Devil’s Food Cake Murder

by Joanne Fluke

  “Okay. I’m going to go home, put on my favorite old robe, and watch a movie on television with my dogs. I’m going to eat every single one of your cookies, and maybe I’ll even have a couple of beers to wash them down. I’m not going to answer the door or the phone for anybody! Not even you, Hannah.”

  “That’s fine with me. I’m not going to call you. You answered all the questions I can think of for now. Just go home and get some rest. You’ve been on an emotional roller coaster.”

  Alice thought about that for a moment. “You’re right. It has been a roller coaster, and I always get sick on roller coasters. But I think I’m doing all right this time.” She reached down to grab the bag of cookies that Hannah had brought her, and held them aloft. “This time, I didn’t even lose my cookies.”

  Hannah laughed, and so did Michelle. It wasn’t really that funny, but they were glad that Alice had recovered enough to make an attempt at humor.

  “Come with me and you can talk to Digger,” Alice invited. “Ask him what time I got back here Sunday night, and he’ll tell you. And then I’ll ask him to fill in for me again tonight.”

  Alice led the way to a team of bowlers in the seats behind the foul line at lane number three. Hannah noticed that Digger was there, and he was wearing a bright purple sweatshirt emblazoned with his team name, Lucky Stiffs.

  “That’s a bad pun,” Michelle commented, “especially for an undertaker.”

  “I know. Digger’s got more humor in him than you might think.” Alice stopped just short of approaching Digger and his team, and turned to Hannah. “Please don’t find any more bodies, Hannah. If I get implicated in any more murders, I’m going to have to put Digger on the payroll.”

  NUTMEG SNAPS

  Do not preheat the oven yet—this cookie dough must chill before baking.

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

  2 and ½ cups dark brown sugar (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)***

  2 large eggs

  1 and ½ teaspoons baking soda ½ teaspoon salt

  2 teaspoons ground nutmeg (or 1 teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg)****

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

  2/3 cup dried apricots, chopped (measure AFTER chopping)

  extra sugar (about ½ cup) for rolling dough balls before baking

  *** - If you don’t have dark brown sugar, you don’t have to rush right out to buy it. As far as I can tell, there are 3 types of brown sugar. One is called “brown sugar,” another is called “light brown sugar,” and the third is called “dark brown sugar”. Light brown sugar has the least molasses and dark brown sugar has the most. If you have regular brown sugar in the house, just add a half-teaspoon of molasses to your mixing bowl and you’ll have dark brown sugar.

  **** - If you’re using ground nutmeg in the jar and it’s old, do go out and buy a new jar. Unlike fine wine, nutmeg doesn’t age well. It tends to taste like soap! If you grate your own nutmeg, that’s preferable. Just use 1 teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg instead of the 2 teaspoons of ground nutmeg that it calls for in the recipe.

  Hannah’s 1st Note: Although you can certainly make this recipe by hand, it’s a lot easier with an electric mixer.

  Place the softened (room temperature) butter in a mixer bowl and beat it until it’s smooth.

  Add the dark brown sugar and beat it until it’s nice and fluffy.

  Mix in the eggs. Make sure they’re thoroughly incorporated.

  With the mixer running on LOW speed, add the baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Keep beating until you’re sure they’re evenly combined.

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

  Shut off the mixer, and stir in the chopped dried apricots by hand. (They tend to stick to the beaters.)

  You can leave your cookie dough right in the mixing bowl if you wish. Just tear off a sheet of plastic wrap and press it down over the top of your dough, tucking it in on the sides so that no air gets in.

  Refrigerate the cookie dough for one hour (overnight is fine, too) to chill it and make it easier to work with.

  When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

  Take your cookie dough out of the refrigerator and set it on the counter.

  Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper, or spray them with Pam or another nonstick baking spray.

  Put some white sugar, a half-cup should do, into a small bowl. You’ll be rolling dough balls in the sugar before baking.

  Roll the dough into 1-inch balls without making them smooth.

  Roll each dough ball in the sugar, covering it completely.

  Arrange the dough balls on your cookie sheets 2 inches apart. You should be able to get 12 dough balls on each cookie sheet.

  Flatten each ball with the bottom of a glass, or the flat blade of a metal spatula.

  Bake at 350 degrees F., for 8 to 12 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown. (Mine took 11 minutes, and so did JoAnn’s cookies.)

  Remove the cookies from the oven, let them cool on the baking sheets for a minute or two to firm up. Then remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.

  These yummy Nutmeg Snaps can be stored in an air-tight container or in a covered cookie jar up to one week. They freeze beautifully if you stack them like coins in a wrapper, roll them in foil, and place the rolls in freezer bags.

  Yield: approximately 6 dozen cookies, depending on cookie size.

  Hannah’s 2nd Note: These cookies make great “dunkers”. Bill always dunks his in his coffee when he comes into The Cookie Jar for an afternoon break. Mother does it too, but please don’t mention it if you see her. I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone because she says it isn’t proper etiquette.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “I’m really glad I didn’t have to settle for a chunk of pickled ring bologna!” Michelle said, biting into her double-double cheese mushroom burger.

