Cherry Cheesecake Murder (14 page)

Set the glaze down on a potholder next to your cookies. Spoon a little over the top of each cookie and let it drizzle down the sides. (You can also pour it over the cookies, but that’s a little harder to do.) When you’re all through, top each cookie with a pecan half, making sure the nut sticks to the chocolate glaze.

Leave the cookies on the wire rack until the glaze has hardened. This will take approximately 30 minutes. Then eat and enjoy!

Lisa’s Note: When I’m in a hurry and don’t have time to glaze the cookies, I just sprinkle them with a little powdered sugar, serve them with chocolate ice cream, and call it a day.

Hannah’s Note: Norman says to warn any friends with temporary fillings that the caramels in the center of these cookies are chewy.

Another Note: You can store these cookies in a box lined with wax paper in the refrigerator, but take them out at least thirty minutes before you serve them so that the caramel in the center will soften and not break a tooth!

Yield: Approximately 6 dozen very tasty cookies.

Hannah checked the list of names that Sally had sent along with the box lunches. It was one-thirty, and everyone had been served with the exception of Ross, Burke Anson, and Dean’s chauffeur, Connor. Hannah was about to take the remaining lunches back to the walk-in cooler in the kitchen when Ross came in with Burke.

“Sorry we’re late,” Ross said, coming around the counter to give her a hug, and then standing there with his arm around her shoulders. “Burke and I got hung up on a line rewrite for the scene we’re shooting this afternoon.”

“Line rewrite?” Hannah asked, picking up on the phrase. She thought she knew what it meant, but she wasn’t absolutely certain.

“Small changes,” Ross explained, “that don’t affect the staging of the scene, or the basic motivation. Burke thought Jody should stammer slightly whenever Amy brought up their father.”

“As a clue that Jody killed him?”

“Right. I mean, we’re not going to hit them over the head with it, just give a little suggestion of a stammer. Amy’s not going to react right then, but later she’ll remember and it’ll be another almost subliminal indication for her to add to the mix.”

“I’ll go tell Lynne and Erica what we decided,” Burke said, taking his lunch and heading over to the table where Lynne was sitting with Erica James and her mother. Jeanette didn’t look happy. Was the strain of corralling her daughter too much for her to handle? Then Hannah noticed someone who looked even unhappier than Jeanette James, and she experienced a jolt of surprise. Norman was positively glaring at Ross. Was it because Ross had his arm around her shoulders? Or was there another reason?

“Uh-oh,” Ross said and dropped his arm. “The town dentist looks less than friendly right now. I didn’t know he was the jealous type.”

“He isn’t. Not usually.”

“Maybe I’d better take my lunch and go, before he decides to botch up my leading man’s caps.”

Hannah shot him a sharp look. “Norman would never do that! He’s a professional.”

“Just kidding,” Ross said, but he didn’t give her another hug before he walked away to take a chair at Dean’s table.

Next in the door was Connor. Hannah knew it was Connor without being introduced because he wore a black chauffeur’s uniform. The handsome silver-haired man stepped up to the counter and flashed Hannah a friendly smile.

“Hi, Connor,” Hannah said, before he could introduce himself. “I’m Hannah and here’s your lunch.”

“Nice to meet you, Hannah. I’ve heard so much about you.”

Connor seemed like a nice man, Hannah thought, as he took the box containing his lunch. He was just turning to leave the counter when Dean rushed up to intercept him.

“Connor!” the director stood directly in front of him, blocking his way. “Did you get a signed release from that Henderson woman so we can use the park?”

“No, Mr. Lawrence. I did my best to convince her, but she refused to sign.”

Dean’s eyes hardened into slits and Hannah could tell he didn’t like being denied. “Even after you offered her my incentive?”

“Yes, Mr. Lawrence.”

“Cranky old biddy!” Dean muttered. “All right then, I’ll just have to raise the stakes. Do it in increments of a hundred until she signs on the dotted line.”

Connor nodded and Hannah suspected he’d done this sort of work before. “Yes, Mr. Lawrence. I’ll need to know the ceiling.”

“Five grand. Six is a deal breaker. If we have to, we can always move to another location. Remind her that we don’t really need her cooperation. The mayor’s already given us the go ahead.”

