Carrot Cake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #10)(3)

There was a story here, and both Hannah and Norman realized it. Like a good, attentive audience, they remained silent and waited for Marge to explain.

“Gus left Lake Eden over thirty years ago, and no one’s heard from him since. I hired a private detective to try to find him when my mother got sick, but he said Gus probably changed his name, and unless he knew what it was, he couldn’t get a lead on him.”

“Did you try a search on the Internet?” Norman asked.

“Herb did. There are some other August Hermans, but not my brother, Gus.”

“He didn’t tell anyone where he was going?” Hannah couldn’t help but ask.

Marge shook her head. “He just disappeared in the middle of the night. He was staying with my folks at the time. All he took was a change of clothes and some money from the teapot on the kitchen counter.” Marge must have seen their puzzled looks, because she went on to explain. “The teapot was a gift from one of my great aunts, the ugliest thing you ever saw! None of us drank tea, so we used it for the family bank when we were all growing up. We knew we could take money out when we needed it, and pay it back later, when we could.”

“How much money did your brother take?” Hannah was curious.

“We were never really sure, but my father didn’t think it was over a hundred dollars. Nobody ever bothered to count it. They just remembered how much they took so they could put it back.”

Hannah did some fast figuring. “Bus tickets weren’t that expensive back then,” she said. “Your brother could have gone all the way to the west coast. Or to the east coast, for that matter.”

“And he would have had seed money when he got there,” Marge informed her. “I know my sister Patsy lent him some money about a week before he left town, and he borrowed some from me, too.”

“Then his problem wasn’t lack of money.”

“No. He was living with Mom and Dad, so he didn’t have to pay for rent, or food, or anything like that. I was living there, too. I had a job, but I didn’t leave home until the next summer, when I got married.”

“Was there any indication that he was going to leave?” Norman asked. “I mean, did he act restless or anything like that?”

“Not really. To this day, I don’t know why he took off like that. I’ve been thinking about it ever since Lisa and Herb first mentioned having a family reunion, and I couldn’t help hoping that he’d finally come home.”

There was a moment of silence. Neither Hannah nor Norman was quite sure what to say. Then there was a honk from the street as a car drove up, a shiny new red car with a classic hood ornament.

“Nice car!” Norman exclaimed, eyeing the new Jaguar with obvious admiration. Then he turned to Marge. “One of your relatives?”

Marge gave a little laugh. “That’s unlikely. As far as I know, we don’t have any family that rich. Can you see who’s driving?”

“It’s a guy,” Hannah told her. “Come on. Let’s walk over to see who it is.”

By the time they made their way to the street, the Jaguar was surrounded by admirers. They walked around to the street side, and Marge’s eyes widened as she saw that her son was sitting in the passenger seat. “Herb?” she gasped. “What are you doing in there?”

“Hi, Mom. I took a quick run by the house to make sure no more relatives came in while we were at church, and look who I found waiting for us!”

Herb leaned back so that Marge could see the driver. “He said you probably won’t recognize him, since it’s been a really long time.”

“Is it…?” Hannah breathed, hardly daring to ask if Marge’s wish had come true.

“Yes!” Marge was clearly ecstatic as she ran around the car to hug her brother through the open window. “Oh, Gus! I’m so glad you came home at last!”

VIKING COOKIES

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

2 cups butter (4 sticks—melted)

2 cups brown sugar

2 cups white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

4 eggs—beaten

2 teaspoons vanilla

? teaspoon cinnamon

? teaspoon cardamom (nutmeg will also work, but cardamom is better)

4 ? cups flour

3 cups white chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli’s)***

3 cups rolled oats (uncooked oatmeal—I used Quaker’s Quick Oatmeal)

*** Make sure you use real white chocolate chips, not vanilla chips. The real ones have cocoa listed in the ingredients. If you can’t find them in your market, look for a block of white chocolate, one pound or a bit over, and cut it up in small pieces with a knife.

Melt the butter in a large microwave-safe bowl, or on the stove in a small saucepan. (It should melt in about 3 minutes in the microwave on HIGH.) Set it on the counter and let it cool to room temperature.

When the butter is cool, mix in the white sugar and the brown sugar.

Add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, eggs, vanilla, and spices. Make sure it’s all mixed in thoroughly.

Add the flour in half-cup increments, mixing after each addition. Then add the white chocolate chips (or pieces of white chocolate if you cut up a block) and stir thoroughly.

Add the oatmeal and mix. The dough will be quite stiff.