Cream Puff Murder (Hannah Swensen, #11)(35)

“Mike and I are friends. And friends don’t divulge each other’s confidences. At least I don’t.” Norman stopped speaking and looked worried. “Am I being a real chump?”

“No, you’re being Norman. And the fact you won’t take advantage of Mike’s situation makes me like you even more.”

A slow smile broke out over Norman’s face. “Well!” he said, as pleased as Hannah had ever seen him. “That’s good. Now can we get down to business? Mike gave me a list of things he wanted to tell you.”

“Hold on. Why isn’t Mike here, telling me all this himself?”

“Bill made him swear he wouldn’t have anything to do with the official investigation. He can’t even call his detectives to see how they’re doing. And right after Mike agreed to that, Bill made him promise that he wouldn’t speak to you about anything concerning the case. Mike’s getting around that by talking to me and having me tell you what he said.”

“Like a reverse Cyrano?” Hannah couldn’t help asking, since they’d watched the old black-and-white movie just last week.

“I guess it’s a bit like that, but it’s not about love. It’s about murder. You are going to try to find out who killed her, aren’t you?”

“Of course I am. The killer ruined at least a dozen of my mini cream puffs.”

“Good. I’ll tell Mike you’re in, then. He’s going to tell me what to do to work the case, and I’ll tell you what he says.”

“Solving murder by proxy?” Hannah began to frown. “I don’t think I can do that. Mike and I solve murders in different ways. He has a lot more resources than I do.”

“Not this time.”

Hannah thought about that for a minute. “I guess that’s true if he can’t contact anyone at the department. But I don’t want Mike to tell me what to do. I need to do things my own way.”

“He said you’d say that. And he said to tell you that you could still do things your own way if you do them his way, too. That way you’ll have two different procedures, and you should solve the case twice as fast.”

Hannah gave a little laugh. “His logic is faulty, but it would be interesting to see how Mike would manage the case. He didn’t mention that running parallel investigations would be double the work for me, did he?”

“Not to me. But I can help you, Hannah.”

“How about your dental patients?”

“That’s not a problem. Doc Bennett’s been asking if I need him to fill in. I think he’s trying to earn a little extra for Christmas. I’m pretty sure he wants to go on a cruise to the Caribbean.”

“Really?”

“A whole stack of travel brochures can’t be wrong. He left them on my desk the last time he filled in for me.”

“Cruises are expensive.”

“I know, and I’d like to provide a little of the financing. I’ll call him the minute I get back to the clinic and ask him to come in. Then I can take time off to help you.”

“That would be fun,” Hannah said, but she quickly sobered. “I guess fun is a strange word to use when we’re talking about murder. But I do like working with you, Norman.”

“And I like working with you.” Norman got up and carried his empty coffee mug to the counter by the sink. “If Doc Bennett can come in, I’ll see you later today, Hannah.”

“Wait!” Hannah hurried to the counter and packed up six Brownies Plus bars for Doc Bennett. “Doc Bennett loves Brownies Plus. Tell him I gave you a half-dozen for him and he’ll run all the way down to your clinic.”





BROWNIES PLUS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.



6 one-ounce squares semi-sweet chocolate (or three-quarters cup chocolate chips)

1 cup butter (two sticks, 1/2 pound)

2 cups white (granulated) sugar

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

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1? cups flour (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)

5 to 7 three-ounce chocolate candy bars (I’ve used Nestle’s Treasures Cappuccino Truffle Bars, Hershey’s Symphony Bars, and Nestle’s Crunch Bars—the number of bars depends on how many inches of your pan they cover.)



A SHORT CUT: Lisa got this recipe from Diana Dickerson. Diana says that if you don’t feel like making your brownies from scratch, use two packages of brownie mix, the kind that makes an 8-inch by 8-inch square. Use two bowls, one for each package, and prepare the brownie batter by following the directions on the box. Once the batter is mixed, use the contents of one bowl for the bottom layer and the contents of the other bowl for the top. Diana’s favorite candy bars to use are Hershey’s Symphony Bars.



Prepare a 9-inch by 13-inch cake pan by lining it with a piece of foil large enough to flap over the sides. Spray the foil-lined pan with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray.



Microwave the chocolate squares (or chocolate chips) and butter in a microwave-safe mixing bowl for one minute. Stir. (Since chocolate frequently maintains its shape even when melted, you have to stir to make sure.) If it’s not melted, microwave for an additional 20 seconds and stir again. Repeat if necessary.