Chocolate Cream Pie Murder Page 20

  Chapter Sixteen

  “What are those, Hannah?” Lisa pointed to the pan that

  Hannah had just moved to the bakers rack to cool.

  “Tortilla Snickerdoodle Cookies. Except I’m not sure I should call them cookies when they’re really sweet snacks.”

  “If they taste as good as they smell, you can call them anything you want to,” Lisa said.

  “They do!” Mike said from his stool at the work station. “Right, Norman?”

  “Right!” Norman agreed.

  Lisa hurried over to take one triangular-shaped piece from the bakers rack. She bit into it, started to smile, and popped the rest into her mouth. “Good?” she managed to say with her mouth full. “These are great, Hannah. We could sell bags of these to the kids from Jordan High who come in here after school.”

  Hannah smiled back. “That’s one of the best things about you, Lisa. You always see a way to promote things and you’re almost always right. Jordan High students would love to munch these on their way home. Norman and I finished a whole bowl last night while we were watching an old movie on television.”

  “That’s the sign of a good munchie,” Lisa declared, grabbing another Tortilla Snickerdoodle Cookie from the rack. “Are these hard to make?”

  Hannah shook her head. “They’re really easy. All you have to do is cut flour tortillas into pieces, dip them in melted butter and then into cinnamon, sugar, and cardamom, and bake them for ten to twelve minutes in the oven. A kid could make them . . . Tracey!”

  Lisa laughed, “ You just thought of that?”

  “Yes! And Bethie could help her mix the cinnamon, sugar, and cardamom. As long as Grandma McCann sets the oven temperature, they could do it all by themselves.”

  “That would be a great birthday present for Andrea,” Lisa said. “You could teach the kids how to do it and they’d have Tortilla Snickerdoodle Cookies waiting for Andrea when she got home from work.”

  The phone on the wall rang and Hannah hurried over to answer it. A moment later, she was frowning. “Sure, Mother. I can come over in a few minutes. What’s going on at Granny’s Attic?”

  There was a long pause and then Hannah sighed. “Okay. I’ll do my best to calm Carrie down, but you have to tell me what she’s worried about.”

  There was another pause while Hannah listened. “All right, Mother. You can tell me when I get there. I’ll bring some cookies. That might help to . . .”

  Hannah stopped speaking and looked shocked as she hung up the phone. “Mother hung up on me! She’s never done that before!”

  “Never?” Mike asked.

  Hannah shook her head. “Never. Mother’s too polite to hang up on anybody, even a telephone solicitor.”

  “Then we’d better go over there right now,” Norman said, standing up and heading for the hooks by the back door, where he’d hung his parka.

  “I’ll stay here, just in case Ross shows up,” Mike said. “Something must really be wrong over there. Just call if you need me and I’ll come right over.”

  Hannah packed up a plateful of Tortilla Snickerdoodle Cookies, grabbed her parka, and headed across the parking lot with Norman. Granny’s Attic, Delores and Carrie’s antique shop, was only one store away. They went in the back door, wound their way around the antiques that were stored in the back room, and came out by the cash register in the middle of the store.

  “Hi, Hannah, Norman,” Luanne Hanks, Delores and Carrie’s bookkeeper and assistant, greeted them.

  “Hi, Luanne.” Norman gave her a smile.

  “Hello, Luanne,” Hannah responded. “Mother called me and asked me to come right over.”

  “They’re upstairs in the break room.” Luanne pointed to the staircase in the middle of the room. “Go right up.”

  “Do you know what’s wrong? Mother sounded upset when she called me.”

  “No. I just know they’re up there and they haven’t come down. Delores must have made the call from her cell phone.”

  “I’ll wait down here with Luanne,” Norman told Hannah, and then he turned to Luanne. “Can I help you do anything while I’m waiting for Hannah?”

  Luanne began to smile broadly. “You bet you can! I was about to reposition a couple of antiques that are awkward to move alone. Could you help me?”

  “Of course,” Norman answered. “I’ll wait for you here, Hannah.”