  Hannah waited until she’d swallowed a bite of her double-double gorgonzola burger before she replied. “What made you think you’d have to settle for pickled bologna?”

  “I looked at the menu at the refreshment stand just in case Alice decided to take me up on my offer to fill in for her while she went up to the parsonage to see the real Reverend Matthew. The only things she serves are sodas, beer, chips, popcorn, and pickled bologna. She had that in one of those big glass jars behind the counter.”

  “No pickled pigs feet?”

  “No. I guess they’re too messy. A chunk of bologna’s neater.”

  The two sisters fell silent as they ate their burgers and drank from chilled mugs of root beer. They didn’t speak again until their burgers were almost gone.

  “I’m thinking about ordering a burger to go for Norman,” Hannah said, “but he must really be tied up. I thought he’d read my note and come straight out here.”

  “Maybe the dental emergency is really complicated.” Michelle stopped speaking and began to frown. “Never mind. It’s not.”

  “How do you know?”

  “The dental emergency, if there really was one, is over. I can see through the leaves of the artificial plant sitting on top of the room divider, and Norman’s here.”

  “Wave at him. He might not be able to see us way back here.”

  “I hope he won’t. Whatever you do, don’t stand up, Hannah. We need to keep a really low profile.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Norman’s at a table for two in the middle of the dining room. He must have walked in shortly after we did.”

  “Is he waiting for us?”

  “I doubt it. He’s with Doctor Bev.”

  At first all Hannah felt was shock, but then her spirits sank to a new low. “Then the dental emergency was just an excuse to break free from me so he could take Doctor Bev to dinner.”

  “Don’t jump to conclusions, Hannah. If you turn around, you’ll be able to see Norma
n through the greenery.”

  “I don’t want to see him!”

  “Oh, I think you do. It’s pretty obvious that Norman doesn’t want to be here.”

  “Really?”

  “Really. Just turn your head and look. You’ll see what I mean.”

  Hannah turned around. It was just as Michelle had said. There was Norman at a table for two in the middle of the dining room, and Doctor Bev was with him. She was facing away so all Hannah could see was the back of her head and her expensive haircut, but Norman was facing them and he didn’t look at all happy. “He looks…upset,” she said.

  “Yes, he does. I think he looks just as upset as he did when he got the phone call about the dental emergency.”

  “The fake dental emergency,” Hannah corrected her. “It was probably her.”

  The two sisters watched for a moment, and then Michelle said, “Look! She must have said something Norman didn’t like at all. Now he looks irritated.”

  “He looked irritated on the phone this afternoon, too.”

  “They’re arguing about something,” Michelle said. “Look how he’s clenching his hand. That breadstick he’s holding is going to be nothing but crumbs in a couple of seconds. She’s reaching for his other hand to try to calm him down.”

  Hannah narrowed her eyes. “It’s not going to work. He just pulled his hand back, and he’s scowling.”

  “Maybe it’s the light, but Norman’s face looks red.”

  “It’s not the light,” Hannah told her. “Norman’s face is red. He’s angry, very angry.”

  “Furious. Have you ever seen Norman look this mad before?”

  “Never. Norman isn’t the type to fly off the handle. It just isn’t like him.”

  “Then she must have pushed him to the bitter end about something,” Michelle commented.

  “I wonder what she’s doing now. She just picked up a napkin and she’s holding it up to her face.”

  “Crocodile tears,” Michelle informed her. “Either that, or she’s actually crying. There’s a girl in my drama class who can cry on command. That’s really useful when you’re an actress.”

  “Well, it’s coming in handy for lady dentists, too. Norman just reached out for her hand.”

  Michelle gave a little sigh. “You can’t blame him for that. There are some guys who just can’t stand to see a woman cry. I’ll bet Norman’s like that.”

  Hannah gave a little shrug. “I’m not sure. Actually I’m not sure about a lot of things now. Norman says he loves me, but this doesn’t look good. And Mike says he loves me, but that’ll probably change when he finds out I’m working on his murder case. Maybe neither one of them loves me!”

  Michelle motioned for their waitress and pulled out her wallet. “Maybe money can’t buy you love, but it’ll buy you chocolate. And that’s almost the same thing. I’m going to order a double fudge brownie delight for both of us to go.”

  “To go? But we can’t leave yet. We’ll have to walk right past them, and I don’t want to do that.”

  Michelle started to grin. “Afraid you’ll kill her?”

  “Of course not! But there may be much too much ketchup and mustard in her future.”

  This time a grin wasn’t enough for Michelle. She started to laugh. “I wouldn’t blame you. Follow me, Hannah. We can stand in the kitchen to wait for our takeout and then we’ll go out the back way. We can sneak back in the front door to get our coats and boots.”

  Hannah considered that for a moment. “But don’t you think that’s the coward’s way out?”

  “No, it’s the cheapest way out. The dry cleaners will charge you a fortune to get the ketchup and mustard stains out of her white cashmere sweater.”

  “Better?” Michelle asked, after they’d polished off their double fudge brownie delights.

  “Much better. Thanks, Michelle. I was really upset when I listened to that message from Norman, saying he was still tied up with his so-called dental emergency.”

