Plum Pudding Murder Bundle with Candy Cane Murder & Sugar Cookie Murder

by Joanne Fluke

  He used me as his alibi and I fell for it! Hannah thought, gritting her teeth. Norman’s gut is right. Cory is probably in it with Melinda. And at almost the same time she had another thought that had her moving at top speed toward the door. He knows I know and he’s going to kill me!

  A third thought, one in bright neon capital letters for emphasis, flashed across the screen in her mind. RUN, it said. RUN FAST!

  Hannah ran faster than she’d ever run in her life, and she arrived at the heavy glass door, breathless. Locked. It was locked and Cory had the keys. There had to be another way out!

  Another thought flashed through Hannah’s mind. They expect another shipment of trees and I parked in the loading zone. The moment it occurred to her, Hannah rushed toward the annex.

  The annex was a large enclosure with three cinderblock walls. The fourth wall was the back wall of the store. In the summer, this area was used as a garden center and shade cloth was attached to form a temporary roof. In December, a sliding roof was attached. It was capable of being opened when the weather permitted, and closed at night when the store was locked. Right now it was locked and a single rope of white twinkle lights were strung across the ceiling to provide a bit of light. Tall space heaters, the type used in patio restaurants, sat every few feet to provide warmth. Now they were cold and dead, the way Hannah would be if she didn’t get out the delivery door and into her truck before Cory caught her.

  Dozens of frozen trees were stacked by the far wall, far away from the nearest space heater. They were still in their protective netting and they looked like cone-shaped green carrots. Employees would take them into the thawing and flocking tent, a large area draped with heavy construction plastic that held in the heat from several space heaters. The trees would thaw and their branches would loosen so that prospective buyers could see their real shapes.

  The delivery door was right in front of her. Hannah grabbed the handle to jerk it open, but the corrugated metal door didn’t budge. It was locked. The stacked trees she’d seen must have been the Douglas firs and they’d been delivered already.

  Hannah eyed the wall. It was at least twelve feet high. Even if she could somehow manage to climb it, the sliding roof was closed. There was no escape there. Her only chance of surviving was to hide and hope that Cory hadn’t seen her dash into the annex. He couldn’t search the whole store. It would be impossible. She might be able to elude him until time for the store to open in the morning.

  Attempting to think positive thoughts was difficult. It was cold in the annex and although she was dressed for winter, a parka wouldn’t protect her all night. If Rayne Phillips on KCOW television was right, and Andrea had reported it accurately, it was going to be a bitterly cold night.

  The warmest place in the annex would be the thawing and flocking tent. Hannah lifted the flap, dashed into the tent, and gave a huge sigh of relief. The large area was filled with thawed trees and their branches would hide her from view. And it was at least twenty degrees warmer than it had been in the main part of the annex.

  Hannah chose a spot in the very center of the group of trees waiting to be flocked because those had the fullest branches. The tree in front of her bore a tag saying that it had been purchased by Doug Greerson for the lobby of the Lake Eden First Mercantile Bank. The word “white” was written under Doug’s name and Hannah knew that he always ordered a tree flocked in white, and Lydia Gradin, his head teller, trimmed it with blue lights and decorations.

  At least there was no snow on the ground. Hannah shifted from foot to foot, trying to stay warm. She judged it to be several degrees above freezing in the warming tent, but the frozen ground beneath her feet seemed to send up cold waves through the soles of her boots, and she shivered. It would help if she could move closer to the space heater, but the trees surrounding it were just starting to thaw and their branches weren’t full enough to hide her.

  Hannah glanced at the tree on her left. It was for Bertie Sraub, the owner of Lake Eden’s beauty parlor, the Cut ’n Curl. Naturally Bertie’s tree would be pink. Two cans of pink flocking sat on the ground under her tree, caps already loosened, all ready to be used in the morning. The former owner of the Cut ’n Curl had decorated the shop with pink flamingoes. While Bertie wasn’t as wild about the huge birds as the former owner had been, she did like pink and she’d left the walls and the shades that color.

