Joanne Fluke Christmas Bundle: Sugar Cookie Murder, Candy Cane Murder, Plum Pudding Murder, & Gingerbread Cookie Murder (11 page)

CHOCOLATE CHIP PRETZEL COOKIES

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

Hannah’s 1
^st
Note: If you can’t find thin stick pretzels in your store, you can use the mini regular pretzels. Just make sure that any pretzels you use are SALTED.

Hannah’s 2
^nd
Note: This dough gets really stiff—you might be better off using an electric mixer if you have one.

Mix the softened butter with the sugar and the molasses. Beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, and the molasses is completely mixed in.

Add the vanilla and baking soda. Mix them in well.

Break the eggs into a glass and whip them up with a fork. Add them to your bowl and mix until they’re thoroughly incorporated.

Put your pretzels in a zip lock plastic bag. Seal it carefully
(you don’t want crumbs all over your counter)
and place it on a flat surface. Get out your rolling pin and run it over the bag, crushing the pretzels inside. Do this until there are no large pieces and the largest is a quarter-inch long.

Measure out two cups of crushed pretzels and mix them into the dough in your bowl.

Add one cup of flour and mix it in. Then add the second cup and mix thoroughly. Add the final half cup of flour and mix that in.

Measure out a cup and a half of chocolate chips and add them to your cookie dough. If you’re using an electric mixer, mix them in at the slowest speed. You can also put the mixer away, and stir in the chips by hand.

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto greased
(or sprayed with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray)
cookie sheets. You can also line your cookie sheets with parchment paper, if you prefer. Place 12 cookies on each standard sized sheet.

Hannah’s 3rd Note: I used a 2-teaspoon cookie disher to scoop out this dough at The Cookie Jar. It’s faster than doing it with a spoon.

Bake the cookies at 350 degrees F. for 10 to 12 minutes or until nicely browned.
(Mine took 11 minutes.)

Let the cookies cool for two minutes and then remove them from the baking sheets. Transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Yield: Approximately 5 dozen chewy, fairly soft chocolaty cookies that are sure to please everyone.

This recipe can be doubled if you wish.

Hannah’s 4th Note: These cookies travel well. If you want to send them to a friend, just stack them, roll them up like coins in foil, and cushion the cookie rolls between layers of Styrofoam peanuts, or bubble wrap.

A
cold wind wrapped itself around Hannah’s neck and she turned up her collar. The thermometer mounted outside the kitchen window of The Cookie Jar had hovered around the minus ten mark when she’d left to deliver her cookies. From the way her cheeks stung from the cold, she was willing to bet that it had fallen another couple of degrees since then. Not to mention wind chill. She didn’t even want to think about wind chill. Anyone who’d grown up in cold country knew that was how the apparent temperature felt on exposed skin due to the wind. The degree depended on both air temperature and wind speed, and Hannah was willing to bet that an actual ten below on the thermometer easily translated to twenty below when it came to the exposed skin of her neck!

Hannah had just left Luanne at Elf Headquarters, and she was headed to the Crazy Elf Cookie Shop to deliver her wares. They’d stopped at the toy shop so Luanne could talk to Courtney and tell her the bad news about the trial balance, but the elf who was manning the register had told them that Courtney had an appointment to have her hair done and she wouldn’t be back for at least thirty minutes, perhaps longer. Rather than leave Luanne there to wait for Courtney, Hannah had asked her to walk along to Larry’s trailer.

Once they’d stepped inside Elf Headquarters, Hannah had presented Larry with a whole Minnesota Plum Pudding, and a mixed bag of Frosted Ginger Cookies, White Chocolate Pumpkin Dreams, and several squares of Fudge-Mallow Cookie Bars. Then she’d introduced him to Luanne, explaining that Luanne was doing some work for Courtney.

Of course Larry had wanted to know about the work Luanne was doing, and Luanne had explained about the trial balance and how she couldn’t seem to get it to come out right. Larry had offered to take a look to see if he could spot her error, and Hannah had left after arranging to meet Luanne at the cookie truck when both of them were ready to leave.

A few hardy souls, bundled up in parkas and knitted caps pulled down low over their ears, were on the paths, but the tree lot was largely deserted. Hannah wasn’t surprised. It was cold and turning colder. Her fingers felt numb inside the leather gloves she wore and she thrust them into her pockets. Her nose was numb too, and it felt like a stubby icicle sticking out from the middle of her face, but there wasn’t much she could do about that. She increased her pace, fairly flying down the path, and arrived at the Crazy Elf Cookie Shop breathless.

It was warm inside! Hannah took a deep gulp of heated air and headed for the front of the shop. She said
Merry Christmas
to the bear before he could say it to her, and she heard a startled gasp of laughter from the direction of the counter.

“Hi, Hannah!” Krista Donnelly greeted her as she reached the front of the line that wasn’t. “Did you bring us more cookies?”

“I did, but you might not need them. It’s cold out there this afternoon and I don’t think anybody’s going to venture out.”