  “I know,” Michelle commiserated. “Did you remember to print out those recipes for me? I can make a couple of pans of cookie bars tonight.”

  “I remembered,” Hannah said, walking over to her desk to pick up some papers and handing them to Michelle. “I have three bar recipes and a drop cookie recipe.”

  “Great! Let’s bake together. That’ll make both of us feel good. Where shall we start?”

  “You can do Black Forest Brownies, and I’ll do Strawberry Shortbread Bar Cookies.”

  For ten minutes the only conversation in Hannah’s kitchen consisted of questions like, “Will you please hand me the sugar?” or “Where do you keep your heavy-duty aluminum foil?”

  Both ovens, upper and lower, were set for the correct temperatures, and Michelle and Hannah didn’t sit down again until two pans of bar cookies were in each oven. Then Hannah put on the coffee pot and joined her sister at the kitchen table. “You know Lenny Peske, don’t you?”

  “Not personally, but he’s one of those one-toe-over-the-line guys.” When Hannah looked blank, Michelle went on. “He’s a wannabe crook, but not quite.”

  “He skirts around the law?”

  “Exactly. Lonnie’s Uncle Pat knew him pretty well. They went to Jordan High together.”

  “Does Lonnie’s uncle live around here?”

  Michelle shook her head. “He’s been in Chicago for years. The last time Lonnie visited him, they sat around talking for hours. It was Uncle Pat who said that Lenny’s always been a one-toe-over-the-line guy. I think we should talk to him.”

  “Uncle Pat?”

  “No, Lenny. We can always catch him at the Eagle.”

  Hannah was surprised. Most people in Lake Eden knew that the Eagle, a backwoods bar and dance place, was a real dive. The last time Michelle had gone out there to do undercover work on a murder case, it had almost turned into a disaster. “Do you really want to go out to the Eagle again?” she asked.

  “No, but that’s where Lenny works. You don’t want me to go undercover again, do you?”

  “Absolutely not!”

  “Okay, then let’s all go.”

  “Who do you mean by all?”

  “You, Andrea, and me. There’s strength in numbers and there’s no way I want to go out there alone again. How about tomorrow night?”

  “That’s fine with me. I’ll check with Andrea in the morning, and see if she can go. But don’t mention it to Mother or she’ll want to go, too. And then we’ll have to look out for her.”

  “Do you know how mad Mother would be if she heard you say that?”

  “Oh, yes. I know.” Hannah turned to look at the ovens as the timer rang. “Is that yours? Or mine?”

  “Yours. Your crust bakes only fifteen minutes. Then you cool it for five, put on the strawberry pie filling and the topping, and bake it for another thirty minutes. I read your recipe.”

  “Okay. I’ll get my crust out. Tell me how long your Black Forest Brownies have to go and I’ll reset the timer.”

  “You don’t have to. I’m keeping my eye on the clock. We always bake together when I come home, so I’ll run by the Red Owl tomorrow and pick up a second kitchen timer.”

  “While you’re watching the clock, why don’t you call the Eagle and find out if Lenny’s working tomorrow night. It’d be a waste of time to drive all the way out there and find out he’s got the night off.”

  Michelle reached for the phone on the wall. “Good idea. I’ll do it now. My bars still have fifteen minutes to go.”

  Hannah’s crust had cooled the required five minutes, she’d finished assembling the cookie bars, and she was slipping them back into the oven by the time Michelle hung up the phone. “What took so long?” she asked.

  “Lenny was in a private meeting in the office with someone, and the door was locked. They put me on hold until he came out.”

  “Lenny has private meetings at the Eagle?”

  “That’s what one of the waitresses said. She told me her name was Silky.”

&
nbsp; “Do you think that’s a real name?”

  “No. Waitresses at a dive like that don’t usually use their real names. They don’t want the customers to know anything personal about them.”

  Hannah stared at her baby sister. “Should I ask you how you know that?”

  “You can if you want to. One of my roommates worked in a bar for the summer, and they gave her a name tag with a fake name. Anyway, Silky said that Lenny started locking the office when he took over as manager, and he’s got the only key. On the nights he doesn’t work, they can’t open the door.”

  “Really!” Hannah’s mind ran through the possibilities, taking Uncle Pat’s character assessment into account. “My bet is that he’s using it for something borderline illegal.”

  “I’m sure you’re right. Silky also said that up to four months ago, the waitresses were going in and out to use the phone, but now nobody except Lenny can get in.”

  “That makes me want to get a good look at that office when we go out there,” Hannah told her.

  An hour passed with the two sisters baking, talking, and generally having a good time together. They’d finished six pans of cookie bars when Hannah decided it was time for them to get some sleep.

  “You’d better turn in, Michelle. You have to get up early in the morning if you want to ride to town with me.”

  “Sounds good.” Michelle stood up and gave Hannah a hug. “Goodnight, Hannah.”

  “Goodnight, Michelle,” Hannah hugged her back. “I’ll turn in soon, and then …” Hannah stopped talking abruptly as the doorbell rang.

  “I’ll get it on my way to bed,” Michelle called out as she opened the door. “It’s probably Norman.”