Apple Turnover Murder

“I wonder how many other women there were,” Michelle said at last, and there was an undertone of bitterness in her voice.

“A lot,” Hannah answered.

There was a moment, a long moment, when neither of them spoke. And then Michelle asked the question that weighed heavily on both of their minds. “Does anyone have to know?”

“No,” Hannah said in her most definite, not-to-be-doubted tone. “No one has to know except the two of us.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m sure. Just get some eggs, butter, and cream cheese out of the refrigerator. We’re going to make Jerry’s Chocolate Marshmallow Cookie Bars, and then we’ll mix up some Aggression Cookies.”

“Aggression Cookies?”

“They’re Karen Moon’s recipe, another one from last year’s cookie exchange. Karen told Mother that when she has a bad day, she just mixes up a batch and punches out all her frustration on the dough.”

“Do you think it’ll work?”

“I don’t know, but Mother said the cookies were excellent and it can’t hurt to try it. Maybe it’ll make you forget you ever even knew Bradford Ramsey.”

Michelle smiled, but then she quickly sobered. “What if they question me? If Mike asks, I’ll have to say I had a…a relationship with him!”

“Did anyone ever see you together in a situation that might suggest you were more than student and professor?”

“No. I was very careful about that. He was my faculty advisor at Macalester so nobody suspected anything when they saw us together on campus. Actually…” Michelle stopped and swallowed again and Hannah suspected she was choking back another sob. “Nothing ever happened at Macalester. It was only after he came here that…”

“I don’t need to know the timeline,” Hannah interrupted what was obviously a painful admission. “If Mike asks, just say that he was your faculty advisor.”

“Okay.” This time Michelle couldn’t hold back a little hiccup of a sob. “I wish I could go back in time and do everything over!”

Hannah reached out to give her another hug. “So do I,” she said.

CHOCOLATE MARSHMALLOW COOKIE BARS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

Bottom Layer:

? cup butter

(1 stick, 4 ounces, ? pound)

1-ounce square unsweetened chocolate

(I used Baker’s)

? cup white

(granulated)

sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

(pack it down in the cup when you measure it)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup chopped nuts

(I used pecans)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs lightly beaten

(just whip them up in a glass with a fork)

Cream Cheese Layer:

8-ounce package cream cheese, softened

(you’ll use 6 ounces for this layer and the remaining 2 ounces for the frosting)

? cup softened butter

(? stick, 2 ounces, 1/8 pound)

? cup white

(granulated)

sugar

2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

(that’s ¹/₈ cup)

? teaspoon vanilla extract

1 beaten egg (

just whip it up in a glass with a fork)

? cup chopped nuts

(I used pecans)

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

(I used Ghirardelli)

2 cups miniature marshmallows

(I used Kraft’s Jet-Puffed)

Frosting:

? cup butter

(? stick, 2 ounces, 1/8 pound)

1-ounce square unsweetened chocolate

(I used Baker’s)

reserved 2 ounces cream cheese

? cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-pound box powdered sugar

Place butter and unsweetened chocolate in saucepan over low heat. Heat just until chocolate melts. (You can do this in the microwave if you prefer.) Stir in sugar.

Combine the flour, baking powder, and nuts. Add them to the chocolate mixture. Stir well.

Stir in the vanilla and the eggs.

Spread the batter into a greased and floured 9-inch by 13-inch cake pan. (You can spray the inside with baking spray, if you’d rather.)

Make the cream cheese filling.

Start with the cream cheese. Cut off 2 ounces and reserve it for the frosting. (That’s one-quarter of the package.)

If your cream cheese isn’t soft enough to stir, heat it in a microwave-safe bowl for 10 to 20 seconds until you can stir it. If your next ingredient, the butter, is still cold, you can throw that in when you heat the cream cheese and do both together.

Combine the softened cream cheese with the butter, sugar, flour, and vanilla. Stir it until it’s smooth.

Add the beaten egg and stir until well combined.

Mix in the chopped nuts.

Spread the cream cheese layer over the chocolate layer. Use a rubber spatula to smooth it out.

Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top. Do this as evenly as you can.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 20 to 25 minutes. (Mine took 23 minutes.)

Take the pan out of the oven, sprinkle the top with the miniature marshmallows, and put it back in the oven to bake an additional 2 minutes.