Blackberry Pie Murder (25 page)

Hannah was about to ask another question when the outside kitchen door opened and four men came in. One was Connor. Hannah recognized him, but she didn’t know any of the other three.

“You recognize Hannah, don’t you, Connor?” Winnie said to her head horse wrangler and ranch manager.

“Sure do. Hi, Hannah.” Connor hung his hat on the hook by the back door and gave Hannah a friendly smile. “I recognize Mike, too. Hello there, Mike.”

“Hello, Connor,” Mike said, smiling back. “What happened to your hand?”

Connor looked a little sheepish. “I let a horse get the best of me instead of the other way around. I finally got him to behave, but it wasn’t easy.”

“He’s a new one and I named him Diablo,” Winnie told them. “If the rein hadn’t snapped, that stallion would have broken Connor’s hand.”

“It’s true, but Diablo didn’t break it, and the swelling’s better today. I think I’ll be able to take off the bandage by the end of the week.”

“Glad to hear it,” Winnie said, gesturing toward the three younger men. “You boys go ahead and introduce yourselves to Miss Swensen and Deputy Kingston. And when you’re through with the niceties, go wash up for noon dinner.”

Hannah turned toward the three ranch hands. One was a bit older than the other two, but she suspected that if the three of them added up their ages, the sum wouldn’t be more than sixty years. “You’re working summer jobs?” she asked them.

“Yes, ma’am,” one of the boys said. “I’m Brad and this is my little brother, Dave. And this here’s a friend of ours, Jim.”

“Connor knows their father,” Winnie explained. “He’s a breeder from Mankato and these boys grew up around 206

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horses. They’re real hard workers and we’re lucky to have

’em for the summer. They’re not like some of the slackers that come here looking for work.”

It was the perfect opening and Hannah seized it by taking out the flyer with the photo of the dead man. “Do you boys know that someone stole one of Winnie’s blackberry pies on Friday morning?”

“We heard,” Brad said, the obvious spokesman for the group.

“Did any of you see this man hanging around outside?”

Hannah handed the flyer to Brad. “He could be the one who stole Winnie’s pie.”

Brad looked at the photo and shook his head. “Not me. I was working in the paddock and these two were mucking out the stalls in the barn. Miz Henderson asked us before if we saw anyone.” He turned to Winnie and grinned. “We think she thought we took it. We really like her blackberry pies. They’re somethin’ else!”

“I didn’t think that for a second,” Winnie said, laughing a little. “You boys don’t have to steal. If you wanted one, you could have just asked for it and I would have handed it over.”

After the boys had left to wash up, Hannah pushed the flyer over to Connor. “How about you, Connor? Have you ever seen him before?”

“I don’t think so,” Connor said after studying the photo for a moment. “He doesn’t look familiar to me. Of course, I meet a lot of people at the horse auctions and I don’t remember them all. I think I might remember this guy, though, especially with that jewel in his tooth.”

Hannah handed the flyer to Winnie. “How about you, Winnie? Does he look familiar?”

Winnie studied the photo for a moment. “Yes. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen him before, but I can’t place him. He’s older here so it must have been a while ago. And he didn’t have that kind of tooth back then. It’ll come to me, Hannah. I’ll remember where I met him.” Winnie stopped and chuckled.

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207

“I’ll probably think of it at three in the morning. That’s how it usually happens.”

“If you do, call me. I won’t mind waking up to that call.

It’s important, Winnie.”

“Then this must be the man you hit with your truck,”

Winnie said. “I can tell he’s dead in that picture. He looks dead. Why do you want to know who he is?”

“It’s a mystery,” Hannah answered.

“I can understand that. I’ll think of it, Hannah. Trust me.

It might not be tonight and it might not be tomorrow night, but it’ll come to me eventually.”

The kitchen door opened and the boys came back in to take chairs at the table. As Hannah helped Winnie serve their lunches, she wondered exactly how long it would take her friend to remember where she’d seen the dead man. She hoped it wouldn’t take long. This was a mystery she wanted to solve so that she could devote her full attention to discovering whether Jennifer was really Carly’s sister, or not.

