Blackberry Pie Murder (31 page)

“How about Coke?” Hannah asked her.

“Coke?” Starlet repeated, and her eyes narrowed again.

“Coke, like regular Coke, or Diet Coke. Does he have that in plastic bottles or cans?”

Starlet look relieved at the answer and she smiled. “Sure, he does. And it comes in cans. He doesn’t have Diet Coke though. People around here don’t get enough to eat anyway, so they don’t have to go on diets. No offense, okay Anne?”

Hannah bristled slightly, but she took care not to let Starlet see that her comment had hit home. “No offense taken,”

she said and handed Starlet two twenty-dollar bills. “How about if you go up to the bar and get all three of us something safe to drink. Spend it all and that should make Dingo happy.”

“Oh, it will. I’ll be back with the stuff. Don’t start without me, okay?”

Hannah waited until Starlet was well out of earshot and then she leaned close to Delores. “I bet she says that to all her customers,” she quipped, and then she wished she hadn’t said anything. Delores might not appreciate her slightly off-color comment at this juncture.

But Delores laughed. “I think you’re probably right. I’ll have to remember to tell Doc what you said. He’ll get a real kick out of it.”

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Hannah was gratified. Even though her mother was still visibly nervous, Delores hadn’t lost her sense of humor. She was doing a really good job with Starlet, so far. The girl had bought the cover story Delores had given her and Hannah had no doubt that they would get the information they needed from her.

“Okay, we got all this,” Starlet said, coming back to the booth much faster than they had expected. “Just look.”

Hannah looked. Three cans of Coke and three packages of barbecued potato chips in bags sporting a brand Hannah had never heard of. Forty dollars was a lot to pay for three Cokes and three small bags of off-brand potato chips, but it would be worth it if Starlet kept cooperating with them.

“Nice,” Hannah said, picking up a can and popping the top.

“Thank you, dear,” Delores said to Starlet and then she opened her can. “I’m not really hungry so you can have my chips.”

“Mine, too,” Hannah added. She wasn’t entirely sure that the microscopic bugs that were bound to live on the tabletop couldn’t somehow crawl into sealed bags.

“You sure?” Starlet asked her.

“I’m sure,” Hannah said. “You go right ahead. And while you’re eating, I’ll read you the first of Mother’s questions.”

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BUTTERSCOTCH BRICKLE BAR COOKIES

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

2 cups
(no need to sift)
all
-
purpose flour 1 cup cold salted butter
(
2 sticks, 1⁄2 pound)

1⁄2 cup brown sugar
(pack it down when you

measure it)

2 sticks salted butter
(1 cup, 8 ounces, 1⁄2 pound)

1 cup brown sugar
(pack it down when you

measure it)

1⁄3 cup butterscotch ice cream topping
(I used

Smuckers)

1 cup butterscotch chips
(12-ounce package—I used

Nestle)

1 cup semi-sweet OR milk chocolate chips
(I used

Nestle)

1⁄2 cup finely chopped salted nuts
(OPTIONAL—I

used pecans, but any type of nut will do.)

Line a 9-inch by 13-inch cake pan with heavy duty foil.

Start with a big piece of foil so that you will have enough to go up the sides and leave little “ears” of foil sticking out. That way, when your bar cookies are cool, you can simply pull the foil up and lift them out of the pan.

Spray the foil with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray.
(You want to be able to peel it off later, after the bar

cookies cool.)

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258

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Put 1 cup of flour in the food processor.

Cut 1 stick of cold salted butter into 8 pieces and arrange it over the flour in the food processor.

Sprinkle the second cup of all-purpose flour over the chunks of butter in the food processor.

Cut the second stick of cold salted butter into 8 pieces and arrange it over the flour in the food processor.

Sprinkle the 1⁄2 cup of brown sugar over the chunks of butter.

Process with the steel blade in an on and off motion until the resulting mixture looks like coarse cornmeal.

Pour the mixture into the prepared cake pan and press it down with your impeccably clean palms or with the back of a metal spatula.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 15 minutes. Then remove from the oven and set the cake pan on a wire rack to cool, but DON’T SHUT OFF THE OVEN!

Spray the inside of a 1⁄3-cup measuring cup with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray.
(This will make for quick

and easy removal when you pour in the butterscotch ice

cream topping.)

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259

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Pour or spoon the butterscotch ice cream topping into the measuring cup and have it ready at the side of the stovetop.

Combine the butter with the brown sugar in a saucepan.

Bring it to a boil over medium high heat on the stovetop, stirring constantly.
(A full boil will have breaking bubbles

all over the surface of the pan.)
Boil it for exactly five
(5)

minutes, stirring it constantly. If it sputters too much, you can reduce the heat. If it starts to lose the boil, you can increase the heat. Just don’t stop stirring.

When the time is up, pull the saucepan off the heat and onto a cold burner. Add the butterscotch sauce quickly and stir it in quickly.

Pour this mixture over the baked crust as evenly as you can.

Hannah’s Note: When I do this, I pour about 4 lines of
hot brickle that run the length of the pan and then turn the
pan to pour about 4 lines of hot brickle that run the width
of the pan. If your lines of brickle don’t completely cover the
crust, spread them out a bit with a heat-resistant rubber
spatula. Work quickly before they harden too much. Don’t
worry if there are some gaps. They will spread out a little
when you bake them in the oven.

Slide the pan into the oven and bake the bar cookies at 350 degrees F. for another 10
(ten)
minutes.

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260

! % { # 9 *

While the pan of butterscotch brickle is baking, put the butterscotch chips and the chocolate chips in a bowl. Mix them together with your impeccably clean fingers.

