Strawberry Shortcake Murder (20 page)

“That must be exactly how her victims felt,” Andrea went on. “Even if they gave Lucy what she asked, they could never be sure that she wouldn’t turn around and expose their secrets anyway. I know they shouldn’t have done what they did, but it’s minor compared to what Lucy pulled.”

Hannah stared at Andrea in surprise. Her sister looked as grim as a judge preparing to hand down a death sentence. Andrea really had it in for Lucy, and it wasn’t like her to be this vindictive. “Does this have anything to do with the phone call you got yesterday morning?”

“That’s part of it.” Andrea’s grim look got a lot grimmer. “Lucy should have known better than to call me that early on my day off!”

Hannah stood behind the refreshment table and watched as Gail Hanson, Bonnie Surma, and Irma York headed off to the ladies’ room with bulging garment bags containing their costumes. She’d dropped Andrea off at home after they’d finished baking the cookies. They planned to meet at Hannah’s bakery later, just as soon as Hannah was through with her catering and Andrea had finished showing the farmhouse she’d scheduled for three.

The Cocoa Snaps had turned out just fine, despite Andrea’s “help”. When Hannah had run out of things for Andrea to write in the notebook, her sister had insisted on rolling dough balls for her. Most of Andrea’s had been lopsided, but Hannah hadn’t wanted to embarrass her by rerolling them, and she’d baked them without saying a word. Now, she stashed them on the bottom layer of the platter and piled three layers of perfectly round cookies on top. If the members of the Lake Eden Regency Romance Club were hungry enough to eat their way to the bottom layer, they’d just have to put up with Andrea’s misshapen efforts.

When the coffee was perking, both caf and decaf, and the water for tea was simmering, Hannah set out cups next to the urns and stood back to assess her work. She had cream, sugar, and artificial sweetener, as well as a small cut-glass bowl filled with lemon wedges for the ladies who took lemon with their tea. Everything was ready. Once the reading was over and the brief meeting had concluded, she could serve.

Hannah looked up and the sight that greeted her was almost enough to make her break out in laughter. Bonnie, Gail, and Irma had come back in costume, and they were a sight to behold.

Delores had told her a bit about the reading while Hannah had lugged in her supplies. There were only two main characters, a young miss who’d lost her memory in a carriage accident, and a captain on Wellington’s staff who claimed to be her fiancé. Bonnie, who had short dark hair and a slim figure, was playing the young miss. Gail, a full-figured woman with curves to spare, was playing her intended husband. Somehow, Hannah managed to keep a straight face as she stared at the odd pairing. If she’d been consulted about the casting, she would have reversed their roles. Gail was practically popping the buttons on the front of her red regimental jacket, and her white pants were straining at the seams. She’d stuffed her long blond hair up under a military-style cap that Hannah suspected was far from authentic for the period, but she’d forgotten to take off her diamond earrings.

Bonnie looked equally ridiculous in a sprigged muslin traveling gown with a high neck and bustle. The bodice of the dress had been cut for a bustier woman and drooped down in folds to her waist. She’d attempted to look more feminine by adding a straw hat decorated with streamers and a red-plastic bird, but the hat was too large and kept slipping down over one eye.

The scene was set in a carriage, and Hannah had to admit that they’d done that well. Two piano benches draped with green velvet served as the carriage seats, and a canopy of black material had been draped in an arch that rose around and above them to simulate the sides and top of the coach.

Irma York was in costume as well, and Delores had explained that she was their “tiger”, the boy who hung on to the back of the carriage and rode on the outside. Irma was dressed in a suit of livery. It was actually her son’s a Jordan High band uniform, but the illusion wasn’t bad. Delores had told her that Bonnie and Gail would speak the lines of dialogue and Irma would read the descriptive passages.

They were almost ready to begin, and Hannah glanced around for Lucy. She failed to spot her in the rows of chairs that had been arranged for the audience, but perhaps she was coming later.

Irma climbed up on a ladder so that her head appeared above the top of the black canopy. She looked a little nervous, and Hannah could understand why. The canopy was high, and Delores had once mentioned that Irma wasn’t comfortable with heights. Irma cleared her throat, then began.

