Chocolate Cream Pie Murder Page 28

  “Yes, I think you should. And I also think you should run out to the sheriff’s station on your way and show Mike your enhanced photo. I’d go with you, but . . . I don’t really want to go back to the condo complex, at least not yet.”

  “Of course you don’t. I can stop at the sheriff’s station, take Clara her new phone, and be back here in an hour. Then I can take you back to the penthouse.”

  “Good. I’ve got one more thing I want to do before I leave anyway. And that’s about as long as it’ll take me.”

  BUTTERSCOTCH CHOCOLATE BAR COOKIES

  Preheat oven to 325 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

  The Crust and Topping:

  2 cups (4 sticks, 16 ounces, 1 pound) salted butter softened to room temperature

  1 cup white (granulated) sugar

  1 and ½ cups powdered (confectioners) sugar

  2 Tablespoons vanilla extract

  4 cups all-purpose flour (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)

  The Butterscotch Chocolate Filling:

  12.25-ounce jar butterscotch ice cream topping (I used Smucker’s)

  12-ounce bag (approximately 2 cups) semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used Nestlé)

  1 Tablespoon sea or Kosher salt (the coarse-ground kind)

  Before you begin to make the crust and filling, spray a 9-inch by 13-inch cake pan with Pam or another nonstick baking spray.

  Hannah’s 1st Note: This crust and filling is a lot easier to make with an electric mixer. You can do it by hand, but it will take some muscle.

  Combine the butter, white sugar, and powdered sugar in a large bowl or in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat at MEDIUM speed until the mixture is light and creamy.

  Add the vanilla extract. Mix it in until it is thoroughly combined.

  Add the flour in half-cup increments, beating at LOW speed after each addition. Beat until everything is combined.

  Hannah’s 2nd Note: When you’ve mixed in the flour, the resulting sweet dough will be soft. Don’t worry. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.

  Measure out a heaping cup of sweet dough and place it in a sealable plastic bag. Seal the bag and put it in the refrigerator.

  With impeccably clean hands, press the rest of the sweet dough into the bottom of your prepared cake pan. This will form a bottom crust. Press it all the way out to the edges of the pan and a half-inch up the sides, as evenly as you can. Don’t worry if your sweet dough is a bit uneven. It won’t matter to any of your guests.

  Bake your bottom crust at 325 degrees F., for approximately 20 minutes or until the edges are beginning to turn a pale golden brown color.

  When the crust has turned pale golden brown, remove the pan from the oven, but DON’T SHUT OFF THE OVEN! Set the pan with your baked crust on a cold stovetop burner or a wire rack to cool. It should cool approximately 15 minutes.

  After your crust has cooled approximately 15 minutes, take the lid off the jar of butterscotch ice cream topping and put it in the microwave.

  Heat the butterscotch topping for 15 to 20 seconds on HIGH.

  Let the jar cool in the microwave for 1 minute. Then use potholders to take the jar out of the microwave.

  Pour the butterscotch ice cream topping over the baked bottom crust in the pan as evenly as you can.

  Smooth it out to the edges of your crust with a heat-resistant spatula.

  Open the bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips and sprinkle them over the butterscotch ice cream topping as evenly as you can.

  Here comes the salt! Sprinkle the Tablespoon of sea salt or Kosher salt over the butterscotch layer in the pan.

  Take the remaining sweet dough out of the refrigerator and unwrap it. It has been refrigerated for 35 minutes or more and it should be thoroughly chilled.

  With your impeccably clean fingers, crumble the dough over the butterscotch and chocolate chip layer as evenly as you can. Leave a little space between the crumbles, so the butterscotch sauce can bubble up through the crumbles.

  Hannah’s 3rd Note: If the butterscotch topping bubbles up through the top of your bar cookies, it will look very pretty.

  Return the pan to the oven and bake your bar cookies for 25 to 30 additional minutes, or until the crumbles on top are a light golden brown.

