Key Lime Pie Murder (29 page)

“Hannah,” he said, running up the steps. “I just found out something interesting. In cases like this when we don’t have many leads, we usually run the vic’s…uh…”

“It’s okay,” Hannah jumped in before he could apologize again. “Do you want some cake? It’s the winning entry for tonight, Kitty’s Orange Cake.”

“Sure. I love orange cake. I haven’t had it since…” Mike stopped and swallowed hard.

“Well, I think you’ll like this one,” Hannah said, jumping in so that Mike didn’t have to explain. She was certain he had been about to say that his wife had baked orange cake.

“Thanks, Hannah.” Mike took the slice that Hannah handed him and tried it. “Mmm…this is good. And it won first place?”

“Yes. It beat out an excellent chocolate sauerkraut cake and a really good coconut spice. Another piece?”

“Yeah, but that better be it. I skipped lunch, but I still have to lose another pound.”

Hannah cut another slice, making it a bit larger than the last, and covered the plate again. “You said you usually run the victim’s what?”

“Background. We run the fingerprints and do a background check. And something came up about the…Miss Sunquist. Did you know that she was married?”

“No,” Hannah said, not mentioning the fact that Delores had come to the same conclusion when she’d found out about the silver champagne glasses. “When did she get married?”

“Three years ago. Her husband was Jess Alan Reiffer, and they got married on June eleventh. She didn’t tell anybody about him, not even Mrs. Baxter. I just called her on her cell phone to ask.”

“Where’s Willa’s husband now?”

“Nobody knows. But here’s the thing…” Mike sat down next to her on the step and put his arm around her shoulders. “The bride spent four months in jail when her new husband, Jess Reiffer, used her as a lookout in a convenience store robbery.”

Hannah’s jaw dropped. She felt it go, and she quickly snapped her mouth shut again. She was right! Willa did have a secret! “Where was this?” she asked, angling for more information.

“Oregon. A town called McMinnville. It’s only about forty-five minutes or so from Portland. The day she was arrested, she got her one phone call and she used it to call her parents. They drove all the way to Oregon to line her up with a good attorney. But while her parents were in Oregon, they had a fatal auto accident, and both of them were killed.”

“Good heavens!” Hannah could barely believe her ears. Just when she was sure the story couldn’t get any worse for Willa, it did. “And Willa was still in jail?”

“That’s right. But her lawyers pulled out all the stops, and the charges against her were dropped. They convinced the judge she thought her husband had just gone inside to use the phone and she had no idea he was planning to rob the place.”

“What happened to her husband?”

“Oh, he was convicted. But since it wasn’t much money and he hadn’t used a weapon and no one was hurt, he was sentenced to only two years in jail.”

“So he’s out now?”

“That’s right. Actually, he’s been out for a while. He got his sentence reduced for good behavior, and he was released after fourteen months.”

Hannah thought about that for a moment. “Did Willa know he was out?”

“I have no idea. And I can’t question him, because nobody knows where he is. He served his time, and he’s a free man. He’s not accountable to anyone, so he could be anywhere.”

“Do you think Jess Reiffer is the man who killed her?” Hannah posed the question that was flashing like a beacon in her mind.

“Why would he kill her? She had a reason to kill him for nearly ruining her life, but he didn’t have any reason to kill her.”

“But…what if she tried to kill him and he killed her defending himself?”

“That didn’t happen. Doc Knight found no wounds to indicate a scenario like that. She wasn’t physically engaged with anyone that night, and Doc Knight’s conclusions go even further. He didn’t find any evidence of anticipation on her part.”

Hannah gave a little sigh. Why couldn’t they come right out and say it in plain English? But just in case she was misinterpreting what Mike had meant, she decided to ask for clarification.

“Are you saying that Willa didn’t know she was in any danger from her killer?”

“That’s right. The first blow came from behind, and it was fatal. The other blow, the one from the right side, was extraneous.”

Hannah shivered slightly. “So you were right.”

“About what?”

“On Tuesday night when you were talking to Norman at my place, you said you thought the second blow was just for insurance.”

