Fudge Cupcake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #5)(76)

"Did he?" Hannah asked, hoping that he hadn't. Delores liked Lonnie well enough, but she wouldn't be pleased if she found out that he was serious enough to visit Michelle at college.

"Of course he didn't. I called Michelle last night and she said she hadn't seen him."

"Did you ask her if she knew where he was?"

"Do I look like a fool, Hannah? Of course I did. Michelle said that she didn't have the slightest idea where Lonnie was, that they were just friends, and Lonnie certainly didn't call to tell her every time he went off on vacation somewhere."

"So she was a little testy because you asked?"

"She was very testy. I don't know why. It was just a simple question and I certainly wasn't accusing her of anything."

"Maybe she'd had a rough day at school," Hannah said, voicing the first excuse that came to mind. "Don't worry about it, Mother. I'm sure Michelle feels bad that she was short with you."

"Well, I hope so. There's such a thing as respect for your parents, you know."

"Of course there is and Michelle knows that. She'll probably call you today and apologize."

"No, she won't. She'll just send a card. That's what she always does. If she mails a card, she doesn't have to come out and say that she was wrong."

"Oh, well. A card lasts longer than a phone call." Hannah changed the subject and chatted on for a few more moments. Then she signed off and hung up the phone.

"Methinks the sister doth protest too much," she said to Moishe, who was lapping at his water bowl. "I'm going to call her and see what she says to me."

Hannah poured another cup of coffee, opened her crime notebook to the right page, grabbed the phone, and dialed her sister's number. Delores might be satisfied by Michelle's denial, but Hannah had the sneaking suspicion that Lonnie had been no further away than the length of the phone cord when her baby sister had claimed she hadn't seen him.



Hannah slipped four more pans of cookies into the oven and picked up the phone again. No one was answering at Michelle's rented house and the answering machine wasn't on. She listened to the empty ringing for several more moments and hung up when the back door opened and Lisa came in. "Hi, Lisa. I'm almost through with the Corn Cookies."

"They look great," Lisa said, hanging her parka jacket on a hook and heading for the sink to wash her hands. "Do you want me to start on the regular cookies? Or should I mix up the batch of cupcakes for the sheriff's station? They asked for chocolate with chocolate icing and some kind of design in orange."

"You do them while I bake the cookies." Hannah glanced down at the Fudge Cupcake recipe on the counter. "Why don't you bake some of Alma's cupcakes for the sheriff's station? You can use applesauce as the secret ingredient. I've got some in the cooler. Just set one cupcake aside for Beatrice to taste and decorate the rest."

"Good idea," Lisa said, taking the recipe Hannah handed her and heading for the cooler to get the applesauce.

An hour and a half later, Hannah and Lisa were through with the baking for the day. Everything had gone smoothly. The kitchen at The Cookie Jar wasn't very large, but Hannah and Lisa had been working together for over a year and each anticipated the other's movements. As Hannah carried a mug of coffee over to their favorite booth in the back of the coffee shop, she wondered how she'd ever gotten along without Lisa.

"So what's happening with the murder?" Lisa asked, sitting down across the table from Hannah.

"Not much. I've really hit a snag, Lisa. I think the report we found in Sheriff Grant's briefcase is important, but Lonnie's on vacation and I can't find him to ask him about it."

"Did you check with your sister? Michelle was pretty thick with him the last time she was in town."

"That's who I was trying to call when you came in this morning."

"Well, don't give up. You're bound to catch her sooner or later." Lisa glanced down at her watch. "It's time for me to change into my cat costume. What are you going to wear?"

"My sheet. I'll be a ghost when I'm out here. But most of the time I'll be in the kitchen so I won't have to wear anything at all."

Lisa burst out laughing and Hannah was puzzled until she'd backed up her mental tape and replayed the last sentence she'd uttered. Then she smiled and said, "Don't be so quick to laugh. We'd save a fortune on aprons."





Chapter Twenty-Seven





"Your place looks nice, Hannah," Beatrice Koester said, coming in the front door in answer to Hannah's telephone summons. "I just love the way those orange and black streamers blow in the breeze from the fans. And the pumpkins in the window are just great."

"Lisa did all the decorating."

"She's really good at it. Where's your ghost costume?"

"I spilled melted chocolate on it."

"But how about the kids?" Beatrice glanced around at several pre-school children who were sitting at tables with their mothers.

"I've got another costume right here." Hannah grabbed the box of cornflakes she'd set behind the counter and stabbed it with a plastic knife. "See?"