“It won’t be cold for long. The boys just went out to light the gas heaters. We’ll be turning on the lights in twenty minutes or so, and that’s when the crowds start to come in.”

“Can you spare someone to help me unload my cookie truck?”

Krista gestured toward two boys who were unpacking cases of supplies behind the counter. “Go out to Miss Swensen’s truck and bring in the cookies.”

“It’s open,” Hannah told them, “and you can leave it that way. After you carry the cookies inside, there’s nothing to steal.”

Once the boys had left and Krista had settled her at a stool with a hot cup of coffee, Hannah leaned close to ask some questions. “Do you know Larry’s fiancée?”

“Courtney?” When Hannah gave a nod, Krista went on. “She’s the head elf.”

“I thought Larry was the head elf.”

“No, Larry’s the
crazy
elf. Courtney’s the head elf who keeps him on track.”

“What does that mean?”

Krista glanced around, but the only customers in the cookie shop were sitting at a table in the far corner, well out of earshot. She turned back to Hannah and said, “Courtney’s really serious about making a go of the business. That doesn’t mean that Larry isn’t, but she’s all business all the time, and he knows how to have fun.”

“Example?” Hannah asked her.

“Right after we close down for the night, Larry takes us all on the Yule Log. Courtney stands there and watches, but you just know she thinks Larry ought to shut off the electricity and save money.”

“I see.” Hannah drew the obvious conclusion. “So the elves don’t like her very much?”

“They think she’s okay, but they’d like her a lot better if she’d let Larry do some of the things he talks about at the elf meetings.”

“What things?”

“Like the free Christmas tree he was going to give to every elf. Courtney thought that was too expensive so she talked him into charging us half price. It’s still a good deal, but not as good as if we’d gotten it for free.”

“That’s true.”

“And then there was the big party for the elves and their families that Larry was going to hold on Christmas Day. He was going to hire a caterer and everything, but Courtney convinced him that they couldn’t afford it.”

Hannah’s mind flew through the possibilities. It was obvious that Courtney wanted Larry to curtail expenses. Perhaps she was thinking of their future together and she was worried she was marrying a spendthrift. Or perhaps she had a vested interest in the success of the Crazy Elf Christmas Tree Lot. “Do you know if Courtney owns a share of the business?”

“She owns fifty percent. Her husband started a whole chain of tire stores and when he died, he left Courtney all his money. That’s how she met Larry. Larry was waiting in his lawyer’s office to sign some papers and she came in for the reading of her husband’s will. They hit it off and started dating, and then they got engaged and she invested her money with him, and that’s how everything started.”

“Larry told you all this?”

“No, Courtney did. She’s friendly and all. It’s just that she’s serious about business. I can’t really blame her. It’s her husband’s money and all, and he probably worked hard for it.”

“But you and the rest of the elves wish she’d loosen up a little?”

Krista gave a little shrug. “I guess. But when we’re talking about something that doesn’t have anything to do with business or money, she’s a lot of fun.”

The door opened and the two boys came in, their arms laden with cookie boxes. “Where do you want these, Krista?” one of them asked.

“Just stack them on the counter for now,” Krista answered, moving to the end of the counter to make room. “Are there more?”

“One more load.” The boys headed back out and Krista began to put the cookies away in the display case. She was almost through when the door opened again and a family of six came in. Another group of four followed, and Hannah knew that her time for a private conversation with Krista was over.

“I’ll see you later.” Hannah gave a wave as she got up and headed for the door. She was going to stop in at the Crazy Elf Toy Shop to see if she agreed with Krista’s assessment of Courtney.

When Hannah stepped outside, she was prepared to face the arctic winter again. But to her surprise, the wind had died down and it was appreciably warmer. Part of that warmth could not be credited to the cessation of wind chill. While she’d been talking with Krista, the boys had lit the stationary gas heaters that were placed along the walkways, and it was really quite comfortable as long as one kept to the designated path.

Twilight was approaching and the sky was a lovely shade of delft blue that reminded Hannah of walks home from grade school in winters past. Lavender blue shadows crept across the patches of white snow, and the warm yellow light that spilled out through the windows of the Crazy Elf Toy Shop cast golden rectangles that were turned into trapezoids by the uneven icy surface.

Hannah pushed open the door expecting to hear a cacophony of electronic toy voices, but all she heard were traditional Christmas carols played at an unexpectedly low volume.

“Hello there,” a non-recorded, obviously human voice greeted her from the front counter and Hannah looked up at the woman standing there. She was wearing a green velvet full-shirted jumper over a white lace blouse with puffy sleeves. There was a green velvet Santa hat on her head and she was the sole occupant of the toy shop. She was wearing a similar outfit to the one that Andrea had described. The only difference was that today it was green velvet and last night it had been red velvet.

“Courtney?” Hannah asked, almost sure that this must be Larry’s fiancée.

“Yes. And you’re…”

“Hannah Swensen. I bake the…”

“Cookies for the Crazy Elf Cookie Shop!” Courtney broke in to finish the sentence. “I’m glad to meet you, Hannah. Your cookies are delicious. Larry told me about the plum pudding and I’m looking forward to trying that, too.”