“We’re doing a reading from A Secret Scandal by Kathryn Kirkwood.” Irma’s voice squeaked slightly. She was holding the book open with her left hand and clutching at the rail of the ladder with the other. “Captain Hargrove, played by Gail Hanson, has managed to locate his long-lost bridge-to-be. She’s Lady Sarah Atherton, played by Bonnie Surma. Lady Sarah is the victim of a carriage accident, and she’s lost her memory. Is she really Sarah Atherton? And is Captain Hargrove really her intended husband?”

Irma cleared her throat again and looked down at the book. She squinted slightly and began to read. “Sarah was silent as the carriage began to move. She raised her eyes to look at the captain, and his expression did not reassure her. He was gazing at her intently, almost as if her were searching for something. Why was he staring at her so?”

Bonnie took her cue and looked up at Gail. When she did, her hat slipped all the way to the back of her head. “Please do not stare at me so, Captain Hargrove.”

“My apologies,” Gail said, her voice as deep as she could make it.

Bonnie looked up again, taking the precaution of holding her hat. “You said you were taking me home, Captain. Where is home?”

“I had forgotten that you would not remember,” Gail responded, still trying for the deep voice. “I am carrying you to Hargrove Manor.”

Bonnie frowned, turning toward the audience so that they could see it. “But Hargrove Manor would be your home, not mine.”

“It is not my home either. Hargrove Manor belongs to my brother, the Duke of Ashford. Our wedding shall take place there.”

“And when will that be, Captain?”

Gail paused for dramatic effect, then she said, “We shall exchange our vows in less than a fortnight. The invitations have already been issued.”

“You would wed me when I cannot remember you?” Bonnie opened her mouth and put her hand to the side of her face in a gesture that Hannah assumed was designed to portray shock.

“Of course. I fail to see what difference it will make, so long as I remember you.”

“It makes a great difference to me! I shall not wed a stranger!”

Gail reared back to convey surprise, but she carried it a bit too far. The black cloth quivered as she poked it with her elbow, and she came close to overbalancing on the piano bench. “You would choose to disappoint our wedding guests?”

“Better them than me, Captain.” Bonnie turned to face the audience and gave a brave little smile. “Better them than me.”

Irma York brought her hands together in a signal for the audience to applaud. The audience took their cue, and there was a rousing ovation. As Hannah checked to make sure she had everything ready at the refreshment table, she wondered if people in Regency England had actually spoken in such a formal and stilted way. Perhaps it was all a hoax that had been initiated by her mother’s all-time favorite Regency Romance author, Georgette Heyer, and been perpetuate by every other author who had followed in her footsteps.

Bonnie rushed up to the refreshment table, still holding her hat. The bird had slipped. It was hanging by one foot, and its painted eyes looked startled. “Have you seen Lucy Richards?”

“No. You’re losing your bird, Bonnie.”

“That dumb bird! I glued it on three times.” Bonnie reached up and yanked it off. “She promised to be here to take pictures for the paper.”

“If you have a camera, I’ll take them.”

“You will? That’s nice of you, Hannah.” Bonnie looked very relieved. “Come up to the stage and we’ll do it right now. Did you like the reading?”

“It was very entertaining,” Hannah said the first thing that popped into her head, then realized that it was true. The reading had been so entertaining, she’d be chuckling about it for weeks.

COCOA SNAPS

DO NOT preheat oven yet—dough must chill before baking.

1 1/2 cups melted butter (3 sticks)

2 cups cocoa powder (unsweetened)

2 cups brown sugar

3 large eggs beaten (just whip them up in a glass with a fork)

4 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 cups flour (not sifted)

1/2 cup white sugar in a small bowl (for later)

Melt butter and mix in cocoa until it’s thoroughly blended. Add brown sugar. Let it cool slightly, then mix in beaten eggs. Add soda, salt, and vanilla and stir. Add flour and mix thoroughly. Chill dough in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. (Overnight is fine, too.)

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

Roll dough into walnut-sized balls with your hands. This dough may be sticky, so roll only enough for the cookies you plan to bake immediately, then return the bowl to the refrigerator. Roll the dough balls in the bowl of white sugar and place them on greased cookie sheets, 12 to a standard sheet. Flatten them with a spatula (or the heel of your hand if the health board’s not around).

