Blueberry Muffin Murder hsm-3

by Joanne Fluke

  Hannah said with a smile. "You'll see us back here on Monday, then."

  After Rhea had escorted them out and locked the door behind them, Andrea turned to Hannah. "What did we learn?"

  "I'm not sure, but I'll write it all down as soon as we get back out to the truck."

  "Why don't you do it right now while it's still fresh in your mind?" Andrea pointed to a bench under a potted tree. "And while you're writing, I'll dash in and look for some shoes to go with the dress I bought last week. It shouldn't take more than five minutes."

  "Good try, but no dice," Hannah said, grabbing her sister's arm and piloting her to the escalator. Andrea's five minutes would turn into an hour, and she wanted to get out to the dogsled race to tell Norman that he was a suspect.

  "There's Norman," Andrea said, pointing toward the finish line, where three judges were gathered in a tight group.

  "And he's got his camera." Hannah grinned as she spotted it hanging around his neck. "I guess he's hoping for a photo finish."

  The two sisters crunched across the snowy clearing and made their way toward the finish line. They had to stop several times to exchange greetings with the bystanders they knew, and it was slow going. By the time they had navigated the crowd that surrounded the final quarter mile of the course, they'd learned that there 'were only five teams entered because Charlie Jessup had been disqualified for sled runners that were too wide, Eleanor Cox had hand-sewn leather booties for her husband's dogs, Jerry Larson had dropped out only a mile into the race when he'd upended and lost his earmuffs, and Sam Pietre's sled was sporting a schnapps-bottle holder that he'd designed in his metal shop last night.

  "Go ahead," Andrea said, spotting Eleanor Cox in the crowd. "I want to ask Eleanor if she really made those booties. You'd better get a move on, though. I can hear the dogs."

  Hannah could hear the barking in the distance, and she figured the two-legged contestants with their four-legged transportation were about a mile and a half away. "Okay. I'll pick you up on my way back."

  The air was crisp and cold, and Hannah shivered slightly as she ducked under the rope at the side of the course and stepped knee-deep in a snowdrift. She'd have to change jeans, but that wouldn't be a problem. She always kept a change of clothes in the back of her cookie truck.

  A wooden platform six feet high had been built at the side of the finish line. Two of the three judges had climbed to the top with binoculars, but Norman was underneath with his camera.

  "Norman?" Hannah called out as she approached. Norman turned and a smile spread over his face. Hannah couldn't see it under the ski mask that covered his face, but she could tell he was smiling by the way his eyes crinkled when he spotted her.

  "Hi, Hannah. Did you come to see the race?"

  "No, I came to see you."

  "You did?" Norman's eyes crinkled even more, and Hannah hated to disillusion him. On the other hand, he had to be told. "I came to warn you that you're a suspect in the murder case."

  "What?"

  Now Norman's eyes were big and startled, and Hannah mentally kicked herself. She'd given him the news with all the subtlety of a bulldozer. "Sorry, Norman. I should have said that better. Bill doesn't suspect you. It's just Mike."

  "Oh,' Norman said, and his eyes looked normal again. "I guess I shouldn't have lipped off to him this morning. Okay, Hannah. Thanks for coming all the way out here to tell me."

  "Then you're not worried?"

  "Not really. Once Mike cools off and thinks about it, he'll know I didn't do it."

  "Maybe," Hannah said, trying not to sound too doubtful, "but I think you'd better come up with an alibi. Let's sit together at the banquet tonight and talk about it."

  "I'd like that, but I'm not going to the banquet. I have to develop the portraits I'm taking this afternoon and I won't have time. Could we get together later?"

  "Sure. I should be home by ten. Why don't you come by my place and I'll buy you a cookie?"

  "Sounds good. I'll be there."

  Norman's eyes crinkled again and Hannah was glad. At least he wasn't too worried to smile.

  "Are you going to stick around for the finish? They should be here soon."

  "Sure. I'll make a dash for the sidelines."

  "Stay with me and you can have a dog's-eye view. I'm going to be here under the platform. Get on my other side, just in case one of the mushers runs off course."

