Banana Cream Pie Murder Read online

  Add the dry pistachio instant pudding mix. Mix until the dry ingredients are well combined. (I used a fork to do this.)

  Use a smaller bowl to mix the two and a HALF cups of Cool Whip with the beaten egg. Add the green food coloring, if desired. Mix until everything is combined, but don’t overmix.

  Fold in the chopped dried cherries and the chopped nuts. Mix well, but very gently.

  Add the Cool Whip mixture to the cake and pudding mixture in the large bowl. STIR VERY CAREFULLY with a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Stir only until everything is combined. You don’t want to mix all the air out of the Cool Whip.

  Cover your bowl of dough and place it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. This will make it less sticky. If you try to form the cookie dough balls right now, they’ll stick to your fingers and be very difficult to roll.

  Hannah’s 4th Note: Andrea said she sometimes mixes whippersnapper dough before she goes to bed on Friday night, sticks it in the refrigerator, and bakes her cookies with Tracey on Saturday morning.

  Andrea’s 1st Note: If it’s close to Christmastime and you’re planning to make these cookies for Christmas, add a few more drops of green food coloring to the Cool Whip mixture so that your cookies will be Christmas colors, red from the cherries you’ll place on top of each cookie and green from the food coloring in the dough.

  When your cookie dough has chilled and you’re ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F., and make sure the rack is in the middle position. DO NOT take your chilled cookie dough out of the refrigerator until your oven has reached the proper temperature.

  While your oven is preheating, prepare your cookie sheets by spraying them with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray, or lining them with parchment paper.

  Place the confectioner’s sugar in a small, shallow bowl. You will be dropping cookie dough into this bowl to form dough balls and coating them with the powdered sugar.

  When your oven is ready, take your dough out of the refrigerator. Using a teaspoon from your silverware drawer, drop the dough by rounded teaspoonful into the bowl with the powdered sugar. Roll the dough around with your fingers to form powdered-sugar-coated cookie dough balls.

  Hannah’s 5th Note: This is easiest if you coat your fingers with powdered sugar first and then try to form the cookie dough into balls. When your fingers get covered with dough, simply wash them off under running water. It also helps if you put no more than one dough ball in the powdered sugar at a time. It gives you more room to roll and it keeps unrolled dough balls from sticking to each other.

  Place the sugared cookie dough balls on your prepared cookie sheets, no more than 12 cookies on a standard-size sheet.

  If you haven’t already done so, cut your maraschino cherries in half and place one half, rounded side up, on top of each cookie ball on your baking sheet.

  Andrea’s 2nd Note: Make only as many cookie dough balls as you can bake at one time and then cover the dough and return it to the refrigerator. I have a double oven so I prepare 2 sheets of cookies at a time.

  Bake your Spumoni Whippersnapper Cookies at 350 degrees F., for 10 to 12 minutes. Test for doneness by tapping them lightly with a finger to see if they’re “set.”

  Let your cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes, and then move them to a wire rack to cool completely.

  (This is a lot easier if you line your cookie sheets with parchment paper. Then all you have to do is grab one end of the parchment paper and pull it, cookies and all, onto the wire rack.)

  Once the cookies are completely cool, store them between sheets of waxed paper in a cool, dry place. (Your refrigerator is cool, but it’s definitely not dry!)

  Yield: 3 to 4 dozen soft, chewy cookies. Your yield will depend on cookie size.

  Chapter Four

  Hannah heard someone coming up the outside staircase and she hurried to open the door. It was Norman and he was carrying two kitty crates. “Hi, Norman. I’m so glad you’re here! Come in!”

  Norman stepped in and immediately set the two kitty carriers down on the rug. “They’re not too happy about being in the carriers,” he told her.

  “They never are,” Hannah said, noticing that both Moishe and Norman’s cat, Cuddles, looked less than happy in their crates.

  “You’re home, Moishe!” she greeted her pet. Even though she hadn’t mentioned it to Ross, she’d missed Moishe the whole time they’d been gone.

