Plum Pudding Murder (19 page)

“That’s right,” Mike said. “Do you still have the envelope?”

“Yes. Do you want it?” When Mike nodded, Hannah went to get the envelope out of her purse. “Here,” she said, handing it to him.

Mike opened the envelope and took out the papers inside. “It’s a check made out to The Cookie Jar, and a receipt for the cookies you delivered.”

“That’s what I thought it was. Do you need to keep it for evidence?” Hannah asked.

Mike thought about it for a moment and then he shook his head. “Not if it was just sitting on the table. I can’t imagine any way this envelope could relate to the killer, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a copy of it for the file.”

“Would it work if I scanned the envelope and the contents?” Norman asked. “That way Hannah can deposit the check tomorrow.”

“That’ll do,” Mike said, turning to Hannah as Norman went to use her computer. “What did you see next?”

“The holes in the television screen. And then the half-full bottle of brandy and the nearly-empty snifter on the coffee table. I remember thinking that Larry might have had one too many and shot his own television screen.”

“But you still didn’t know that Larry was dead?”

“No. Not then. I remember saying that I didn’t like the way things looked, and Norman agreed with me. But then he said something about his father getting so mad when they preempted his favorite program that he threw a glass at his television set.”

“And that reassured you?”

“Not really. I still had the feeling that something was wrong. That’s when I turned around to look at the whole room and I saw Larry on the floor.”

“And that’s when Norman called me?”

“Not quite yet. First Norman went over to feel for a pulse and then he called you.”

“Okay. Thanks, Hannah.” Mike began to jot things down in his notebook again.

“Coffee?” Hannah asked him. “It should be ready by now.”

“Sure.”

Hannah went off to get the coffee, leaving Mike to his notes and Norman to print out the scans. By the time she came back into the living room, Norman was handing Mike the prints he’d made.

“You still haven’t told us if Larry was shot,” Norman reminded Mike.

“You wouldn’t need to ask if you’d turned the body over. Thanks for not doing that. It makes our job easier if the victim’s body hasn’t been moved.”

Hannah waited for the answer to Norman’s query, but it wasn’t forthcoming. It probably wouldn’t be. She knew Mike well enough to predict that he’d give them as little information about the murder as possible. It was always a trade-off with Mike. If she tossed him a piece of information that he wanted, he’d feed her scraps about what he knew.

“I wonder if Larry’s unorthodox business practices had anything to do with his murder,” she mused. And then she waited.

Mike turned to her quickly. “What unorthodox business practices?”

“You’ll have to ask Mayor Bascomb about that. He can explain it better than I can. How was Larry killed?”

“That’s confidential.”

“Not for long,” Hannah went into her best argument. “Minnie Holtzmeier’s son is Doc Knight’s night ambulance driver. And he’s fishing buddies with Jake and Kelly on the News at O’Dark-Thirty show. How long do you think it’ll take them to broadcast it on KCOW radio?”

Mike thought about that for a minute and then he sighed. “He was shot through the heart, and I’m guessing it was a small caliber pistol. Maybe a twenty-two, but we won’t know for sure until Doc fishes out the bullet and forensics gets through with it.”

“So the killer shot Larry and the television screen?” Norman asked.

“In that order?” Hannah added her own question.

“That’s probably right,” Mike admitted. “The way I see it, Mr. Jaeger opened the door expecting you, and someone else was there. That someone pulled a gun and Mr. Jaeger was backing up in a futile attempt to get away from his killer when he was shot.”

“How many times?” Hannah asked.

“Only once. Doc Knight found one entrance wound and no exit wound. After Mr. Jaeger fell, the shooter crossed over to the television set and put three bullets in the screen.”

“I wonder why the killer shot the television,” Hannah said.

“We won’t know until we catch him,” Mike said, and then he grinned. “Of course I’ve got my own personal theory.”

“What’s that?” Norman asked.

“He didn’t like the way the game was going. Everybody’s saying it’s a miracle that the Knicks pulled it off.” Mike reached for one of the cookies Hannah had brought to have with their coffee. He took a bite and looked slightly surprised. “Banana?”

“Yes. I’m trying out a new recipe for Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies. Lisa just got it from her cousin, Mary Therese. What do you think?”