  Hannah took up the position Norman indicated. It was probably crazy, but she felt a lot warmer under the platform, with the illusion of a roof over her head. The barking had grown steadily louder as they'd talked, and Hannah found herself wondering why the dogs ran and barked at the same time. Maybe it was just for the sheer joy of the exercise on such a crisp winter day.

  "Here they come, and Otis is in the lead!" a voice yelled out from above.

  Hannah wasn't surprised. Otis and Eleanor were dog lovers from way back. When they retired, they'd built a house on Old Bailey Road, just outside the town limits. There, the two-dogs-per-household rule didn't apply, and they'd taken in a host of strays over the past three years. The ones they couldn't find homes for, they kept, and Otis had trained all their huskies and malamutes as sled dogs.

  As Hannah watched, the lead musher and his team came over the crest of the hill. It was Otis, and he was still in front.

  "Look at his dogs." Norman slipped his free arm around Hannah's shoulder. "They're all smiling."

  Hannah didn't point out that huskies and malamutes always appeared to be smiling because of the shape of their faces. It was simply too lovely a sentiment to dash. Actually, the dogs did seem to be having a huge amount of fun. Their tails were high and tightly curled, their tongues were wagging from side to side, and they were barking and yelping in excitement.

  "Okay. Here we go!"

  Norman dropped to one knee and focused his camera. A few seconds later, Otis and his dogs rushed by at lightning speed. Hannah laughed out loud in sheer pleasure as Otis slowed his dogs at the far end of the course and guided them through the break in the ropes where they would wait for the other contestants.

  One by one, the other teams raced by and Norman took pictures of all of them. When he was through, Hannah told him she'd see him later and headed back for the sidelines to collect Andrea.

  "Eleanor did make the booties," Andrea told Hannah on their way back to the truck, "and they're going up to the Iditarod next year."

  Hannah was surprised. "Does Otis think he can win?"

  "Oh, they're just going as tourists. Janice is going to stay at their place for two weeks and take care of their dogs."

  Hannah unlocked the doors and they climbed into the cookie truck. It was still slightly warm inside, and it felt good after the bitter cold outside.

  "Could you drop me off at the office?" Andrea asked as Hannah pulled out onto the highway. "I have to write up a listing."

  "Sure. You got a listing at the race?"

  "Eleanor's cousin, Roger, got a job offer in Wisconsin and it was too good to turn down. They were going to rent out their house, but I convinced them that renting was a headache they didn't need, so they're going to sell."

  "But didn't they just buy it last year?"

  "Seven months ago. I handled the sale."

  "If they sell this soon, they'll lose money, won't they?"

  "No. Roger converted the basement into two separate bedrooms and put in a full bathroom down there. Now I can relist it as a five-bedroom, three-bath, and that increases the asking price. Best of all, I think I've already got a buyer. I ran into Lelia Meiers at the cleaners yesterday and she's pregnant with twins. She asked me to keep my eye out for a bigger house, and this would be just perfect for them. I called her right away and she wants to see it tomorrow."

  "You're amazing," Hannah said, and she meant it. Andrea was always looking for ways to list and sell real estate. It was an ideal job for her, because she could socialize and work at the same time.

  "Call me later," Andrea said as Hannah pulled u
p in front of Lake Eden Realty. "I should be through here in about an hour."

  "Okay. I'm going back to the inn to collect the cookies. I I'll deliver them to the warm-up tents and then we'll figure out a place to meet."

  As Hannah drove off, she glanced at her watch. It was eleven-thirty, and she'd be back at the inn before noon. If Lisa and Alex had finished the baking, she could have all the cookies delivered by one.

  The truck seemed silent without Andrea, and Hannah switched on the radio. A moment later, she wished she hadn't, because the KCOW news team was covering the latest about Connie Mac's murder. Hannah winced as they mentioned that her body had been found at The Cookie Jar, and she hoped that the old adage was true. If any publicity was good publicity, it wouldn't hurt her cookie business.

  As she turned off on the road that led around Eden Lake, Hannah noticed a plume of smoke coming from the one of the summer cabins that dotted its shores. She watched for a moment to make sure it wasn't a house fire, but the smoke was too confined for that. It was definitely coming from a chimney, and Hannah didn't think that any of the cabins on the far side of the lake had been converted into year-round dwellings. It must belong to one of the summer people who'd come back to Lake Eden for Winter Carnival and had decided to brave the discomfort of no central heat, frozen water pipes, and a lack of insulation to save on the price of a nice, snug motel.

