Cream Puff Murder (Hannah Swensen, #11)(6)

Phil looked surprised, but he didn’t say anything and Hannah gave him credit for that. Silence was definitely golden when it came to the topics of losing weight and exercising. In lieu of asking questions or offering his opinion, Phil simply walked her to her cookie truck and opened the driver’s door for her. “Will you be at The Cookie Jar later?”

“I should be there by the time we open at nine,” Hannah told him, and that was when she noticed that he looked worried. “Is something wrong?”

“Sue’s been really depressed lately, and I thought I’d stop by this afternoon and get something nice for her.”

“That’s sweet of you, Phil. But why is she depressed?”

“I think it’s because she’s dreading the winter cooped up in our condo with Kevin.”

Hannah tried to remember how old Kevin was. He had been born at the beginning of the winter, and she was almost sure it was two years ago. This meant that Sue and Phil’s son was in his terrible twos. “Kevin just turned two, didn’t he?”

“Yes, on November third. It wasn’t so hard on Sue when he was little. He slept a lot then, but now he’s really active and Sue has to watch him all the time.”

Hannah did her best to imagine raising a toddler. It must be difficult to be closeted with the responsibility of a child for twenty-four hours a day. “I’ll bet Sue doesn’t get much free time.”

“You said it! The only time she has is when Kevin’s napping, and he never naps for long. She gets time for a shower and maybe a quick flip through the paper before he wakes up, but that’s about it.”

“How about at night when he goes to bed?”

“We get an hour alone, just the two of us, and then I have to get ready for work. I’m on the swing shift now. After I leave at nine thirty, Sue’s usually so exhausted she goes straight to bed.”

Hannah was silent. That didn’t sound like much of a life at all. “She worked at DelRay before Kevin was born, didn’t she?”

“Yes, in the office.”

“Did she like it?”

Phil shrugged. “It was okay and the money was good, but what she really wanted to do was teach. As soon as Kevin’s old enough for school, she’s going to go back to college and get her degree. She’s only got a couple of courses to go.”

A dim light began to flicker in the back of Hannah’s mind, and in less time than it took her to realize that she had to hurry or she’d be late meeting Andrea at the mall, she had an idea. She wouldn’t mention it now. She didn’t want to raise hopes and then dash them.

“You can relax, Phil,” she told him. “I’ve got something that’ll perk Sue right up. What’s your schedule like today?”

“It’s like every other workday. I play with Kevin for a while so Sue can get some work done, and then I sleep from about eight to three.”

“Can you drop by the coffee shop when you wake up?”

“Sure. Are you going to make something special for Sue?”

“You bet. It’s impossible to worry about anything when you’re eating chocolate, and I’m going to come up with a cookie for Sue that’ll cheer her up for the whole week.”



It was almost bright enough to drive without headlights when Hannah pulled into the parking lot at the Tri-County Mall. She passed Bergstrom’s Department Store, locked up tight until it opened at ten, and headed to the north end of the shopping center where the street door for Heavenly Bodies was located. The parking lot was completely deserted, and Hannah pulled into the space at the right of the door. Andrea wasn’t here yet, which didn’t surprise Hannah. It had taken a blaring alarm clock, several none-too-gentle shakes on the shoulder, and threats of dire bodily harm to get Andrea out of bed when they were in high school.

The inside of her windshield was beginning to fog up, and Hannah opened her window a crack. There was a delightful scent in the air, a sugary, chocolaty scent with undertones of cinnamon and maple that set her mouth watering and her mind flipping through the sweet possibilities. She knew this scent. She’d smelled it before. But where?

When speculation didn’t lead to an answer, Hannah zipped her knee-length jacket and stepped out of her truck. She started to the right, but the scent faded. It was something to her left, and she was going to find it!

When she walked around the corner of the building, she encountered the back doors of several closed shops. There was no way Bianco’s could be the origin of this delightful scent. It was an Italian shoe store, and it smelled of leather and packing material. The next store was an upscale kitchen boutique. Unless they were doing a cooking demonstration, which was unlikely since there were no other cars in the parking lot, it couldn’t be coming from there either.

Hannah walked on until she came to a likely prospect. It was a small space that had previously belonged to a flower shop. It had changed hands and the new name was stenciled on the door. It read, DORO’S DOUGHNUTS, in thick gold script, and Hannah had all she could do not to knock on the door and demand entrance.

“Hannah?” A voice called her name, and Hannah turned to see Andrea. “You’re not going in there, are you?”

Hannah stepped away from the door. “Of course not. I just smelled the doughnuts and wondered where they were.”