  “I’ll be down in a bit,” Hannah told him, turning and walking toward the central staircase.

  The first six stairs went straight up and Hannah climbed them to the landing. A grandfather clock sat against the back wall on the landing and Hannah admired it as she walked across the floor. The remainder of the staircase was set at a ninety-degree angle to the lower stairs. Hannah made a sharp right and climbed the last few steps.

  Once she’d reached the second story, Hannah hurried past the other antiques on display. There was a lovely cherrywood bedroom set with a tall chest of drawers and a vanity with an oval-shaped mirror. She admired it as she went past and decided to compliment her mother and Carrie on acquiring such beautiful items. They’d probably tell her that Luanne had found the bedroom set at an estate auction since Luanne now did most of the antique acquisitions. If that was the case, she’d compliment Luanne on her purchase when she went back downstairs.

  “Hi, Mother. Hello, Carrie,” Hannah greeted the two women who had been friends for years. “I brought you some Tortilla Snickerdoodle Cookies.”

  “I love these!” Delores told Carrie, and they both reached out for a cookie. Delores and Carrie had met at Lake Eden’s Regency Romance Club more than twenty years ago and they had been best friends ever since.

  “They’re delicious, as usual,” Delores told her, finishing her first cookie and reaching for a second.

  “Yes, they are!” Carrie echoed her business partner’s sentiment. “Thank you for bringing them, Hannah.”

  “There’s coffee or tea if you want it, dear.” Delores gestured toward the counter of the break room, where the coffeepot and electric teapot sat.

  “I just bought a box of Florence’s best peppermint tea,” Carrie told Hannah. “I know you don’t usually drink tea, but it’s really delicious.”

  Even though Hannah preferred coffee to tea, she fixed herself a cup. It was a way of subtly connecting with Carrie. Then she sat down at the round oak table that sat in the center of the break room.

  “Carrie has a problem, dear,” Delores said, the moment Hannah had taken her first sip of tea and complimented Carrie on her choice.

  “Tell me,” Hannah said, giving Carrie an encouraging smile. “I’d be happy to help, if I can.”

  “I think you can,” Delores declared, and then she nodded to Carrie. “Go head, Carrie. Tell Hannah what’s going on.”

  “Well . . . it’s Earl,” Carrie admitted in a voice that trembled slightly. “I’m afraid he’s going to . . . to do something violent!”

  “What makes you think he might?” Hannah asked.

  “It’s his background, Hannah. Most people don’t know this, but Earl was sent overseas when he was in his twenties. I don’t know where he went or what his job was because he never talks about anything that happened there. All he’ll tell me is that it was very hard and he did some things that he’d never do again unless it was absolutely necessary.”

  “What do you think he did?” Hannah asked her.

  “I don’t know. I asked him if he was ever in the military and he told me he wasn’t. When I mentioned it to your mother, she had an idea that might explain what he was talking about.”

  “Mother?” Hannah turned to her. “What do you think Earl did?”

  Delores cleared her throat. “Of course I don’t actually know, but Earl has a background in repairing and operating heavy machinery. He comes from around Lake Eden and I can remember my mother telling me that Earl went away to take construction courses somewhere in Florida. She was friends with Earl’s mother and I didn’t pay much attention at the time, but I’m sure it�
��s true. After all, Earl works for the county and he keeps the snowplows and bulldozers running.”

  “And he told me that all the county equipment is as old as the hills,” Carrie added.

  “It all makes sense if you think about it,” Delores continued. “I think that Earl could have been a civilian contractor who took a job overseas. If he found himself in a dangerous situation, Earl may have had to defend himself and his equipment. A job like that might place him in jeopardy without actually having been in the military.”

  Hannah thought about that for a moment. “You’re right, Mother. That could explain everything. There’s only one other explanation that occurs to me.”

  “What is it?” Carrie leaned forward expectantly.

  “Perhaps Earl was in some kind of government organization like the CIA or something similar. Then perhaps he isn’t allowed to talk about what happened.”