  Hannah’s heart leapt into her throat as she heard heels clicking against tile. Someone was coming! The door to the annex opened, letting in a bright burst of light, and Cory stood there in silhouette.

  “I know you’re here, Hannah. I saw you run in the door.”

  Hannah’s heart raced, thumping so loudly she was almost afraid he’d hear it. Cory knew she was here! But perhaps he was just faking, hoping that she’d panic and give away her position.

  “Guess the cat’s got your tongue, but that’s fine. We can do this the hard way. I haven’t played Hide ’n Seek since I was a kid. You can change hiding places if you like. I’ll be right back.”

  The door closed, cutting off the bright light. Hannah wasn’t sure whether Cory had left, or not. It didn’t really matter. She had chosen the optimal spot and she wasn’t going to move unless she had to.

  A weapon. Hannah glanced around in the dim light and cursed neat employees. There was nothing useful on the ground, no carelessly dropped screwdrivers, hammers, or metal Christmas tree stands. Except for the two cans of pink flocking under Bertie’s tree, the area was as spotless as an army barracks right before an inspection.

  Hannah moved quickly, flipping off the caps and shaking the cans of flocking. She didn’t have much in her arsenal, but she planned to use what she had. If she could hide here until Cory lifted the flap and came into the tent, she could hit him in the face with…

  There was an explosion of lights and sound that made Hannah’s senses reel. Cory had turned on the bright lights and music. Santa’s Winter Wonderland tree lot was in full swing. Through Hannah’s slightly blurred perspective behind the plastic sheeting, the red and green Christmas train chugged its way around the perimeter of the area, the colored lights on the huge Christmas trees in the corners flashed on and off, and the loudspeakers blared the strains of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” sung by a chorus of penguins with red and green stocking caps next to the cash register.

  For one long moment, Hannah just stood there, too shocked to do more than blink. And then she saw Cory coming straight toward the thawing and flocking tent with an ax in his hand, and her survival instinct kicked in. When in doubt, attack. It was one of her father’s favorite phrases. She’d always thought it was original with him until she’d heard it in an old movie. But it seemed appropriate now, and Hannah wasted no time thinking about it. She just waited until Cory lifted the flap and stepped inside, and then she hurtled forward and blazed away with double-barreled spray cans, covering his face with pink flocking before he could even raise his arms.

  Cory screamed as the spray hit his eyes. He clawed at her but a blind, pink-flocked adversary was not that difficult to elude. Hannah stepped to the side, sprayed him again, and he dropped the ax. Hannah grabbed it and tossed it into the stand of trees behind her.

  He was trying to wipe his eyes and Hannah knew it would be only a matter of time before he recovered enough to strike out at her. She had to render him immobile while he was still reeling from pain and shock.

  The netting machine. The moment that Hannah remembered the machine she’d seen right outside the entrance to the tent, she grabbed his arm and pushed him through the opening. Another spray in the eyes and another shove with her hand, and he fell onto the chute where trees were placed for netting so that they could be carried home on the roofs of cars. Two more sprays for good measure and she turned on the machine. With a grinding of gears caused by a burden that was twice as heavy as usual, Cory was carried forward to be wrapped with several layers of netting that rendered him immobile and covered him with bright yellow plastic mesh from head t
o toe.

  There was a phone on a pole decorated like a candy cane with red and white stripes. Hannah dialed nine, the usual code to get an outside line, and was rewarded by a dial tone. Nine-one-one seemed unnecessary. Cory was trussed up like a mummy, and there was no way he could get free. Instead of dialing the police, Hannah called Norman.

  “Hi, Hannah!” Norman sounded glad to hear from her. “I tried calling you a couple of minutes ago, but your cell phone was off.”

  “It’s recharging,” Hannah said, crossing her fingers at the little white lie she’d just told, and hoping he wouldn’t be too upset with her if he ever discovered that she had it in her purse, but it was turned off and she’d forgotten it was there. “Did you hear from Doc Knight?”