  Moishe gave her a pathetic look behind the screen of his crate. Then he yowled the most plaintive yowl that Hannah had ever heard.

  “Sorry about that, Big Guy,” Norman said to Moishe. “You’ll be out of there in just a minute.”

  He waved at the others assembled at the table and turned back to Hannah. “Mike and Lonnie will be here in a couple of seconds. They were pulling in just as I reached the top of the stairs.”

  Moishe gave another yowl and Hannah put her hand on the crate, preparing to let him out. “Sit down, everyone,” she warned her family. “Moishe wants out and I’m not quite sure where he’s going to run first.” Then she turned to Norman. “If you let Cuddles out at the same time, maybe it won’t be as hectic.”

  As Hannah waited, Norman prepared to raise the wire grate on his crate. “Okay. Ready . . . set . . . go!”

  Hannah and Norman raised the two screens at the same moment and the cats rushed out. To Hannah’s surprise, Moishe didn’t race down the hallway as he usually did when he was released from his carrier. Instead, he made a bee-line for Hannah and jumped up into her arms.

  Even though Hannah was ready, she still had to take a step backwards. Luckily, she caught her balance.

  “Are you all right, Hannah?” Ross asked, hurrying to her side.

  “I’m fine.” Hannah replied, nuzzling the top of Moishe’s furry head.

  “I don’t know about you, but I’d say Moishe missed you,” Norman commented.

  “I guess he did,” Hannah gasped, still recovering from the twenty-three pound orange and white bundle of feline that she’d managed to catch.

  “Do you want me to take him?” Ross offered, realizing that Hannah was a bit short on breath.

  “No, that’s okay. Let’s see how he likes the back of the new couch.”

  Hannah walked over to the couch and placed Moishe on the back of the closest of the new leather couches.

  “Will he scratch it?” Delores asked, sounding a bit nervous about that possibility.

  Hannah smiled, watching her pet settle down on the soft leather and start to purr. “I don’t think so, unless it happens to be made out of mouse hide.”

  “Of course it’s not!” Delores looked horrified at the suggestion. “These couches are made of . . .” she paused and turned to Andrea. “What did the salesman say, dear?”

  “I think it was cowhide,” Andrea answered, frowning slightly. “Or maybe moose hide. I really don’t remember, Mother. All I remember is thinking that it was something thick and sturdy.”

  “I don’t think we need to worry about it,” Hannah told them, reaching down to scratch Moishe in one of his favorite places, under his chin. “He seems very content and comfortable.”

  Doc laughed. “I should hope so. The salesman said those couches were the most comfortable ones in the store.”

  Cuddles saw where Moishe had gone and jumped up to settle down beside him.

  “Here, Hannah,” Michelle said, handing Hannah the canister of fish-shaped, salmon-flavored treats that both cats loved. “These might keep them quiet while we eat.”

  Hannah smiled and nodded, although she really doubted that would happen. There were too many new things to explore and Moishe and Cuddles, like most cats, were curious. She shook out three treats for Moishe and three for Cuddles, when there was a knock on her door.

  “That must be Mike and Lonnie,” Michelle said, rushing to the door to let them in. “And Bill,” she added, noticing the third person who was climbing up the steps.

  “Oh, good!” Andrea said, getting up from the table
and hurrying to the door to greet her husband. “He wasn’t sure he could make it, but I invited him anyway.”

  Once greetings had been exchanged and everyone had taken a chair, there were ten people crowded around Hannah’s dining room table. She glanced over at the cats as Ross passed her a piece of pepperoni and sausage pizza, and realized that both of them had disappeared.

  “They’re probably exploring,” Ross said, noticing that Hannah’s attention had been diverted.

  “I’m sure you’re right, unless . . .” Hannah turned to Michelle and spoke in a low voice. They were eating, after all. “Is Moishe’s litter box still in the laundry room?”