“That’s right. At that point, she was already…” Mike stopped and sighed deeply. “She was already gone. At least she didn’t see it coming and she didn’t have time to be frightened. This guy is scum, Hannah. I really want to get him.”

“Me, too,” Hannah replied, letting him take that response any way he wished. It really didn’t make any difference to her which one of them caught Willa’s killer as long as he was tried, convicted, and spent the next hundred years or so in jail.

KITTY’S ORANGE CAKE

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

1 box yellow cake mix (1 pound, 2.25 ounces)

One package (3 ounces) orange Jell-O powder (NOT sugar free)

1 cup orange juice

1 teaspoon orange extract

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon orange zest (optional—if you like it super orangey)

4 eggs

1 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate morsels*
(6-ounce package—I used Nestles)

*
These are miniature chocolate chips. If you can’t find them in your area, you can use regular size chocolate chips and cut them in halves, or quarters. If you use them as is, they’ll sink to the bottom and make your cake hard to remove from the pan.

Grease and flour a Bundt pan. (I sprayed mine with Pam and then floured it.)

Hannah’s 1st Note: You can make this cake without an electric mixer if you have a strong arm and determination, but it’s a lot easier if you use one.

Dump the dry yellow cake mix in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the orange Jell-O powder. Add the orange juice, orange extract, vegetable oil, and the orange zest (if you decided to use it.) Mix all the ingredients together until they are well blended.

Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.

Beat 2 minutes on medium speed with an electric mixer or 3 minutes by hand.

Fold in the mini chocolate morsels by hand.

Pour the cake batter into the Bundt pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 45 to 55 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out dry.

Cool on a rack for 20-25 minutes. Loosen the outside edges and the middle, and tip the cake out of the pan. Let the cake cool completely on the rack.

When the cake is cool, drizzle Orange-Fudge Frosting over the crest and let it run down the sides. (Or, if you don’t feel like making a glaze, just let the cake cool completely and dust it with confectioner’s sugar.)

Orange-Fudge Frosting:

2 Tablespoons chilled butter (1/4 stick, 1/8cup)

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (6-ounce bag)

1 teaspoon orange extract

2 Tablespoons refrigerated orange juice

Place the butter in the bottom of a 2-cup microwave-safe bowl. (I used a glass one-pint measuring cup.) Add the chocolate chips. Heat on HIGH for 60 seconds.

Stir to see if the chips are melted. (They tend to maintain their shape even when melted, so you can’t tell by just looking.) If they’re not melted and can’t be stirred smooth, heat them on HIGH at 15-second intervals until they are, stirring to check after each 15-second interval.

Add the orange extract and stir it in.

Add the orange juice Tablespoon by Tablespoon, stirring after each addition.

Pour the frosting over the ridge of the cake, letting it run partway down the sides. It will be thicker on top. That’s fine. (And if it’s not, that’s fine, too—you really can’t go wrong with this cake.)

Refrigerate the cake without covering it, for at least 20 minutes before serving. That “sets” the frosting. After the 20-minute refrigeration, the cake can be left out at room temperature, if you wish.

Hannah’s 2nd Note: When I bake this cake for Mother, I use both the orange extract and the orange zest. Mother adores the combination of orange and chocolate. Come to think of it, Mother adores ANY combination that includes chocolate.

“Are you sure you have time?” Hannah asked Normanonce they got back to her condo and Moishe had sampled her mother’s trout dinner and Norman had given him the realistic-looking mouse filled with fresh catnip that he’d picked up at the pet store. “I can search Willa’s desk alone if you want to hurry home to print the pictures you took today.”

Norman shook his head. He was staring down at Moishe and frowning a bit. “I’ll go with you. I’ve got the time, and you’ll need me to break into Willa’s desk.”

“That’s true. Do you have a dental pick with you?”

Norman laughed. “It’s not something I carry around in my wallet. But I’ve got a Swiss Army Knife. There’s bound to be something on there I can use.”

“Okay.” Hannah filled Moishe’s water dish with fresh water and tossed him a couple of salmon-flavored kitty treats that he probably wouldn’t eat. “Are you ready to go?”

“I’ll be ready as soon as I give you this and plug it in.” Norman pulled a box from the bag he’d carried into the condo and presented it to Hannah. “Here’s your new cell phone. I activated it at the store for you.”

