Apple Turnover Murder

“Who is it?” Hannah asked Lisa, wondering who could be calling her at The Cookie Jar this late.

“I think it’s Andrea,” Lisa told her, covering the mouthpiece with her hand. “It’s hard to tell, because whoever it is sounds really upset.”

Uh-oh! Hannah’s mind shouted a warning. Bill took the job in Florida! But thinking that way was borrowing trouble, something she tried very hard not to do, and she forced herself to think positively as she took the phone.

“Hello?” she said.

“Hannah! I…I tried you at home and you didn’t answer, and I’m so glad I caught you at The Cookie Jar!”

Lisa was right. It was Andrea and she sounded on the verge of panic. “We’re staying late baking apple turnovers,” Hannah explained. “Is there something wrong?”

“Yes! Tachyon offered Bill more incentives and I think he’s beginning to waver, Tracey needs a homemade snack for her bus trip to Alexandria tomorrow, and Grandma McCann is at a baby shower for a friend’s daughter so I can’t ask her for help. I’m stressed, Hannah. I’m really stressed!”

“I know you’re stressed. I can hear it in your voice. Try to calm down, Andrea. I’m sure we can work everything out.”

“Can you come over? Bill’s working late, and Bethie’s got a runny nose, and I can’t find the listings I wrote up for the Journal yesterday, and…and I just can’t cope anymore!”

That was unusual. Andrea could usually cope with anything…with the exception of cooking, of course. Andrea was the worst cook in all of Minnesota’s eighty-seven counties.

“Will you come over, Hannah? Please?”

There was a desperate note in Andrea’s voice that Hannah had never heard before. “Just hold on. I’ll be there just as soon as we get our apple turnover count for the night,” she promised.

“Go now,” Lisa said, and everyone else nodded in agreement. “We can finish up here without you.”

“But that’s not really fair. I could…”

“Go,” Marge said, and it was a command. “There’s nothing more important than family. We’ve got the turnovers under control.”

“I’ll be there in a few minutes,” Hannah said to her sister. “Tell me what kind of snack Tracey needs and I’ll bring some ingredients with me.”

“Anything she can eat on the bus without making too much of a mess. And she has to bring enough for two. The kids are going to team up in pairs, eat one snack on the way there and eat the other on the way back home.”

Hannah thought fast. Sally made a snack at the Lake Eden Inn she called Imperial Cereal. She sent it along in the box lunches she packed when her guests went for walks around the lake. “How about some of Sally’s Imperial Cereal?” she asked.

“That would be perfect. But do you have time to run all the way out to the Lake Eden Inn?”

“I don’t have to run all the way out there. Sally gave me the recipe and I’ve got it in my book. Hold on a second.” Hannah hurried to the book of recipes in sheet protectors that she kept in a three-ring notebook. She located Sally’s snack and ran through the list of ingredients. “What kind of cereal do you have in the house?”

“I’ve got Multigrain Cheerios. They’re Bill’s favorites. And I picked up a box of Rice Chex for Bethie. She likes the way they crunch.”

“Those will do just fine. How about frozen orange juice?”

“I’ve got some. I just made up a whole quart and it’s in the refrigerator.”

“I need some that’s still frozen. You have extra, don’t you?”

“There’s another two cans in the freezer. Is that enough?”

“More than enough. All I need is a quarter cup. How about brown sugar?”

“Yes, but it’s got big lumps. You’ll have to pick them out before you can use it.”

Hannah was surprised that Andrea knew about the lumps in her brown sugar. As far as she knew, Andrea didn’t sprinkle it on anything and she certainly wouldn’t have tried to use it in baking. “Did Grandma McCann tell you it had lumps?” she asked, latching on to the most likely scenario.

“No, Bill did. He complained about it yesterday morning when he tried to sprinkle it on his instant oatmeal. He asked me to buy fresh at the store, but I haven’t done my shopping yet.”

“Why don’t you just keep molasses on hand? Then you could mix up your own brown sugar with white sugar and molasses.”

“But then I’d have to mix it up every time Bill wanted it. It’s easier to just keep brown sugar in the house.”

“Whatever,” Hannah said, restraining the urge to laugh. “How about your butter?”

“Butter doesn’t get lumps!”

“I know that. I was just asking if you had some.”

“We’ve got tons of butter. Grandma McCann won’t let us buy anything else. She says butter is better for us than those artificial substitutes that don’t taste like butter anyway.”

“She’s probably right. How about slivered almonds?”

“No, I don’t have any of those.”

“Then I’ll bring them. Your oven works, doesn’t it?”

“It did last night. Grandma McCann made a hamburger hotdish for dinner.”

“Good. When you hang up, put on the coffee pot. I’ll see you in about fifteen minutes.”

“Hannah?”

The receiver was only inches from the cradle when Hannah heard her sister’s far-away voice calling her. She stopped her forward motion and brought the receiver back up to her ear. “I’m here.”

“I forgot to thank you. It’s really nice of you to drop everything and come over here, just because I need you. You’re the best big sister in the whole world.”

“My program’s over,” Tracey announced, racing into the kitchen. “Hi, Aunt Hannah. I didn’t know you were here!”

“Your mom said you were watching something for summer school, and I didn’t want to interrupt you.”

“It was a KCOW-TV special, and Mrs. Chambers wanted us to see it tonight. It was all about the Kensington Runestone, and we’re going on the bus to see it tomorrow.”

“What did you learn from the special?” Andrea asked, and Hannah could have applauded. Asking Tracey to talk about what she’d just seen would help to fix the details in her mind.

“They said the Kensington Runestone used to be out in the open, but it was moved to the Runestone Museum in nineteen fifty-eight.”

“And you’re going to the Runestone Museum?” Hannah asked.

“Oh, yes. Part of the program was about the museum and they’ve got lots of things to see. There’s a Minnesota wildlife exhibit, and a place where you can learn about early pioneer life, and a hands-on children’s exhibit. At least that’s what they said. I don’t think so, though.”

“You don’t think so about what?” Andrea asked her daughter.

“The hands-on children’s exhibit. It never is, you know. The minute you start to touch things, somebody comes over and says to just look not touch, and to stay behind the ropes.”

“So you’re going to spend most of your time at the museum?” Hannah asked.

“Mrs. Chambers said we’ll be there for about an hour. That’ll give us time to see the log cabins, the one-room school, the doctor’s office, and all the Indian stuff. And we’re going to have fifteen minute to buy something in the museum gift shop.” Tracey stopped speaking and turned to her mother. “Can I tell Aunt Hannah a secret?”

“Sure,” Andrea gave her permission. “I’ll just run up and check on Bethie.”

Tracey waited until her mother was gone and then she stepped closer, almost as if she were afraid her mother was listening outside the kitchen door. “I’m going to buy Mom a Kensington Runestone coffee mug with the money Daddy gave me.”

Hannah reached in her pocket and drew out some bills. She was sure the money Bill had given Tracey was for her to buy something for herself. Instead Tracey was spending it on Andrea, and that kind of generosity deserved to be rewarded.

“Here, Tracey,” she said handing her the bills. “I want you to buy something for yourself.”