“I like them,” Norman replied, finishing the cookie he’d taken when she’d set down the plate. “Banana and chocolate are really good together.”

“You won’t get any argument from me about that!” Mike smiled at Hannah and then he turned back to Norman. “There was a lot of blood. I was just wondering how long it took him to die.”

“How much blood are we talking about?”

“I’d say maybe a quart. The stain on the rug was a little bigger than a basketball. If you spilled a quart of milk it would probably make a spot about that size.”

“Okay…let me figure this out.” Norman said, claiming the pad of paper and pen Hannah always kept on the table next to the phone. “If I remember the lecture on cardiac output correctly, the adult human heart pumps approximately seventy milliliters with each beat. That means it would take roughly fifteen seconds to bleed out a quart.”

Hannah had heard quite enough. This latest topic bordered on the macabre. “Stop right there,” she said, giving both men a stern look. “If you want to eat cookies and talk about dead bodies and quarts of blood, I’m going in my bedroom to watch television.”

“Sorry,” Norman said, looking apologetic.

“I didn’t know you had a television set in your bedroom,” Mike said, not looking in the least bit contrite.

“I don’t. I just wanted you to stop talking about it, that’s all.”

“Okay, we’re through here.” Mike stood up, slipped his notebook in his pocket, and glanced over at her Christmas tree. “Are you going to decorate that? It looks kind of bare with just the lights, especially with those wires on the wall and…what are those wires doing there anyway?”

“Moishe,” Hannah said by way of explanation.

“You’re afraid he’ll tip over the tree?”

“I know he’ll tip over the tree. He’s already done it once…before dawn this morning.”

Mike turned to look at the guilty party who was sitting on the back of the couch washing his face. “It’s time to talk turkey, Big Guy.”

“Don’t say turkey,” Hannah said with a grin. “He knows that word. It’s one of his favorite entrees.”

“Okay, we’ll talk tough. How’s that?” Mike walked around the couch, sat below her errant feline, and lifted Moishe down to his lap. “That’s Mama’s Christmas tree over there in the corner,” he told Moishe, who actually seemed to be listening. “You have to leave it alone. You’ve got your Kitty Kondo to climb. Uncle Norman bought it just for you. The Christmas tree is Mama’s toy. You’ve got all your own toys to play with.”

Moishe looked up at Mike and for several long seconds, they stared at each other. Then Moishe opened his mouth and gave a little yowl.

“Good,” Mike said. “I’m glad you understand. And because you promised to be a good boy, I’m going to bring you a brand new toy the next time I come over.”

Moishe yowled again, and Hannah was willing to testify that he’d understood every word Mike had spoken. Perhaps the cop-to-cat talk had been a success and her Christmas tree would be safe from feline attention.

“Gotta go,” Mike said, giving Moishe a scratch under the chin. “Remember what I said, Big Guy.”

Norman stood up and followed Mike to the door. “I’ll see you out,” he said. “There’s something I need to tell you. It’ll only take a minute or two.”

The men went out and Norman closed the door behind them. That caused Hannah’s curiosity to go on high alert. It wouldn’t be right to listen to their private conversation. That would be snooping. But she thought she saw a smear of dirt on the rug very close to the door. One of them must have stepped in some slush and failed to wipe it off on the mat she kept outside her front door.

Armed with a napkin from the coffee table, Hannah hurried over to blot the rug. She wasn’t quite sure where she’d seen the dirt, but if she blotted the whole area by the door, she couldn’t miss it.

It was simply a coincidence that she could make out every word they spoke. At least that’s what Hannah told herself. She certainly wasn’t trying to overhear their conversation.

“I didn’t exactly accuse your mother of shoplifting,” Mike said.

“I know. Hannah told me.” Norman said. “I just wanted to let you know that I’m almost positive Mother paid for all those things she bought at the mall. I’ll check on it when the bills come in. I always go over there and help her with her online banking.”

“That’s good enough for me. I was just worried when I saw all those shoes. I mean…why would your mother buy six pairs of shoes?”

“Because she’s dating someone and she’s trying to impress him,” Norman explained. “She probably bought a lot of new dresses, too.”

“So who’s the lucky guy?”

“We don’t know. They were in a booth at Sally’s with the curtains drawn and all we could see was their feet.”

