Fudge Cupcake Murder

Chapter Twenty-Seven

    'Your place looks nice, Hannah,' Beatrice Koester said, coming in the front door in answer to Hannah's telephone summons. 'I just love the way those orange and black streamers blow in the breeze from the fans. And the pumpkins in the window are just great.'

    'Lisa did all the decorating.'

    'She's really good at it. Where's your ghost costume?'

    'I spilled melted chocolate on it.'

    'But how about the kids?' Beatrice glanced around at several pre-school children who were sitting at tables with their mothers.

    'I've got another costume right here.' Hannah grabbed the box of cornflakes she'd set behind the counter and stabbed it with a plastic knife. 'See?'

    'See what?'

    'I'm a cereal killer.'

    Beatrice groaned and sat down on a stool at the counter. 'That's awful, Hannah. Actually it's awful and it's very clever, but nobody in Lake Eden's going to catch on. I bet you had to explain it to everybody.'

    'You're right. I've been trying to get people to guess for over an hour now and nobody's figured it out. I thought Mayor Bascomb would. You know how he loves puns. But he didn't get it, either.'

    'This could be a good test.'

    'A test of what?'

    'Compatibility. I've been listening to Doctor Love on the radio and she says spouses should share a similar sense of humor.'

    Hannah's eyebrows shot up. Was Beatrice listening to the woman who gave romantic advice on KCOW radio because she was having trouble in her own marriage?

    'Ted and I don't have the same sense of humor,' Beatrice admitted with a frown. 'He likes the new sitcoms and I like the old ones like Three's Company and The Golden Girls.

    Hannah wasn't sure how to respond so she kept her lips pressed tightly together.

    'The thing is, the couple that laughs together stays together. At least that's what Doctor Love says. So I think that if you find a man who catches on to your cereal killer costume and thinks it's funny, you should marry him.'

    'Thanks for the advice,' Hannah said, reaching under the counter to bring out the cupcake that Lisa had saved for Beatrice. 'Sit down and try this. It's the latest attempt.'

    Beatrice took a bite and smiled in appreciation. 'Delicious! Is that applesauce I taste?'

    'Yes. Is it Alma's secret ingredient?'

    'No, but it's close. Alma's cupcakes were sweeter, but they had a fruity taste under the chocolate. I told you that before, didn't I?'

    'Yes. You also said that you couldn't tell which fruit Alma used.'

    'That's right. The flavor just blended in. It was there, but I couldn't tell what it was. It made the chocolate taste… I don't know how to describe it.'

    'Darker? Richer?'

    'That's it. The chocolate tasted darker and richer. And there's one more thing I remember. When raspberries were in season, Alma used to put a nice plump one on top of each cupcake.'

    'Do you think the fruit Alma used was mashed raspberries?' Hannah asked the logical question.

    'I know it wasn't either raspberries or strawberries. Those kinds of seeds always stick between my teeth and that never happened when I ate Alma's cupcakes.'

    When Beatrice left, taking the rest of the cupcake with her, Hannah refilled her customers' coffee cups. Then she sat down on the stool behind the counter to think. Mashed raspberries would have seeds. There was no way around it. Alma could have juiced them, but that couldn't be right. Edna Ferguson was certain that the secret ingredient was thicker than juice and Hannah had come to the same conclusion.

    'Hi, Hannah.' Lisa breezed in the door, wearing her cat costume. She had the long, stuffed tail taped in place on her shoulder and it looked very strange. 'Don't ever try to drive with a tail.'

    Hannah laughed. 'I'll keep that in mind. What happened?'

    'It wrapped itself around the gearshift lever and I had to untangle it every time I backed up. It was a real nuisance.'

    'So you taped it to your shoulder?'

    'Reverend Knudson did it when I delivered the cookies for his meeting. If it didn't look so bad, I'd leave it taped for the rest of the day.'

    'Leave it for now,' Hannah said as an idea popped into her head. 'I've got a plan that'll fix it for good. All I have to do is take a quick run to the drugstore.'

    'Go ahead. I'll take care of everything here. Do you think you could stop off at the Red Owl on the way back? We're running low on pancake syrup and Reverend Knudson ordered a whole batch of Short Stack Cookies for social hour after church services on Sunday.'

    'No problem,' Hannah said, heading off to the drugstore to stock up on the things she needed to fix her partner's problematic tail.

    Hannah came out of Lake Eden Neighborhood Pharmacy smiling. Jon Walker's clerks had done a marvelous job of decorating the drugstore with cutouts of black cats and swooping bats suspended from wires attached to the ceiling. Jon had done his mad chemist act just for her and it had been every bit as good as last year. To make things even better, he gave her a Halloween discount on the items she'd bought for Lisa.

    'Hi, Hannah,' Florence Evans, the owner of the Red Owl, greeted her as she stepped through the door. One of the checkers must have called in sick, because Florence only worked at the checkout stand when they were shorthanded. 'Where's your costume?'

    'Back at the shop,' Hannah said, not wanting to get into a discussion about costumes or the lack of them with Florence, who held the current record for the lengthiest conversation in Lake Eden.

    'So what's new, Hannah?' Florence asked.

    'Nothing,' Hannah said, knowing that it was wise to give Florence a one-word answer quickly followed by a grocery question. 'The pancake syrup's still in aisle three, isn't it, Florence?'

    'Yes, and I just got in some wonderful new flavored…”

    'Thanks, Florence, but all I need is maple,' Hannah interrupted what was surely going to be a lengthy description of the new items the Red Owl was stocking. 'Lisa's waiting for it back at the shop.'

    Hannah turned on her heel and headed for aisle three, but Florence had other ideas. Before Hannah could blink, she'd flicked off the light above her register, and stepped out from behind the counter.

    'You really should take a look. Those new flavors are really special.' Florence linked arms with Hannah and headed toward the rear of the store. 'Come along with me and I'll show you.'

    'There you are!' Lisa looked relieved when Hannah came back into The Cookie Jar. 'It's been an hour and I was getting worried.'

    'Remember the television ad for the Roach Motel?' Hannah asked, setting her bags on the counter.

    'I think so. Isn't that the one that said, Roaches check in… but they don't check out?'

    'That's the one. Well, Florence was working the check stand at the Red Owl.'

    It took Lisa a moment, but then she burst of laughing. 'She wouldn't let you check out?'

    'That's right. She followed me back to aisle three to show me the new pancake syrups, but what I thought was going to be a real delay turned out to be a lucky break.'

    'Florence told you something about the murder?' Lisa guessed.

    'It wasn't that lucky, but she did teach me something about Alma's cupcakes.'