Devil’s Food Cake Murder

by Joanne Fluke

  Hannah stared down at the gun and frowned slightly. It was a thirty-eight revolver, and it couldn’t be the murder weapon. Mike had told her that the gun used to kill Paul was a twenty-two semiautomatic.

  One-toe-over-the-line, Hannah thought as she zipped up the pouch and put it back exactly where she’d found it. Those were the words Lonnie’s Uncle Pat had used to describe Lenny. The gun was probably illegal, but she wasn’t here to nail him for illegal possession of a firearm. She was here to find out if he had the stolen jewels.

  “The more I consider it, the more I think we should go more generic,” Hannah said. “Maybe we should get her a new watch. You said she’s always losing watches.”

  A search of the file cabinet was next, and Hannah stretched out the phone cord and spoke of various brands of timepieces as she riffled through the three-drawer cabinet. There were papers, nothing but papers. Hannah didn’t bother to read any. She just shut the drawers after she inspected them and returned to the desk.

  There was only one place left to look, and that was the bookcase against the wall. It contained video tapes in sleeves with numbers written on the spines. Some of the numbers were the same, but they had alphabetic extensions. This could refer to three episodes of a television series, but Hannah doubted it.

  “Of course we could buy another type of jewelry,” she suggested as she walked over to the bookcase. She hadn’t seen any list of movies in any drawer she’d searched. Hannah pulled out a tape at random, number forty-three C. There was no videotape inside the sleeve. Instead of a movie, she found a packet of tissue paper with a string of pearls inside.

  “Pearls!” she gasped, but she recovered quickly. “I just remembered that your mother loves pearls. That’s what we could get her for her birthday. Or maybe …” Hannah opened sleeve number twenty-seven, “… a nice cocktail ring.”

  By the time she was through checking the tissue and jewelry inside the videotape sleeves, Hannah had tired of talking to her own answering machine about a gift for Carrie’s imaginary birthday.

  “This would be easier in person, Norman,” she said. “I’m going to use up my whole answering machine tape if I keep on talking, so I’ll see you when I get home, okay?”

  Once Hannah was back on her stool and Lenny was re-locking the office door, she leaned close to her sister. “Nothing,” she said. “Bill could get him on other things, like running a pawnshop without a license, but he’s not connected with that robbery in the Cities.”

  “Oh, drat! I was hoping.”

  “I know you were. I don’t know if I should be disappointed, or relieved. I like Lenny, but…Uh-oh!”

  Andrea turned to look where Hannah was pointing and her eyes widened as she saw the guy in the red shirt and another, equally large man, facing off on the dance floor.

  “I’ll get Mother, you get Michelle,” Hannah said sliding off her stool and heading toward the fracas as fast as she could.

  “I’m right behind you,” Andrea said, racing to keep up with her older sister.

  “Where’d they go?” Hannah asked as they reached the edge of the dance floor.

  “I don’t know. They were right there a second ago…wait! There’s Mother!”

  Andrea’s eyes widened as she saw their mother with her elbows pointing forward, swinging wildly from side to side. It was such an odd sight that everyone around her got out of her way as she scurried through the crowd.

  “Michelle’s a few feet ahead of Mother,” Hannah said, catching a glimpse of Michelle’s sweater. “She’s doing the same thing with her elbows and everyone around them is falling back.”

  “I didn’t know Mother could move that fast!” Andrea said, sounding shocked.

  “It’s all about incentive,” Hannah told her. “Move fast and intimidate the rest of the crowd or you get stuck.”

  “I’ll have to remember that for Macy’s next white sale,” Andrea commented. “Come on, Hannah. Let’s go meet them outside the door.”

  Hannah and Andrea hurried toward the door, but before they got there, they heard the sound of beer bottles breaking and the thud of fists hitting their mark. Andrea turned to look back as they exited and let out a whistle.

  “What?” Hannah asked her as they exited and the door closed behind them, muffling the noise.

  “It’s a real brawl. I just saw the guy in the red shirt pick up two other guys and bash their heads together. And I thought that only happened in the movies!”

  They found their youngest sibling and their mother next to Bud Hauge’s truck. Hannah marched up to them and asked the important question. “What happened?”