  -15- Hannah pushed open the door to Sally's kitchen and stopped short as she saw the massive array of baked cookies on the counter. Lisa and Alex had finished the baking, and she immediately felt guilty for shirking her share of the work. Some of the cookies were already boxed for transport, and others were still cooling on the racks. Hannah walked over to take a closer look and smiled at what she saw. The Molasses Crackles were perfect rounds, the Chocolate Chip Crunch Cookies looked crisp and delicious, the golden-brown Peanut Butter Melts were crosshatched with perfect fork marks, and the Oatmeal Raisin Crisps tempted her with their spicy aroma. She was just reaching for one, to give it a taste test when Lisa and Alex came into the kitchen.

  "Hi, Hannah," Lisa greeted her, lifting the box she was carrying up to the counter. "Where's Andrea?"

  "She got a listing at the dogsled race and I dropped her off at Lake Eden Realty to write it up."

  Alex lifted her box to the counter and smiled at Hannah. "Thanks for letting me help. I really enjoyed baking those cookies."

  "You got that backwards," Hannah told her. "I should be thanking you. Just let me mix up the Little Snowball dough and I'll show you how to make those."

  Lisa shook her head. "It's too late. We baked them already. The instructions were right on the recipe and once we got going, we didn't want to stop." She stepped over to whisk back a towel that covered six of Sally's crystal ice buckets, and Hannah saw that each one was filled with small snow white balls. "They're absolutely delicious, Hannah. We just had to taste them."

  "Of course you did," Hannah said, reaching out to take one. The Little Snowballs were so tender they practically melted in her mouth, and she started to smile. "Delicious."

  "Are you sure?" Alex looked a bit worried. "I rolled them in powdered sugar twice, just like it said in the recipe. Once when they were hot, and once after they'd cooled. Do you think it's too much?"

  "There's no such thing as too much powdered sugar. They're perfect, Alex, even better than I remembered. I'll help you two mix up the cookie dough for tomorrow morning and then I'll deliver the Little Snowballs to Edna."

  "What cookies are we making tomorrow?" Lisa asked. "It's basically the same lineup, except we'll substitute your White Chocolate Supremes for the Molasses Crackles. You can mix up the dough for those."

  "I'll do the Oatmeal Raisin Crisps," Alex offered. "I read the recipe and I bet my boss would just love them."

  "You mean Sally?"

  "No, my regular boss."

  "Who's that?" Hannah asked, trolling for a little information.

  "I work for Remco. It's a big accounting firm based in Edina. My boss is the senior vice president. I'm on vacation right now. I had three weeks coming and I had to use it up before I lost it."

  "Wait a second." Hannah turned to her with an amazed expression. "You took a temporary job with Sally on your vacation?"

  Alex laughed. "I know this isn't exactly a vacation, but I wanted to see how a place like this was run. I inherited my parents' house last year, and I thought I might turn it into a bed-and-breakfast."

  "Well, the inn is certainly a good example of what you can do with an old place," Hannah said, still watching Alex closely. She looked perfectly sincere, but she didn't quite meet Hannah's eyes. That made Hannah suspect that Alex wasn't telling her the whole truth and that she had a second reason for accepting Sally's job.

  "I'll start in on these," Alex said, glancing down at the recipe. "I'll go get a fresh box of oatmeal."

  When Alex had gone, Hannah turned to Lisa. "Did you find out anything more about her?"

  "She's forty-five years old, she lives in Edina, she has two cats, she loves to dance, and she sews in her spare time. That's about it. You got more real information from her in two minutes than I did in two hours."

  "You primed the pump," Hannah said, patting Lisa on the shoulder. "I just happened to be here when the water gushed out."

  "Do you really think so?"

  "Absolutely. Just keep working on her."

  Alex came back in with a jumbo-sized box of oatmeal, and the three of them worked in silence for several minutes. It didn't take long to mix up the cookie dough with all three of them working, and that was all to the good. Sally's staff had begun to arrive to prepare the lunch buffet, and Hannah didn't want to get in the way.

