Raspberry Danish Murder

by Joanne Fluke

  There was a buzzer by the back door and Hannah pressed it. A moment later a voice came over the intercom.

  “KCOW-TV. Could I please have your name?”

  “Betty?” Hannah asked, recognizing the tinny voice that floated out of the speaker. “Betty Jackson?”

  “Yes. Hannah?”

  “Yes. Are you working here now, Betty?”

  “Yes, for a three-month job, and if I’m lucky, the lady who went out on maternity leave will decide to stay home with her baby. It’s her first and her husband just got a promotion, so it could happen.”

  “If it does, do you think that you’ll get her job?”

  “That’s what I’m hoping. Did you come out here to see anyone in particular, Hannah?”

  “Actually . . . no, I didn’t. I just dropped by with some Chocolate Cashew Bar Cookies for your break room.”

  “Right. Of course you did.”

  Even though the intercom didn’t catch many vocal nuances, Hannah recognized sarcasm when she heard it. For a split second, she considered what she should do and she decided to act as if she hadn’t understood. “Whatever do you mean, Betty?” she asked in the most innocent voice she could muster.

  Betty laughed. “Don’t play dumb with me, Hannah. Everybody knows that you’re investigating. You always do.”

  Hannah decided that there was no reason not to admit it. “You’re right, Betty. Do you think anyone will talk to me?”

  “Sure, no problem with that, Hannah. People like you and that’s all everybody out here’s been talking about anyway. It’s been the prime topic of conversation ever since it happened. There’s even an office pool about when you’d get here to question us.”

  “You’re kidding!” Hannah was shocked. As far as she knew, she’d never been the subject of an office pool before. “You are joking, aren’t you, Betty?”

  “Got me there, but there could be an office pool for that. They’ve all been wondering when you’d get around to us. Hold on a second and I’ll buzz you in. Come up the stairs and through the first door on your left. That’ll take you right into the reception area, and that’s where I am. I have to taste those treats you brought to make sure they’re suitable for everyone else.”

  Hannah laughed, and a second or two later, the buzzer sounded and the lock on the door clicked as it released. She pulled the door open, stepped through, and started up the steps. When she got to the top, she found Betty Jackson, resplendent in a stretchy gold blouse that had extended as far as its fabric would allow, and black slacks that actually made her more-than-plump legs look thinner.

  “Hi, Betty,” Hannah greeted her. “You look good. Have you lost weight?”

  “Yes, twenty-two pounds. I’m on the one-zee diet.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Eat what you want, but only eat one. It works as long as you don’t count a whole boatload of mashed potatoes and gravy as one.”

  Hannah laughed. “Obviously, you haven’t done that. You really do look thinner, Betty. I noticed it right away.”

  “Thanks.” Betty looked pleased as she ushered Hannah down the hall. Hannah noticed that she glanced at the platter of bar cookies every now and then.

  It didn’t take long for them to arrive at the break room door. Betty pushed it open, ushered Hannah inside, and motioned toward a table.

  “Would you like to taste one now?” Hannah asked her, already knowing the answer.

  “Yes, but whatever you do, don’t let me have more than one. I bought all new clothes and they won’t fit if I put any of that twenty-two pounds I lost back on.”

  “Okay, I won’t let you have more than one,” Hannah promised. “Do you want to eat it right now before anyone else comes in?”

  “That’s a real good idea.” Betty went to the coffeepot and poured two cups. She handed one to Hannah and, once she’d added low-calorie sweetener to hers, she sat down across the table and watched expectantly as Hannah removed the foil wrap from the platter.

  “Here, Betty.” Hannah picked up one bar cookie with a napkin from the dispenser on the table and handed it to Betty. “Let me know how you like them.”

  “My pleasure,” Betty responded, taking a bite. A moment later, a rapturous expression spread over her face and she was smiling as she swallowed. “Oh, my!” she breathed. “Everything you bake is great, but these are pure heaven!”