  “Later,” Delores told her. “I have to get this truck back to Bud. Follow us there and pick us up. We’ll all go to Bertanelli’s to debrief.”

  Debrief? Hannah’s mind repeated the word in the form of a question, but Hannah didn’t ask out loud. Pizza would be good, and she could wait. “Just tell me if you learned anything.”

  “Oh, my yes!” Delores replied. “How about you?”

  “I learned something,” Hannah answered, and then she turned to Andrea. “Did you find out anything else?”

  “Of course I did. I know how to pump people for information.”

  “To Bud’s house and then to Bertanelli’s,” Delores said, activating the keyless entry on Bud’s fancy truck. “I need to get my coat. This leather’s not as warm as I thought it would be.”

  Forty-five minutes later, Hannah, Andrea, Michelle, and Delores were seated at one of the round tables at Bertanelli’s Pizza. Delores had dropped off the truck at Bud Hauge’s house, and they’d idled in front of their mother’s house while Delores had dashed in to change clothes. The black leather costume was now in a bag in the trunk of her sedan, awaiting return to the costume shop at the Tri-County Mall.

  “So now will you tell us what the fight was about?” Hannah asked, once their waitress had written down their order and left.

  “You first,” Delores replied, pointing at Andrea. “What did you discover, dear?”

  “I found out where Lenny got the Sacagawea gold dollar. Silky, the waitress who delivered our horrible wine, took it in as a tip on Saturday night. Lenny cashed it in for her and he paid her two dollars for it.”

  “Saturday night?” Michelle repeated what Andrea had said.

  Andrea nodded. “That’s right. On Saturday night. I checked it out with Silky and she said the same thing.”

  “If she got it on Saturday, it couldn’t have been a part of the church collection on Sunday.”

  “That’s right,” Hannah said. “It’s just like Jon Walker said. It’s a coincidence.”

  “Then Lenny’s in the clear?” Delores asked.

  Hannah shook her head. “Not quite yet. We need to find out if he has an alibi.”

  “He has,” Michelle said. “The guy I was dancing with said he went drinking with Lenny on Sunday night and they stayed out until three in the morning. Since Doc said Paul was killed between midnight and two, that means Lenny’s cleared.”

  “It does,” Hannah agreed. “Thanks, Michelle. How about you, Mother?”

  “You first, dear,” Delores said, taking a sip of her coffee. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to go last.”

  It cost her nothing to humor her mother, and Hannah didn’t really mind. “I found out that Lenny is running an illegal pawnshop from his office at the Eagle.” And then she proceeded to tell the story of how she’d come to look inside the videotape sleeves while she was leaving a message on her own answering machine that Norman would never hear.

  “I wonder if Bill will arrest him,” Michelle said.

  “I don’t know,” Hannah said with a shrug. “In a way, I hope he won’t. It didn’t look as if Lenny was charging exorbitant rates, and people would probably rather go to him than a pawnbroker.” She turned to Delores. “Come on, Mother. Tell us what the fight was about.”

  “It was about me,” Delores admitted. “Spike wanted to dance with Trixie, and Hub wouldn’t give her u
p.”

  “Who’s Trixie?” Andrea asked.

  “Trixie’s me. It’s the name I used at the Eagle. I wasn’t about to give my real name. Michelle thought it was perfect with my outfit.”

  “And Hub is the guy in the red shirt?” Hannah asked.

  “It’s short for Hubbard,” Michelle told them. “I was dancing with his son.”

  “Hub Hubbard,” Andrea gave a little shiver. “Bill mentioned him once. He said all the Hubbards were real troublemakers.”

  Michelle nodded. “Bill’s right. Hub’s son told me his dad just got out of county lockup.”

  “What was he in for?” Andrea asked her.

  “I don’t know, but he was there for three months. They were out at the Eagle to celebrate Hub’s first night home.”

  “You sure know how to pick ‘em, Mother!” Hannah couldn’t resist saying.

  “I didn’t pick him. He picked Trixie. And you should be really glad he did!”

  All three daughters stared at their mother in shock. “Why?” Andrea finally asked.

  “Because I found out who made those prank phone calls to Bill about that fake job in Florida.”

  “You did?!” Andrea was clearly amazed.