“Is that true, sir?” Connor looked uncertain. “I was under the impression that she controlled the land and its use until her death.”

“She does, but I wouldn’t expect a woman who’s lived on a farm all her life to know the fine points of law. And if it comes down to the wire, who knows? Some of these local yokels who’ve got a part in that scene might just take things into their own hands. All we have to do is tell them they can’t be in the movie because the Henderson woman won’t give us permission to use the park.”

Hannah did all she could do not to gasp as Dean’s words sank in and she realized what he meant. She didn’t think he was seriously considering doing away with Winnie Henderson, but he was a callous person to even joke about it!

“Try to buy her cooperation for three,” Dean went on. “It’s probably more money than she’s seen in her whole life. If you can manage that, there’ll be a little extra something in your paycheck this week.”

“Thank you, Mr. Lawrence.” Connor stood there waiting for further instructions.

“Go do it now. You can eat your lunch later. And don’t be late for your scene.”

“No, Mr. Lawrence.”

Connor turned to go, but Dean grabbed his arm. “Did you get the Tattingers?”

Hannah tried not to react as she recognized the name of the famous champagne. She’d tasted it once at an upscale party and actually priced it out at the mall. Since it sold for more than her car payment, she hadn’t purchased a bottle.

“Yes, Mr. Lawrence, two bottles. They’re in your office.”

“Refrigerated?”

“Naturally, sir.”

“Good man, Connor. Where did you have to go to find it?”

“A little place called the Wine Cave at the Tri-County Mall.”

“Where’s that?”

“About forty minutes from here, sir.”

“Very good. You’ve been a busy little beaver, Connor. Remind me to give you some time off when we finish up here. And if there’s any champagne left, I’ll recork it and save it for you.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Lawrence.” Connor waited until his employer had gone back to his place at the table, and then he turned to leave.

“Wait a second, Connor,” Hannah called him back.

“Yes, Ma’am?”

“It’s Hannah. You don’t have to Ma’am me. Since you’re working through lunch, would you like a cup of coffee to go?”

“Yes, I would. Thank you very much.”

Hannah filled the largest Styrofoam cup she had and clamped on a lid. “Here you go, the best cup of Swedish Plasma in the country.”

“Thanks,” Connor said with a chuckle, but he quickly sobered. “I know you heard what Mr. Lawrence said to me and I just want you to know that I like Mrs. Henderson, and there’s no way I’m going to cheat her, even if it means disappointing Mr. Lawrence.”

“You’re a nice man, Connor. And it can’t be easy to be nice when you work for Mr. Lawrence.”

Connor smiled, but he didn’t say a word and Hannah gave him points for that. And then, just because Connor was a nice man who worked for a condescending unfeeling director who was the total opposite of nice, she stuck her foot in firmly where it didn’t belong. “If you have any trouble convincing Winnie to sign that release form, come and get me. I know her and maybe I can help.”

“Mini cherry cheesecakes?” Lisa asked, repeating what Hannah had just told her.

“That’s right. He said he needs something that can be passed around on a tray at the premiere. They’re doing all finger food.”

“So we’ve got a while to come up with a recipe?”

Hannah shook her head. “All we have is two days.”

“But they won’t have the premiere until the movie’s all finished, and edited, and whatever else they do to it.”

“True, but I stuck my big foot in it and that’s why we have a time crunch. I suggested that they use the mini cherry cheesecakes in the cocktail scene and then there’d be a tie-in with the premiere.”

“That’s a great idea! So Mr. Lawrence must have liked it a lot if he’s going to do it.”

“Oh, he loved it,” Hannah said, giving a wry grin. “He loved it so much he stole it.”

“Stole it? What do you mean?”

“By the time we were finished talking, he was saying that it was his idea.”

“That figures,” Lisa said, shaking her head. “He isn’t the type to give anyone else credit. I knew he wasn’t a nice person five minutes after he sat down at the table.”

“How did you know that?”

“I was going around with the coffee carafe and I stopped at his table. I asked if he wanted a refill and he held out his cup. That’s all he did, he just held up his cup. He kept right on talking to Mr. Barton and let me give him a refill. And after I did, he just put his cup down in front of him. He didn’t even bother to look up or say thank you! Everyone else at the table did, but not him. He thinks he’s too big for his own britches!”

