Chocolate Cream Pie Murder (Hannah Swensen #24)(52)

Doug took a big bite of Hannah’s Molasses Walnut Drop Cookies and smiled. “They’re great, Hannah. Do you want me to go out and ask Mike if he wants some coffee and cookies?”

“Don’t bother, Doug. Mike already ate two platefuls of cookies and drank most of a pot of coffee at The Cookie Jar earlier this morning.”

“Okay then. I suppose you’re wondering why I wanted to see you privately.”

“Yes, I am,” Hannah replied.

“Let me ask you a question, Hannah. Did you know that KCOW-TV bought the rights to show Crisis in Cherrywood at their film festival?”

Hannah shook her head. “I didn’t know that, but I guess it makes sense.”

“Well, they did. And Ross signed a direct deposit slip when he started working at KCOW-TV.”

Hannah wasn’t sure where Doug was going with this conversation, but she nodded. “All right. I’m with you so far, Doug.”

“The check from KCOW-TV for fifty thousand dollars just came into the bank and it was automatically deposited into Ross’s business account.”

“I understand. But what does that have to do with me?”

“You’re a co-signer on all of Ross’s accounts, including his business account. I thought you should know that several additional sums had been deposited since the last bank statement.”

“Thanks for telling me, but I still don’t know what that has to do with me.”

“It means that you could withdraw any amount you want right now from that account or from any of his other accounts. They now have a combined total over a million dollars.”

“Oh!” Hannah gulped. “That’s . . . a lot of money!”

“Yes, it is. Would you like to make a withdrawal, Hannah?”

“I . . . no. No, I wouldn’t.”

A smile spread over Doug’s face. “That’s because you’re an honest person, Hannah. But you’d probably get even more than that in damages if you sued Ross for bigamy.”

It took Hannah another moment to frame what she wanted to say. “You’re probably right, Doug. And I do appreciate the fact that you told me all this. But . . . no. That’s not my money. I didn’t earn it and . . . I don’t want to feel beholden to Ross in any way. I just want to put this behind me and do my best to forget that he was ever a part of my life!”





MOLASSES WALNUT DROP COOKIES

DO NOT preheat the oven yet. This dough must chill before baking.



1 and ? cups melted butter (3 sticks, 12 ounces, ? pound)

2 cups white (granulated) sugar ? cup molasses (I used Grandma’s Molasses)

2 beaten eggs (just whip them up in a glass with a fork)

2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons cinnamon ? teaspoon nutmeg (freshly ground is best)

? teaspoon cardamom (if you don’t have it, you can substitute more cinnamon for the cardamom)

4 and ? cups flour (don’t sift it—pack it down in the cup when you measure it)

? cup finely chopped walnuts





Walnut halves to place on top of the cookies before baking if you DO NOT plan to glaze them with Brown Powdered Sugar Glaze. (Recipe follows.) If you DO plan to glaze your cookies, wait until you glaze them to place the walnut halves on top of your cookies.



Melt the butter in a large microwave-safe bowl. Heat it on HIGH for 1 minute. Leave the bowl in the microwave for another minute and then check the butter after to see it’s melted. If it’s not, give it more time, in 20-second increments, until it is.



Take the bowl out of the microwave and mix in the white sugar. Mix until it’s all combined.



Add the molasses to the bowl and mix it in. Mix until it’s thoroughly incorporated.



Let the butter, sugar, and molasses mixture sit on the counter while you get out the eggs.



When the mixture in the bowl is not so hot it’ll cook the eggs, add them to the large bowl and stir them in thoroughly. Be sure to mix until they’re well combined.



Hannah’s 1st Note: This is a recipe that you can stir by hand if you wish, but it’s a lot easier if you use an electric mixer.



Sprinkle in the baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom. Mix until all of the ingredients are well combined.



Add the flour in one-cup increments, mixing after each addition.



Hannah’s 2nd Note: If you coat the inside of your measuring cup with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray before you measure the half-cup of molasses, it will slide right out of the measuring cup into your mixing bowl.



Hannah’s 3rd Note: Once you add the flour, your cookie dough will be very stiff. Don’t worry. This is exactly as it should be.



Mix in the chopped walnuts. If this is too difficult with a spoon, simply add the walnuts to the top of your mixing bowl and knead them in as you would if you were making bread.



Once the walnuts have been added and are incorporated into the cookie dough, cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 2 hours. (Overnight is even better.)



When you’re ready to bake, take the cookie dough out of the refrigerator and let it sit, still covered with the plastic wrap, on your kitchen counter. It will need to warm just a bit so that you can work with it.