  “Yes, I did. Hub just volunteered the information when I told him I’d been harassed by the sheriff last week.”

  “Mother!” Andrea was obviously shocked. “Bill doesn’t harass anyone! You know that’s not true!”

  “Of course I do, but I was playing Trixie. And Trixie might have been harassed by the sheriff. Actually, you should be glad I said that, because Hub was very sympathetic and he tried to make Trixie feel better.”

  Hannah was almost afraid to ask, but she did. “How did he do that, Mother?”

  “He asked if Trixie knew about the trick somebody played on the sheriff a few months ago, calling him about a great job in Florida.”

  “What did you say?”

  “Trixie said she’d heard about it and she thought it was really funny. And then she added that she’d just love to meet the guy who did it.”

  Andrea was all ears. “And he told you?”

  “He told Trixie,” Delores corrected her. “Hub came right out and admitted that he was the one who thought up the dirty trick in the first place, and his son was the one who made the calls.”

  “Good work, Mother!” Hannah complimented her. “Or should I say, good work, Trixie?”

  “Mother is fine, dear.”

  “I’d better tell Bill right away,” Andrea said, reaching in her purse for her cell phone.

  Delores shook her head. “Oh no, you don’t. I’ll call Bill. I was the one who had to wear that ridiculous costume and pretend I was having a good time.”

  Delores waited until Andrea dropped her cell phone back into her purse and then she turned to Michelle.

  “And that reminds me,” she said to Michelle. “I want to know exactly how and where you learned that trick about leading with swinging elbows!”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Morning came much too early for Hannah. They’d sat at Bertanelli’s for an hour unwinding, and then she’d come home to an answering machine flashing with the message light. When she’d played the message, she’d expected to hear her own voice giving the fake message to Norman, but the message had been from Norman himself, saying that he’d been planning to come over, but something had come up and he’d try to contact her tomorrow. That was it. No I love you, no I’m sorry, no I miss you. Nothing of a personal nature whatsoever.

  Bleary-eyed and definitely not bushy-tailed, Hannah wrapped herself in her old robe. She turned to look for her live-in feline, but Moishe wasn’t moving. He was nestled in the center of the expensive down-filled pillow she’d bought to keep him from stealing hers, and his tail didn’t even flicker when she called his name.

  “Lazy,” Hannah said to the cat who was snoring softly, but she didn’t have the heart to wake him. Then she padded down the carpeted hallway, too tired to look for her slippers. She couldn’t blame Moishe for staying in bed. No one should have to get up when it was still dark outside. When she reached the kitchen, she reached out to flick on the lights, but the lights were already on.

  There was Michelle, sitting at her kitchen table, looking much more awake and pretty than anyone had the right to look at this hour of the morning. Hannah couldn’t help it. She growled.

  “What was that?” Michelle asked.

  “Jealousy. Is there coffee?”

  “Yes, but you’re not getting any. Go back to bed and I’ll reset the pot. Lisa doesn’t want you to come in before ten this morning. She says you have to get some sleep so your mind’s a steel trap.”

  “But…how will you get to The Cookie Jar?”

  “I’ve got Mother’s car, remember?”

  “Oh. Yeah.” Hannah vaguely remembered Delores saying that Michelle could use her car as long as she returned the costume to the shop at the mall.

  “Go back to bed before you wake up,” Michelle said, standing up, turning Hannah around, and giving her a gentle shove in the right direction. “Moishe’s waiting for you.”

  Hannah went back to bed. She crawled in next to her softly snoring cat and shut her eyes. And she didn’t open them again until the bright sun streaming in her bedroom window woke her at nine-fifteen.

  Sleep was a wonder drug. Hannah was convinced. She even hummed a little tune as she loaded the shelves of her industrial oven with cookies. She set the timer, sat down at the workstation, and sipped her coffee gratefully. Lisa was the best partner in the world.

  “Oh, good!” Lisa said, coming in through the swinging door from the coffee shop. “You made Molasses Crackles.”

  “Plus Almond Kisses, Lisa’s Pieces, and Red Velvet Cookies. I’m making Mocha Nut Butterballs next.”

