Cream Puff Murder (13 page)

There was something shiny on the floor next to the far end of the bar. Hannah walked over for a closer look and immediately wished she hadn’t. It was her silver platter, the very same platter she’d used for Mike’s birthday cream puffs, and it was upside down in front of the flowering hibiscus that thrived in the moist heat.

With the same sinking feeling she experienced every time she came across a bad accident on the road, Hannah lifted one handle and surveyed the smashed cream puffs it had held. Blueberry and lemon filling had overlapped in a puddle of gooey green. There were bits of pastry mixed into a glutinous mash of strawberry and vanilla filling, but there were no chocolate cream puffs. She supposed she should be happy that her great-grandma’s pudding had been such a success, but she felt sick at the cream puff carnage she saw. Mike had told her it was a birthday party at the gym. She’d just assumed he meant the gym at the sheriff’s department, but he’d obviously been talking about Heavenly Bodies. It was clear that the birthday party had gone awry, and from the tipped stools, she guessed that the partygoers had left in a rush. That made her very curious. She had to ask Mike what had happened.

Hannah shivered. Her feet were still cold. She’d clean up the cream puffs and reclaim her platter later, but right now she needed to thaw her frigid digits.

The switch that operated the Jacuzzi was behind the bar. Hannah turned on the heat, activated the jets, flicked on the underwater lights, and headed over to the tub. She was about to dip her toes in the water when she realized that there was something in the center of the Jacuzzi.

The surface was roiling and bubbling so furiously that visibility was limited. Hannah waited until the object resurfaced again, and when it did, she was puzzled. It looked like one of the red-and-black exercise outfits worn by the female instructors at Heavenly Bodies. Had one of them dropped her clothes in the Jacuzzi?

That didn’t make much sense, and the moment she realized it, Hannah felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up in exactly the same way Moishe’s did when he encountered something that frightened him. She braced herself and reached out to grab the material, intending to pull it out of the water to examine it more closely. But instead of grasping nothing but spandex, she felt something under the material, something firm, something muscled, something decidedly human.

“Uh-oh,” Hannah breathed, fighting the impulse to turn tail and run. The only thing that kept her feet rooted to the spot was the thought that Andrea could walk in at any moment. She had to find out who was wearing that red-and-black exercise outfit and spare Andrea from what could very well be a gruesome sight.

Taking a deep breath for courage, Hannah tugged until the solid mass turned from back to front. She took one look and swallowed hard as she stared down at blond hair, a perfect figure, and lifeless blue eyes with a deep indentation between them.

“Hannah?” Andrea called out from the doorway. “Are you going in the Jacuzzi?”

“No,” Hannah said, standing up quickly and blocking the sight as best she could. “Go out to the security station and tell whoever’s on duty to call Mike at the sheriff’s station.”

“But why?”

“Just do it, Andrea. And don’t come any closer.”

Andrea gasped. “Don’t tell me there’s someone…”

“Don’t think, just do it!” Hannah ordered, and she gave a relieved sigh when Andrea turned and ran down the hallway.

Even though she tried to keep her gaze on the tropical wallpaper, or the flowering plants, or the colorful tile that covered the floor, Hannah’s eyes were drawn to the sight she didn’t want Andrea to see. It was Ronni Ward, and she was quite dead. It seemed that someone else had wanted her out of the picture even more than they had!

L isa’s initial expression of shock turned to one of worry after Hannah finished telling her about finding Ronni’s body. “How awful for you!”

“Actually, it was more awful for Ronni.”

“I guess that’s true, but I don’t really care about Ronni. I care about you.” Lisa reached out to touch her arm. “You need some chocolate, Hannah. There’s a pan of Brownies Plus cooling on the kitchen counter. Go have one.”

Hannah was sorely tempted. She loved Brownies Plus, and chocolate would certainly make her feel better. But better sense prevailed and she shook her head. “I’d love to have one, but I won’t. There’s no way Ronni Ward’s going to spoil my diet…dead or alive.”

“Okay, but at least go back and have a cup of coffee. I’ll open up the coffee shop. The news hasn’t broken on KCOW yet, but when it does we’ll be crowded.”

