Raspberry Danish Murder (Hannah Swensen #22)(12)

Add the crushed corn flakes to your bowl and mix until they are well combined.





Take the bowl out of the mixer, if you used one, and get ready to add the white chocolate or vanilla chips by hand.





Add the 1 to 2 cups of chips, mixing in enough to satisfy your family’s sweet tooth.





Let the dough sit on the counter for a minute or two to rest. (It doesn’t really need to rest, but you need time to prepare your cookie sheets.)





Spray your cookie sheets with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray, or line them with parchment paper. (I prefer parchment paper so that I can simply pull the paper off on a wire rack, cookies and all, when they’re baked.)





Form the cookie dough into walnut-sized balls with your fingers and place them on your prepared cookie sheets, 12 to a standard-size sheet.





Hannah’s Note: I baked a test cookie first. If it spreads out too much in the oven, either chill the dough in the refrigerator before baking, or turn the dough out on a floured board and knead in approximately ? cup more flour.





Press the dough balls down just a bit with your impeccably clean hand so that they won’t roll off on the way to the oven.





Bake your Pineapple Crunch Cookies at 350 degrees F. for 10 to 12 minutes or until they are golden brown.





Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and place them on cold stove burners or wire racks.





Let your cookies cool on the cookie sheets for 2 minutes. (If you remove them from the cookie sheets right after they come out of the oven, they may bend and/or break.)





Use a metal spatula to remove the cookies to a wire rack. (The rack is important—it makes them crisp.)





Yield: approximately 6 to 8 dozen, depending on cookie size.





Chapter Four


Michelle was smiling as she turned to Hannah. They were sitting in front of the giant-screen television, and they’d just watched the commercial that P.K. had made for the Thanksgiving play. “I loved it! How about you?”

“P.K. did a super job. Everyone who saw it is going to come to the play.”

“Irma’s keeping track of advance ticket sales. I’ll check in with her to see if there’s a jump in sales tomorrow. The cast really looked good, didn’t they?”

“The cast looked really great,” Hannah agreed. “I loved those costumes.”

“I’m really glad we took the time to do makeup and get into our costumes.” Michelle gave a little smile. “At first, I was upset when P.K. suggested it because it takes so much time, but he was right. It looks so much better than seeing the characters in their everyday clothes.”

Hannah was about to go to the kitchen to get more coffee when Michelle’s cell phone rang. “That’s probably P.K. to see if you liked his commercial,” she speculated.

“I bet you’re right,” Michelle said, reaching out for her cell phone. “I’m going to record it to see if he liked his commercial.” She answered the call, and almost immediately began to frown.

“What is it?” Hannah asked quickly as a distressed expression crossed Michelle’s face.

“It’s P.K. There’s something wrong, Hannah! Look!”

Hannah glanced at the display and realized that she was watching a video of P.K. driving Ross’s car.

“It’s real time,” Michelle said quickly. “He’s got his phone in the dashboard holder Ross has in his car.”

“Mic . . . kie,” P.K. said, giving a lopsided smile. “How . . . you, girl?”

“He sounds drunk!” Michelle exclaimed.

“Or drugged. Can you ask him if he’s okay?”

“Are you okay, P.K.?” Michelle asked.

“Mic . . . kie.” P.K. reached up to rub his face. “Pret . . . ty Mic . . . kie. Doan feel goooood.”

P.K.’s phone was positioned so that they could see his face and also the driver’s side window. As the two sisters watched, the edge of the road appeared to move forward and then recede.

“Tell him to pull over!” Hannah said, grabbing Michelle’s arm. “Hurry! He almost went in the ditch!”

“Pull over, P.K.!” Michelle said loudly. “You shouldn’t be driving. Pull over right now!”

Hannah moved closer so that she could listen for his response, but there was no response at all. “Please, P.K.,” she shouted. “Pull over!”

“It’s no use,” Michelle told her. “Either he’s got our audio off or he’s too drunk or stoned to listen to us.”

“Noooo,” P.K. said, and both sisters could see that his eyes looked vague and unfocused. “Thought I . . . juss hung . . . gry. Ate Rossss . . . hiz . . . desk. Can . . . dees . . . sickkk.”

“Pull over!” Hannah shouted again as the car veered toward the center of the road and then lurched back toward the ditch again. “Pull over, P.K.!”

“Please pull over!” Michelle added, the panic clear in her voice.

There was no response to their pleas and Michelle shook her head. “He can’t hear us, Hannah.”