  "Don't worry," Alex said, noticing Hannah's concerned expression as more kitchen workers arrived. "Sally's serving soup and sandwiches for today's lunch buffet. She figured that most of the guests would be out at venues and she could keep it simple. All the kitchen staff has to do is lay cold cuts, cheeses, and breads on platters and carry it out. There's potato salad, but that's already made, and so is the coleslaw and the soup."

  Another five minutes of work and they were finished Hannah covered the bowls with plastic wrap, and Lisa and Alex stashed them in Sally's walk-in cooler.

  'Why don't you go pull your truck around to the back entrance?" Lisa suggested. "We'll finish up here and then we'll help you load."

  Hannah headed out to get her truck. As she walked through the halls to the lobby, she didn't meet another soul. Sally had been right. Almost everyone was out at the venues.

  Her boots were on the rack by the front entrance, right where she'd left them when she'd come in, and Hannah sat down on the bench to pull them on. She was just putting on her parka, preparing to go out into the cold, when she noticed a small crowd of people out on the lakeshore. Two parka-clad men were unloading a wooden structure from a pickup truck that had been driven out on the ice, and Hannah realized that they were setting up for the ice-fishing contest. The actual contest would take place tomorrow, but the preparations had to be made in advance. By the time night fell, the surface of Eden Lake would be sprinkled with ice-fishing houses.

  Hannah was about to step out the door when she noticed that the plume of smoke on the far side of the lake was still there. A die-hard Winter Carnival attendee would be out at the venues by now. He wouldn't be huddled in his summer cabin, feeding the fire in his fireplace. But this column of smoke showed no signs of diminishing. It was still just as thick as when she'd first spotted it.

  Hannah turned on her heel and headed for the phone. If she remembered correctly, Janie's parents had owned a cabin on the far side of the lake. She had to find out if they'd sold it when they'd moved to Florida, and there was one person who could tell her that in a flash.

  Two minutes later, Hannah had Andrea on the phone. But the moment she started to ask her question, Andrea interrupted her.

  "Wait a second, Hannah. I've got big news. You can take Ray off your suspect list."
r />   "The bus driver called you?"

  "That's right. Ray rode all the way up to Duluth and his parents were there to meet him. The driver saw him get into their car. That was at eight last night, and the driver told me that the roads up north were a mess. He was an hour behind schedule, and there's no way Ray could have driven back to Lake Eden last night."

  "Great. That'll make Earl happy. Now listen carefully, Andrea. I just got a wild idea. Didn't Janie's parents own a cabin on the far side of Eden Lake?"

  "Yes, and they still own it. We rent it out for them every summer. They didn't want to sell, because they thought that someday Janie might want to . . ." Andrea stopped speaking and gasped. "Do you think she's there?"

  "She could be, if the smoke I saw is coming from her parents' cabin."

  "I know which one it is. I'll drive right out and check."

  "No, you stay put," Hannah ordered. "There's an APB out on Janie, and if you find her, you'll have to tell Bill."

  There was a long silence and then Andrea sighed. "You're right. I love Bill, but sometimes I wish I'd married a dermatologist. They never get called out on emergencies and you don't have to worry about what you tell them. You're going out there, aren't you?"

  "I'm on the way."

  "Are you going to turn Janie in?" Andrea asked, sounding very worried.

  "Not until she tells me exactly what happened last night. And then I'll get her to turn herself in."

  Hannah uttered a word that she would have swallowed if her niece had been a passenger in her truck. The road that ran around the lake was in poor repair, and this was the fourth time she'd hit the top of her head as she bounced over the ruts. She glanced in the rearview mirror and heaved a sigh of relief as she saw the cookie boxes, still exactly where they'd placed them. It would be a real pity to arrive at the venues with broken cookies.

  Andrea had given her detailed directions, and Hannah turned left at the fork in the road by the green cabin with yellow trim. Every cabin she'd passed had been vacant. No one except a desperate person would sleep overnight in a summer cabin in this kind of weather. She turned off again, at the pink cabin, and took the winding road down to the lakeshore. Andrea had told her to look for the sky blue cabin, and she could see it through the pine trees.