  “I didn’t even think of that!” Delores said. “It’s certainly possible, though.” She turned to Carrie, “I think we’ve thought of all the reasonable explanations, Carrie.”

  Except, of course, that Earl is lying through his teeth about everything because he thinks it’ll make him seem more important, Hannah’s suspicious mind suggested, but she kept that thought to herself. Thinking it was one thing. Saying it was another. If she even suggested it to Carrie, it might make her worry even more. “What are you afraid Earl might do?” she asked Carrie instead.

  It took Carrie a moment before she answered. Then she took a deep breath and blurted out, “I’m afraid that if Ross comes back to Lake Eden again, Earl will kill him! He was furious when he found out that Ross confronted you at The Cookie Jar.”

  “But do you really think that Earl might resort to something like that?” Hannah asked.

  Carrie wouldn’t meet Hannah’s eyes. “Yes, I do. Earl carries a gun and a rifle on his snowplow. He told me it’s just in case he runs into a bear or another dangerous animal and it attacks. And he told me that he killed a wildcat once when he got out to move a big tree branch from one of the isolated country roads at night.”

  “Where is Earl plowing today?” Hannah asked, hoping that Carrie wouldn’t ask why she wanted to know.

  “He’s out on the roads around Eden Lake. Jessie Pillager called this morning and asked if Earl could plow the road that runs past his lake cabin. It’s been snowed in since the blizzard and Jessie wants to go out to check the pipes.”

  Hannah drew a deep breath in relief. Earl was nowhere in town and if Ross did show up to try to get his cash from the bank, Earl wouldn’t find out about it until after Ross had left.

  “Jessie’s got a problem on his hands if he didn’t wrap those pipes,” Delores commented. “It was really cold last week.”

  Carrie shrugged. “That’s Jessie. Earl says he likes to roll the dice when it comes to going out to winterize his cabin. He had to replace all his pipes year before last because he waited too long to wrap them and they burst.”

  “What would you like me to do about this?” Hannah asked Carrie.

  “Talk to Earl and tell him to be careful. The big problem is that Earl thinks the sun rises and sets on Norman. He adores my son. And he knows that Norman is in love with you. He also knows that Ross wronged you and he likes you a lot, Hannah. I wouldn’t put it past Earl to want to get even with Ross for hurting you.”

  Hannah nodded even though she thought that Carrie was probably borrowing trouble. “I’ll talk to Earl,” she promised.

  “Oh, good! He’ll be coming in The Cookie Jar sometime in the late morning or early afternoon. I told him I wanted him to pick up some cookies for tonight’s dessert. Will you tell Lisa to keep an eye out for Earl and tell you when he gets there?”

  “Of course I will.” Hannah finished her peppermint tea, even though she didn’t really want it, and carried her cup to the sink. “I’d better get back to work now. Lisa probably needs more fresh cookies in the coffee shop.”

  “I’ll walk you partway down,” Delores said, rising from her chair. “I want to reset the grandfather clock on the landing. I heard it chime earlier this morning and it’s five minutes slow.”

  Delores put her hand on Hannah’s arm as they reached the landing. “Thank you for coming right over, dear,” she said in a voice that couldn’t be overheard from above. “I think Carrie is worried for no reason, but she knows Earl a lot better than I do.”

  “I’ll take care of it, Mother,” Hannah assured her. “Tell Carrie I’ll talk to Earl the minute he comes in.”

  TORTILLA SNICKERDOODLE COOKIES

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

  1 package containing 10 taco-sized (8-inch) flour tortillas (You will use 6 of these flour tortillas in this recipe.)

  3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

  ½ cup white (granulated) sugar

  ½ cup (1 stick, 4 ounces, ¼ pound) salted butter

  Prepare a baking sheet or a cookie sheet by lining it with parchment paper.

  Cut each tortilla into 8 equal pieces.

  Hannah’s 1st Note: The easiest way to do this is to cut the circle in half, cut each half in half to make quarters, and cut each quarter in half to make 8 pieces.

