Joanne Fluke Christmas Bundle: Sugar Cookie Murder, Candy Cane Murder, Plum Pudding Murder, & Gingerbread Cookie Murder (14 page)

TRIPLE THREAT CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE PIE

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

Hannah’s 1
^st
Note: You can make this by hand, but it’s a lot easier with an electric mixer!

Beat the sugar with the softened cream cheese until it’s thoroughly blended. Add the mayonnaise and the eggs. Beat well.

Melt the white chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl on HIGH for 40 seconds. Stir them to see if they’re melted.
(Don’t be fooled—chips may retain their shape even when they’re melted.)
If they’re not melted, microwave in 15-second intervals, stirring after each attempt, until you can stir them smooth. Set the melted chips on the counter to cool for a moment or two.

When you can comfortably cup your hands around the bowl holding the melted chips, mix them gradually into the batter. Then add the vanilla and mix well.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and stir in the semi-sweet chocolate chips by hand.

Spoon the pie batter into the cookie crust and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.

Bake the pie at 350 degrees F. for 30 to 35 minutes.

Cool the pie on a wire rack and then refrigerate. Take your pie out of the refrigerator 20 minutes before serving. Serve with sweetened whipped cream on top.

Hannah’s 2
^nd
Note: This pie is so deliciously rich, you have to serve it with strong coffee. I usually have a second pot all ready to go when the first one runs out.

T
heir drive through the Lake Eden Inn parking lot to attempt to identify cars turned out to be an exercise in futility. There were simply too many cars they didn’t recognize. Carrie’s car was not present. It was obvious that she’d ridden out to the Lake Eden Inn with her dinner companion. Finally, after the third round trip, Hannah decided to call off the search.

“Forget it, Norman. This isn’t doing any good. Unless you want to sit here and burn gas until your mother comes out, let’s go pick up the check from Larry. Once we’ve got that, we can take a detour past your mother’s house to see if she’s home yet.”

Norman looked surprised. “You want to go in and ask who was in the booth with her?”

“Of course not. That would just put her on the defensive and she probably wouldn’t tell me anyway. I want to see if there’s a car parked in front of her house. If there is, all we have to do is copy down the license number and ask Mike to run it for us.”

“Good thinking.” Norman pulled out of the parking lot and headed for the highway. They wound their way down what looked like a huge, never-ending tunnel flanked by snow banks. It was a little strange seeing snow banks as high as the top of the car on both sides, and it was evident from the height of the snow that Sally’s husband, Dick, had used his mini-snowplow to clear the road multiple times this winter so that the guests could drive in.

Once they reached the highway, Norman increased his speed and Hannah leaned back to enjoy the ride. The radio was tuned to a classic jazz station, the interior of the car was warm, and the passenger seat was extremely comfortable. The phrase,
All’s right with the world
, floated through Hannah’s mind. Things were always right when she was with Norman. There were times, like right now, when she really couldn’t understand her reluctance to marry him and be comfortable like this for the rest of her life. She loved him, she enjoyed being with him, and she’d love to live in the house they’d designed together. Norman would be a great husband, but just when she was about to say yes, thoughts of Mike got in the way. Perhaps she needed a shrink. But going to a psychotherapist would take time and time was one thing she didn’t have. There were no spare fifty-minute hours during the Christmas season.

“Why so quiet?” Norman asked, taking her out of the dilemma she didn’t seem to be able to solve anyway.

“I was thinking about time,” Hannah said, telling him what she termed a
partial truth
.

“It must be pretty hectic for you this time of year with Christmas so close. Is there any way I can help you?”

“You’re already helping me. You treated me to a wonderful dinner and now you’re taking me to the Crazy Elf to pick up the check I failed to ask for this afternoon.”

“I could do more. If you have any last-minute shopping to do, just let me know. I could run out to the mall for you. There’s only ten shopping days left until Christmas.”

“I know. Lisa reminded me today, but shopping for Christmas is the one thing I finished. I took Mother’s advice and shopped early. Now all I have to do is remember where I put the presents I bought.”

“And wrap them,” Norman reminded her.

“Yes, there’s that. And I hate wrapping presents. I’m really no good at it.”

“I’m not a bad wrapper. I could help you wrap your presents. It would be more fun with the two of us.”

“You’re right. You could put your finger on the knot in my ribbon when I tie a bow.”

Norman glanced over at her and smiled. “That’s always been my goal in life,” he said. “I love you, Hannah. I want to make your life easier.”