Hannah sighed as she headed to the kitchen. Lisa was right. They would be chock full of customers when the news broke. And every one of them would want to know all about how Hannah had found Ronni’s body. At least this time she wouldn’t be asked, or even allowed, to investigate. Mike would be so upset, he’d want to catch Ronni’s killer himself. And if what she’d heard about Ronni’s flirtations was true, she had no doubt that at least sixty percent of the Winnetka County sheriff’s deputies would feel the same way.

Hannah was grating carrots for the Carrot Cake Cookies she’d decided to bake. Baking always made her feel better, and finding Ronni’s body in the Jacuzzi hadn’t exactly started her day on a high note.

Since she couldn’t use her food processor to grate carrots as finely as she needed them, Hannah was doing it by hand. Her tool was a standard, four-sided box grater, and it took a while to grate enough. She was only halfway through when there was a knock on the back door.

“Mother,” Hannah muttered, coming close to grating her knuckle right along with her favorite root vegetable. Delores had probably heard about Ronni’s death, but that wouldn’t be her main concern. Delores would be much more upset about Hannah’s finding another body.

“Might as well face her now,” Hannah said, even though there was no one to hear her. She put down her grater and the half-done carrot, wiped her hands on a towel, and hurried to open the back door.

“Hi, Hannah.”

Hannah blinked, and then she smiled. “Hi, Norman. Why didn’t you come in the front way?”

“Because I didn’t want anyone to see me. Let me in. I’m on a mission.”

Hannah stepped aside, and Norman came in. They parted ways three steps inside. He headed for the work island and sat down on a stool, while she headed for the kitchen coffee pot to pour him a mug.

“What’s all this about a mission?” she asked, delivering the java along with two Brownies Plus on a napkin.

“In a minute.” Norman took a bite of his brownie and a sip of coffee. “These are the best brownies I ever had!”

“Thanks. They’re Diana Dickerson’s recipe.” Even though she was brimming with curiosity, Hannah waited until Norman had eaten both brownies and reduced the coffee in his mug by half. “The mission?” she reminded him.

“Somebody told me your slay-dar is working overtime.”

“My what?”

“Slay-dar. It’s like radar, except that you find murder victims.”

“Cute,” Hannah said, being entirely truthful. It was a cute thing to say. “So you heard the news on KCOW?”

“Not exactly. Mike just left my dental clinic, and he told me all about it. He wants me to tell you that Bill’s put him on leave until Ronni’s murder is solved.”

Hannah just stared at Norman for a moment. Then she shook her head. “I don’t understand. Mike’s the head detective. Bill needs him to solve the case…doesn’t he?”

“He does, but Mike can’t work it. It’s in the rulebook. You can’t be assigned a case where you have…uh…a personal relationship with the victim.”

“Personal relationship,” Hannah repeated. “Does that mean what I think it means?”

Norman took a sip of his coffee. When he answered, he looked down at the mug, not at her. “I don’t know. Mike didn’t volunteer that information, and I didn’t ask.”

Right. Sure, Hannah’s mind said, and that’s why you won’t meet my eyes. Norman was a terrible liar. His mother, Carrie, had mentioned it numerous times. She said that even as a little boy, he looked guilty when he wasn’t telling the truth. And here he was, trying to lie to her to spare her the steamy details.

“You know more than you’re telling me,” Hannah said, facing him squarely. “But don’t you know that if you tell me about Ronni and Mike’s relationship, I’ll probably think less of Mike?”

“I know that,” Norman said quickly, and then he looked a bit chagrined. “If there’s anything in the details to warrant it, that is.”

Hannah grinned. Norman had almost fallen into a trap, but he’d caught himself in time. “Okay. But if I think less of Mike, I’ll probably gravitate your way.” She stopped and frowned as a most unwelcome thought occurred to her. “You two are still in a kind of competition for me…aren’t you?”

“I can’t speak for Mike, but I am. It’s just that…” his voice trailed off.

“What?” Hannah prodded him.

“Mike and I are friends. And friends don’t divulge each other’s confidences. At least I don’t.” Norman stopped speaking and looked worried. “Am I being a real chump?”

“No, you’re being Norman. And the fact you won’t take advantage of Mike’s situation makes me like you even more.”

A slow smile broke out over Norman’s face. “Well!” he said, as pleased as Hannah had ever seen him. “That’s good. Now can we get down to business? Mike gave me a list of things he wanted to tell you.”