  Place the cinnamon in a shallow bowl on the counter.

  Add the white granulated sugar to the bowl and mix them together with a fork.

  Hannah’s 2nd Note: We usually place the cinnamon and sugar in a sealable plastic bag and shake it to mix the two ingredients.

  Place the half-cup of salted butter in a second shallow bowl that is microwave-safe.

  Heat the butter on HIGH in the microwave for 30 seconds. Check to see if your butter is melted. If it is, leave the bowl in the microwave. If it isn’t, heat it for another 15 seconds on HIGH.

  Take the bowl out of the microwave and set it on your kitchen counter next to the bowl with the cinnamon and sugar mixture. (Be careful. The bowl with the melted butter could be hot.)

  Move the prepared cookie sheet next to the bowls for easy access.

  Dip each flour tortilla piece into the bowl with the melted butter. Be sure to coat both sides of the piece.

  Take the piece out of the butter bowl and dip it in the bowl with the cinnamon and sugar. Again, be sure to coat both sides with the cinnamon and sugar mixture.

  Do this for all of your flour tortilla pieces.

  Hannah’s 3rd Note: If you have quite a bit of melted butter and cinnamon and sugar mixture left, don’t worry. You can always save it to make more Tortilla Snickerdoodle Cookies after the first sheet comes out of the oven. You may have to re-melt the butter if your kitchen is cold, but that’s easy to do in the microwave.

  When all of your tortilla pieces have been coated with butter, the cinnamon and sugar mixture, and placed on the cookie sheet, you are ready to bake them.

  Bake the Tortilla Snickerdoodle Cookies at 350 degrees F. for approximately 10 to 12 minutes or until they are a nice golden brown. (My cookies took the full 12 minutes.)

  Take the cookie sheet out of the oven, place it on a cold stovetop burner or a wire rack on the counter, and let your delicious snack cookies cool thoroughly. Then take them off the parchment paper and serve them.

  If there are leftover Tortilla Snickerdoodle Cookies (and I’m willing to bet there won’t be!), store them in a cool, dry place. (Your refrigerator is cool, but it is NOT dry!)

  Yield: 10 flour tortillas will make 6 dozen crunchy, sweet, and delightful little cookies. (Because I know that you will eat at least 8, before you serve them.)

  Chapter Seventeen

  Hannah and Norman hurried back to the kitchen of The Cookie Jar and the first thing Hannah did was look at the clock. It was twenty minutes before ten in the morning and the Lake Eden First Mercantile Bank opened at ten. If Ross was coming to the bank this morning, he was probably here in town already.

  “I’ll be right back,” she told Mike and Norman. “I have to tell Lisa something.”

  “And then you’ll tell us what w
as wrong with Carrie?” Mike asked her.

  Hannah took a split second to consider it and then she decided to keep Carrie’s secret. “I would, but it’s personal,” she told them. “It’s something to do with her marriage.”

  “But . . .” Norman looked worried. “It’s not something serious, is it?”

  “Not at all. Carrie just wanted my advice about something and I gave it to her. That’s all.”

  Norman began to smile and he turned to Mike. “Earl’s birthday is next week,” he told Mike. “Mother probably wanted advice on the surprise birthday party she’s going to throw for Earl.”

  “Sorry. I can’t tell you yes or no,” Hannah hedged. “Just take my word for it. You really don’t need to know. If I thought either one of you did, I’d tell you.”

  Once Hannah had rushed into the coffee shop to tell Lisa to notify her the moment Earl came in, she went back to the kitchen.

  “He’s not in the coffee shop, is he?” Mike asked her as she came back.

  “No. I asked and Lisa said she hadn’t seen him. Do you think he’ll show up at the bank?”

  “Six of one, half-dozen of another,” Mike said with a shrug. “Do you think Ross believed Doug when Doug told him that you couldn’t withdraw money without his approval?”

  “I don’t know. I thought I knew Ross really well, but I don’t. Actually, I’m not sure I could ever accurately predict his intentions. And if I could, I certainly can’t do it now!”