  “It’s there,” Michelle answered. “I checked it out the minute I came in. Everything’s in place, Hannah. His food is in the kitchen, his water dish is full, and his litter box is clean. I got everything all ready for you to come home.”

  “Thanks,” Hannah said, smiling at her youngest sister. There was no need to check. If Michelle said everything was ready for Moishe to come home, then everything was ready. Michelle loved Moishe almost as much as she did.

  “Are you staying over tonight?” she asked Michelle. “I noticed that the guest bedroom is all ready, and it looks just beautiful.”

  “Not tonight.” Michelle leaned closer so that no one else could hear her. “Lonnie’s driving me back to school tonight. I’ve got my final in directing class tomorrow.”

  “Are you nervous?”

  “Not really. I think I’ll do just fine. I’ve been using Mother’s car to commute back and forth for rehearsals.”

  Hannah was shocked. “But that’s a two and a half hour commute every day!”

  “It was just for three days. My directing class only meets on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I was here on Tuesday and Thursday to keep an eye on the workmen. And at night, I stayed at Mother’s house. Andrea said it wasn’t smart to vacate a house that was listed and had a For Sale sign in the front lawn. She said her teacher had stressed that in real estate class.”

  “I’m sure that’s right in larger towns and big cities, but there really isn’t much crime in Lake Eden . . .” Hannah paused and gave a little sigh, “except for murder, of course. Are you going to continue to commute until it sells?”

  “I don’t have to. It sold and the buyers are moving in today. They’re going to pay rent until the paperwork goes through, but they’ve got the down payment, both of them work, and Andrea doesn’t think there’ll be any problem with the loan. Actually . . . I’m really glad it’s over. It was a little scary staying there all by myself. It made me realize that I’ve never stayed alone before. I lived with Mother until I went off to college and I’ve always had roommates there. And when I come back to Lake Eden, I stay with you.”

  “You can still do that, you know,” Hannah reassured her. “The guest room is always ready for you.”

  “I know, but . . . it’s different now.” Michelle paused and leaned a little closer. “You’re still on your honeymoon. You and Ross should be alone. Or at least you should ask him how he feels about having a third person around.”

  Hannah was saved from the necessity of a reply when Bill asked Michelle a question. Truthfully, Hannah wasn’t entirely sure how Ross felt about it. She loved to have Michelle stay with her, but Ross could feel differently. He might regard it as an intrusion. Hannah didn’t think he’d feel that way, because he liked Michelle, but she’d have to check with him to make sure. And that was different too, now that she was married. She’d always made her own decisions, but now that she was married, there was her husband to consider.

  The conversation flowed around her and Hannah smiled and nodded. She was fairly quiet, still trying to take in all that her family had given them for their wedding. There was what Andrea had called the “media room,” with the giant flat screen, couches that provided theater seating, and all the other electronic equipment. Then there was the guest bathroom with new, plush towels in colors to complement the freshly painted walls, the guest bedroom with its new, fresh bedding that matched the color scheme that someone, probably Andrea, had chosen. And then there was the master suite, completely redone with the new Mediterranean bedroom set, bedding that looked perfect with the rest of the room, and new fixtures and color-coordinated, plush towels in the bathroom with its remodeled shower and tub.

  “At least the towels aren’t his and hers,” Hannah said, thinking aloud.

  “What was that, dear?” Delores asked her.

  “Nothing. I was just thinking that I really should go and check on the cats. They’re awfully quiet and Doc’s about to open the container with the shrimp and snow peas.”

  As she pushed back her chair and headed down the hallway, Hannah experienced a very strange feeling. She loved the new carpeting. It would have been exactly what she’d chosen for herself if she’d been able to afford it. But there was something strange and unsettling about someone else buying it for her, even as a wedding present.

  What was it? She tried to clarify her thoughts as she approached the bedroom. Perhaps the reason it disturbed her was because it was too much, too soon. She would almost rather have waited until they could afford to buy it for themselves. But that was terribly ungrateful, wasn’t it? Shouldn’t she be overjoyed that her family loved her so much that they’d done all this for her?

