Double Fudge Brownie Murder (9780758280428)

by Fluke, Joanne

  “Sure, I knew. She always does.”

  “But if you knew what was going to happen, why didn’t you just give them to me in the first place?”

  “I couldn’t. I told you before, cops have rules. I couldn’t deliberately break them, but I figured out a way around them.”

  “And you’re not hiding anything from me?”

  Mike shook his head. “No, I’m not. I’m stuck on this one. And there’s a lot of pressure on me to solve it fast. You’re not hiding any leads from me, are you?”

  “No. I don’t have any other leads.”

  “So we’re both stuck.”

  Hannah sighed and nodded. “We’re both stuck, Mike.”

  “Okay. If you think of anything, will you call me? Or text me? Tracey told me she taught you how to text.”

  “I will. Can I count on the same consideration from you?”

  “You can. You’re good at this, Hannah. You’re better than anyone else in my department. I don’t really want to admit this, but you might even be better than me.”

  “Never,” Hannah said. “You’re the best. Don’t you remember all the advice and the books you gave me? What I learned, I learned from you.”

  “I wish you’d learn one more thing from me, Hannah.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I wish you’d learn how much I love you,” Mike said. And then he turned and walked out the door.

  HOT JAM COOKIES

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

  2 cups white (granulated) sugar

  1 and ½ cups salted butter, softened to room temperature (3 sticks, 12 ounces, ¾ pound)

  ¼ cup pepper jelly (I used Reese Mild Pepper Jelly made with green jalapeno peppers, but if you want more heat, you can use Reese Hot Pepper Jelly made with red jalapeno peppers)

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

  ½ teaspoon baking soda

  1 teaspoon salt

  4 cups flour (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)

  cup white (granulated) sugar for later

  ½ cup pepper jelly (use whatever kind you used in the cookie dough)

  Hannah’s 1st Note: I used an electric stand mixer to mix these up. You can also do it by hand in a large bowl with a wooden spoon if you don’t have a mixer.

  Hannah’s 2nd Note: When Lisa and I make these cookies down at The Cookie Jar, we use mild pepper jelly for half the cookies and seedless hot pepper jelly for the other half. It’s become almost like a test of manhood with the men in Lake Eden. If one of our male customers orders two Hot Jam Cookies, everyone cheers. If he orders one mild and one hot, everyone claps politely. If he orders two mild, everyone just shrugs.

  Place the white sugar in the mixer bowl.

  Add the softened butter and beat until it’s light and fluffy.

  Melt the jam in the microwave or in a saucepan over low heat. Once it’s the consistency of syrup, take it off the heat (or out of the microwave) and let it cool on the counter for 5 minutes.

  Mix the melted jam in with the butter and sugar. Beat until it’s thoroughly incorporated.

  Add the eggs and beat until everything is well mixed.

  Sprinkle in the baking soda and salt. Mix well.

  Add the flour in half-cup increments, beating after each addition.

  Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a rubber spatula and then take the bowl from the mixer. Give it a final stir by hand and stick it in the refrigerator to chill slightly while you prepare your cookie sheets.

  Prepare your cookie sheets by spraying them with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray, or lining them with parchment paper.

  Place the cup of white sugar in a shallow bowl for coating the cookie dough balls.

  Take the cookie dough out of the refrigerator and roll it into one-inch diameter balls with your impeccably clean hands.

  Hannah’s 3rd Note: If the cookie dough is too sticky to roll into balls, cover it with plastic wrap and stick it back in the refrigerator for more chilling, but if you do this, don’t forget to turn off your oven. You can preheat it again when the dough has chilled enough to roll.

  One by one, place the cookie dough balls in the bowl of sugar and roll them around until they’re coated.

  Place the sugar-coated cookie dough balls on your prepared cookie sheet, 12 balls to a standard-size sheet.

  Flatten the dough balls slightly with a greased spatula or your impeccably clean hand.

  Use your thumb to make an indentation in the center of each cookie. Be careful not to poke all the way through the cookie. Then the jelly you’re going to drop in the indentation will leak out from the bottom of the cookie. (Lisa and I use a tool for this at The Cookie Jar, but when Lisa bakes these cookies at home, she uses the small end of a wine bottle cork to poke the holes.)

  Use a small spoon to fill the indentation with the pepper jelly you’ve chosen, but be careful not to overfill.

  Bake the Hot Jam Cookies at 350 degrees F. for 10 to 12 minutes.

  Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet on a cold stovetop burner or a wire rack for 2 minutes. Then use a metal spatula to transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling. (If you used parchment paper, there’s no need to take the cookies off the paper. Just pull the paper onto the wire rack and wait until the cookies are cool to remove them.)

  Yield: 8 to 10 dozen, depending on cookie size.

  Hannah’s 4th Note: If you’d like to make a half-batch of these cookies, simply reduce each ingredient by half EXCEPT for the baking soda. Leave that measurement at ½ teaspoon.

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Hannah and Michelle were just mixing up the last batch of cookie dough when Ross came through the swinging door that separated the coffee shop from the kitchen.