! % { # 9 *

GRAHAM CRACKER CAKE

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

1⁄2 cup salted butter, softened
(1 stick, 4 ounces,

1⁄4 pound)

3⁄4 cup white
(granulated)
sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons baking powder

1⁄4 teaspoon salt

2 and 1⁄4 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 cup whole milk

1 cup chopped nuts
(measure after chopping—I

used walnuts)

8 and 3⁄4 ounce can crushed pineapple WITH juice 1⁄4 cup white
(granulated)
sugar
Hannah’s Note: You can either crush your own graham
cracker crumbs by placing graham crackers in a bag and
rolling the bag with a rolling pin, crushing them in the
food processor by using the steel blade, or you can buy
ready-made graham cracker crumbs at the store.

Spray a 9-inch square baking pan with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray and sprinkle the inside with flour.

Shake out excess flour. You may also use Pam spray for baking, which contains a coating of flour. Both will work well.

! % { # 9 *

208

! % { # 9 *

In an electric mixer, cream the butter and the sugar, adding the sugar gradually with the mixer on MEDIUM

speed.

Add the vanilla extract and mix it in thoroughly.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time, incorporating the first egg before you add the second.

Add the baking powder and the salt, beating until they’re thoroughly mixed.

Mix in half of the graham cracker crumbs with half of the milk. Beat well.

Mix in the other half of the graham cracker crumbs with the remaining half of the milk.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the chopped nuts by hand.

Pour the Graham Cracker Cake batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.

Bake your cake at 350 degrees F. for 30 minutes.

Take your cake out of the oven, turn off the oven, and place the cake on a wire rack to await its topping.

In a saucepan on the stovetop, combine the contents of the can of crushed pineapple and juice with the white sugar.

! % { # 9 *

209

! % { # 9 *

Cook the pineapple mixture over MEDIUM HIGH

heat, stirring constantly until it boils.

Turn the burner down to LOW and cook the pineapple mixture for an additional 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

Pour the hot pineapple sauce over the hot cake. Cool in the pan.

Serve the Graham Cracker Cake with sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

! % { # 9 *

210

Chapter

!
Eighteen
#

When Hannah walked back into the kitchen at The Cookie Jar, she was feeling much better. Winnie’s fried chicken had been wonderful, her biscuits were as light as a feather, the helping of mashed potatoes and chicken pan gravy she’d indulged in despite her resolve had been goodness itself. Then there was the Graham Cracker Cake. It had been nothing short of incredible. But the good lunch she’d enjoyed wasn’t the only reason she was in a good mood.

Mike had discussed the quest for the dead man’s identity with her and he’d come up with some great tactics.

Mike had already spoken to Lonnie, who had used the sheriff’s department facilities to run the man’s fingerprints.

He wasn’t in the national database so if Grandma Knudson was correct and the man was either a pimp or a drug dealer, he hadn’t been arrested for his illegal activities. It was disappointing that the dead man had no criminal record. That would have made it easy to learn his name and last known address. But Mike had come up with another investigative technique that should work very well. He was going to drive to Minneapolis to talk to Stella Parks, the head detective at the Minneapolis Police Department. He’d show her the flyer, see if she personally recognized the dead man, and leave some flyers with her so that she could ask officers in other departments. Since Stella was a friend of Mike’s and she’d 212

Joanne Fluke

met Hannah before, Mike would tell her the whole story of how Hannah had hit the stranger and killed him. Stella liked her and Hannah was almost certain that Stella would find out who the man was if he came from the Minneapolis area.

Lisa was telling the story again. Hannah could hear crowd noises through the swinging door that led to the coffee shop.

She glanced at the bakers rack and blinked several times in surprise. Lisa was really attracting an audience today. The rack had been loaded with cookies when Hannah had left with Mike, and now it was at least half empty. It was lucky she’d stashed the Triple Chocolate Cookies in the walk-in cooler to try out on anyone who dropped by her condo tonight, or they’d probably be gone, too!