Mike laughed and Hannah noted he sounded amused. “What did you do? Crawl around on the floor?”

“No, Hannah dropped her purse. We had to kneel down to pick up the things that fell out.”

“That’s a good one. I’ll have to remember she does that the next time I’m in one of those curtained booths.”

Hannah began to frown. The next time? That meant Mike had been in one of Sally’s curtained booths before!

“Anyway, now I know why Mother’s been too busy to go out to dinner with me lately.”

“Do you think it’s serious?”

“I don’t know. Hannah does.”

“Why does Hannah think it’s serious?”

“Because she saw the waitresses deliver a bottle of champagne to their booth. And Mother was wearing red sandals with really high heels.”

“Hmmm.” Mike was silent for a moment. “Hannah’s probably right,” he concluded. “How about you? Are you okay with that?”

“I’m fine just as long as he’s not after her money. You always hear these stories about good looking guys cheating widows out of their retirement money. And look what happened to Hannah’s mother. Delores almost got caught in a scheme like that.”

“True. So what are you going to do about it?”

“I’m going to try to find out who the guy is. We were going to drive past Mother’s house and take down his license number if we saw his car. But then we found Larry’s body and you said you needed to take our statements, so we came straight here.”

“I’ll take a run past your mother’s on my way back to the station,” Mike offered.

“But it’s out of your way.”

“So what? You’re a friend and I like your mother. I wouldn’t want to see anyone take advantage of her.”

Hannah backed away from the door and began to clear the table. Norman would probably be in any second and she didn’t want to be caught eavesdropping. But all the while she was carrying in coffee cups and stashing them in the dishwasher, she was wondering when Mike had been in a curtained booth at the Lake Eden Inn, and who his dinner companion had been.

BANANA CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

2 sticks (1 cup, ½ pound) softened butter

1 and ½ cups powdered (confectioners) sugar

½ teaspoon lemon extract

½ cup mashed banana (1 medium)

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

2 cups flour (pack it down when you measure it)

6-ounce package semi-sweet mini chocolate chips (that’s one cup)

Hannah’s Note: This is a lot easier to do with an electric mixer.

Beat the softened butter and the powdered sugar together until they look light and creamy. There’s no need to sift the powdered sugar unless it’s got big lumps. If you do end up sifting it, make sure you pack it down in the cup when you measure it.

Add a half-teaspoon of lemon extract and mix it in.

Peel the banana and break it into chunks. Mix them in until they’re thoroughly mashed and the powdered sugar and butter mixture is smooth again.

Sprinkle in the baking powder and salt, and mix them in thoroughly.

Add the flour in half-cup increments, mixing after each addition. When the cookie dough is thoroughly mixed, take the bowl from the mixer and set it on the counter.

Mix in the chocolate chips by hand. You’ll want them as evenly distributed as possible.

Line your cookie sheets with foil and spray the foil lightly with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray.

Use a teaspoon to drop cookie dough 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets, no more than 12 cookies to a sheet. (I used a 2-teaspoon size cookie scoop to make small cookies. I’ve also used a 2-Tablespoon size cookie scoop to make larger cookies.)

Use a metal spatula or the palm of your impeccably clean hand to flatten the cookies.

Bake the cookies at 400 degrees F. for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they’re golden on top. Remove them from the oven and let them sit on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes. Then pull the foil off and transfer cookies, foil and all, to a wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: Makes approximately 3 dozen large or 5 dozen small cookies.

Mary Therese’s Hint: (She wrote it out on the recipe card she sent to Lisa.) Be sure the butter is soft. I leave it out overnight. If you like bananas, you can use 2 medium bananas mashed, but you may have to add a little more flour.

W hen the alarm went off at four in the morning, Hannah sat up and rubbed her eyes. It had been an uneasy night filled with images of Larry prone on the rug at Elf Headquarters haunting her sleep. She hadn’t really liked him all that much, but he hadn’t deserved to be murdered.

It was time to get up, get dressed, drink all the coffee in the pot to wake up enough to drive, and go to The Cookie Jar to bake a zillion cookies. Once people heard that Larry Jaeger had been murdered and that she’d been there with Norman to discover his body, The Cookie Jar would be packed with curious customers.