Chocolate Cream Pie Murder

by Joanne Fluke

  Hannah was surprised. “I didn’t know that!”

  “Normally, it wouldn’t be a problem,” Delores continued. “But the only time that the cleanup crew and carpet people could come was the week I scheduled my book launch.”

  “How about the Red Velvet Lounge?” Hannah suggested the restaurant on the ground floor of her mother’s condo building. “Or the lobby of the Albion Hotel?”

  “Both of them are already booked,” Delores told her. “I just got a phone call this afternoon and that’s why I came right over here. Do you think it might be possible to hold my book launch in the clubhouse of your condo complex?”

  Hannah thought about that for a moment. “That could work,” she told her mother. “There’s plenty of guest parking, and our clubhouse has a full kitchen. Do you want me to check on availability?”

  “That would be wonderful, dear!” Delores began to smile. “When you get home tonight, will you check to see how many tables there are and how many chairs are at each table? I’ll need to know how many people we can seat.”

  “Of course,” Hannah said immediately. “I think it’ll work out just fine at the clubhouse, Mother. It’ll be something a little bit different and people will like that. I can even post the event in our condo newsletter, and we could get some of the owners and renters who live there to come.”

  “That sounds wonderful, dear!” Delores looked vastly relieved. “I knew I could count on you girls to help me find a suitable place to hold the event. And . . . I probably shouldn’t ask this because I know you’re so busy here for Valentine’s Day, but do you think you could handle the catering for my book launch?”

  Hannah exchanged glances with Michelle. Their sisterly telepathy was operating well because Michelle gave a very slight nod and Hannah caught it immediately. “Of course we can, Mother. Don’t worry about a thing. Michelle and I will make sure the refreshments are handled.”

  “Thank you!” Delores said, sounding very grateful for their help. “I must get back and tell Carrie. Do you think you could pack up some of those cookies for Carrie and Doc now?”

  Michelle jumped to her feet. “I’ll do it. Sit and finish your coffee, Mother. We can discuss what you want us to bake sometime in the week before the launch. Right now, we’re all trying to come up with Valentine recipes.”

  “I can help you with that,” Delores offered. “I think you should make things with chocolate. Everyone I know loves chocolate. Do you think you could make some bar cookies with chocolate and butterscotch?”

  “I’m sure we could,” Hannah told her.

  “Then I know that Doc will order tons of them to give to his nurses at the hospital. They have a Valentine’s party every year. And I’ll tell everyone I know that you’re making them. Most of my friends will come in to order some for their Valentine’s Day parties. Everyone loves chocolate. And everyone loves butterscotch, too.”

  Hannah considered that for a moment. “Of course we can do that, Mother. We’ll come up with a recipe and give you a sample to taste. If you like it, we’ll make sure we have them available for your book launch, too.”

  “Wonderful!” Delores accepted the plastic-wrapped plate that Michelle had just filled for her. “Thank you, dears. Will you have fresh cookies ready for me to taste for breakfast tomorrow morning?”

  “Yes, we will, we always have fresh cookies at The Cookie Jar,” Hannah promised her.

  “Oh, good! You girls have a wonderful evening and I’ll check in with you again tomorrow to find out whether there’s enough seating at the clubhouse.”

  Hannah made a mental note to herself. Check clubhouse for seating. Then she locked the door behind their mother and turned to Michelle. “Did we just agree to cater Mother’s book launch party and provide the venue for her?”

  Michelle laughed. “We certainly did! Now I know why everyone in town thinks Mother is such a dynamo when it comes to organizing things.”

  “Why do you think she’s such a dynamo?”

  “Because she’s a genius at getting other people to do the work,” Michelle responded. “She got you to check out the seating at the condo clubhouse, didn’t she?”

  “Yes, she certainly did.”

  “And she got both of us to agree to cater her event, didn’t she?”

  Hannah sighed and it was a resigned sigh. “Yes, she did that, too. And you’re right, Michelle. Mother got us to do all the work and everyone there is going to think she organized the whole party all by herself.”

  * * *

  “Ready, Hannah?” Norman asked, once Hannah had made a point of looking through the peephole and, only then, opening the back kitchen door. “I left the car running so it’s nice and warm inside.”

  “I’m almost done here,” Hannah told him, wrapping plastic wrap over the top of the last batch of cookies she’d mixed. “Just hold on a second and I’ll put these in the cooler. Then all I have to do is say goodbye to Lisa and Aunt Nancy, and I’ll be all ready to go.”

  There was a whole shelf lined with metal mixing bowls covered with plastic wrap, and Hannah felt proud as she surveyed the work she’d done since Norman had left The Cookie Jar.

  “Ready,” she said, stepping out of the cooler and closing the door behind her. “I’ll tell Lisa and Aunt Nancy I’m leaving.”

  “Not quite yet,” Norman said, smiling at her. “I have one more thing I have to do while we’re here.”

