Chocolate Cream Pie Murder (Hannah Swensen #24)(81)

Crumb Topping:



Mix the sugar and the flour in a small bowl. Add the butter and cut it in until it’s crumbly. (You can also do this in a food processor with chilled butter and the steel blade by processing in an on-and-off motion.)



Hannah’s Note: If your topping isn’t crumbly enough, just put it in a plastic bag and stick it in the freezer of your refrigerator for 5 minutes or so. That should be enough to make it crumble in your fingers.



Fill the remaining space in the muffin cups with the crumb topping. Then bake the muffins in a 375 degree F. oven for 25 to 30 minutes. (The tea bread should bake about 10 minutes longer than the muffins.)



When your muffins are baked, set the muffin pan on a wire rack to cool for at least 30 minutes. (The muffins need to cool in the pan for easy removal.) Then just tip them out of the cups and enjoy.



These are wonderful when they’re slightly warm, but they’re also good cold.



Yield: 12 muffins and perhaps a tea bread.





Chapter Twenty-three


Once they got to The Cookie Jar, Michelle went up front to the coffee shop to help Lisa, and Hannah stayed in the kitchen. She knew what would be happening today, and she dreaded it. Everyone would come in to hear about Ross. They’d want to hear about Moishe and how Norman had found him, and they’d want to know how she had reacted after she’d discovered that the man she’d thought was her husband had been murdered.

Hannah didn’t want to relive the events of the previous evening, but her customers would expect Lisa to tell the story of the murder. And since Lisa hadn’t been there, it was up to Hannah to set the scene for her.

Even though it was the last thing in the world that she wanted to do, Hannah walked to the swinging door that led to the coffee shop, and pushed it open far enough to see that Lisa was behind the counter, arranging the large glass jars they used to display the day’s cookie offerings.

“Michelle?” Hannah addressed her youngest sister over her shoulder. “Will you take over out here for a few minutes? I need to speak to Lisa.”

“No problem,” Michelle answered. “I don’t have to leave for school for another hour.”

“Thanks! Lisa? I need to see you in the kitchen for a couple of minutes.”

“I’ll be right there,” Lisa promised, picking up one of the empty jars. “Do you want to sell the Molasses Crackles this morning? Or would you prefer to substitute something else?”

“The Molasses Crackles will do just fine,” Hannah told her, and then she retreated to the kitchen.

Since she knew exactly what she wanted to bake, it only took Hannah a couple of minutes to gather ingredients and put them next to the industrial-size stand mixer on the counter. By the time she’d arranged them in the order she’d need them, Lisa came in from the coffee shop.

Hannah gestured toward the work station. “Sit down and I’ll get you a cup of coffee.”

“I’m so sorry about what happened last night, Hannah,” Lisa said when Hannah delivered coffee for both of them and sat down on a stool. “If you don’t feel like staying and working today, just leave. Aunt Nancy and I can handle anything that comes up. And if we get really busy, all I have to do is call Marge and she’ll come right over.”

“Thanks, Lisa, but I think I’ll be all right if I stay in the kitchen and bake. We’re going to be very busy today. And I certainly won’t listen to the story you’re going to tell about the murder.”

“But, Hannah!” Lisa looked shocked. “You don’t want me to tell this story, do you?”

“Yes, I think you should. I wasn’t there when Mike and Lonnie found the body so you can’t tell that part, but you can begin when Norman and I got to the condo complex.”

“But how can I tell our customers about that if I don’t know what happened?”

“I’m going to tell you what happened right now.”

“But do you really want to talk about it?”

“Of course I don’t, but I’ve always told you exactly what happened when I found a murder victim. This time I didn’t find Ross first, but I was there later and I can describe the murder scene for you.”

“You mean you actually saw him?”

“Oh, yes. Everyone tried to keep me back, but I barged past them.”

Lisa shivered. “It must have been awful!”

“It was.”

“Are you absolutely sure you want to tell me about it?” Lisa asked, and when Hannah nodded, she asked another question. “Do you think it might help you to talk about it?”

“Maybe,” Hannah said, even though she really didn’t believe that describing what she’d found in her master bedroom would help her in the slightest.

“Okay then.” Lisa gave a little sigh. “What happened when you got home to the condo, Hannah?”

With Lisa listening attentively, Hannah described how Norman had found Moishe under the stairs and how frightened he’d been, how Delores had tried to keep her from going up the stairs, and what she’d found when she’d pushed past everyone who wanted to stop her. That was when a completely unexpected event happened.

“What is it?” Lisa asked, noticing the startled expression on Hannah’s face.