  “Thanks. I’m glad you like them.” Hannah unfolded another napkin and draped it over the platter, effectively hiding the bar cookies from Betty’s sight.

  “Smart,” Betty said, reacting to Hannah’s action. “Who would you like to see first, Hannah? Part of my job is covering for people when they go on break and I’ll tell the person you choose to take a break now.”

  “I’m not sure who to choose. Will you recommend someone for me?”

  “That’s easy. Talk to Scotty MacDonald first.”

  “All right. But tell me why I should do that.”

  “Because there was bad blood between Scotty and P.K. Everybody could see that. I think it was jealousy.”

  “Why would Scotty be jealous of P.K.?”

  “Scotty’s been here longer than P.K. has, and Scotty was sure he’d get the job as head cameraman. It was a real surprise to everyone when P.K. got it instead. Scotty was mad about that, but he got even madder when Ross chose P.K. to be his assistant.”

  “And Scotty thought that he should have been Ross’s assistant?”

  “Yes . . . at least that’s what everyone says.”

  “Were you working out here then, Betty?”

  “No, not when P.K. got the head cameraman position. But people talk and I heard all about it from more than one person. When Scotty got passed over for the promotion, he started to resent the heck out of P.K.”

  “But you weren’t actually here then?”

  “No, but I was here when Ross took the job as head of special programming. And I saw what happened when Ross and P.K. went out to the Lake Eden Inn to cover the Food Network Dessert Chef Competition.”

  “Scotty felt he should have gone with Ross instead?”

  “I’ll say! And it burned him even more when Ross went out on location with that special job they gave him a couple of weeks ago, and P.K. started using Ross’s office. Every time Scotty went past the door, he glared at P.K. just like he wanted to kill him.”

  “Do you think Scotty actually did?”

  Betty looked stunned by that question. “I didn’t exactly mean it like that,” she tried to explain, “but . . . to tell the truth, I don’t know. I don’t think it went that far, but I can tell you that Scotty criticized P.K. every chance he got. He didn’t even warm up to P.K.’s girlfriend, and she was as sweet as sweet could be.”

  “Then you knew P.K.’s girlfriend?”

  “Not well, but I met her a couple of times. She used to drive out to pick up P.K. so they could go to dinner.”

  “In her pink Jeep?” Hannah asked, remembering what Cyril had told her.

  “Yes.” Betty laughed. “Silliest thing I ever saw, but that girl loved her pink Jeep. She even found pink and white seat covers for the bucket seats. And P.K. gave her one of those vanity license plates that said ‘PINKIE’ on it.”

  “Do you happen to know Pinkie’s real name?” Hannah asked.

  Betty thought about that for a moment, and then she shook her head. “I don’t think I ever heard it. P.K. always called her Pinkie and so did everyone else.”

  “How about Pinkie’s last name?”

  Betty shook her head again. “No, but maybe Carol would know. When I send her back to try one of your yummy bar cookies, you can ask her.”

  “Were Carol and Pinkie friends?”

  “Not really, but Carol knows everything about everybody. She’s been here from the beginning, and she’s a walking encyclopedia of facts about the employees and their visitors. And even better, she doesn’t mind telling anyone who’ll listen.”

  “Can you send Carol in first?” Hannah asked.
>
  “Sure, but why?”

  “Because she can tell me about everyone else and then I’ll know what to ask them.”

  “Makes sense to me,” Betty said, rising from her chair. “Okay, Hannah. Carol first, and then Scotty.”

  Hannah waited until Betty left and then she removed the napkin from the platter. She attempted to think of the questions she wanted to ask Carol, and then she decided that it was better to simply let Carol talk about P.K.’s murder. Betty had promised that Carol wouldn’t mind talking to anyone who would listen, and she was a good listener.

  Hannah sipped her coffee as she waited. She really ought to tell Carol about the phone tree that Delores had established, the one Hannah and her sisters called the Lake Eden Gossip Hotline. Their mother could use someone like Carol as a resource.

