Cream Puff Murder (Hannah Swensen, #11)(67)

“I see,” Hannah said. “The smoke detector would pick up the problem sooner than the flame detector.”

“Exactly right,” Herb said. “I’m going to recommend a smoke alarm that’s tied directly to the Lake Eden Fire Department. The minute it goes off, they’re alerted. That’s what they have at Heavenly Bodies. The owner has to pay the fire department a monthly fee to monitor it, but it’s worth it. He had to set it up that way to get insurance. There are a lot of ways people can hurt themselves at a gym.”

“That’s true,” Hannah said, thinking about how Ronni had mixed up drinks at her party and then climbed in the Jacuzzi when everyone left. Was the killer someone who’d stayed behind with her? Or was it someone who’d come in after the partygoers had gone?

“You look worried, Hannah,” Norman said, reaching out to pat her shoulder.

“I’m not really worried. I’m just wondering how we can possibly watch all sixty hours on these tapes.”

“Lisa and I can take six hours,” Herb offered. “We’ll start watching right after dinner, and if we fast-forward, we’ll be through by ten.”

“You don’t mind?” Hannah turned to Lisa.

“Not at all.” Lisa shook her head. “Can we take a tape from the weight room? I just love to see guys straining their muscles and lifting weights.”

Herb laughed. “Not a good idea. If there’s a cute guy working out, she’ll want to watch it three or four times. And then we’ll never get any sleep!”

“Herb!” Lisa said sternly, but then she blew it by giggling. “Okay. If my husband doesn’t think I should watch handsome men in the weight room, you can give us the hallway. That ought to be perfectly innocuous.”

The bell on the door tinkled, and Lisa shot to her feet. “Noon rush,” she said, motioning to Michelle.

Lisa said good-bye to Herb while Michelle took her place at the cash register. Then Lisa tied on a serving apron and started to wait tables. The bell was ringing now in a steady cadence.

“My house. Six tonight,” Norman said, getting to his feet. “I’ll take the tapes with me and set up three or four viewing rooms.”

“I can stop somewhere and bring takeout for dinner,” Hannah suggested.

“There’s no need. I’ll make a big bowl of that egg salad you liked. We can have ours on lettuce with sliced tomatoes. Everybody else can have sandwiches.”

“I’ll bring something for dessert.”

“That’s fine. Make it something they can eat while we watch the tapes. We’ll try to get through as many as we can tonight.”

“If we don’t finish, I can always take some home to Grandma McCann,” Andrea offered. “She can watch some during the day while Bethany’s napping and Tracey’s in school.”

“Good idea. I’ll see if I can get Doc Bennett to watch a couple for me tonight. When he came into the clinic this morning, he said there was nothing he wanted to watch on regular television and it was pretty sad to have to judge his bedtime by the number of One Eight-Hundred Dentist commercials he’d seen.”

Hannah chuckled at that. “I’d ask Mother and Carrie, but they’re going out to The Moosehead tonight. Maybe we can ask them tomorrow if they’re in a good mood.”

“Maybe,” Norman said as he closed the briefcase and snapped it shut. “Bring Moishe with you tonight. Cuddles is home now.”

“She got the mouse at your dental clinic?”

“Yes, she did. She’s a good hunter.”

“You found the carcass?”

“I found part of it. She’s a good eater, too.”

Hannah laughed. She knew exactly what Norman meant. Moishe often left her select mouse parts to let her know that he appreciated living with her.

“See you tonight,” Norman said, turning toward the door.

“Norman?” Hannah gave him her most winning smile. “Will you do something just for me?”

“That depends on what it is.”

“This time please write down the recipe for your egg salad. It’s the best I’ve ever tasted.”





NORMAN’S EGG SALAD

4 cups peeled and chopped hard-boiled eggs.*** (That’s about a dozen extra large eggs—measure after chopping)

1/2 cup crumbled cooked bacon (make your own or use real crumbled bacon from a can—I used Hormel Premium Real Crumbled Bacon)

1 Tablespoon chopped parsley (it’s better if it’s fresh, but you can use dried parsley flakes if you don’t have fresh on hand)

1/4 cup grated carrots (for color and a bit of sweetness)

4 ounces cream cheese

1/4 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise (I used Best Foods, which is Hellmann’s in some states)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (or 1/2 teaspoon freshly minced garlic)

1/2 teaspoon onion powder (or 1 teaspoon freshly minced onion)

salt to taste

freshly ground black pepper to taste



Peel and chop the hard-boiled eggs. Add the crumbled bacon, the parsley, and the grated carrots. Mix well.



Put the cream cheese in a small bowl and microwave for 30 seconds on HIGH to soften it. If it can be easily stirred with a fork, add the sour cream and mayonnaise, and mix well. If the cream cheese is still too solid, give it another 10 seconds or so before you add the other ingredients.