  “He called me back about five minutes ago. I was way off base, Hannah. He checked and Wayne’s liver was fine.”

  “That’s okay. I’m sure Melinda would have tried to poison him if she’d known that her plant was poisonous. But it doesn’t matter now. I’ve got the killer. It’s Cory.”

  “Cory?! But I thought he was with you when Wayne was murdered.”

  “That’s what he wanted us to think. Will you call Mike for me? I’ve got Cory netted up here at Bergstrom’s Christmas tree annex, and I need him taken into custody before someone hangs lights and tinsel on him and props him up in the living room.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Hannah was on top of the world. Not only had she caught Wayne’s killer, Jenny had insisted on giving her Teensy’s Penthouse so that Tracey would have it for Christmas. It was currently sitting under Andrea’s Christmas tree, wrapped in gold paper and tied with a huge red bow. It was the night after Cory had been taken into custody and they were all gathered at Andrea’s house for coffee and dessert.

  “This is just wonderful, Andrea,” she said, even though she was seated on the couch between Norman and Mike. It was a small couch and she couldn’t help but feel like the filling in a Norman and Mike Oreo.

  “It’s a gorgeous tree,” Michelle said, admiring the huge Norway pine that sat in front of the picture window.

  “Thanks. Bill picked it out at Bergstrom’s. I love to get trees there. They’re so careful with the netting.” Andrea stopped and made a face. “Sorry, Hannah. I forgot for a second.”

  “That’s okay. I’m just glad their netting machine could take a few extra pounds!”

  “That reminds me…” Norman leaned forward to talk to Mike. “How’d you get that netting off Cory?”

  “We rolled him on his back and used scissors.”

  Norman shook his head. “It’s a good thing I’m not a cop.”

  “Why’s that?” Bill asked him.

  “Because I might have been temped to hit him with a stun gun for what he almost did to Hannah.”

  Hannah turned to smile at Norman. He looked perfectly serious.

  “What makes you think I didn’t?”

  Hannah turned to look at Mike. He looked perfectly serious, too.

  “Time for coffee,” Andrea announced, getting up to take the tray from Grandma McCann, who’d just come in from the kitchen. “I hope you left room for dessert. Hannah brought her Candy Cane Bar Cookies.”

  “Because Cory’s behind bars?” Norman asked.

  “Of course.” Hannah turned to Bill. “I just wish we could have gotten Melinda for something or other. I know she didn’t poison Wayne, but I wish she wouldn’t inherit all that money.”

  “She won’t. Want to tell her, Mike?”

  Mike turned to Hannah. “I did a little checking after we talked. I kept thinking about how his former wife was the one who was grieving. And she was getting nothing. And Melinda, who didn’t seem to care about Wayne at all, was inheriting everything. So I ran her.”

  “Jenny?”

  “No, Melinda.”

  “And you came up with something?” Hannah crossed her fingers, a leftover habit from childhood.

  “It turns out she’s Melinda Ann Ames Reynolds Bergstrom.”

  “Melinda Ann Ames?” Hannah asked, remembering the photo album with the initials M.A.A. on the cover.

  “Ames was Melinda’s maiden name. Reynolds was the name of her first husband. And she never bothered to get a divorce from Cornell Reynolds.”

  “Cory?”

  “One and the same. They had a good thing going, living in luxury at Wayne’s expense. They had it made until Wayne told Melinda that he was divorcing her so he could remarry his ex-wife.”

  “Then they had to do something quick if they wanted the good life to continue,” Bill picked up the story. “So Cory killed Wayne right before he was ready to leave for his Santa appearance, put his body in the trunk of his car, and drove out to the Lake Eden Inn. When he got there, everyone was already inside, so he dumped Wayne’s body behind the snow bank, left the trail of candy canes that you found in the road, and went inside to play Wayne as a Santa with laryngitis.”

  “And I bought it,” Hannah muttered. “I was standing right next to him and I didn’t know he wasn’t Wayne.”

  Norman patted her on the shoulder. “Don’t feel bad. He had us all fooled.”