  * * *

  Twenty minutes later, Hannah turned to a blank page in the stenographer’s notebook she referred to as her murder book, and waited for Scotty to arrive. Carol hadn’t known Pinkie’s real name, but she’d been delighted to tell Hannah everything about everyone else who worked at KCOW Television. Carol had been sure that an employee named Martha might have wanted to kill P.K. at one time. She said that P.K. had dated Martha once, and then he hadn’t asked her out again. According to Carol, Martha had been devastated by P.K.’s apparent disinterest and she’d said several times that someone ought to show him what happened to a man who broke a woman’s heart.

  Hannah had written all this down dutifully, but then Carol had uprooted the suspicion that had been planted in Hannah’s mind. She’d said that Martha was engaged now and everyone in the office, including P.K., had received invitations to the wedding.

  There had been other employees, guests, and bosses that Carol had mentioned, but none of them had possessed a compelling reason to kill P.K. Even though Carol had been very forthcoming with the gossip she’d heard about everyone, nothing she’d said about anyone had convinced Hannah to add any of them to her suspect list.

  “Hi, Hannah.” Betty appeared in the doorway. “Here’s Scotty. Give him a couple of those incredible bar cookies, will you? I don’t dare even look at them or I’ll leap across the table, grab the platter, and run to the nearest office with a door I can lock.”

  Scotty laughed, and Hannah could tell that he liked Betty. “And you’ll eat every single one before anyone can unlock the door with the master key?”

  “You got it,” Betty said with a nod.

  “Well, I won’t stand in your way as long as you leave at least five for me,” Scotty told her.

  When Betty left, Scotty stopped smiling and faced Hannah squarely. “I know what you want, and you’re barking up the wrong tree if you think that I had anything to do with what happened to P.K.”

  “But you didn’t like P.K., did you, Scotty?” Hannah asked as she passed the platter of bar cookies to him.

  “Not at first, no. But then we got to talking, and once I figured out what was going on, I liked him just fine.” Scotty took a bar cookie from the platter and grabbed a napkin from the dispenser. “It’s like this, Hannah. I just thought I got a raw deal from the bosses. I’ve been a cameraman here since KCOW Television went on the air, and I know that I’m a better cameraman than P.K. is.” He stopped speaking and frowned. “Than P.K. was,” he corrected himself. “Sorry, but it still doesn’t seem real, you know? I keep waiting for him to come in every morning, and . . . he doesn’t.”

  Hannah watched while Scotty took a sip of his coffee, gave a sigh, and blinked several times. “It just doesn’t seem real,” he repeated.

  “I know,” Hannah said, echoing his sigh.

  “Is it always like this?” Scotty asked.

  “I think it is.”

  “It’s like, you turn around and somebody’s not there anymore because something awful happened to them.” Scotty took another swallow of his coffee, and then he bit into one of Hannah’s creations. “These are good,” he said.

  “Thank you,” Hannah accepted the compliment, but she wasn’t about to let Scotty sidetrack their conversation. “You seem to have given people the impression that you didn’t like P.K. And now you’re telling me that you did?”

  Scotty shook his head. “I didn’t always like him, but I did after I found out that it wasn’t P.K.’s fault he got the head cameraman job instead of me. Then I was okay with it. As a matter of fact, we had a drink together after work last Wednesday.”

  “You did?” Hannah frowned slightly. Was Betty wrong about the animosity between Scotty and P.K.? “Where did you go?”

  “Out to the bar at the Lake Eden Inn. Dick makes his Pizza Dip on Wednesdays and P.K. was crazy about it. We were there for an hour or so, and both of us had a couple of drinks.”

  Hannah was puzzled. Michelle had mentioned that P.K. didn’t drink, and Cyril had said the same thing. “I thought P.K. didn’t drink.”

  “He didn’t. He told me he cracked up his dad’s car when he was a teenager and he was just lucky he didn’t get a DUI. He said he hasn’t had a drop to drink since then.”