  As Hannah stood in the bedroom doorway, the bedroom that no longer resembled hers, she heard a soft snore from the bed. That was when she gave her first spontaneous smile of the evening. Moishe was stretched out on her pillow, the pillow he always tried to steal from her in the middle of the night. And Cuddles was stretched out on Moishe’s pillow, the one she’d bought to wean him away from stealing hers, sleeping the sleep of an angel kitty.

  Hannah stared at them for a moment, smiling. Moishe and Cuddles appeared to be comfortable with the new furnishings. They didn’t seem to find the changes upsetting in the slightest. Perhaps she should take a lesson from the wisdom of the animal kingdom and accept what had been given to her with a grateful heart. Then again, that could be a little ridiculous.

  * * *

  “I didn’t think you’d be going to work today,” Ross said, appearing in the kitchen doorway in his bathrobe the next morning.

  “I thought I should. Lisa’s not just an employee. She’s a partner and she’s been without me for over a week now.” Hannah turned to smile at her husband from her seat at the table. “I made coffee if you want some.”

  “Later, honey. I never have coffee before my shower. I’ll grab a to-go cup when I leave and get more at work.” Ross walked over to kiss her on the cheek. “Do you want the shower right now? Or can I use it? I promised the boss at KCOW-TV that I’d be in early.”

  “You go ahead,” Hannah said quickly, even though she’d been about to get up to take her own shower. “I’ll just sit here and enjoy the rest of my coffee.”

  When Ross left the kitchen, she sat there for a moment, her morning peace disturbed. That was when she realized that she missed Michelle. It was so nice when Michelle stayed over and made coffee for her the next morning. And there was usually something wonderful to eat, a new muffin that Michelle was trying out, or some kind of new breakfast dish.

  She heard the shower begin to run and she sighed. This was going to take some adjusting on her part. She was used to taking her shower whenever she wanted, but now there was another person added to the equation. Ross needed a shower before work. And they used the same master bathroom.

  It shouldn’t be that difficult to work out their morning schedules, Hannah told herself reassuringly. Their honeymoon had been different because neither of them had needed to leave for work at a specific time. It would be different now that they were home and both of them worked during the week. They would have to develop a routine so that they wouldn’t inconvenience each other. Andrea and Bill didn’t have a problem using the same master bathroom. And if her sister and brother-in-law could do it, there was no reason why she couldn’t manage it with R
oss. Either she’d get up earlier and take her shower first, or Ross would get up earlier. They’d work it all out. All it would take was time until they were used to living together.

  As she sat there, another problem occurred to her. She wondered if she had a responsibility to make something for her husband’s breakfast. Then again, perhaps she didn’t. How could she know? She’d never been married before. If she made breakfast, it would have to be something quick and easy because Ross had promised to get to work early.

  Hannah jumped up from the table and hurried to the refrigerator to take stock of what was on the shelves. Michelle had mentioned that she’d shopped for a few things and put them away.

  There was a loaf of white bread on the second shelf of the refrigerator. She hadn’t bought it so Michelle had put it there. There was also a carton of milk on the shelf in the door, another of Michelle’s purchases. On the bottom shelf, Hannah found the six eggs she’d bought before she had left. The expiration date on the carton still had a week to go so she could use those. Of course there was sugar in the canister. There was always sugar in the canister. And she had nutmeg that she could grate, cinnamon she’d just bought two weeks ago, and maple syrup that hadn’t even been opened yet. Those ingredients added up to one of Hannah’s favorite quick breakfasts. She would make Oven French Toast for Ross and it would be ready for him when he returned to the kitchen, showered and dressed for work.

  The first thing Hannah did was to open the oven to make sure that no pans were inside. She’d failed to check once and ended up incinerating two pieces of leftover pizza she’d stuck in there, intending to clear a spot in the refrigerator, but becoming distracted by a ringing phone.