Hannah couldn’t help it, she laughed. The old-fashioned phrase sounded strange coming from a woman who’d just turned twenty. “You sound like your grandma,” she said.

“I know. I’ve always loved that saying. It makes me think of a smart-mouthed guy running around without pants.”

“Lisa!” Hannah was slightly shocked. Her normally very proper and slightly naïve partner had loosened up a lot now that she was married.

“Well, it does. Not that I’d like to see Mr. Lawrence that way!” A little color climbed up Lisa’s cheeks and Hannah knew she was about to change the subject to something less embarrassing. “So we need those mini cheesecakes by Wednesday?”

“That’s right. Do you have any ideas?”

Lisa looked thoughtful for a moment. “Let me work on it, Hannah. I’ve seen something like that, and I think my mother used to make them. I’ll look through her recipe file and if I don’t find it there, I’ll ask Dad if he remembers.”

“Do you think he might?” Hannah asked, hoping that Jack Herman’s memory would come through for them. He’d taken part in an Alzheimer’s study and the “cocktail” of three new drugs he’d tested had helped tremendously.

“Maybe,” Lisa said, shrugging slightly. “And maybe not. We’ll just have to wait and see. I hope he does, because it makes him so happy when he remembers something.”

As Lisa refilled the carafe with hot water and stocked up on tea bags for the tea drinkers who wanted a second cup, Hannah thought about what she’d said. The comment was typical of her kind-hearted partner who saw life’s cookie jar half full instead of half empty. Of course Lisa wanted to track down the recipe, but that was less important than making her father happy.

“Hannah?”

Hannah turned from the kitchen counter, where she was restocking one of the serving jars, to see Norman standing just inside the swinging door.

“Do you have a minute?” he asked.

“That’s exactly what I’ve got, one minute. We’re out of cookies and Lisa’s waiting for these. Just let me carry them out to her and I’ll have a lot more than one minute.”

“I’ll help,” Norman said, picking up two of the jars, one containing Molasses Crackles, and the other filled with Boggles. Hannah grabbed the jar with Lisa’s White Chocolate Supremes, and the one filled with Cinnamon Crisps, and off they went to the coffee shop.

With both of them carrying, it took only three trips to deliver the cookies. When they came back to the kitchen for the final time, Hannah poured them both a cup of coffee from the kitchen pot, and they sat down on stools at the work island.

“I don’t like Dean Lawrence,” Norman said out of the blue.

“Neither do I. He’s the type of person that makes me appreciate exposure at the city gates.”

Norman, who’d looked very serious up to that point, started to laugh. “He must have really gotten to you.”

“He did.”

“How?”

Hannah ticked the reasons off on her fingers. “He’s arrogant, condescending, and callous. He thinks Winnie Henderson is dumb just because she lives on a farm, and he called the people who live in Lake Eden local yokels. He steals other people’s ideas, he has no respect for anyone, and to top it off, he thinks he’s irresistible to women!”

“But other than that, you like him okay?”

Hannah’s jaw dropped open and then she giggled, something she hadn’t done since seventh grade. Norman was being sarcastic and she’d fallen for it. “You got me, Norman.”

“If only I did!” Norman sounded very serious and Hannah’s giggles stopped abruptly. “That’s one of the reasons I followed you into the kitchen. I need to talk to you in private.”

Hannah’s early warning system activated. If Ross was right and Norman was jealous, that jealousy might prod him into another declaration. “You’re not going to ask me to marry you again, are you?”

“Not today. My ego’s had all it can take for the month. This is something different.”

Hannah discovered she’d been holding her breath without realizing it and she exhaled quickly. “What is it, Norman?”

“Remember that letter you found in Lucy Richards’s desk? The one I said I’d let you read if I ever asked you to marry me?”

Hannah started holding her breath again and this time it was deliberate. Of course she remembered the letter! It had come from the Seattle Police Department and it had just about killed her not to open it. After she’d handed it over, still tightly sealed, Norman had told her it held information about him that might just kill his mother if it were to be made public. And while this information might not put him out of business in Lake Eden, it would certainly change his patients’ opinion of him.

“You remember the letter, don’t you, Hannah?” Norman prompted.

“Yes. Yes, I do,” Hannah managed to say, and a tingle of apprehension ran through her. Was Norman going to tell her his secret at long last?