  Hannah’s 4th Note: Your pan of Butterscotch Chocolate Bar Cookies will smell so delicious, you’ll be tempted to cut it into squares and eat one immediately. Resist that urge! The bubbly hot butterscotch topping will burn your mouth.

  After 5 minutes of cooling time, use potholders to carry the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

  Hannah’s 5th Note: When I bake these bar cookies at home in the winter, I place a wire rack out on the little table on my condo balcony and carry the pan out there. The Butterscotch Chocolate Bar Cookies cool quite fast when exposed to a Minnesota winter.

  When your Butterscotch Chocolate Bar Cookies are completely cool, cut them into brownie-size pieces, place them on a pretty plate, and serve them to your guests.

  Yield: A cake pan full of yummy brownie-sized treats that everyone will love. Serve with icy-cold glasses of milk, mugs of hot chocolate, or cups of strong, hot coffee.

  Hannah’s 6th Note: These are Doc Knight’s favorite bar cookies.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Hannah was melting semi-sweet chocolate chips in a saucepan on the stove when Aunt Nancy came in from the coffee shop. “What are you making, Hannah?” she asked.

  “Chocolate-Covered Peanut Butter Candy. I thought we could offer it for sale on Valentine’s Day.”

  “Good idea! If it’s okay with you, Hannah, Lisa and I are going to leave soon. We already locked the front door and we’re almost done with the cleanup in the coffee shop.”

  Hannah glanced up at the clock and was surprised to see that it was after five-thirty. “Go ahead. I’m just waiting for Norman to come back and then I’ll leave, too.”

  After Aunt Nancy went back in the coffee shop, Hannah realized that the chocolate she’d been stirring was bubbling. She pulled it off the heat, set it on a pot holder on the stainless-steel work station, and waited for it to cool a bit. If she dipped the refrigerated peanut butter balls in the hot melted chocolate now, they could slide off the food picks before she could take them out of the chocolate and transfer them to the cookie sheet she’d covered with wax paper.

  Hannah went to the coffeepot, poured herself one last cup, and sat down on a stool at the work station. She took one sip of coffee, realized that she didn’t really want it and her stomach was upset again, and got up to empty her cup at the sink. She was just wondering if she should eat a soda cracker to try to settle her stomach when Lisa and Aunt Nancy came into the kitchen.

  “Unless you have something else you want us to do, we’re leaving now,” Lisa told her. “Would you like to leave a note for Norman on the door and come with us? I can drop you off at your mother’s condo.”

  “No, Norman will be here in fifteen minutes or so and . . .” Hannah stopped speaking and listened. “Is that someone at the front door?”

  “I’ll go see,” Lisa said, heading back into the coffee shop. Hannah heard her say something to whoever was out there and a moment later, Lisa came back into the kitchen. “Tom Larchmont is out there. He says the heater went out on his rental car and he’s freezing. He wants to know if we still have the coffee on.”

  Hannah glanced over at the kitchen coffeepot. “Let him in and bring him back here, Lisa. I’ve got half a pot left.”

  A moment later, Tom came through the swinging door with Lisa. “Hi, Hannah,” he greeted her. “Did Lisa tell you that I’m freezing?”

  “She did.” Hannah gestured toward one of the stools at the work station. “Sit down, Tom. I’ll get you a cup of hot coffee from the kitchen pot. I’m glad you came in before I left.”

  “Oh?” Tom looked curious. “Why’s that?”

  “Because I want you to take some candy out to the Lake Eden Inn for Lynne and now I can give it to you.”

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sp; “I should get my coat and hat. I left them on the rack by the front door.”

  “That’s okay. You can get them right before you leave. If you’re parked in front, I’ll let you out that way.”

  “That’s where I’m parked. Thanks, Hannah.” Tom cupped his hands around the hot mug of coffee that she’d set in front of him. “I’m chilled to the bone.”

  “Do you want us to help you with the candy?” Aunt Nancy asked Hannah.

  Hannah shook her head. “You two go ahead. I can do it once Tom warms up and is ready to leave. Go home and I’ll see you both in the morning.”