  Hannah recognized that smile. It was Norman’s I’ve-got-a-secret-and-you’re-going-to-love-it smile, the one he used when he was convinced he’d done something that would both surprise and please her. “What else do you have to do?” she asked him.

  “I have to make a phone call to Clara Hollenbeck before we leave to make sure she’s home.”

  Hannah was puzzled. “But Clara’s okay, isn’t she?”

  “Clara’s fine. And she’s going to be even better when she gets my call. I stopped by the hardware store and talked to Cliff. And Cliff told me that Clara and Marguerite bought their phones from him and took out the insurance policy.”

  “Insurance policy?” Hannah questioned. “You mean Clara’s phone was covered by insurance when it was stolen?”

  “That’s exactly what I mean. Cliff filed the insurance form for Clara and he found out that the insurance company will replace her phone free of charge.”

  “But . . . Marguerite told me that Clara doesn’t want another phone.”

  “I know, but she’s entitled to one. And that’s not the best part.”

  Hannah sat down on a stool. “Okay, Norman. Tell me. What’s the best part?”

  “All of Marguerite and Clara’s information is on the cloud. They signed up for that kind of coverage when they bought their cell phone insurance.”

  Hannah blinked. “You mean . . . Clara’s photos of the big pine tree and the shadows are on the cloud?”

  “That’s right. Her phone backed up to the cloud every time she saved a photo. And Marguerite told me that Clara always saved each photo after she took it. It’s all there, Hannah. And Cliff is going to put them all on the new phone that Clara is getting from the insurance company.”

  “That’s great news! Clara’s going to be very happy that she doesn’t have to take those photos all over again. When can she get her new phone, Norman?”

  “Cliff took it out of the box while I was there and he hooked it up to download Clara’s cloud backup. She’ll have her photos and everything else on her new phone by the time Cliff opens the hardware store in the morning.”

  CRUNCHY CHEWY WHITE CHOCOLATE COOKIES

  DO NOT preheat oven—dough must chill before baking.

  1 and ½ cups melted butter (3 sticks, 12 ounces, ¾ pound)

  2 cups white (granulated) sugar

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

  ½ cup white Karo syrup

  1 teaspoon baking soda

  1 teaspoon baking powder

  1 teaspoon salt

  1 teaspoon vanilla ex
tract

  ½ cup finely chopped pecans (measure AFTER chopping)

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

  2 cups white chocolate (or vanilla baking) chips (an 11-ounce bag will be fine)

  ½ cup white (granulated) sugar for coating the dough balls

  Hannah’s 1st Note: To measure Karo syrup, first spray the inside of a measuring cup with Pam so that the syrup won’t stick to the sides of the cup.

  Melt the butter in a microwave-safe bowl by heating it on HIGH for 90 seconds or until melted. (I use a 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup with a spout.)

  Hannah’s 2nd Note: You can use a mixer from this point on if you wish.

  Pour the melted butter in the bottom of a large mixing bowl and add the white sugar on top.

  Mix until everything is well combined.

  Feel the bowl. If it’s not so hot that it will cook the eggs, add them now and mix them in.

  Add the Karo syrup, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and vanilla extract. Mix thoroughly.

  Mix in the finely chopped pecans and mix until thoroughly blended.

  Hannah’s 3rd Note: You can use finely chopped almonds or finely chopped walnuts if you prefer.

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

  Remove the bowl from the mixer. Give it a final stir and set it on the counter.

  Stir in the white chocolate (or vanilla baking) chips by hand.

  Cover the dough in the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and stick it in the refrigerator.

  Chill the dough for at least 1 hour. (Overnight is fine, too.)

  When you’re ready to bake, take the cookie dough out of the refrigerator and set it on the counter.

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

  While your oven is preheating, prepare your cookie sheets by spraying them with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray, or lining them with parchment paper.

  Once your cookie sheets have been prepared, measure out ½ cup white granulated sugar and place it in a shallow bowl. You’ll use this to coat your cookies.

  With impeccably clean hands, shape the cookie dough into walnut-sized balls. (If your cookie dough is sticky, coat your fingers with sugar and then try to shape the balls.)

  Roll the dough balls in the bowl of white granulated sugar to coat them. Work with only one cookie dough ball at a time.

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

  Press the dough balls down slightly so that they won’t roll off on the way to the oven.

  Bake Crunchy Chewy White Chocolate Cookies at 350 degrees F. for 12 to 14 minutes or until they are nicely browned. (Mine took 14 minutes.)

  Take the cookies out of the oven and place them on wire racks or cold stove burners.

  Cool the cookies on the cookie sheets for 1 minute and then remove them to a wire rack to finish cooling. (If you used parchment paper to line your cookie sheets, you can simply pull it off the sheet and onto the wire rack, cookies and all.)

  Yield: 5 to 7 dozen tasty cookies, depending on cookie size.

  Chapter Twenty

  “Please stop here, Norman,” Hannah said as they approached the visitor parking lot in front of the condo clubhouse. “Mother wants to hold her book launch party here and I have to run in for a second to check out the seating.”