“You do,” Hannah said, and then she reached out to place her hand on his arm as he drove.

The Crazy Elf parking lot was chained shut and Norman parked on the street. As they got out of the car and headed for the entrance, the wind picked up and snow skittered across the sidewalk in little eddies and flurries. Hannah thought about dust devils and their bigger cousins, sand devils. If there were dust devils and sand devils, could there be snow devils? She’d have to look it up.

“What are you thinking about?” Norman asked.

“Dust devils and sand devils. And I was just wondering if there were snow devils.”

“There are, but most people call them snow-spouts. They happen when a mass of cold air hovers over a warmer body of water. That creates a kind of waterspout that freezes when it gets up in the cold air.”

Hannah shivered slightly. It was a cold night and talking about freezing waterspouts was making her colder.

“Cold?” Norman asked, slipping his arm around her shoulder.

“Yes. I wish I could be magically transported to somewhere warmer…like the middle of a desert.”

“Do you want to go to Palm Springs? It’s only a few hours from here by plane.”

“I’d love to, but I can’t.”

“Why not? We could fly in on a Friday night and spend the weekend. And if you felt you had to get back to Lake Eden, we could fly back late Sunday night.”

“Tempting,” Hannah commented and it was. She’d love a weekend getaway. But she had a ton of work to do and she couldn’t ask Lisa to do it all. “I’d love to, but we’re right in the middle of our busy season. Could we table it until it slows down at the end of February?”

“We can do that. I’ll ask you again on Valentine’s Day. It should be cold enough to tempt you.”

“I’m sure it will be!” Hannah wondered if she’d say yes. Valentine’s Day was less than two months away and it would be equally tempting then. The snowbirds would be gone and everyone who was left would be sick of the ice and snow.

“Okay, it’s a date.”

“But I didn’t say I’d go.”

“I know that. I just meant it’s a date to ask you.”

“Okay.” They arrived at the entrance to the Crazy Elf Christmas Tree Lot and Hannah opened the gate. “Follow me,” she said. “I know where Larry’s trailer is.”

Everything looked different now that the main lights were off. They walked past the darkened and deserted log cabins that housed the shops and turned left on Rudolf Lane.

“This is strange without the lights and music,” Norman said, and Hannah agreed. And although she’d never suspected she’d miss the loud, blaring Christmas carols, she did.

“Here’s Elf Headquarters,” she informed him as they turned down the path for the double-wide trailer where Larry lived. “The lights are on. He’s waiting for us.”

“Nice trailer,” Norman said as they approached.

“I know. It’s huge. Larry told me there are two bedrooms and he made one of them into an office. He’s got a humungous flat screen television in the living room so he can watch sports.”

“Larry’s a sports fan?”

“I’ll say! When Mike and I were here, he muted the sound but he left the game on.”

“And most ordinary fans would have turned the game off until after you left?”

“Right.” Hannah was always impressed at how fast Norman caught her train of thought.

They climbed up the low stairs to the trailer and Norman stepped aside so that Hannah could knock.

“Larry?” she called out, rapping sharply on the door.

There was a beat of silence and then another. They could hear the television playing inside and it sounded like it was a basketball game.

“Let me,” Norman said, stepping forward to knock even harder. He waited a moment and then he tried again.

Nothing, absolutely nothing happened. There was no sound from inside except the voice of the announcer and roar of the crowd.

“Try it again,” Hannah suggested.

Norman balled up his fist and pounded on the door while Hannah called out Larry’s name. It had absolutely no effect and the door remained tightly closed.

Hannah turned to Norman. “What shall we do?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Let’s see if the door’s open. He could have fallen asleep in front of the television.”

Although Hannah couldn’t see how Larry could sleep through such a racket, she stepped aside so that Norman could try the door. When the knob turned, she gave a little gasp. For some reason she didn’t like this. She didn’t like it at all. Maybe it was because the park looked so different with the main lights off and the crowd gone home. Or maybe there was something wrong and they ought to hightail it out of here.

“What?” Norman turned to her as her grip on his arm tightened.

“I don’t know. It’s just kind of strange, that’s all.”

“What’s strange?”

“The door’s unlocked. You’d think he’d lock it at night.”

“He might not be worried about anyone walking in on him since the park’s closed for the night,” Norman suggested.

“Maybe you’re right. But do you think we should go in?”

“He said he’d meet you here, didn’t he?”

“Yes. But…” Hannah’s voice trailed off and she swallowed hard. She couldn’t seem to shake the feeling that something was horribly wrong.