  “Perfect,” Lisa refilled the empty display cookie jar she was holding from the cookies on the baker’s rack and turned to go. “How about a couple of pans of Blonde Brownies? Do you have time to make those?”

  “I’ve got nothing but time. Thanks to you, I got enough sleep and now …” Hannah stopped speaking as the phone rang. “I’ll get it.”

  Lisa left and Hannah grabbed the wall phone. “The Cookie Jar. This is Hannah speaking,” she answered.

  “Hannah! I’m so glad you answered!”

  “Grandma Knudson?” Hannah asked, recognizing her friend’s voice despite the fact that it was quavering. “Is there something wrong?”

  “Yes! I just don’t know what to do, Hannah. I’m filled with doubt.”

  Hannah went on red alert. Grandma Knudson, usually an extremely competent and self-confident person, sounded very unsure of herself. “Does your doubt have to do with your faith?” she asked, hoping that wasn’t the case. She really wasn’t sure how to deal with anyone who was having a crisis of faith.

  “Oh no, dear. My faith is as strong as ever. It’s just…if you can, I’d like to see you, Hannah. I really need to talk to someone who’ll understand.”

  “Understand what, Grandma Knudson?”

  “I’m afraid I’m having some kind of breakdown. I’m beginning to doubt my own mind!”

  The moment she stepped into the parsonage kitchen, Hannah knew something was drastically wrong. There was no coffee, and the pot was stone cold.

  “Grandma Knudson?” she called out, carrying the box of cookie bars she’d hastily packed. They were Chocolate Euphoria Cookie Bars made with the substitute for sweetened condensed milk.

  “I’m here. In my…my sitting room,” Grandma Knudson replied, and to Hannah’s ears, she sounded frail and confused.

  “I’ll be right there,” Hannah said, heading down the hallway without stopping to put on a fresh pot of coffee or even unpacking the cookie bars she’d brought. If Grandma Knudson was ill, she’d call Doc Knight right away.

  When Hannah entered the sitting room, she found Grandma Knudson in her favorite chair, an open Bible on her lap. “What’s wrong, Grandma Knudson?” she asked.

>   “It’s Matthew. But I don’t think he is Matthew. That’s the problem. And if I tell you, you’re going to think I’m a senile old woman!”

  “Never!” Hannah replied immediately, opening the bakery box and gesturing toward the bar cookies. “Have one. They’re Chocolate Euphoria Cookie Bars made with the substitute for sweetened condensed milk that I sent you.”

  Grandma Knudson perked up a bit. “The one with powdered milk and butter?”

  “No, the one without any milk at all. Try one and tell me if it’s almost as good as the real ones.”

  Grandma Knudson reached for a bar and took a bite. She chewed for a moment and then she nodded. “Different, but just as good. And much cheaper. I had Clara and Marguerite pick me up a couple of cans of sweetened, condensed milk, and they were almost three dollars and fifty cents apiece!”

  “I didn’t realize it had gotten that expensive,” Hannah said, wondering if she should remind Grandma Knudson why she was here, or leave well enough alone. The little discussion about baking and ingredient prices seemed to have settled her down.

  “Sit down, Hannah,” Grandma Knudson said, gesturing toward the awful pink davenport. “I want to tell you why I called you. And then you can decide whether I’ve gone ‘round the bend, or not.”

  Hannah’s heart sank as she sat down on the uncomfortable davenport. It seemed she didn’t have to remind Grandma Knudson of anything. The matriarch of the Lake Eden Holy Redeemer Lutheran Church had an agenda, and she was sticking to it.

  “Remember when I thought the fake Matthew wasn’t Matthew for all the wrong reasons?”

  “Yes, I do,” Hannah said, nodding quickly. “And you turned out to be right.”

  “I don’t think so now. Now I think this Reverend Matthew is a fake. As a matter of fact, I’m sure of it. And I’m afraid that makes me into a confused old lady who doesn’t know up from down.”

  Hannah wasn’t about to touch that one. It did sound crazy. Instead of commenting, she decided to ask a question. “What makes you think this minister isn’t Reverend Matthew?”

  “That’s just it, Hannah. I’m beginning to think the first Reverend Matthew was the real one. And I don’t think this one is a minister at all. He did something that no real minister would do, and that’s what convinced me.”