“Hold on. Why isn’t Mike here, telling me all this himself?”

“Bill made him swear he wouldn’t have anything to do with the official investigation. He can’t even call his detectives to see how they’re doing. And right after Mike agreed to that, Bill made him promise that he wouldn’t speak to you about anything concerning the case. Mike’s getting around that by talking to me and having me tell you what he said.”

“Like a reverse Cyrano?” Hannah couldn’t help asking, since they’d watched the old black-and-white movie just last week.

“I guess it’s a bit like that, but it’s not about love. It’s about murder. You are going to try to find out who killed her, aren’t you?”

“Of course I am. The killer ruined at least a dozen of my mini cream puffs.”

“Good. I’ll tell Mike you’re in, then. He’s going to tell me what to do to work the case, and I’ll tell you what he says.”

“Solving murder by proxy?” Hannah began to frown. “I don’t think I can do that. Mike and I solve murders in different ways. He has a lot more resources than I do.”

“Not this time.”

Hannah thought about that for a minute. “I guess that’s true if he can’t contact anyone at the department. But I don’t want Mike to tell me what to do. I need to do things my own way.”

“He said you’d say that. And he said to tell you that you could still do things your own way if you do them his way, too. That way you’ll have two different procedures, and you should solve the case twice as fast.”

Hannah gave a little laugh. “His logic is faulty, but it would be interesting to see how Mike would manage the case. He didn’t mention that running parallel investigations would be double the work for me, did he?”

“Not to me. But I can help you, Hannah.”

“How about your dental patients?”

“That’s not a problem. Doc Bennett’s been asking if I need him to fill in. I think he’s trying to earn a little extra for Christmas. I’m pretty sure he wants to go on a cruise to the Caribbean.”

“Really?”

“A whole stack of travel brochures can’t be wrong. He left them on my desk the last time he filled in for me.”

“Cruises are expensive.”

“I know, and I’d like to provide a little of the financing. I’ll call him the minute I get back to the clinic and ask him to come in. Then I can take time off to help you.”

“That would be fun,” Hannah said, but she quickly sobered. “I guess fun is a strange word to use when we’re talking about murder. But I do like working with you, Norman.”

“And I like working with you.” Norman got up and carried his empty coffee mug to the counter by the sink. “If Doc Bennett can come in, I’ll see you later today, Hannah.”

“Wait!” Hannah hurried to the counter and packed up six Brownies Plus bars for Doc Bennett. “Doc Bennett loves Brownies Plus. Tell him I gave you a half-dozen for him and he’ll run all the way down to your clinic.”

BROWNIES PLUS

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

6 one-ounce squares semi-sweet chocolate (or three-quarters cup chocolate chips)

1 cup butter (two sticks, ½ pound)

2 cups white (granulated) sugar

4 beaten eggs (just whip them up in a glass with a fork)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1½ cups flour (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)

5 to 7 three-ounce chocolate candy bars (I’ve used Nestle’s Treasures Cappuccino Truffle Bars, Hershey’s Symphony Bars, and Nestle’s Crunch Bars—the number of bars depends on how many inches of your pan they cover.)

A SHORT CUT: Lisa got this recipe from Diana Dickerson. Diana says that if you don’t feel like making your brownies from scratch, use two packages of brownie mix, the kind that makes an 8-inch by 8-inch square. Use two bowls, one for each package, and prepare the brownie batter by following the directions on the box. Once the batter is mixed, use the contents of one bowl for the bottom layer and the contents of the other bowl for the top. Diana’s favorite candy bars to use are Hershey’s Symphony Bars.

Prepare a 9-inch by 13-inch cake pan by lining it with a piece of foil large enough to flap over the sides. Spray the foil-lined pan with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray.

Microwave the chocolate squares (or chocolate chips) and butter in a microwave-safe mixing bowl for one minute. Stir. (Since chocolate frequently maintains its shape even when melted, you have to stir to make sure.) If it’s not melted, microwave for an additional 20 seconds and stir again. Repeat if necessary.

Stir the sugar into the chocolate mixture. Feel the bowl. If it’s not so hot it’ll cook the eggs, add them now, stirring thoroughly. Mix in the vanilla extract.

Mix in the flour and stir just until it’s moistened.

Spoon half of the batter into your prepared pan. Smooth it out with a rubber spatula.