  “How about the front door?” Lisa asked Hannah. “Do you want me to lock it?”

  Hannah shook her head. “You can leave it open. I’ll lock it when Tom leaves.”

  Once Lisa and Aunt Nancy had left, Hannah sat down across from Tom. “Lynne called to tell me that you were coming back late tonight or early tomorrow.”

  “Yes, and I decided I’d come back tonight. I’ve been away too much lately. And I feel really guilty because I promised Lynne that we’d come to Lake Eden early and it would be like a mini-vacation. And then I had to leave on the second day we were here.”

  “I know she missed you,” Hannah said truthfully. “She said you two hadn’t been able to spend much time together lately.”

  “It’s true. And that’s why I didn’t take the time to switch to a rental car with a better heater. I wanted to get back here to Lynne.”

  Hannah smiled. This boded well for their marriage. “I hope everything works out, Tom.”

  “So do I. I know we should spend more time together. It’s just that Lynne’s been busy doing commercials for a cosmetic company and I’ve been swamped with work. It seems like we’re never home at the same time anymore. And that’s why I called this morning and booked a twenty-day cruise. I know Lynne doesn’t have any assignments until the middle of next month, and I’ve told all my clients that I won’t be available by phone or e-mail during that time.”

  “That’s wonderful, Tom,” Hannah said. “Does Lynne enjoy being on the ocean?”

  “She loves it. And I booked the owner’s suite on her favorite cruise line.”

  “Which one is that?”

  “Gala. Lynne really enjoys their specialty restaurants and the Jacuzzi on the top deck. She likes to sit in the Jacuzzi with me and watch the sun set over the water.”

  “That sounds lovely,” Hannah commented, but her mind was racing. The beach towel that Norman had found in the clubhouse had been taken from a ship in the Gala fleet. “Does Lynne have a favorite ship?”

  “Yes, the Expedition. We were on it for our honeymoon.”

  Find out more, Hannah’s suspicious mind prodded her. But before she could open her mouth, her rational mind reminded her, Lots of people go on cruises. This may not mean anything at all.

  But it could mean something, her suspicious mind argued. Think of a way to find out more.

  Okay. Think of a way, but be very careful, her rational mind cautioned. If Tom is the person who pushed Clara down and stole her phone, you don’t want to ask anything that’ll let him know that you suspect him.

  Hannah thought fast, remembering what she’d noticed in her condo clubhouse. Ask Tom if he lost a pair of binoculars, her suspicious mind prodded.

  No, don’t do that! her rational mind argued. That question is way out of left field.

  What do you mean? Hannah’s suspicious mind asked.

  It’s simple. If Tom is the person who pushed Clara down in the snow, stole her phone, took her door key, and gained access to the clubhouse, you’ll tip him off that you know. Besides, why would he go in the condo clubhouse and use his binoculars? It just doesn’t make sense.

  Oh, yes it does! I thought you were the rational one here! Just let me explain it to you. Clara took a photo of Tom and Tom knew it. He didn’t want to be seen right outside the condo complex so he pushed Clara down, stole her phone and her door key, got in the clubhouse, and probably stayed there for several nights.

  That tells us what you think he might have done, but why would Tom stay in the clubhouse instead of going to Minneapolis? And why did he need those binoculars?

  Hannah thought about the table where she’d found the binoculars. It faced her building and it would enable Tom to watch for anyone entering her condo.

  Very good! both sides of her mind exclaimed at once. And then her suspicious mind carried it even further. Tom was watching to see if Ross would come out to her condo.

  But how will you discover if that’s true? the rational part of her mind asked.

  The Buffalo Plaid hat! the suspicious part of Hannah’s mind answered the question. Tom left his coat and hat on the rack by the front door in the coffee shop. All I have to do is figure out some way to look at that coatrack.

