Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (Hannah Swensen #1)(98)

Hannah turned to stare at him. She thought he was joking, but she wasn’t completely sure. Then she saw the corner on his mouth twitch slightly and she knew he was pulling her leg. “I’ve never thought of it from that perspective before. And it seems we’re in the same boat.”

“We are?”

“If everyone ate exactly what they should and never treated themselves to sinful desserts, I’d be out of business, too!”





Chapter Three




Hannah stood staring at the back door of her building for a moment and then she sighed. “I wonder what she’ll do when we come in.”

“She’ll run.”

“You think?”

“I’m positive. From what you said, she sounds like an intelligent girl. She knows it’s illegal to break into a locked store.”

“But she only broke in because it was cold outside.”

“I know.”

“And she tried to pay me for staying overnight by making candy and cleaning my kitchen.”

“That’s true, but she still broke in twice that you know of.”

“Once,” Hannah corrected him.

“But the lights in the window are on. Doesn’t that mean she’s here tonight?”

“Oh, she’s here. But I gave her tacit permission to stay.”

“You left her a note?”

“No, I left her a sandwich and a plate of cookies. I wouldn’t have done that if I didn’t want her in my shop.”

“All right. Let’s say she figured out that the sandwich and the cookies were for her and she ate them. And she’s all bedded down inside for the night. I still think she’ll run when you come in.”

Hannah thought about that. Norman could be right. Someone desperate enough to break into a shop and sleep on the floor might think the sandwich and cookies were a trap to catch her. “So do you think that I ought to just leave her alone?”

“Absolutely not. For all you know she’s underage and her family is worried sick about her. What we should do is talk to her, find out her story and see if we can do something to help.”

“You said we,” Hannah pointed out. “Does that mean you want to get involved?”

“I’m already involved. I got involved when I agreed to drive you to the shop. There may be something I can do to help her. For instance…what if she has a crippling overbite?”

Hannah burst out laughing and immediately clamped a gloved hand over her mouth. They had to be quiet, and that was difficult when Norman was so funny. She wanted to reach out and give him a hug, but she resisted the impulse. Although she didn’t think he’d misinterpret it, she couldn’t be a hundred percent sure. “I know we should talk to her,” she told him, “but what if you’re right and the minute she sees us, she bolts?”

“That’s where I come in. You go in the back door and I’ll walk around to the front. If she takes one look at you and tries to run out the front, I’ll nab her and bring her back.”

“Okay,” Hannah agreed, giving in to her impulse and hugging Norman anyway. He really was a nice guy. “I’m ready if you are.”

All was quiet as they climbed out of Norman’s sedan. They closed the doors silently and then they headed for the back door of The Cookie Jar.

“Wait for a minute before you go in,” Norman whispered. “I’ll give a low whistle when I get to the front of the building.”

“How about a bird song? That’s what the Indians used to do, at least in the movies.”

“The only bird call I know is the Minnesota state bird.”

“The loon?” Hannah was so surprised, she almost forgot to whisper. “Why did you learn that?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“Yes, I do. Why?”

Norman looked a little embarrassed. “So I could do it at parties when I was in dental school, but there’s no way I’m going to do it now. It sounds like an insane woman laughing, and I’d probably scare both of you to death. Just listen for my whistle, okay?”

“Okay.” Hannah took up her position at the back door and waited. It seemed to take forever for Norman to get around to the front of the building, but at last she heard his signal. She unlocked the back door, stepped in quietly, and threw the deadbolt from the inside. It would take her nocturnal visitor precious seconds to figure out the old-fashioned lock and that would give Hannah time to catch her if she tried to leave the back way.

Hannah tiptoed through her silent kitchen, checking every nook and cranny. No one was hiding in any of the corners, or in the pantry. The bathroom was deserted, but someone had used the shower within the last few hours. There were still a few beads of water on the walls of the enclosure, and the towels were damp to the touch. She came out the door and headed for the front. There was only one place left to check, and that was the coffee shop.

Careful not to make a sound, Hannah pushed open the swinging door to the coffee shop. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the front window and the lights that were on for the second night in a row. Her elfin visitor was here. Now all she had to do was find her.

Hannah moved closer as she noticed a bulky pile of bedding that hadn’t been there when she’d closed up her shop. It was a sleeping bag stretched out under the lights in the window. Hannah was reminded of all those times as a child when she’d fallen asleep under the tree, half-listening to the adults talking, comforted by the twinkling lights and familiar ornaments, and knowing that Christmas was only a week or two away.