When the time is up, remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle the butterscotch and chocolate chip mixture over the top. Give the chips a minute or two to melt and then spread them out as evenly as you can with a heat-resistant rubber spatula, a wooden paddle, or a frosting knife.

If you decided to use chopped nuts, sprinkle them on now while the chips are still soft.

Slip the pan into the refrigerator and chill it thoroughly.

When the pan has chilled, peel the foil from the cookies and break them into random-sized pieces.

Yield: A whole cake pan full of yummy treats that are a cross between a cookie and a candy.

Michelle says that when I make these, it always re-

minds her of Christmas.

! % { # 9 *

261

Chapter

!
Twenty-two
#

“Good job, Mother,” Hannah said, glancing at her watch as she parked in front of her mother’s house.

It was six-thirty at night and that was less than an hour later than she usually got home from The Cookie Jar.

“Thank you, dear. I must say, I had a good time today. I can hardly wait to tell Doc all about it!”

As Hannah watched, the front door of her mother’s house opened and Doc stood there, waiting for Delores. “Doc’s at your house?” Hannah asked, realizing that her mother must have given him a key.

“Yes, dear. It’s Wednesday and we always stay here on Wednesday nights. It’s my place Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. And his place Tuesday, Thursday, and the weekends.”

“TMI, Mother.”

“What is TM . . . whatever those initials were that you just rattled off?”

“TMI. It stands for Too Much Information. I don’t need to know where you are every night of the week, and I certainly don’t need to know that you’re spending nights with Doc!”

Delores gave an exasperated sigh. “Doc’s right. I raised a prude.”

“What?!”

“Both Doc and I agree that you’d be much happier if you had a fulfilling love life.”

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Hannah’s mouth dropped open and she closed it again with a snap. She took a deep breath and swallowed hard.

“Mother!”

“Don’t Mother me. It’s true.”

“Maybe it is, but you shouldn’t be telling me that. What are you encouraging? Promiscuity?”

“Of course not. I just want you to settle down with a man who loves you. And I want you to be as happy as I am.”

Hannah thought about that for a moment. Actually, she wanted the same thing for herself. The problem was that she seemed incapable of choosing which man it would be. But there was no way she wanted to get into that now, at six-thirty at night, after a long day with her mother. It was best to either ignore it, or make a joke of it.

“Am I correct in assuming that you’re saying this because you love me and want me to be happy?”

“You certainly are.”

“And am I correct to think that Doc also loves me and wants me to be happy?”

“Of course he does.

“Then you’re right, Mother,” Hannah said.

“I am?” Delores was clearly surprised at the admission.

She seemed pleased for a moment, but then, as she thought about it, she looked a bit dubious, as if she were waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“Yes, you’re right,” Hannah said, getting ready to fling the other shoe at the floor. “I want to settle down with a man who loves me and wants me to be happy. And you said Doc loves me and wants me to be happy. Unfortunately . . . Doc’s already taken.”

Hannah pulled into her garage at seven o’clock on the dot.

She’d shared a good laugh with her mother and Doc, and her long day was almost over. Michelle was here and Lonnie’s car was parked in her second space. Obviously, Lonnie had brought Michelle home from The Cookie Jar and they were 264

Joanne Fluke

both waiting for her upstairs. Perhaps they’d even have food.

That would be wonderful. Delores had decided that she wanted to drive straight home to Lake Eden and not stop to eat on the way. That meant Hannah hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast and she was as starved as a bear after a long winter’s hibernation.

When she’d locked the loaner car and climbed the steps to ground level, Hannah glanced at the visitor’s parking lot. It was full and that was unusual for seven o’clock on a week-day night. She didn’t really look at the individual cars until she noticed a Hummer parked illegally on the ring road that ran around the pond. Only one person parked there if Hannah’s parking spots were taken. And that was because the guard at the gate knew his car and wouldn’t call it in. Mike was here.

Hannah turned and her eyes scanned the cars in the visitor’s lot. Yes, Norman was here. And so was Andrea. It seemed it was company night again, and she’d been planning to have a bite to eat with a glass of wine, and then relax on the couch in front of the television with Moishe purring in her lap.

How much did her legs weigh anyway? Hannah thought about that as she climbed the stairs. Weren’t people’s legs supposed to be a quarter of their weight, or something like that?

But that didn’t make sense. Then her legs would weigh . . . no, she didn’t want to think about dividing how much she weighed by any percentage at all. If she did that, she’d have to recall what she’d weighed the last time she’d stepped on the scale, and that was a three-digit figure she’d rather forget.

Her legs weighed a lot, though. With each step she climbed, they seemed heavier and heavier. She knew that was probably because she was dreading the thought of acting bright and cheerful for company. Although they were her best friends and dearest family members, and she loved each and every one of them, she truly didn’t feel like putting on a happy face when she was so utterly exhausted.

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There’s nothing for it but to do it
, Hannah repeated one of her great-grandmother Elsa’s favorite sayings in her mind.

She forced a smile on her lips and told herself to
Always look
on the bright side
, another one of her great-grandmother’s favorite sayings. They would have eaten already and saved her some leftovers. And Andrea certainly couldn’t finish a whole jug of wine by herself . . . or could she?

As she neared the door of her condo, Hannah could hear voices and laughter coming from inside. She stopped at the door and raised her hand to knock. Then she dropped her arm to her side again, feeling rather foolish about what she had been about to do. It was her condo. She owned it. She didn’t have to knock on her own door!

Just then the door opened and Michelle stood there looking as cute as a button in white shorts and a royal blue top. “Hi, Hannah. I thought I heard you coming up the stairs. Kick off your shoes and go make yourself comfortable on the couch while I pour a glass of wine for you. We’ve got food, too. I came back here at noon and put dinner in the Crock-Pot and Andrea brought her new whippersnapper cookies. They’re really, really good.”