“But…”

“No buts,” Norman interrupted her protest. “I’ll put it in the charger and plug it in, and it’ll be ready to go tomorrow morning. All you have to do is turn it on to make a call.”

Norman plugged in the phone and then he walked over to scratch Moishe behind the ears. As usual, Hannah’s feline roommate was sitting on the carpeted ledge Michelle had bought him, staring out the living room window. “He’s definitely losing weight, Hannah. I can almost feel his ribs. He took only one bite of your mother’s trout.”

“I know. And he’s not interested in treats or catnip, either. He batted that mouse for less than a minute, and then he went back to the window again.”

“I don’t think he really wanted to play with the mouse at all. He was just humoring me.” Norman waited for Hannah to lock the door behind them, and then he followed her down the outside stairs and took her arm as they walked down the path to the visitor’s parking lot.

Once they were in Norman’s car and headed toward the exit to her condo complex, Hannah picked up their discussion of Moishe. “I don’t think he’s sick. Dr. Bob says his blood work is just fine. Moishe’s just…preoccupied. He’s focused on something, and I can’t figure out what it is.”

“I tried to find out for you. I stood there and stared at the place he was staring the whole time you were changing clothes. And I didn’t see a thing except your neighbor’s windows. The shades were down, and absolutely nothing was happening.”

“Do you think there’s something out there?”

Norman considered that for a moment. “Call it a hunch, or instinct, or whatever, but I do. And whatever it is must be a lot more intriguing than trout or a catnip mouse.”

The school parking lot was eerie at night in the glow from the halogen lights that were stationed at intervals to protect the cars of teachers who were working late. Nothing was moving, but there was a large cluster of cars parked at the far end by the football field.

“What are all these cars doing here?” Norman asked, pulling up next to the back door to the home economics classroom.

“They’re resurfacing Gull Avenue tomorrow morning. And since it’s going to be blocked off from midnight tonight until midnight on Saturday, Mayor Bascomb arranged for the residents to use the school parking lot and drive out the back way.”

“How do you know all that?”

“Lisa told me. Herb’s going on patrol at midnight to knock on doors and ticket any cars on the street.”

The school loomed large and dark as they approached. Hannah gave a little start as they walked past the motion sensor and the high-wattage light mounted over the back door to Pam’s classroom went on. “Thanks, Norman,” she said.

“Thanks for what?”

“For being here. There’s no way I’d enjoy doing something like this alone. I keep thinking about all the bad thrillers I’ve ever seen on television, with big empty buildings and homicidal stalkers.”

“I wish you hadn’t said that.”

“Me, too.” Hannah drew a deep breath and waited for Norman to unlock the door. He’d just started to push it open when she heard what sounded like a crash from inside.

“What was that?” she gasped, grabbing his hand to hold him back.

“What was what?”

“Didn’t you hear that noise?”

“I heard something, but maybe it was just the air conditioner kicking in.”

“Jordan High doesn’t have air-conditioning.”

“Oh. Well…this door leads to the pantry, right?”

Hannah nodded, although she knew he couldn’t see it. “That’s right. It’s the door Pam uses for deliveries.”

“Maybe someone stacked something wrong and it fell.”

“Possibly,” Hannah said, even though she knew that things didn’t fall without provocation. It was one of the principles of inertia. She was sure that Norman knew it, too, but he was trying to reassure her. “Do you think we should go in?”

Norman considered that for a moment. “Yeah. I’ll go first, and you come right behind me. We’ll leave the outside door open, and if there’s something wrong, you turn and run straight to the car. Take my keys.”

Hannah was about to object when Norman pressed the keys into her hand. She opened her mouth to tell him that there was no way she’d leave him to face any kind of threat alone when she reconsidered. He wanted to protect her. His ego was at stake.

“Okay?” Norman prompted for an answer.

“Okay,” Hannah said, bowing to the centuries-old tradition of letting someone who wanted to be stronger take the lead. And if she were being completely honest with herself, she felt pretty good about it. Norman wanted to protect her. That was the important thing. Whether she needed protection or not was another matter for another time.