Fudge Cupcake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #5)(52)

"How am I supposed to do that?"

Hannah shrugged. "I don't know. Tell him I'm busy. That'll be true."

"It might be true, but he'll want to know why he can't see you."

"Right." Hannah thought for a moment and then she threw up her hands in defeat. "I don't know what you can tell him. You were class valedictorian. You think of something."



The Cookie Jar was usually crowded the hour before closing with people who stopped by to have a last cookie, and others who wanted to take a dozen home to the family. Hannah manned the counter while Lisa bagged takeout cookies until the rush was over and only three tables were still filled.

"I'll go back to the kitchen and start mixing up tomorrow's cookie dough," Hannah told Lisa.

"I can do it, Hannah. You've got cooking class tonight."

"That won't be a problem. I'll pick up some fast food on the way and eat it in the truck. And all I have to do when I get home is change clothes, feed Moishe, and give him his vitamin supplement."

"Vitamin supplement?" Lisa looked concerned. "Is it a pill? It's really hard to give a cat a pill. They just spit it right out again when you're not looking."

"This is a liquid with a dropper. All I have to do is open his mouth and squirt it in. That should be really easy."

"I hope you're right," Lisa said, and she looked as if she wanted to say more, but the front door opened and Beatrice Koester came in. She placed a cardboard box on the counter and Lisa looked puzzled when she peered inside. "What's all this, Beatrice?"

"It's my homework from Hannah's class. I've got three bottles of dressing, a bag of lettuce pieces, and a stack of paper bowls. I thought you might want to try them out on your customers to see which one they like best."

"Good idea," Hannah said, turning to Lisa. "Why don't you see if our customers are willing to do a taste test. Then we can tally the results and we'll put the most popular one in the Lake Eden cookbook."

"What are they?" Lisa asked, picking up the bottles one by one and shaking them.

"Russian, blue cheese, and French. Ted and I like the French best, but that's just us."

"I really like the bottles," Lisa said. "They're just the right size for salad dressing. Where did you get them?"

"Ted's mother had three shelves of them in her basement. Ted thought I was crazy for packing them up and moving them all back here, but they come in handy for all sorts of things."

"Thanks, Beatrice." Hannah gave her a warm smile. "Are you coming to class tonight?"

"I'll be there. I made more dressing so everyone there can sample it, too."

"Good. I'll try to get there early to make another stab at those cupcakes. Have you thought of anything else about them that I should know?"

"Not really," Beatrice said and she began to frown. "I called a couple of Alma's old friends last night, but they didn't know either. One lady even asked Alma about it when she was so sick. She really wanted that recipe and she tried to convince Alma that it should live on. But Alma told her that the recipe for those cupcakes was her secret and she planned to take it to her grave."

Hannah shivered slightly, wondering how many secrets Sheriff Grant had taken to his grave. It was a good guess that one of those secrets was the cause of his death.

"What's the matter, Hannah?" Beatrice looked concerned. "You look like a goose just walked over your grave."

"Maybe one did," Hannah said, wondering about the origin of the old expression.

"Do you want me to help Lisa with the salad test?" Beatrice asked.

"That would be fine, if you've got the time."

"I do. I don't have to go out to the yard until six-thirty. Ted's working late tonight and I'm going to bring him dinner."

"I thought he closed early on Monday nights," Hannah said, remembering the sign she'd seen the last time she'd passed the salvage yard.

"He does, usually. But he knows I've got class and he figured he might as well work. There's really a lot of money in auto salvage."

"That's good to hear," Hannah said.

"We're doing so well, we bought a new crusher. It's a lot faster than the old one and it's really something to watch a whole car go in and a cube of metal come out."

"I'll bet it is," Hannah said, attempting to think of a polite way to make her escape. Beatrice was unusually talkative today.

"You've really got to see it to believe it. Why don't you drive out and take a look when you've got a little extra time?"

"I'll have to do that," Hannah said, realizing that Beatrice had just provided a way for her to excuse herself and get out to the kitchen. "And speaking of time, I'm running out, especially if I want to get to class early. See you tonight, Beatrice."





Chapter Nineteen





Hannah was about to back out of her parking spot when Mike pulled up to block her. Hannah watched in the mirror on her door as Mike got out of the cruiser and approached her truck. The legend on her mirror read, Objects in mirror are closer than they appear, but it should have read, Objects in mirror are angrier than they appear. Mike looked ready to spit nails as he opened the passenger door and got into the truck with her.