  “Can you charge Melinda for conspiring with Cory to murder Wayne?” Michelle asked.

  Mike shook his head. “I wish we could, but the D.A. says there’s not enough evidence. Cory won’t talk and Melinda’s being very careful not to implicate herself.”

  “So she’s going to get off with no charges at all?” Andrea looked highly disappointed.

  “That’s right,” Bill answered her, “but she’ll also get off with no money. Cory and Melinda were still married when Melinda tied the knot with Wayne. According to Stan Levine, that’s bigamy and it makes any claim she has on Wayne’s estate invalid. Thanks to you and Hannah, we know about Wayne’s daughter. She’s his closest living relative and she’ll inherit.”

  “That’s perfect!” Hannah was pleased. “Maybe now Jenny will move back here with her friends.”

  Grandma McCann appeared in the doorway, carrying baby Bethany. Tracey walked beside her, bearing the tray that Hannah had brought with Candy Cane Bar Cookies.

  “Sorry,” Tracey said, setting the platter on the coffee table. “Bethany and I had two from the middle.”

  Hannah laughed. It was true. There were two bar cookies missing from the middle of the platter. “That’s okay. How did you like them?”

  “I’m not sure,” Tracey said, reaching out for another. And then when Andrea gave her a censorious look, she pulled her hand back. “May I have another one, please?”

  “Yes.” Andrea struggled to keep a straight face.

  “Chock-it!” Bethany said, reaching out toward the platter. And then, when everyone turned to look at her, she repeated, “Chock-it!”

  “Did she just say chocolate?” Bill asked Andrea.

  “I think so. I don’t know what else it could be.”

  Bill started laughing. “But she hasn’t even said Daddy yet!”

  “That’s my niece,” Hannah said, grabbing a bar cookie and holding out her arms for another niece after her own heart.

  CANDY CANE BAR COOKIES

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

  1 cup butter (2 sticks, ½ pound)

  1 cup white (granulated) sugar

  1 egg (just whip it up with a fork in a glass)

  ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract

  ½ teaspoon salt

  2⁄3 cup finely crushed miniature candy canes (measure after crushing)

  6 drops red food coloring

  2 cups flour (not sifted—pack it down when you measure it.)

  1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (that’s a 6-ounce bag)

  2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (that’s a 12-ounce bag)

  Melt the butter in a microwave-safe bowl for 1 minute 30 seconds on HIGH. Set it on the counter to cool.

  Place the sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer (you can also do this by hand, but it’ll take some muscle,) add the egg, and be
at it until it’s a uniform color.

  Add the peppermint extract, salt, and finely crushed miniature candy canes. Mix it all up.

  Add the 6 drops of red food coloring. Mix it in thoroughly.

  Feel the bowl with the butter. If you can cup your hands around it comfortably, you can add it to your mixing bowl now. Mix it in slowly at low speed. (You don’t want it to slosh all over!) If it’s still too warm to add, wait until it’s cooler and then do it.

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

  Take the bowl from the mixer and stir in one cup chocolate chips by hand.

  Spread the batter evenly into a greased (or Pammed) 9-inch by 13-inch pan. Bake it at 350 degrees F. for 25 minutes or until it feels firm on the top.

  Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle it with the remaining two cups of chocolate chips. Immediately cover the pan with a piece of heavy-duty foil or a cookie sheet. (That keeps the heat in.) Let it sit for three minutes. Then take off the cookie sheet, or foil, and spread out the melted chips like frosting with a rubber spatula or frosting knife.

  Cool completely and then cut into brownie-sized pieces.

  Index of Recipes

  Baking Conversion Chart

  These conversions are approximate, but they’ll work just fine for Hannah Swensen’s recipes.

  VOLUME:

  WEIGHT:

  OVEN TEMPERATURE:

  Note: Hannah’s rectangular sheet cake pan, 9 inches by 13 inches, is approximately 23 centimeters by 32.5 centimeters.

  THE DANGERS OF CANDY CANES

  LAURA LEVINE

  For my loyal theater companion and technical advisor,