Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (Hannah Swensen #1)(26)

As Hannah unlocked her back door, she decided she’d have a chat with Claire. Bill or one of the other deputies must have already interviewed her, but it couldn’t hurt to ask a few more questions. Hannah had the perfect excuse to talk to Claire. Just as soon as she mixed up her cookie dough, she’d dash next door and take a look at the cocktail dress that Claire had seemed so eager to sell to her.

She switched on the lights, fired up the ovens, and headed for the sink. After she’d slipped on her paper cap and given her hands a thorough scrub, Hannah reached for the book of laminated recipes that hung on a hook by the sink. She was catering the Lake Eden Regency Romance Club meeting at four this afternoon and she needed to make a batch of Regency Ginger Crisps.

Hannah read through the recipe before she began to work. She also used an erasable felt-tipped marker to check off the ingredients as she added them to the bowl. It was possible to leave out a critical ingredient when she was distracted, and Hannah was definitely distracted. She couldn’t stop thinking about Ron’s murder and the clues she’d gathered in the past twenty-four hours. The way she saw it, they had two suspects: Coach Watson and the unidentified bouncer at Twin Pines. Both of them had possible motives to kill Ron.

Coach Watson might have believed that Danielle was having an affair with Ron, and jealousy was a powerful motive for murder. And if Ron had landed the “few good punches” that Danielle had told her about, the bouncer could have decided to follow Ron and take his revenge.

As Hannah melted, measured and mixed, she thought about the first of their suspects. She had to check out Coach Watson’s alibi, and the Lake Eden Regency Romance Club was a good place to start. Coach Watson’s sister, Maryann, would be at the meeting, and Hannah could pump her for information.

Identifying their second suspect would take a little work. Hannah planned to drive out to Twin Pines tonight and nose around. She’d find out which bouncer had fought with Ron and whether he had an alibi for the time of Ron’s murder.

It was seven twenty-five by the time Hannah had finished her early-morning work. In addition to Regency Ginger Crisps, she’d also mixed up two batches of Chocolate Chip Crunches, three batches of Pecan Chews, and one batch of a recipe that Lisa had developed called White Chocolate Supremes.

“Hi, Hannah,” Lisa called out cheerfully as she breezed through the back door at precisely seven-thirty. She hung up her parka, tucked her hair inside a paper cap, and headed for the sink to wash her hands. “What do you want me to do first?”

Hannah stashed the last bowl of dough in the walk-in cooler and joined Lisa at the sink. “Would you mind putting on the coffee, Lisa? I’ve got a few phone calls to make. I mixed up a batch of your White Chocolate Supremes and you can bake them first. We’ll try them out on the regulars today. And see what your green thumb can do with that African violet on the counter. I don’t want to do jail time for houseplant abuse.”

“No problem. I’ll set up the tables and bring you a mug of coffee when it’s ready.”

When Lisa had left, Hannah picked up the phone and punched out Doc Bennett’s number, listening to it ring.

“Doc Bennett.”

Doc sounded curt and Hannah glanced at the clock. Perhaps seven forty-five was a bit early to call a semiretired dentist. “Hi, Doc. This is Hannah Swensen over at The Cookie Jar.”

“Hello, Hannah. Still brushing the way I taught you?”

“You bet!” Hannah was relieved. Doc sounded a lot friendlier now.

“Do you have a dental emergency, Hannah?”

“No, everything’s fine.” Hannah hadn’t been able to come up with a roundabout way to ask her question, so she just blurted it out. “I was wondering whether you saw Ron LaSalle yesterday morning as a patient.”

“My office wasn’t open, Hannah. I took the day off and drove up to Little Falls to see my sister. You’d better check with Norman Rhodes. I hear he’s been coming in at the crack of dawn most mornings and taking walk-ins without appointments.”

“Thanks, Doc. I’ll do that. And drop in for a cookie one of these days.”

Hannah hung up the phone and sighed. Things never worked out the way she wanted. Now she’d have to call Norman.

The smell of coffee from the shop was enticing, and Hannah walked in to fill a mug. It hadn’t finished perking, but it was hot and she sipped it gratefully. She shouldn’t have to call the man her mother had picked out for her without a full load of caffeine to sustain her.

“The coffee’s not ready yet, Hannah.” Lisa turned to give her a curious glance.

“That’s okay.” Hannah took another sip of the coffee-flavored water. Then she thought about Twin Pines and how seldom Lisa got out of the house. “Can you get someone to sit with your father tonight? I’m driving out to Twin Pines and I’ll treat you to supper if you want to come along.”

“I’d love to. The neighbors like to sit with Dad, now that we bought that big-screen TV. Why are you going out to the Indian casino?”

Hannah remembered Bill’s caution about not telling anyone that she was doing legwork for him. “I’ve never been there and I’ve always wanted to see the place.”

“Me too. Herb Beeseman says they have great ribs.”

“Then we’ll have the ribs. And we’ll take all the quarters in the cash register and feed the slots.”