Carrot Cake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #10)(53)

“What are they?”

“Crime scene photos. Bill brought them home with him last night, and I scanned them into the computer after he went to bed. I printed them out this morning as soon as he left for work.”

“Thanks, Andrea. These will help me a lot.” Hannah didn’t mention that Mike had offered to give her a set of the crime scene photos. “Did you look at them?”

“No. You know I don’t like gory things. I figured I’d let you look first, and you could show me the ones that aren’t too awful.”

Michelle began to frown. “Wait a second. How did you scan the photos and print them out without looking at them?”

“It was easy. They go face down on the scanner, so that was no problem. And then, when I brought them up on the screen to print them out this morning, I just peeked through my fingers, clicked on them, and sent them to the printer.”

“But they came out face-up, didn’t they?” Hannah questioned her. And then, when both of her sisters turned to look at her in surprise, she asked, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You’ve been using your computer!” Andrea exclaimed.

“Of course I’ve been using my computer. Norman’s been giving me lessons. Mother’s using a computer, for crying out loud! I don’t want to be the only holdout in the family.”

“It’s a matter of pride,” Michelle explained to Andrea.

“No, it’s actually a matter of necessity,” Hannah countered. “I got tired of asking Norman to look up things on the Internet for me.”

Andrea gave a smile of approval. “Well, good for you,” she said. “And speaking of good, those casseroles you put in the oven are starting to smell great. What are they called again?”

“Wanmansita Casseroles. It’s Gary Hayes’s recipe. You remember Gary and Sally, don’t you? They used to live right across the street from Mother.”

“Sally with the apron collection!” Michelle identified her. “You used to take me over there, and she’d let me look at her aprons while you talked about recipes and stuff.”

“That’s right.”

“Wait a second.” Andrea began to frown. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“Sure it does. I used to get home from school early because I had study hall last period. And I’d take Michelle over to Sally’s with me.”

“Not that. I remember that you went over there. It’s just that Sally and Gary lived right here in Lake Eden. And if they lived here, why does Gary call it a casserole?”

For a moment Hannah was confused, but then she realized what her sister was asking. “You mean, the word casserole, instead of the word hotdish?”

“Yes. Everybody in Lake Eden says hotdish. What’s the difference, anyway?”

“I’m not positive, but I don’t think there’s any difference between a casserole and a hotdish. It’s probably another example of regional dialogue,” Hannah did her best to explain.

“You mean like pop and soda?” Michelle asked.

“Exactly right. Sally said it was an old recipe from Gary’s family, and I think they came from Oklahoma. They must call a hotdish a casserole there. Or it got passed on to another relative who changed the word hotdish to casserole.”

Andrea gave a big smile. “That explains the rest of the name, then. There are a lot of American Indians in Oklahoma, and Wanmansita is probably an American Indian word. I should ask Jon Walker.”

Hannah shook her head. “Jon’s Chippewa, and I don’t believe they got as far west as Oklahoma.”

“Well, what American Indian tribe would it be?”

“It depends on when the recipe was named,” Michelle told her. “And there are lots of Indian tribes in Oklahoma. They’ve got the Delaware, Arapaho, Miami, Iowa, Shawnee, Caw, Creek, Chickasaw, Cheyenne, Cherokee, Witchita, Patawatomi, Peoria, and Osage, plus a couple of others I can’t remember.”

Andrea looked impressed. “How do you know all that?”

“I took a course in Indian Studies last fall, and it was taught by a visiting professor from O.S.U. The names were so intriguing, I remember them. And besides, there’s a mnemonic. It’s Donna Asked Mom In Secret, Can Wally Play Outside? The first letter of each word stands for the first letter of an Indian tribe.”

“But you named more C’s than that!”

Michelle laughed. “You’re right. You have to remember that there are four C’s and two P’s. It’s not as easy as the word HOMES for the Great Lakes.”

“Or Roy G. Biv for the colors of the spectrum.” Hannah added.

“Or Mother Very Eagerly Made Jelly Sandwiches Under No Protest.”

“The planets,” Michelle said. “I never could remember them without that.”

“But now you’ll have to, since Protest is gone,” Hannah reminded her.

“Pluto.” Michelle gave a little sigh. “I forgot all about Pluto.”

“What about Pluto?” Andrea asked.

“It’s not a full planet anymore. It’s been downgraded to a dwarf.”

“Oh, no!” Andrea looked horrified.

“What’s the matter?” Hannah asked her. “You look as if you just lost your best friend.”