  “Hi, Ross,” Hannah greeted him. “We’re almost through here.”

  “Great. Why don’t you let me take you two to dinner at the Lake Eden Inn? I haven’t seen Sally and Dick yet.”

  “Thanks for the invitation,” Michelle said quickly, “but I can’t. I promised Lonnie that I’d go over to his parents’ for dinner.”

  This was the first that Hannah had heard of it and she wondered if Michelle was refusing because she wanted to give them more time alone together. Whatever the reason, Hannah wasn’t about to quibble about it.

  “Hannah?” Ross turned to her.

  “Thank you, Ross. I’d love to have dinner with you. Just let me stick this cookie dough in the cooler, and I’ll be ready to go.”

  “I’ll take your truck, Hannah,” Michelle offered. “I’ll feed Moishe for you. Lonnie’s picking me up at the condo anyway and then you two can go straight out to dinner.”

  Hannah glanced down at her second-best pants and top. “I was going to change clothes.”

  “You look great just the way you are,” Ross told her. “Let’s go.”

  “I never argue with a man who has food on his mind,” Hannah said, smiling at Ross. “Especially when I’m hungry, too.”

  They arrived at the Lake Eden Inn just as it opened for dinner. Dot was at the reception desk and she ushered them to one of the elevated, curtained booths.

  “I’ll be right back with your water and rolls,” she said, rushing off toward the kitchen.

  “I love these booths,” Ross said, reaching across the table to take Hannah’s hand. “I feel like king of the world up here.”

  “We’re the first ones here,” Hannah said, looking down at all the empty and perfectly set tables. “I don’t think I’ve ever been the first diner here before. It’s like preferred seating in an empty banquet room.”

  Dot came back to their table much faster than they’d expected. She set down a basket of rolls and two glasses filled with water, lemon slices, and ice. “Sally’s making you a drink,” she said, and then glanced at their clasped hands. She looked from Hannah to Ross and then back again, and promptly left, pulling the curtains shut behind her.

  “I guess Dot
thinks we need privacy,” Hannah said with a laugh.

  “She’s right. We haven’t had much of that. This gives us a chance to talk in private.”

  “What would you like to talk about?” Hannah asked, and then she wondered if that was too forward. Perhaps Ross was only making idle conversation.

  “I’d like to talk about us, but we’ll get to that later when we’re really alone. Right now I want to know how your interview with Peggy George went.”

  “It went just fine. She was very cooperative, and Michelle and I found out that she has an alibi for the time of Judge Colfax’s murder.”

  “You sound disappointed.”

  “Not really. She’s a very nice woman.”

  “How about the daughter?”

  “Same thing. She’s an assistant professor of biology at the community college. She was teaching a lab session when her father was killed. I’m fresh out of suspects, and I don’t know where to go next. It’s the first time this has happened to me.”

  “How about Mike? Do you know how he’s doing?”

  “Yes. Mike dropped by this afternoon and told me he has the same problem. Not only that, but the department is getting a lot of pressure to hurry and make an arrest.”

  “Pressure? From whom?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t ask him. Do you think that’s important?”

  “It could be. Why don’t you call Andrea and see if she can find out who’s applying that pressure? Call Michelle, too. Lonnie’s working with Mike, isn’t he?”

  “Yes. That’s a good idea, but I won’t call. I’ll send Andrea and Michelle a group text message. Tracey showed me how to do that and they’re both techno geeks. They’ll respond faster to a text than a phone call.”

  “Atta girl!” Ross said, watching her send the message. “I’m glad to see that you’re catching on to all this. And that reminds me . . . did you get the text I sent you this afternoon?”

  “No. My phone was in my purse and I guess I didn’t hear Big Ben chime.”

  “You can read it now,” Ross told her.

  Hannah checked her phone and found Ross’s text immediately. When his message came up on the screen, she began to smile.

  I’m taking a break and I just want to say how much I love you, Hannah.

  Instead of looking up, she sent another text message, this one to Ross.

  I love you, too.

  Ross’s phone beeped almost immediately and he looked down at the screen. There was a smile on his face as he looked up at her again. “Do you realize that we’d never have to talk? We could just text each other all the time, even when we were together.”

  “But where’s the fun in that?” Hannah asked, reaching out to touch his arm. “Some things are better said and done in person, aren’t they?”

  “They are,” Ross agreed, capturing her hand and bringing it to his lips for a kiss.

  A moment later, Sally came by with two champagne cocktails. “I made these for you.” She turned to Ross. “It’s really good to see you again. Are you here in Lake Eden for long?”

  “I hope so. I applied for a job at KCOW Television. If I get it, I’ll be moving here.”

  “That’s good to hear. I can name quite a few people who’ve missed you.” She turned to look at Hannah.

  Hannah blushed slightly. “Can you join us for a minute, Sally?”

  “Just for a minute. I’ve got a new sous-chef in the kitchen and I want to keep an eye on him.” Sally slid into the booth next to Hannah. “Are you working on Judge Colfax’s murder case?”

  “Yes. It’s a tough one.”

