Cream Puff Murder (Hannah Swensen, #11)(10)

“But we don’t need a stoplight. As far as I know, there’s never been an accident on our corner.”

“True, but he’s not doing it as a safety measure. Herb says to look at it from his point of view. People are used to driving right through our intersection without stopping. And that means when they put in a stoplight, it’ll take a while for them to get used to it. They’ll drive on through the red light the first couple of times, and the red-light camera will catch them. Then Herb will watch the tapes, issue a ticket to any drivers who run it, and the city will have another source of revenue. That’ll provide more money for our school and all the programs at the Community Center, and Mayor Bascomb will look good.”

Hannah thought about that for a second, and then she nodded. Lisa’s husband was a smart man. “What’s next? Shaving another five miles off the speed limit in town?”

“Herb and I talked about that, but he doesn’t think it’ll happen. Mayor Bascomb would have to order new speed signs, and they’re expensive.”

“So when is the stoplight going in?” Hannah asked the important question.

“Herb doesn’t know, but he’s hoping never. He thinks it’s a dirty trick to play on everybody in Lake Eden. Of course he can’t tell Mayor Bascomb that.”

Hannah noticed the small smile that flitted across Lisa’s face. “You and Herb have a plan to quash the mayor’s spying stoplight?”

“Maybe,” Lisa said, and then she clamped her lips shut.

Hannah knew she wouldn’t get any more information from Lisa. Her partner could be stubborn. “Well, good luck to you, and let me know if there’s any way I can help.”

“I will.” The phone on the kitchen wall rang, and Lisa hurried over to answer it. She spoke for a few moments, and then she turned to Hannah. “It’s Mrs. Janowski and she wants to know if we can make some birthday cookies to serve at Calvin’s party. She reserved the banquet room at The Corner Tavern and they’re having it there. She said she planned to bake a cake, but Calvin wants cookies instead.”

“Ask her what kind of cookies Calvin likes,” Hannah instructed. She listened while Lisa asked, and she was surprised to see a frown cross her partner’s face.

Lisa covered the mouthpiece and turned to face Hannah. “She says anything that resembles a cheeseburger will be a big hit with Calvin. Cheeseburgers are his favorite food. That’s one of the reasons they’re having the party at The Corner Tavern. She’s ordering platters of cheeseburgers and fries served with chocolate milkshakes.”

“Oh, great!” Hannah said, and her meaning was clearly at odds with her choice of words. Cookies shaped like cheeseburgers? She was about to tell Lisa to suggest something else when she remembered Ellen Wagner, her college roommate from North Dakota. Ellen had gone home on semester break and come back with pictures of her niece’s birthday party, along with a sample of the cookies her sister had served. Hannah had greatly admired the cookies, sweet little bites of goodness fashioned from store-bought ingredients that closely resembled miniature cheeseburgers.

“What shall I tell Mrs. Janowski?” Lisa prompted.

“Tell her yes, we can do it.”

Lisa looked clearly astounded. “We can make cookies that look like cheeseburgers?”

“You betcha!” Hannah said, using her former roommate’s pet phrase. She’d made a copy of the photo and stuck it in the recipe file she’d brought back to Lake Eden from college. As far as she knew, the photo was still there, and even if it wasn’t, she could probably re-create the cookies if she worked at it. “When is Calvin’s party?”

Lisa repeated the question, and she didn’t look happy as she turned back to Hannah. “After school on Friday. That’s only four days away.”

Hannah groaned. “Okay. It’s really short notice, but tell her we’ll do it.”

“Hannah says it’s really short notice, but we can do it,” Lisa repeated, but then she gave Hannah a wink and went on. “It’ll take some experimenting to get them just right and we may have to work overtime. That means we’ll have to charge you double our standard decorated cookie price. Will that be all right?”

Hannah’s mouth dropped open. She hadn’t told Lisa to say that!

“Okay, we’re all set then. We’ll deliver ten dozen cheeseburger cookies to The Corner Tavern on Friday before three for your party. And thank you very much for the order.”

“You’ll have to charge her double?” Hannah asked when Lisa had hung up the phone.

“That’s right. It’s something we’ve never made before, and she ought to pay for that. Besides, she agreed so fast she practically made my eyes swim. It didn’t bother her a bit, Hannah.”

“But don’t you think that’s taking advantage of people?”

“No. It’s a special order, and we’ll have to work hard on it. People have to pay for special orders. It’s only right. We charge too little anyway. Our cookies are the best. We use only the finest ingredients, and everybody knows you have to pay for quality.”

“Yes, but things are different here. Lake Eden’s a small town and people don’t have much money, and…I’d feel really bad if they didn’t get top value for their money.”