Devil's Food Cake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #14)(44)

“For the whole year, and then some,” Doc corrected her. “It was a nasty break.”

“If it wasn’t some of the other boys, how about his brother Adam?” Hannah made the suggestion. “Was there a lot of sibling rivalry between Hugh and Adam?”

“It was a lot more than sibling rivalry,” Doc said.

“What do you mean?” Norman asked.

“While Hugh was in the hospital, I heard him fight with Adam. It got pretty vicious, verbally of course, since Hugh was in traction. I felt sorry for Adam. It was clear that Hugh had bullied his younger brother for years. Now that Adam was older, he was beginning to fight back, and I figured no good could come of it.”

“Do you think Adam could have filled in that hole and set the trap for his brother?” Norman followed up.

Doc shrugged. “It’s possible. If Hugh pushed him to the bitter end, Adam could have done it. On the other hand, I don’t know if he had the guts to do it.”

“What happened to Adam? He doesn’t live around here, does he?” Hannah asked.

“Not anymore. Adam earned an academic scholarship to Yale. He went on to another Ivy League school for his master’s and doctorate, and I believe he’s teaching at UCLA. He’s never come back here, and I don’t think he ever will.”

“Did Hugh go to college?” Hannah was curious.

“No. He might have if he’d gotten an athletic scholarship, but after he broke his leg, that was out of the question. It took him a year to recover, and no college coach wanted to take a chance on a quarterback with a pin in his leg.”

“He must have been bitter about that,” Delores ventured.

“Oh, he was. Or maybe I should say, he is. He’s sure that broken leg ruined his life and now he’s saddled with a bad back on top of it.” Doc Knight paused for a sip of his water. “As soon as he recovered, Hugh went to work for the state on a road repair crew. It’s heavy work and it was hard on him physically, but the pay was good and the benefits were great. He only worked on the roads in the summer. The rest of the time he worked in his uncle’s hardware store in St. Cloud. Two years ago, he was working on the road crew, picking up caution markers from the back of a state truck, when he slipped and took a bad fall.”

“And that’s when he hurt his back?” Hannah felt sorry for him in spite of the fact that he didn’t sound like a very nice person.

“That’s right. They did X-rays and performed surgery, but the fix didn’t work. Back surgery’s still risky, especially for a six-foot, two-hundred-thirty-pound guy. I would have warned him against it, but he didn’t ask me. And now he’s living in the family cottage out at Eden Lake, getting state disability.”

“Is he badly injured?” Norman asked, and Hannah knew exactly what was running through his mind. If Hugh blamed Matthew for the origin of all his troubles, he’d have a motive for murder. Was Hugh capable of walking into the church in the middle of the night and killing Reverend Matthew?

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him since he came back here to Lake Eden. He’s holed up out there like a hermit, feeling sorry for himself, no doubt. Hugh’s always been good at self-pity. Not that he doesn’t have his cross to bear. He does.”

“Do you think he still hated Matthew enough to kill him for something he thought Matthew did all those years ago?” Hannah asked.

Doc considered that for a long moment and then he nodded. “Oh, yes. In my opinion, Hugh’s not quite right in the head. But I could be wrong. Maybe you two should check him out and see for yourselves.”





PEAR CRUNCH PIE

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F., (that’s a very hot oven,) rack in the middle position.

The Crust:

one 9-inch deep-dish pie shell, unbaked***





The Topping:

1 cup all-purpose flour (Scoop it up in a measuring cup and level it off with a table knife.)





? cup brown sugar (pack it down in the measuring cup)





? teaspoon cinnamon





? teaspoon nutmeg (freshly grated is best, but only use 1/8 teaspoon)****





? cup salted butter (1 stick, 4 ounces, ? pound) cut into small pieces





? cup chopped pecans (measure after chopping)





*** - If you’re pressed for time, you can buy a frozen one at your grocery store.

****- Unlike some herbs and spices, freshly grated nutmeg is stronger than dried.

The Filling:

one large (20 and ? ounces) pear halves in syrup OR juice





one small (8 and ? ounces) pear halves in syrup OR juice





? cup white (granulated) sugar





2 Tablespoons (1/8 cup) cornstarch





1/8 teaspoon nutmeg (half that amount if you use freshly grated)





1/8 teaspoon salt





1 and ? cups pear liquid (if you don’t have enough, fill in with water)





1 Tablespoon salted butter (that’s 1/8 of a stick)





1 teaspoon lemon juice (freshly squeezed is best)