Fudge Cupcake Murder

some kind of rule about passing out political flyers in school?'

    'There's a rule. When I mentioned it to him, he decided he'd just hand them to people when they drove in.'

    'I take it you're not voting for Sheriff Grant?' Hannah teased.

    'Of course not. I'm voting for Bill. He's my partner and my best friend. You should know that, Hannah.'

    'I do,' Hannah said with a sigh. There were times when Mike was far too serious to be teased and it seemed that this was one of them. 'I wonder if Sheriff Grant's still around. I gave him some cupcakes to test for me and he promised to let me know how he liked them.'

    'If he's gone, I'll ask him for you tomorrow.' Mike picked up Hannah's jacket and held it for her. 'Let's go. I skipped lunch and I'm hungry.'

    Hannah slipped into her jacket and was about to pick up her shoulder bag purse when she remembered the garbage. 'Just let me run out with the trash. I want to make sure that back door's locked anyway.'

    'Need some help?'

    'I can handle it. There's just the one bag. You can double check the ovens and stovetops to make sure they're all turned off.'

    Hannah grabbed the garbage bag and headed out the delivery door, blinking in the light of the high- wattage security light that came on as she passed by the sensor. She headed for the Dumpster, opened the lid, and lifted the bag. But before she dropped it inside, Hannah happened to glance down into the depths of the Dumpster.

    For one shocked moment, Hannah froze, the bag of garbage suspended over the Dumpster and her mouth forming a perfectly round 'o' of surprise. Then she pulled the bag back, set it down on the asphalt, and told herself that she must be imagining things, that there really hadn't been something in the bottom of the Dumpster that had resembled a human arm.

    Looks are deceiving, Hannah repeated one of her grandmother Elsa's favorite sayings several times in her mind, and then she stepped back for a second look. It was an arm all right. And the arm was attached to a body.

    'Uh-oh,' Hannah groaned, swallowing hard, and at that exact moment, the security light cycled off. The sudden absence of the megawatt glare made the darkness seem even more intense and Hannah had all she could do not to scream. She reminded herself that she had two choices. She could stand here wondering if she'd really seen what she thought she'd seen, or she could run back inside and get Mike.

    The delivery door opened with a creak and Hannah almost jumped out of her skin. Then she heard a voice. 'Hannah? Is there a problem?'

    It was Mike's voice. Hannah swallowed hard. It seemed she had a third choice. She could say that there was a problem and ask Mike to get over here on the double. That would be the wisest choice, if only she could find her voice.

    'Hannah?'

    'Over here,' Hannah gulped out the words.

    'What is it? You sound funny.'

    Hannah took a deep breath. And then she said, as clearly as she could. 'There's a body in this Dumpster.'

    Mike wasted no time in joining Hannah. He pulled out his flashlight, trained the beam inside, and groaned. 'It's Sheriff Grant.'

    'Dead?' Hannah asked, watching Mike as he leaned forward into the Dumpster to feel for a pulse.

    'Yes.'

    Hannah gulped, trying to accept the fact that someone she'd spoken to less than three hours ago was inside a school Dumpster, dead.

    'Looks like someone hit him on the back of the head. There may be another wound, too. There's a big smear of dried blood on the front of his uniform.'

    Despite her revulsion, Hannah looked at the area Mike indicated with his flashlight. He was right. There was a smear of something dark on Sheriff Grant's uniform shirt. She cleared her throat and forced herself to speak. 'That's not blood.'

    'It's not?'

    Hannah shook her head. 'It's fudge frosting. Sheriff Grant died eating one of my cupcakes!'

Chapter Four

    Hannah had no sooner stepped inside her condo than the phone rang. She knew exactly who it was and she headed straight for the kitchen to answer it. 'Hello, Mother.'

    'Hello, Mother? How did you know it was me?'

    'Who else would it be? Andrea probably called you right after Bill called to tell her.'

    'Well… actually, that's right.' Delores sounded a bit perturbed that Hannah had guessed her gossip source. 'I just can't believe that you found another body!'

    'It's true, but you shouldn't be jealous. I let you find the last one.' Hannah glanced down at Moishe, who was rubbing against her ankle so hard he was very close to knocking her off balance. His bowl was empty and he didn't seem to mind the switch in his diet at all. 'Hold on for a second, Mother. Just let me feed Moishe and then we can talk.'

    Hannah set the phone on the table and walked over to the broom closet where she kept Moishe's food. She unlocked the padlock, opened the door and poured Moishe a bowlful of his new food. It might have seemed strange to guard cat food with a padlock, but it kept the bag safe from the feline who wasn't shy about getting his own breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Moishe had defeated every other attempt Hannah had made to keep him out of the broom closet, but he hadn't figured out the padlock yet. He had made progress on the wooden door, though. There was a series of bite and claw marks near the bottom and Hannah suspected it was only a matter of time before her four-footed roommate triumphed once again.

    'Okay, Mother. I'm back,' Hannah said, grabbing the phone and sitting down at the table in one fluid motion. 'What did you hear?'

    'Not much. All Bill told Andrea was that you found Sheriff Grant inside the school Dumpster.'

    'That's what happened all right.'

    'I feel so sorry for poor Nettie Grant!'

    'Me, too,' Hannah said. Sheriff Grant's wife had practically gone into seclusion three years ago when the Grants had lost their only child in a car crash.

    'This is going to be so difficult for her,' Delores went on. 'She was just getting over Jamie's death, and now her husband is gone, too! Do you think they're related, Hannah?'

    'Who?' Hannah asked, thoroughly confused by her mother's question.

    'Not who… what! I'm talking about Jamie's death and Sheriff Grant's death.'

    'I don't see how they could be related, Mother.'

    'Use your head, Hannah. We know that Nettie was totally grief-stricken when Jamie was killed and it took her almost a whole year to come out of her depression. It must have hit Sheriff Grant just as hard. I wouldn't be a bit surprised to find out that his grief had gotten the best of him and he'd decided that he just couldn't go on any longer.'

    'You mean… suicide?'

    'Of course I mean suicide. Do you think that's what happened?'

    'No.'

    'Why not? It makes sense to me.'

    Hannah sighed deeply. She hadn't intended to give her mother any of the gruesome details, but she