  “But he went out to Dick’s bar?”

  “Yeah, but that was for the Pizza Dip. I told you before, he was really crazy about it. I had a couple of beers, but P.K. stuck to Cokes with lime in them. Dick calls those Virgin Cuba Libres because real Cuba Libres have rum in them and he leaves out the rum for P.K.”

  Hannah made a mental note to check that out and went on with her questioning. “So you were on friendly terms with P.K.?”

  “I wouldn’t go quite that far. We sure weren’t best buds or anything like that. But I know he didn’t cozy up to the bosses to get that promotion. As a matter of fact, he was just as surprised as I was!”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. He talked to me about it right after it happened. And he told me he didn’t apply for it or anything like that.”

  “And you believed him?”

  “Yeah. P.K.’s always been a straight shooter.”

  “But you resented the fact that P.K. moved up to be Ross’s assistant?”

  “No, not that. I didn’t want that job.”

  “Why not?”

  Scotty looked a bit surprised at the question. “It’s the hours. You’re always on call. And it’s the travel. Maybe, if I’d been younger, I would have wanted it. But living out of a suitcase isn’t for me. I resented the fact P.K. moved into that office, but that’s it.”

  Hannah decided to be perfectly sincere. “I talked to two people here and they both said you looked really angry every time you went past Ross’s office and saw P.K. sitting there.”

  “That’s true, but it was envy. That’s a great office. It’s cool in the summer and warm in the winter, and it’s got a great view. I’m stuck in the back in a cubbyhole with one little window so high, I can’t see out of it.”

  “Did you resent Ross when he got that office?”

  “No. Ross was hired as an executive, and that’s an executive office. But P.K. isn’t. I know he’s just using it while Ross is gone, but it still ticked me off when I saw him in there.”

  “Did you and P.K. ever discuss it?”

  “Yeah, and that made me feel a little better about it. P.K. offered to share it with me until Ross came back.”

  “Did you take P.K. up on that?” Hannah asked.

  “No. The fact that he offered counted for something. And, to tell the truth, neither one of us knew when Ross would be back and I didn’t want to move all my stuff in there and then have to move it all back.”

  “I understand,” Hannah said, and she did.

  Scotty began to frown. “Ross is coming back, isn’t he, Hannah?”

  Hannah scrambled for an answer. She didn’t want to lie about it, but neither did she want to admit that she really didn’t know. Then the perfect response popped into her head, and she gave a little smile. “I’m not sure how you feel about it, but it can’t be too soon for me!”

  CHOCOLATE CASHEW BAR COOKIES

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

  8-ounce (by weight) package brick-style cream

  cheese, softened (I used Philadelphia in the silver package)

  1 cup (2 sticks, 8 ounces, ½ pound) salted butter, softened

  ¾ cup white (granulated) sugar

  ¾ cup brown sugar (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)

  1 large egg

  1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  1 teaspoon baking powder

  ½ teaspoon salt

  2 and ½ cups all-purpose flour (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)

  ¾ cup chopped salted cashews (measure after chopping)

  1 cup (6-ounce package) milk chocolate chips

  Prepare your baking pan. Spray a 9-inch by 13-inch cake pan with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray. Alternatively, you can line the cake pan with heavy-duty foil, spray that and leave “ears” on the sides so that you can lift your bar cookies right out of the pan when they’re baked and cooled.

  Hannah’s Note: If you forgot to take your cream cheese out of the refrigerator to soften it, there’s an easy way to do it. Simply unwrap the brick of cream cheese, place it in the bottom of a small microwave-safe bowl, and heat it in the microwave on HIGH for 20 seconds. Let it sit in the microwave for 1 minute and then take it out and attempt to stir it smooth. If you can’t, heat it for another 20 seconds, let it sit for another minute, and try again.

  Aunt Nancy’s Note: This recipe is a lot easier and faster to make if you use an electric mixer. You can also do it by hand, but you’ll have to stir like the Dickens!