softened cream cheese (the brick kind, not the whipped kind)

  2 cups white sugar (granulated)

  2 beaten eggs (just whip them up in a glass with a fork)

  ½ teaspoon almond extract

  1½ cups mashed peaches ***

  3 cups flour (don’t sift—pack it down in the cup when you measure)

  ½ teaspoon baking powder

  ½ teaspoon baking soda

  ½ teaspoon salt

  1 cup chopped blanched almonds

  Hannah’s 1st Note: This is a lot easier with an electric mixer.

  Beat the butter, cream cheese, and sugar together until they’re nice and fluffy. Add the beaten eggs and the almond extract, and mix them in
.

  Peel and slice the peaches (or drain them and pat them dry if you’ve used prepared peaches or canned peaches). Mash them in a food processor with the steel blade, or puree them in a blender, or squash them with a potato masher until they’re pureed. Measure out 1½ cups of mashed peaches and add it to your mixing bowl. Stir well.

  In another bowl, measure out the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix them together.

  Gradually add the flour mixture to the peach mixture, beating at low speed until everything is incorporated.

  Mix in the almonds by hand.

  Coat the insides of two loaf pans (the type you’d use for bread) with nonstick cooking spray. Spoon in the peach bread batter.

  Bake at 350 degrees F. for approximately one hour, or until a long toothpick or skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. If the top browns a bit too fast, tent a piece of foil over the top of the loaves.