Fudge Cupcake Murder

dishes she'd dirtied by cooking breakfast for her cat!

    The phone rang and Hannah poured another cup of coffee before she walked over to answer it. There was only one person who called her this early. It had to be Delores calling in to give her report. When Hannah hadn't been able to find out where Lonnie was vacationing by asking his family or his friends, she'd tapped her best resource and recruited Delores and Carrie who had promised to research Lonnie's whereabouts on the Lake Eden gossip hotline.

    'Hello Mother,' Hannah answered. Answering the phone that way had become almost a tradition. Hannah knew her mother would miss these morning squabbles if she simply said hello.

    'I wish you wouldn't answer the phone that way, Hannah. What if it wasn't me?'

    'Then I'd say, Sorry, I thought you were my mother. And they'd say, That's all right. And then they'd try to sell me some stock over the phone.'

    Delores laughed. 'Still… you shouldn't presume. Think how embarrassed you'd be if it was someone important and you called them Mother.'

    'You're not someone important?'

    'Of course I am. It's just that… never mind,' Delores said, giving it up with a sigh. 'How are you this morning, dear?'

    'Not so hot. Do you know the phrase, Wake up and smell the roses?'

    'Yes, dear. I've heard it.'

    'Well, this morning it's, Wake up and smell the liver.'

    'The liver?'

    'That's right. Doctor Bob put Moishe on a new diet. I just cooked breakfast for him and it smells awful.'

    'Well, open the windows, dear. And use some of that air freshener I gave you. It's scented like an English garden.'

    'Right,' Hannah said, wrinkling up her nose. She'd used the air freshener, and if the manufacturer's claim was accurate, she'd be sure to give English gardens a wide berth.

    'I always used it when your father made corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day,' Delores said. 'He insisted on making it every year and none of us liked it.'

    Hannah laughed. It was true. More of the corned beef and cabbage had gone down the garbage disposal than into their mouths. But even though Hannah didn't care for the meal, the custom pleased her. It was exactly as her dad used to say; everyone was Irish on St. Patrick's Day.

    'Did you find out anything about Lonnie, Mother?'

    'Not much.' Delores sighed so deeply it came out as a whoosh over the line. 'Bridget doesn't even know where he's gone. She told me to check with Rick.'

    'Did you?'

    'Of course I did. Rick doesn't know either, but he thinks Lonnie must be with a girl.'

    'Did Lonnie tell Rick that?'

    'Not exactly, but he refused to say where he was going. And since Lonnie usually tells Rick everything, Rick thinks he was going to meet a girl.'

    'That makes some kind of sense.' Hannah leaned back and took a sip of her coffee. 'Any candidates?'

    'Only one and that's impossible.'

    'Which one?'

    'Your sister. Rick thought that Lonnie might have gone to the Cities to see Michelle.'

    'Did he?' Hannah asked, hoping that he hadn't. Delores liked Lonnie well enough, but she wouldn't be pleased if she found out that he was serious enough to visit Michelle at college.

    'Of course he didn't. I called Michelle last night and she said she hadn't seen him.'

    'Did you ask her if she knew where he was?'

    'Do I look like a fool, Hannah? Of course I did. Michelle said that she didn't have the slightest idea where Lonnie was, that they were just friends, and Lonnie certainly didn't call to tell her every time he went off on vacation somewhere.'

    'So she was a little testy because you asked?'

    'She was very testy. I don't know why. It was just a simple question and I certainly wasn't accusing her of anything.'

    'Maybe she'd had a rough day at school,' Hannah said, voicing the first excuse that came to mind. 'Don't worry about it, Mother. I'm sure Michelle feels bad that she was short with you.'

    'Well, I hope so. There's such a thing as respect for your parents, you know.'

    'Of course there is and Michelle knows that. She'll probably call you today and apologize.'

    'No, she won't. She'll just send a card. That's what she always does. If she mails a card, she doesn't have to come out and say that she was wrong.'

    'Oh, well. A card lasts longer than a phone call.' Hannah changed the subject and chatted on for a few more moments. Then she signed off and hung up the phone.

    'Methinks the sister doth protest too much,' she said to Moishe, who was lapping at his water bowl. 'I'm going to call her and see what she says to me.'

    Hannah poured another cup of coffee, opened her crime notebook to the right page, grabbed the phone, and dialed her sister's number. Delores might be satisfied by Michelle's denial, but Hannah had the sneaking suspicion that Lonnie had been no further away than the length of the phone cord when her baby sister had claimed she hadn't seen him.

    Hannah slipped four more pans of cookies into the oven and picked up the phone again. No one was answering at Michelle's rented house and the answering machine wasn't on. She listened to the empty ringing for several more moments and hung up when the back door opened and Lisa came in. 'Hi, Lisa. I'm almost through with the Corn Cookies.'

    'They look great,' Lisa said, hanging her parka jacket on a hook and heading for the sink to wash her hands. 'Do you want me to start on the regular cookies? Or should I mix up the batch of cupcakes for the sheriff's station? They asked for chocolate with chocolate icing and some kind of design in orange.'

    'You do them while I bake the cookies.' Hannah glanced down at the Fudge Cupcake recipe on the counter. 'Why don't you bake some of Alma's cupcakes for the sheriff's station? You can use applesauce as the secret ingredient. I've got some in the cooler. Just set one cupcake aside for Beatrice to taste and decorate the rest.'

    'Good idea,' Lisa said, taking the recipe Hannah handed her and heading for the cooler to get the applesauce.

    An hour and a half later, Hannah and Lisa were through with the baking for the day. Everything had gone smoothly. The kitchen at The Cookie Jar wasn't very large, but Hannah and Lisa had been working together for over a year and each anticipated the other's movements. As Hannah carried a mug of coffee over to their favorite booth in the back of the coffee shop, she wondered how she'd ever gotten along without Lisa.

    'So what's happening with the murder?' Lisa asked, sitting down across the table from Hannah.

    'Not much. I've really hit a snag, Lisa. I think the report we found in Sheriff Grant's briefcase is important, but Lonnie's on vacation and I can't find him to ask him about it.'

    'Did you check with your sister? Michelle was pretty thick with him the last time she was in town.'

    'That's who I was trying to call when you came in this morning.'

    'Well, don't give up. You're bound to catch her sooner or later.' Lisa glanced down at her watch. 'It's time for me to change into my cat costume. What are you going to wear?'

    'My sheet. I'll be a ghost when I'm out here. But most of the time I'll be in the kitchen so I won't have to wear anything at all.'

    Lisa burst out laughing and Hannah was puzzled until she'd backed up her mental tape and replayed the last sentence she'd uttered. Then she smiled and said, 'Don't be so quick to laugh. We'd save a fortune on aprons.'