Hannah had just taken her last pan of bar cookies out of the oven and poured herself another cup of coffee when there was a knock at the back door. She went to answer it and smiled as she saw Norman standing there. “Hi, Norman!”

she greeted him. “Come in.”

“I brought you some lunch,” Norman said, heading for his usual stool at the workstation.

“Thanks, Norman,” Hannah said, hating to disappoint him by telling him that she’d already eaten lunch at Winnie’s ranch with Mike. At least she’d had a fairly light lunch, if you didn’t count the Graham Cracker Cake and the biscuit with honey and butter. She went to fetch coffee for both of them and then she sat down across from him at the workstation.

“I got a little news today, Hannah,” Norman said, opening the conversation.

Hannah was almost afraid she’d jinx it by asking, but she did. “About the dead man’s tooth?”

“That’s right. I e-mailed a copy of the photos and a detailed description of what I’d noticed when I examined the tooth to the dental professor who gave the symposium on tooth jewelry and embellishments.”

“He got back to you?” Hannah asked, hoping she was BLACKBERRY PIE MURDER

213

right and Norman had learned something that would help them.

“Within the hour. He didn’t know whose work it was, but he had a roster of names from the symposium. There’s one dentist he remembered in particular who was very interested in providing that service for his patients. His name is Leland Jones and he has a practice on Munsington Street in Minneapolis.”

“That’s a great lead, Norman!” Hannah beamed at him.

“As a matter of fact, Mike is driving to Minneapolis right now to show the photo of the dead man to Stella Parks.”

“I remember her. She was a nice lady.”

“And a really good detective,” Hannah added. “We already know the dead man doesn’t have a rap sheet. Mike had Lonnie run his fingerprints on the department computer. But if the dead man’s from Minneapolis, someone in their department might have had a run-in with him. Why don’t you call Mike and tell him what you learned about that dentist?

Maybe he’ll have time to check out his office.”

“It’s worth a try,” Norman said, pulling out his cell phone.

“Shall I have him meet us for dinner if he gets back in time?”

“Sure. I don’t want to wait until tomorrow to find out if he learned anything. I’ll cook. Both of you can come to my place.”

“I’ll take you out. You’ve got too much on your mind to bother making dinner.”

“Is it your mission in life to feed me?”

Norman laughed. “Just because I brought you takeout last night, and lunch today, and I’m taking you out to eat tonight?”

“Yes. What did you bring today?”

“Chinese. I’ve got pork chow mein, kung pao chicken, won ton soup, and brown rice.”

“Sounds like a feast,” Hannah told him, wondering if she could swallow more than a couple of bites. Luckily, everyone said that Chinese food was mostly vegetables and an hour 214

Joanne Fluke

after you ate, you were hungry again. Too bad Winnie hadn’t served Chinese food. Then she would have been hungry by now.

“What’s the matter? Aren’t you hungry?”

There was nothing to do but tell Norman the truth. Hannah sighed deeply and plunged into deep waters. “I ate lunch out at Winnie’s ranch at noon.”

You left out the part about Mike,
her conscience prodded her.
I know I did,
her rational mind answered.
There’s no
sense in telling Norman all that. He’d only be hurt because
he brought me lunch and I had lunch with someone else first.

Her conscience took umbrage at this excuse.
Mike is his arch
rival,
it reminded her.
He’s more than just someone else.

“Hannah?” Norman asked, and Hannah realized that he was looking at her questioningly.

“Sorry. I was just thinking about something. I’d love some pork chow mein, Norman. It’s my favorite. I’ll get us some plates and silverware while you call Mike and tell him what you know.”

Fifteen minutes later, Hannah was stuffed beyond belief.

“I’m sorry, Norman. I can’t eat anymore,” she said, looking down at her half-finished plate. “It’s really delicious and I want to eat more, but I think I’m going to burst if I do.”

“We don’t want
that
,” Norman said, chuckling. “Just sit here and keep me company, Hannah. You don’t have to eat.

If I know Winnie, she fed you half to death.”