  “No problem.” Norman pulled into the spot closest to the clubhouse and got out of the car. “I’ll go with you, Hannah.”

  Hannah almost told him that she was perfectly capable of checking out the seating by herself, but before she could form the words, she thought better of it. Norman was protecting her and, if she admitted the truth, she was very grateful to have someone looking out for her. Her encounters with Ross, both in person and on the phone, had left her severely rattled. It made her feel much safer to have someone accompany her inside the large building that would probably be deserted at this hour.

  “Thanks, Norman,” she said as he walked around the car and opened the door for her. “I’m glad you’re coming with me. It’s dark this time of night and having you with me makes me feel safer.”

  The moment the words had left her mouth, Hannah was happy that she’d voiced them. Norman looked very pleased by her comment. They walked together to the front door of the building.

  “It’s locked,” Norman said, trying the door.

  “Yes, it’s supposed to be. Our door keys fit this lock and it’s kept locked. The only way visitors can use the clubhouse is if they’re accompanied by a resident with a key.”

  The light switch was just inside the door on the right and Hannah flicked it on. The big, overhead banks of can lights came on and the central room was bathed in bright light.

  “This is nice, Hannah,” Norman said, gazing around at the octagonal tables that converted into card tables with holders for cards or poker chips on eight sides.

  “Ten tables, eight chairs at each,” Hannah said, doing a mental count. “This room, just the way it is, seats eighty people.”

  “Is that big enough for your mother’s book launch?” Norman asked her.

  “I think so, but there should be extra stack chairs downstairs in the gym. Let’s go down and check it out, Norman.”

  Hannah led the way to the wide staircase that led down to the gym. “Here’s where they keep the exercise equipment,” she told Norman as he followed her into the cavernous room. “There’s a sauna down here that no one ever uses and all these machines.”

  Norman walked over to look at the exercise equipment. “This is like the one they advertise on television,” he said, pointing to a machine that looked like a combination bicycle, treadmill, and weight-lifting apparatus. “It’s supposed to give you a complete workout in eleven minutes.”

  “Really?” Hannah walked over to look at the machine. “Do you think it works?”

  Norman shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe, if you follow the manufacturer’s instructions.” He picked up the manual that was hanging from a chain on the handle. “It sounds pretty complicated to me.”

  “I wonder how much extra that cost us in our homeowner’s fees,” Hannah mused, patting the leather seat. “Whatever it was, I don’t think it was worth it. From the dust I can see on the seat, it looks like no one ever tried to use it.”

  “Perhaps they didn’t want to get all sweaty and then have to walk home in the cold,” Norman suggested.

  “But they can shower right here,” Hannah gestured toward two doors on the far wall, one marked MEN and the other marked WOMEN. “We have showers right down here.”

  “Does anyone ever use those?” Norman walked over and opened the door to the men’s shower room. He stepped inside and a moment later, he came out carrying a large towel. “Someone used the shower today. This towel is still damp.”

  Hannah walked over to examine the towel. “This belongs to Gala Cruise Line,” she told him. “It says so right on the bottom in big blue letters. And there’s a picture of a cruise ship on it. Somebody went on a cruise on a ship called the Expedition and took one of their beach towels home with them.”

  “That happens all the time. People who stay in hotels take towels and washcloths home with them. I used to know someone who owned a motel and he said that it’s one of the reasons room rates are so high. They have to continually replace the towels and sometimes, even the blankets.”

  “But that’s stealing!” Hannah said with a frown. “Those things belong to the hotel or, in this case, the cruise line. I’d never do something like that.”

  “Neither would I, but lots of people do. What do you want me to do with this beach towel?”

  Hannah shrugged. “Leave it here, I guess. I wouldn’t know how to return it. And even if I did, it’s a little frayed on the edges and they probably wouldn’t want it back.”

  Norman returned the towel to the shower room and when he came back, he walked over to look at the stack of extra cha
irs in the corner of the exercise room. He counted them and then he turned back to Hannah “There are another twenty-three chairs here, Hannah.”

  “Good. That means we’ll have seating for over a hundred if Mother uses the extra chairs. That should be plenty for one of her book launch parties.”

  They walked across the tiled floor and Hannah led the way up the staircase. “I’ll tell Mother about this tomorrow. And then I’ll call the president of the homeowner’s committee to see if I can rent the clubhouse for the date Mother wants.”

  Norman opened the outer door and held it for Hannah as she turned off the bright overhead lights. They were about to leave when Hannah grabbed his arm.

  “Wait a second, Norman. There’s something on one of the card tables that doesn’t belong there.” She walked over to see what it was and began to frown. “It’s a pair of binoculars! I wonder why someone needed those.”

  Norman shrugged. “Birdwatching?” he suggested.

  “Maybe. We do have a birdwatchers’ club that meets here. I’d better leave these here, too. They look expensive and I’m sure they’ll be missed.”

  Hannah used her key to lock the clubhouse door behind them. Once that was accomplished, they headed back toward Norman’s car.