Chocolate Cream Pie Murder (Hannah Swensen #24)(90)

Hannah’s 4th Note: Your pan of Butterscotch Chocolate Bar Cookies will smell so delicious, you’ll be tempted to cut it into squares and eat one immediately. Resist that urge! The bubbly hot butterscotch topping will burn your mouth.



After 5 minutes of cooling time, use potholders to carry the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.



Hannah’s 5th Note: When I bake these bar cookies at home in the winter, I place a wire rack out on the little table on my condo balcony and carry the pan out there. The Butterscotch Chocolate Bar Cookies cool quite fast when exposed to a Minnesota winter.



When your Butterscotch Chocolate Bar Cookies are completely cool, cut them into brownie-size pieces, place them on a pretty plate, and serve them to your guests.



Yield: A cake pan full of yummy brownie-sized treats that everyone will love. Serve with icy-cold glasses of milk, mugs of hot chocolate, or cups of strong, hot coffee.



Hannah’s 6th Note: These are Doc Knight’s favorite bar cookies.





Chapter Twenty-five


Hannah was melting semi-sweet chocolate chips in a saucepan on the stove when Aunt Nancy came in from the coffee shop. “What are you making, Hannah?” she asked.

“Chocolate-Covered Peanut Butter Candy. I thought we could offer it for sale on Valentine’s Day.”

“Good idea! If it’s okay with you, Hannah, Lisa and I are going to leave soon. We already locked the front door and we’re almost done with the cleanup in the coffee shop.”

Hannah glanced up at the clock and was surprised to see that it was after five-thirty. “Go ahead. I’m just waiting for Norman to come back and then I’ll leave, too.”

After Aunt Nancy went back in the coffee shop, Hannah realized that the chocolate she’d been stirring was bubbling. She pulled it off the heat, set it on a pot holder on the stainless-steel work station, and waited for it to cool a bit. If she dipped the refrigerated peanut butter balls in the hot melted chocolate now, they could slide off the food picks before she could take them out of the chocolate and transfer them to the cookie sheet she’d covered with wax paper.

Hannah went to the coffeepot, poured herself one last cup, and sat down on a stool at the work station. She took one sip of coffee, realized that she didn’t really want it and her stomach was upset again, and got up to empty her cup at the sink. She was just wondering if she should eat a soda cracker to try to settle her stomach when Lisa and Aunt Nancy came into the kitchen.

“Unless you have something else you want us to do, we’re leaving now,” Lisa told her. “Would you like to leave a note for Norman on the door and come with us? I can drop you off at your mother’s condo.”

“No, Norman will be here in fifteen minutes or so and . . .” Hannah stopped speaking and listened. “Is that someone at the front door?”

“I’ll go see,” Lisa said, heading back into the coffee shop. Hannah heard her say something to whoever was out there and a moment later, Lisa came back into the kitchen. “Tom Larchmont is out there. He says the heater went out on his rental car and he’s freezing. He wants to know if we still have the coffee on.”

Hannah glanced over at the kitchen coffeepot. “Let him in and bring him back here, Lisa. I’ve got half a pot left.”

A moment later, Tom came through the swinging door with Lisa. “Hi, Hannah,” he greeted her. “Did Lisa tell you that I’m freezing?”

“She did.” Hannah gestured toward one of the stools at the work station. “Sit down, Tom. I’ll get you a cup of hot coffee from the kitchen pot. I’m glad you came in before I left.”

“Oh?” Tom looked curious. “Why’s that?”

“Because I want you to take some candy out to the Lake Eden Inn for Lynne and now I can give it to you.”

“I should get my coat and hat. I left them on the rack by the front door.”

“That’s okay. You can get them right before you leave. If you’re parked in front, I’ll let you out that way.”

“That’s where I’m parked. Thanks, Hannah.” Tom cupped his hands around the hot mug of coffee that she’d set in front of him. “I’m chilled to the bone.”

“Do you want us to help you with the candy?” Aunt Nancy asked Hannah.

Hannah shook her head. “You two go ahead. I can do it once Tom warms up and is ready to leave. Go home and I’ll see you both in the morning.”

“How about the front door?” Lisa asked Hannah. “Do you want me to lock it?”

Hannah shook her head. “You can leave it open. I’ll lock it when Tom leaves.”

Once Lisa and Aunt Nancy had left, Hannah sat down across from Tom. “Lynne called to tell me that you were coming back late tonight or early tomorrow.”

“Yes, and I decided I’d come back tonight. I’ve been away too much lately. And I feel really guilty because I promised Lynne that we’d come to Lake Eden early and it would be like a mini-vacation. And then I had to leave on the second day we were here.”

“I know she missed you,” Hannah said truthfully. “She said you two hadn’t been able to spend much time together lately.”

“It’s true. And that’s why I didn’t take the time to switch to a rental car with a better heater. I wanted to get back here to Lynne.”