  “I wish I had something for you. I do keep my ear to the ground out here. And sometimes I even use your invisible waitress trick.”

  Ross turned to look at her inquiringly, and Hannah explained. “If people are talking about something important, they don’t seem to notice the waitress when she refills their coffee cups or brings things to the table. They just go right on talking.”

  “Unfortunately, I haven’t heard a thing about Judge Colfax,” Sally continued, “except for the lunch reservation, of course.”

  “What lunch reservation?” Ross asked her.

  “The one he made for the day he was murdered. It was a little strange. He placed the call himself instead of having his clerk do it. And he reserved a table for two, but he didn’t mention who the other party would be.”

  Hannah felt her interest rise. “And he usually tells you?”

  “Yes. It’s almost always his son. Seth loves to have lunch here. He’s crazy about my bleu cheese–stuffed burgers. I even asked the judge if Seth was joining him, but he said no, he was lunching with someone else.”

  “And he didn’t say who it was,” Hannah repeated, just to make sure.

  “No, but I think it was someone important because he asked if they could park by the back door. When he comes with Seth, they always park in the lot.”

  “Could it have been someone with mobility issues?” Ross asked.

  “It could have been, but I think he would have mentioned that up front. He might have even asked if someone could help them with a wheelchair or a walker.”

  “But he didn’t say anything like that?” Hannah reached for the steno pad she carried in her purse and jotted it down when Sally shook her head.

  “He did ask for a private booth, though. And he said he was coming earlier than usual, at eleven instead of when I open at eleven-thirty. I got the feeling he didn’t want to be seen, or maybe whoever he was taking to lunch didn’t want to be seen. It was a little curious, that’s all.”

  Hannah nodded. “And of course he never showed up because he was dead by then.”

  “That’s right. It was this booth, the one you’re sitting in. I saved it through the whole lunch hour for him.”

  When Sally left to check on her sous-chef, Hannah turned to Ross. “I wonder why Dave didn’t tell me about Judge Colfax’s lunch plans.”

  “Maybe he didn’t know about them. If you have his home number, why don’t you call him and ask?”

  Before Hannah could reach for her phone, Dot arrived again. Hannah waited until they’d given her their order and then she placed the call. It only took a few moments and she had her answer. Dave hadn’t known about Judge Colfax’s lunch plans because the judge, usually meticulous about letting Dave know precisely where he’d be, hadn’t written the luncheon on his calendar.

  “My curiosity is prickling,” Ross told her when she’d related what Dave had told her. “How about yours?”

  “It’s doing a little more than prickling. It’s nudging me hard. There’s something very strange about these lunch plans.”

  “Because they don’t fit Judge Colfax’s pattern?”

  “Exactly right. It feels like another piece of the puzzle, a big one. I just have to figure out where it fits.”

  “No, we have to figure out where it fits,” Ross corrected her. “I’m helping you on this one, remember?”

  “I remember. And I’m very glad,” Hannah said, closing the little gap Dot had left in the curtains and reaching for his hand.

  Hannah had just taken her last bite of Sally’s excellent Beef Wellington when a text message came in. She retrieved it, read it, and then looked up at Ross. “It’s Andrea. She said the phone call urging Bill to hurry and make an arrest came from Senator Eric Worthington’s office. Whoever called said that the senator and Judge Colfax became friends when the senator clerked at Worthington Law and Judge Colfax was a junior partner. Bill thinks that the senator is eager for justice for his old mentor.”

  “Did you say Senator Eric Worthington?” Ross asked.

  Hannah checked the text message again. “Yes. That’s what Andrea wrote. Why?”

  “I knew Mr. Worthington had gone into politics, but I didn’t realize that he’d become a state senator. I should have guessed he’d follow in his father’s footsteps.”

  “His father?”

  “Yes, Governor Clayton Worthington. My family lived across th
e street from the Worthingtons when I was growing up. Their youngest son, Clay, was my best friend all the way through high school. Clay’s father, that’s Senator Eric Worthington, used to take us to Twins games and Vikings games. Clay’s older brother, Ray, was the high school quarterback when Clay and I were in junior high, and he earned an athletic scholarship and quarterbacked for the Cougars in college.”

  “The Brigham Young, Houston, or Washington State Cougars?”

  “Washington State.” Ross looked a bit surprised that she knew.

  “I follow college football,” Hannah told him. “The pros are more practiced athletes, but college football is more fun.” She paused and took a sip of her champagne cocktail. “Tell me more about the Worthington family.”

  “Everyone was an athlete except Clay. His grandfather, the governor, played competitive tennis. He was always after Clay to take up a sport. And Clay’s father was a third-round draft pick for the Vikings when he finished his junior year in college, but he decided to finish his degree and go to law school instead of going pro. I think he always regretted it, because he really enjoyed the Vikings games and knew a lot about football strategy.”

  “Was Clay’s mother an athlete, too?”

  “Yes. She was a long-distance runner. She competed in college and ran marathons all over the country after she married the senator. Clay and I watched the whole Boston Marathon so we could see her reach the finish line. As far as I know, she still runs marathons.”