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool on cookie sheets for a minute or two and then remove the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling. (If you leave them on the cookie sheet for too long, they’ll stick.)

Tracey says these taste like her favorite chocolate animal crackers, except better because she doesn’t have to pick them out from all the vanilla ones in the box.

When Hannah got back to the shop at four o’clock, she found Andrea waiting for her. “I thought you had a showing.”

“I did.” Andrea started to smile. “I sold it, Hannah. John and Wendy Rahn made an offer, and Mrs. Ehrenberg accepted it. John’s older brother owns the land next to it, and they’re going to farm the whole parcel together.”

Hannah patted Andrea on the shoulder. “Good for you!”

“Al said I was a genius for showing it to John and Wendy. And he told me that from now on, I can work my own hours. That means I’ll have even more time to help you. Do you have to bake more cookies, Hannah? I think I’ve got the hang of rolling those dough balls now.”

“Thanks, but the baking’s all done for today.” Hannah draped a towel over the box she’d carried in from her truck, so her sister wouldn’t notice that the only cookies left were the lopsided ones she’d made.

“How about Lucy? Did you get a chance to talk to her at the meeting?”

“She never showed up. Gail Hanson brought her camera, and I ended up taking the pictures.”

Andrea frowned. “I wonder where she is. Nobody’s seen her all day.”

“Bonnie Surma said this isn’t the first time that she’s flaked out on an assignment. Lucy was supposed to cover the Brownie Scout award ceremony last month. She never showed, and Bonnie had to ask one of the mothers to take pictures.”

“Then you think she’s just out chasing down a bigger story?”

“I don’t know what to think, but I don’t have the time to drive around town looking for her. We’ll just have to catch up with her at the bake-off tonight. If she’s alive and kicking, she’ll be there.”

Andrea shivered at Hannah’s choice of words. “I wish you hadn’t said that. I’ve got a real bad feeling about this.”

“Don’t borrow trouble,” Hannah advised. “We’ve spent the whole day chasing after Lucy and we should have been trying to help Danielle. Are you any good at talking to shrinks?”

Andrea’s eyebrows shot up. “You mean, like in counseling session?”

“No, on the phone. Danielle said that Boyd made an appointment with his shrink on Tuesday, right after he gave her that black eye. I need to find out if he kept it.”

“I can do that.” Andrea reached for the phone. “That’s Dr. Holland at the Holland Clinic in St. Paul?”

“Right. I’d like to find out what they talked about, but I don’t think Dr. Holland will tell us that. Shrinks don’t like to discuss their patients, even if they’re dead.”

“Leave it to me.” Andrea looked very confident as she punched out the number for directory assistance and asked for the number of the Holland Clinic.

Hannah listened as her sister got Dr. Holland on the phone. That took some doing because he was with a patient, but Andrea managed to convince the receptionist that her call was an emergency. She couldn’t tell much from Andrea’s side of the conversation. “I see,” and “Of course I understand,” weren’t very revealing.

“What did he say?” Hannah asked, after Andrea had hung up the phone.

“Not a whole lot. Boyd kept his appointment, but Dr. Holland said he couldn’t tell me what they discussed. He told me that Boyd arrived at two o’clock and he left the clinic at two-thirty.”

“That’s only thirty minutes.” Hannah was surprised. “Don’t most counseling sessions last an hour?”

“Fifty minutes. I asked Dr. Holland about that. He said that Boyd cut his session short because he had to drive back to Lake Eden for a parent-teacher conference after school.”

“Danielle didn’t mention that.” Hannah pushed the steno pad over to Andrea. “Check out our notes.”

Andrea paged through it to find the notes she’d taken. “Here it is. Danielle said Boyd drove to St. Paul to see Dr. Holland, and he didn’t get home until after six that night.”

“Danielle didn’t know he’d gone back to the school.” Hannah thought about that for a moment, then reached for the phone. “I’d better call Charlotte Roscoe before she leaves for the day. She probably keeps a record of parent-teacher conferences, and she can tell us who was at the meeting.”