“Thank you.” Hannah walked over and picked up one of the crocheted animals that Andrea had bought for Bethie and Tracey. For one nanosecond she considered buying it as a toy for Moishe, but she figured it would last all of thirty seconds before the yarn was unraveled and the stuffing was in fluffy little pieces on her living room rug.

“These are really cute,” she said, holding it up so that Courtney could see.

“They’re darling. A local woman makes them for us.”

“Twenty dollars is a lot for a stuffed animal.” Hannah felt a bit like a traitor to the Murphy family as she made her comment, but she wanted to find out what Courtney would say.

“I know, but you always pay more for handmade. These aren’t produced in a big factory somewhere overseas and sewn together by workers who make less than a dollar a day.”

“That’s true. Are these made by Jessica Murphy?”

“That’s right!” Courtney smiled. “She’s simply wonderful at it. Larry contracted with her to produce them for us.”

“The markup is a hundred percent, isn’t it?”

“A
hundred
percent?” Courtney looked astonished. “Good heavens, no! It’s only twenty-five percent. Larry buys them for sixteen dollars apiece and we sell them for twenty. Wherever did you get the idea that the markup was a hundred percent?”

Hannah was embarrassed. She shouldn’t have brought up the subject. “Jessica’s brother-in-law told me she gets ten dollars apiece.”

“Well, he’s wrong. I know Larry pays sixteen for each one. He gives me all the paperwork for the toy shop and I file it right here in back of the counter.” Courtney looked disturbed for a moment and then her expression cleared. “Maybe Jessica’s brother-in-law misunderstood what she told him. Or maybe she didn’t want him to know how much money she was making.”

“That’s possible,” Hannah said, and she was saved from further embarrassment when the bell on the door tinkled and Luanne walked in. There was a smile on her face and Hannah surmised that her conference with Larry had gone well.

“Hello, Luanne,” Courtney greeted her.

“Hi, Courtney.” Luanne came up to hand Courtney a large envelope with the paperwork. “Everything you gave me is in here, along with my work. I’m really sorry, but I couldn’t get the profit and loss statement to come out right, and the trial balance was a disaster.”

“That’s all right,” Courtney said, smiling at Luanne. She didn’t seem a bit surprised by Luanne’s confession and Hannah wondered about that. “I hope you didn’t work too long on it.”

“She worked all night,” Hannah said, knowing that Luanne would never mention it.

“Oh, no! I’m so sorry, Luanne. I never meant for you to spend over an hour or two on it.” Courtney opened the register and took out some bills. “I promised you forty dollars, but I’m going to give you fifty. And you can have that dollhouse for your daughter at our cost.”

“Oh, thank you! But you don’t have to pay me. Mr. Jaeger already did.”

“
Larry
paid you?”

“Yes. Since you weren’t here when we stopped in earlier, I went along with Hannah when she delivered her plum pudding and sample cookies to Mr. Jaeger. She mentioned that I was doing some work for you and he asked me about it. I said that I must have made a mistake because the trial balance wouldn’t come out right, and he offered to help me find my mistake.”

“Did Larry find it?” Courtney asked her.

“No. He said my work was correct as far as it went. And then he told me not to worry, that it wasn’t my fault because there was some information I didn’t have and that’s why the columns wouldn’t balance.” Luanne looked a bit uncomfortable. “I really didn’t understand a lot of what he said. I think that’s because I’ve only had one bookkeeping class. But I’m sure it would have made sense to somebody who’s a real accountant.”

“Did he ask you why I wanted you to go over the paperwork?”

“No. I thought you’d told him about it because he didn’t seem surprised at all. We talked for about five minutes and he told me to contact him after I graduated and maybe he’d have extra work for me. And then he told me to bring all the paperwork back to you and tell you that he’d already paid me.”

Courtney put the money back in the register and Hannah noticed that her hands were shaking. “I hope he paid you plenty.”

“Oh, he did. And that’s why I can pay retail for Susie’s dollhouse. I really appreciate this work you gave me, Courtney. And I’m sorry if I was out of line talking to Larry about it.”

“Relax. You didn’t do anything wrong,” Courtney told her. “Now I want you to take that dollhouse floor sample and put it under the tree for your daughter. We discount the floor samples anyway and you can consider it a little extra gift for trying so hard to balance the books for me.”

“Really?” Luanne looked as if she were about to argue and Hannah knew how she felt about taking anything she didn’t think she deserved.

“Go ahead,” Courtney told her. “You ought to have more than money for working so hard and so long.”

“I’ll help you carry it,” Hannah said, taking matters into her own hands before Luanne could think of some other reason to object. Somehow she had to teach that girl not to look a gift horse in the mouth. Perhaps Luanne was oblivious, but it was obvious to Hannah that Courtney had never expected Luanne to be able to balance the books. She’d just wanted a second opinion. And now that she had it and Larry knew she was checking up on him, there might be a fireworks show later tonight that had nothing to do with pyrotechnics.