Cinnamon Roll Murder (Hannah Swensen, #15)(9)

Hannah listened as Delores ended the conversation and said goodbye. It was the shortest and most succinct phone call she’d ever heard her mother make. Perhaps acting as the head of the Rainbow Ladies was very good for Delores. It appeared that the extra responsibility had taught her to be less conversational and more efficient. If this call was any indication, it had reduced her tendency to gossip.

“All right, dear,” Delores said when she’d hung up the phone. “Sit down and spill it.”

“What?”

“Sit down and spill it. If you and Michelle were the first ones at the scene, you’re bound to have some inside information and juicy details about the Cinnamon Roll Six.”

“But I really don’t know that much ...”

“You probably know more than you think you do. Carrie got a call from a friend in Uppsala this afternoon. This lady said that the bus driver, Roger somebody-or-other, had a girl traveling with him, and she was a twelve-year-old-runaway!”

“That’s not true, Mother. There were girls on the bus, but none of them were that young. Besides, the driver’s name was Clayton, not Roger.”

Delores gave an exasperated sigh. “See? That’s how gossip gets started! The wrong information gets spread around by people who don’t really know anything.”

“You’re right.”

“I know I’m right. And the worst of it is ...” Delores stopped speaking and stared hard at Hannah. “You said was. You said the driver’s name was Clayton.”

It was Hannah’s turn to sigh. She’d spoken without thinking, and now she was stuck. There was nothing for it but to tell Delores what she already suspected. “The driver’s dead, Mother.”

Delores gave a sigh so deep, it seemed to come up from her toes. “You found another body!”

“Not exactly. Someone else found him first.”

“But you saw him?”

“Yes, I saw him.” Hannah knew what was coming next. It always did.

“Then tell me all about it. I want to know all the details so I can pass them on to the other Rainbow Ladies. I want you to meet me in the kitchen in fifteen minutes. And do hurry, dear. We have to get started passing out those cinnamon rolls.”





SPECIAL CINNAMON ROLLS

DO NOT preheat oven. This dough needs to rise before baking.



Hannah’s 1st Note: From start to finish, these cinnamon rolls will take about 3 and ? to 4 hours before they’re ready to eat. Your work time is only about 30 minutes, but there’s a lot of down time while you wait for the dough to rise and to bake.





Ingredients for the Dough:





? cup hot coffee

? cup whole milk

1 Tablespoon white (granulated) sugar

1 packet (? ounce) dry active yeast (I used

Fleischmann’s Active Dry yeast)

? cup salted butter (? stick, 2 ounces)

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

1 large egg

1 teaspoon salt

? cup white (granulated) sugar (yes, that’s in addi- tion to the sugar above)

3 to 3 and ? cups all-purpose flour (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)





Ingredients for the Filling:





? cup (1 stick, 4 ounces, ? pound) salted butter,

softened to room temperature

1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

? cup white (granulated) sugar

1 cup semisweet (regular) chocolate chips





Ingredients for the Pan:





2 Tablespoons softened butter

2 Tablespoons white (granulated) sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon





Ingredients for the Icing:





1 cup powdered (confectioner’s) sugar

1 Tablespoon salted butter, melted

1 Tablespoon milk

? teaspoon vanilla





In a small microwave-safe container, combine the hot coffee with the half-cup milk. Microwave it on HIGH for 30 seconds.



Stir in the Tablespoon of white sugar. Then pour a half-cup of the mixture into another container.



Add the packet of yeast to the microwave-safe container and gently stir it in. Let it sit on the counter to proof (that’s what they call it when yeast starts working and bubbling) while you ...



Melt the butter in another small microwave container. It should only take about 30 seconds on HIGH. Add the Tablespoon of vegetable oil and let it sit on the counter to cool.



In a medium-size bowl, use a wooden spoon or a fork to beat the egg with the salt, the white sugar, and the coffee and milk mixture that does NOT contain the yeast.



Feel the small bowl with the butter and oil mixture. If it’s not so hot it could cook the egg, stir it into your work bowl.



Add 1 and ? cups of the flour. Stir it in and continue to stir until the mixture is smooth.



Now add the yeast mixture. (See how puffy it is? Your yeast is working.) Stir it in gently.



Add 1 and ? more cups of flour in half-cup increments, stirring after each addition. (Remember to pack it down in the cup!) If the dough seems sticky, add that last half-cup of flour and stir that in.