Fudge Cupcake Murder

but she should have them by tomorrow afternoon at the latest. She promised to call me on my cell phone the minute they came in.'

    'Good work,' Hannah said, smiling at her sister. If anyone else had told Hannah that a telephone solicitor would call with information, she wouldn't have believed it. But Andrea had a way of making people do whatever she wanted them to do. It wasn't simple manipulation, because everyone felt good about helping Andrea in the process.

    'These cookies are really good, Hannah.' Andrea helped herself to a second cookie from the tray that Hannah had placed on the long table. 'Are you baking them for Halloween?'

    'No, I want to come up with something a little more festive.'

    'You did chocolate cookies with orange icing last year, didn't you?'

    Hannah nodded. 'I'll do them again this year if I can't come up with anything else.'

    'Speaking of Halloween,' Andrea paused to grab another cookie, 'Tracey wants to know if you're going to the Haunted Basement and the Halloween party at the community center.'

    'Of course I'm going. I go every year.'

    'Good. Tracey's all excited about her costume and she wanted to make sure you'll see it.'

    'What is she going to be this year?' Hannah asked, knowing that her five-year-old niece would be cute in whatever costume she chose to wear.

    'She's still wavering between a fairy princess and a pirate.'

    Hannah laughed. 'What a difference! I'll bet she chooses the fairy princess.'

    'Maybe, but she loves the parrot that goes with the pirate's costume. It sits on your shoulder and there's a little switch you can press to make it talk. All the fairy princess has is a wand and it doesn't even light up or anything.'

    'The talking parrot is definitely a selling point,' Hannah said gravely, filling the coffee carafe she used to make the rounds of the tables.

    'You go first with the coffee. I'll follow you with the hot water and tea bags. Then we can split up and pass the cookies.'

    'Thanks, Andrea.' Hannah was grateful. Catering was always easier with two people. 'What does the parrot say?'

    'You know… Shiver my timbers! and, Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum! Piratey things like that. I think there's one about dead men on a chest or something like that.'

    'Fifteen men on a dead man's chest.'

    'That's right. And then it's, A drink for the devil and none for the rest!'

    'What was that about giving the devil a drink?' Father Coultas asked, coming up to the catering table just in time to hear Andrea's last comment.

    Andrea blushed slightly. 'Sorry, Father Coultas. I was just telling Hannah about the talking parrot that conies with Tracey's pirate costume.'

    'I've met that parrot,' Father Coultas said. 'Immelda's grandson rented that costume last year and the bird got stuck on ho. It just said ho, ho, ho over and over like some kind of deranged Santa Claus. It was driving poor Immelda crazy until I took the batteries out.'

    When Hannah stepped into her kitchen with the cookies left over from her catering job, Lisa came barreling through the swinging door. 'Thank goodness you're back, Hannah!'

    'What's wrong?' Hannah asked, noticing the high spots of color in Lisa's cheeks.

    'Nothing's wrong. I just overheard something you should know, that's all. Hold on a second. Herb's here and I'll ask him to mind the counter.'

    Hannah poured herself a cup of coffee from the kitchen pot and sat down at the workstation. A moment later, Lisa rushed back in and sat down on an adjoining stool.

    'You said you overheard something?' Hannah prompted.

    'That's right. I kept my ears open, just the way you asked me to do, and I found out that Sheriff Grant and his wife had a big argument when he came home for lunch on Monday.'

    Hannah's eyes widened. This could be the fight that Nettie had refused to discuss. 'Andrea and I saw Nettie last night. She told us she'd fought with Sheriff Grant, but she wouldn't say what the fight was about. Who told you, Lisa?'

    'Kate Maschler, but she didn't exactly tell me. She told Becky Summers.'

    'You were doing the invisible waitress trick?'

    'That's right. I was at the table next to theirs refilling coffee cups and they didn't even notice me. Kate told Becky that Nettie Grant followed the sheriff out to his car and she looked madder than Kate had ever seen her before. Kate opened her window in time to hear Nettie say that she was going to rent to them and she had a perfect right to do it since she'd inherited the duplex before they were married.'

    'Sounds serious,' Hannah commented. 'What did Sheriff Grant say to that?'

    'He said he was sick of hearing about it and Nettie should drop it, that there was no way he'd have them under his roof.'

    'Who's them?'

    'I don't know. That's when Kate and Becky pushed back their chairs and left. Do you think it's important, Hannah?'

    'It could be,' Hannah said, thinking about it. If Nettie had promised to rent half of the duplex to someone and Sheriff Grant went to tell the people they couldn't move in, it might have resulted in a fight that escalated to murder.

    'I think you should run next door, Hannah. When they were leaving, I heard Becky say she had to find the right dress to wear to her nephew's wedding. They probably went straight to Claire's shop.'

    Hannah headed for the door. Visiting Mother and Carrie's shop was one thing, but she didn't need any urging to visit her neighbor on the other side. Claire Rodgers was a good friend and she wanted an update on Claire's romance with Reverend Knudson, the Lutheran minister.

    A chill wind was blowing as Hannah dashed across her parking lot and knocked at the rear door of Beau Monde Fashions. She heard the far-off sound of geese honking as they migrated south for the winter and she glanced up at the battleship-gray sky. A ragged vee was just disappearing over the tops of the pines that lined both sides of Third Street. The songbirds had already left and now the geese were bailing for the winter. Soon only the winter birds would be left, bright blue Jays, vivid red Cardinals, and glowing green and yellow Nuthatches sitting high in the pines like jewels amidst the branches.

    'Hannah?' Claire looked both pleased and surprised as she opened her back door. 'Come in. It's cold out there.'

    'I know. Do you have customers?'

    'Not a soul. It's been a slow afternoon.'

    'I'm sorry to hear that,' Hannah commiserated. The financial life of a small business owner was often touch and go.

    'Oh, it's all right. The morning was very good and Becky Summers was just in. She bought three dresses.'

    'How's Reverend Knudson?'

    'He's just fine, Hannah.' Claire's smile was positively beatific. 'He's also very persuasive. He's going to announce our engagement the Sunday before Christmas.'

    'You said yes!' Hannah grinned at her friend. With one failed romance behind her, Claire had finally found a man she could love and trust.

    'You'll be there for the announcement, won't you, Hannah?'

    'I wouldn't miss it for the world,' Hannah promised. She knew Claire was nervous about the congregation's reaction to the engagement. Although no one except Hannah, Andrea, and Norman knew for sure, everyone in town suspected that Claire had at one time been Mayor Bascomb's mistress. 'If anyone gives you a rough time about it, just let me know and I'll cut them off from cookies for life.'

    Claire laughed, but she sobered quickly. 'You know? I believe you would. You're a good friend,