“Come on. Let’s go in and get out of the cold.”

Norman opened the door and the light spilled out. He took her hand to pull her inside, but Hannah couldn’t seem to make her feet move. She wasn’t sure why, but she really didn’t want to go inside Elf Headquarters. It was a lot like the reticence she’d experienced when Delores had asked her to go on a roller coaster with Andrea. That little excursion had ended in disaster and Hannah now knew that roller coasters and her stomach didn’t coexist well. “Maybe we should come back tomorrow,” she suggested, hoping he’d agree.

“Why? Larry should be back soon. He left the lights and the television on.”

“I know, but isn’t it rude to go in uninvited?” Hannah asked, trying to control her unreasonable urge to flee.

“The door was unlocked and it’s pretty obvious he left it open for us. That counts as an invitation in my book. Come on, Hannah. It’s silly to stand out here in the wind.”

“Right,” Hannah said, taking a deep breath for courage as she followed Norman inside.

There was a table just inside the doorway on her left. Hannah glanced at it and saw an envelope with her name written on the front. Larry had made out her check and receipt, just as he’d promised to do. She picked up the envelope, stuffed it in her purse, and followed Norman as he stepped deeper into the room.

Even though it was silly, she found herself holding her breath. There was something wrong. She was sure of it. And…there it was!

“What’s wrong?” Norman asked, turning to her in alarm as she gasped out loud in shock.

“The TV,” Hannah said, pointing at the huge flat screen hanging on the wall. Something was drastically wrong with Larry’s giant screen television set. Areas of the screen were glowing and other areas were dark. There were a couple of holes in the top part of the screen, but it continued to glow and fade almost like a light show and Hannah was mesmerized. And all the while the announcer continued to blather excitedly about the game they couldn’t see.

The holes in the screen looked a lot like bullet holes to her! Hannah’s mind went into overdrive. Had Larry gotten so angry with the outcome of the game that he’d shot his television set? Her gaze shifted to the coffee table in front of the couch. There were chips and a container of dip, along with a half-empty bottle of brandy and a snifter that had a bit of amber-colored liquid in the bottom. It was pretty evident that Larry had been drinking and that lent credence to her theory about the holes. “I don’t like this,” she said.

“I’m not exactly happy with it either,” Norman replied. “But I don’t think it’s all that unusual. My dad threw a glass at the television once when they preempted his favorite show for a political debate.”

As Norman spoke Hannah turned to survey the rest of the room. Nothing was moving, there was no sign of any other damage, and everything appeared to be perfectly…

“Hannah?” Norman turned to his suddenly silent companion. “What’s the matter?”

“There,” Hannah somehow managed to say and she pointed to the area on the other side of the door.

Norman turned to look. “Oh,” he said. “There’s Larry.”

“Yes.”

Norman moved a smidgen closer to the prone figure on the rug. “There’s a brandy bottle on the coffee table. He could be dead drunk.”

“Or he could simply be dead,” Hannah said, swallowing again in an attempt to lubricate her suddenly parched throat.

“I’d better feel for a pulse.”

Hannah stepped back. She wasn’t about to fight about which of them should feel for Larry’s pulse. She didn’t really want to touch Larry anyway. Instead, she averted her eyes as Norman knelt down next to Larry on the rug and that’s when she noticed her platter on the floor, along with some scattered crumbs that could only have come from her Minnesota Plum Pudding. Larry must have been carrying the platter when he answered the door.

“No pulse,” Norman said straightening up and turning to her. “He’s dead.”

“Dead,” Hannah repeated, not liking that diagnosis one bit.

“I’d better call Mike,” Norman told her, reaching in his pocket for his cell phone. “You can wait outside if you don’t want to stay here.”

“Alone?!” Hannah realized that her voice had turned into a frightened squeak and she regretted it. But she really didn’t want to stand outside when she wasn’t sure how Larry had died. “Was he…murdered?” she asked.

“I don’t know. I won’t know unless I turn him over and I’ll leave that to the authorities.”

“Right,” Hannah said, leaning against the wall. She took a deep breath, shut her eyes so she wouldn’t have to look at Larry, and listened to the sportscaster’s voice as he gave a play-by-play account of the basketball game. She didn’t know who was playing and she didn’t care, but if she concentrated on what he was saying, she could avoid listening to Norman as he called Mike and told him why he should come out to the Crazy Elf Christmas Tree Lot right away.