Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (Hannah Swensen #1)(11)

“They’re made out of lemonade so they won’t dilute it when they melt. I do the same thing with any punch I make.” Hannah finished transferring the lemonade and floated the slices of lemon on the top. As she stepped back to admire the effect, she noticed that Edna was frowning. “Do you think it needs more lemon slices?”

“No. It looks real professional. I was just thinking about Ron.”

“You and everybody else. Come on, Edna. I’ve got to unpack the cookies.”

Edna followed her back to the kitchen and she gasped when Hannah lifted the lid on the box. “Just look at that! Those are real pretty, Hannah.”

“I think so, too.” Hannah smiled as she arranged the cookies on a tray. Lisa had piped on yellow and blue frosting in the shape of the Boy Scout logo. “Lisa Herman did the decorations. She’s getting to be an expert with the pastry bag.”

“Lisa’s real talented. I swear that girl could do anything she put her mind to. It’s just a pity she had to give up college to take care of her father.”

“I know. Her older brothers and sisters wanted to put him in a nursing home, but Lisa didn’t think that was right.” Hannah handed Edna a box with small blue paper plates, gold napkins, and blue plastic cups. “You take this. I’ll bring the cookies.”

It didn’t take long to arrange the plates, cups, and napkins on the table. Once everything was done, they went back into the kitchen for a cup of coffee. They were sitting at the square wooden table in the corner of the kitchen, waiting for the Scouts to arrive, when Edna gave another long sigh. “It’s just such a pity, that’s all.”

“You mean about Ron?”

“Yes. That poor boy was running himself ragged with those routes of his. He was putting in a sixty-hour week and Max doesn’t pay overtime. It was getting to him.”

“Did Ron tell you that?”

Edna shook her head. “Betty Jackson did. She was there when Ron asked Max for an assistant. That was over six months ago, but Max was too cheap to put anyone else on the payroll.”

Hannah knew. Max Turner had the reputation for pinching a penny until it screamed in pain. For someone who was rumored to have money to burn, he certainly didn’t live the part. Max drove a new car, but that was his only luxury. He still lived in his parents’ old house in back of the Cozy Cow Dairy. He’d fixed it up some, but that had been necessary. It would have fallen down around his ears if he hadn’t.

“I just think it’s a shame that Ron had to die on the day that he finally got his assistant.”

“Ron had an assistant?” Hannah turned to look at Edna in surprise. “How do you know that?”

“I keep out a jar of instant coffee for Ron. He always liked something to warm him up after he came out of the cooler. There were two coffee cups on the counter when I came in this morning so I figured he finally got his assistant. But I never thought that Max would hire a woman!”

Hannah felt her adrenaline start to pump. Ron’s new assistant might have witnessed his murder. “You’re sure that Ron’s assistant was a woman?”

“There was lipstick on the cup. She must have been young because it was bright pink and that color looks terrible on someone our age.”

Hannah bristled at being lumped in a category with a woman who was at least twenty years older than she was. She had half a notion to remind Edna of that, but it might be counterproductive. “Did you wash the cups, Edna?”

“Nope. I threw them in the trash.”

“You threw them in the trash?”

Edna laughed at Hannah’s astonished expression. “They were the disposable kind.”

“They could be evidence,” Hannah informed her, and Edna’s laugh died a quick death. “Bill’s in charge of the investigation and he’ll need to see them.”

Hannah turned and headed for the wastebasket by the sink, but before she could start to rummage inside, Edna stopped her. “Mr. Hodges emptied my trash right after lunch. I’m really sorry, Hannah. I never would have thrown them away if I’d known that they were important.”

Hannah realized she’d been abrupt. “That’s okay. Just tell me what Mr. Hodges does with the trash.”

“He throws it all in that big orange Dumpster in the parking lot. Somebody’s going to have to dig through it before it gets hauled away.”

“What time does that happen?”

“Around five.”

Hannah muttered a curse under her breath. She couldn’t stand by and let the trash truck haul away important evidence. She’d try to reach Bill, but if he wasn’t here by the time the awards banquet was over, she’d have to go through the trash bags herself.



“Great job, Hannah!” Gil Surma, the Lake Eden scoutmaster and Jordan High counselor, gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder. “It’s a good thing you brought extra cookies. I never thought that eighteen boys could eat seven dozen.”

“That’s less than five apiece and they’re growing boys. I just figured that since I was catering a Boy Scout banquet, I’d better live up to the Boy Scout motto.”

It took Gil a minute. As Hannah watched, the corners of Gil’s eyes began to crinkle and he chuckled. “You mean, ‘Be Prepared’? That’s very clever.”