  “Let me put on another pot of coffee,” Hannah said, smiling at Tom. “You’re still shaking from the cold and you’re going to need more than one cup. I’m going up front to grab your coat from the rack. You have to get warm for the drive out to the Lake Eden Inn.”

  “Thanks, Hannah,” Tom said, still cupping his hands around his coffee mug and lifting it to take a sip. “But am I keeping you here when you want to lock up and leave?”

  “Not at all,” Hannah said quickly, gesturing toward the chocolate cooling on the work station. “I still have to dip some peanut butter candy balls in this chocolate and put them in the cooler for the night. Don’t worry, Tom. I was going to work for another half hour or so anyway. Just let me put on that pot of coffee and I’ll get your coat.”

  Hannah refilled Tom’s mug, put on another pot, and then she made her escape to the coffee shop. She hurried to the coatrack by the front door, lifted Tom’s parka from the hook, and gave a little gasp as she spotted his hat. It was black-and-green Buffalo Plaid exactly like the one in the photo that Norman had enhanced! She had to tell Mike right away!

  If you call him on the phone, Tom will hear you, her rational mind cautioned.

  That was true and Hannah knew it. Instead of using the wall phone, she drew her cell phone from the pocket of her apron and took a photo of the cap. Then she typed in a short message that read, TOM LARCHMONT’S HAT. COME TO FRONT DOOR QUICK! HERE AT TCJ!

  Leaving the hat on the hook, Hannah hurried back to the kitchen, clutching Tom’s coat. “Here,” she said, slipping the parka over Tom’s shoulders. “This should help.”

  “Thanks, Hannah.” Tom slipped his arms in the sleeves and pulled the parka closely around him. “It’s helping. I’m feeling warmer already.”

  “Good. Just let me get the peanut butter balls and start dipping them in chocolate. Then, as soon as they cool, you can have one.”

  Hannah made a quick trip to the freezer to retrieve her frozen peanut butter balls and brought them back to the work station. Then she picked up one of the frozen balls by the end of the food pick and dipped it into the melted chocolate. After she’d coated it, she set it on the cookie sheet that was lined with wax paper. “I’m thinking about buying a pair of binoculars,” she said in a way she hoped would sound casual. “Have you ever used binoculars, Tom?”

  “Yes, when I go out to a job site, I sometimes use them to survey the work in progress before I actually talk to the contractor.”

  “You survey construction sites?” Hannah was puzzled. “But I thought you were an investment counselor for large, corporations.”

  “That’s right and I sometimes recommend investing in real-estate projects like sports arenas, shopping malls, and apartment and condo complexes. I always check out past projects and those in progress to make sure the work being done matches the blueprints the builders provide.”

  “Oh. That sounds like interesting work. Do you have a background in construction?”

  “Yes, my father owned a construction company.”

  “So you know what to look for then.” Hannah knew she had to get the conversation back to binoculars. “I can see where binoculars would come in handy
for you. What type of binoculars would you recommend for someone like me?”

  “That all depends on how you want to use them. If you’re talking about bird-watching, I’d recommend binoculars with high magnification, true color, and an excellent focal range. Tell me why you need binoculars.”

  Hannah thought fast. “I’m planning a river boat cruise and I want to get a cabin with a balcony. I’d like to be able to watch the shoreline for scenic places to visit, and I want to watch for indigenous wildlife along the shores.”

  “Then you should look into Bausch and Lomb.” Tom gave a little smile. “For a moment there, I thought you wanted to spy on your neighbors.”

  Hannah shook her head. “My neighbors aren’t that interesting, but I might use binoculars on my landing. There’s a pine grove behind us and I might be able to spot a porcupine or a deer.”

  “You could probably see things like that with the naked eye. You must have a good view from the second floor.”

  He knows where you live, the suspicious part of Hannah’s mind pointed out.

  Don’t freak! You may have mentioned it to Lynne, and Lynne may have mentioned it to Tom, the rational part of Hannah’s mind made that connection. You don’t keep where you live a secret. Everyone in Lake Eden knows, and Tom was here for the filming of the movie.