Joanne Fluke
“It’s going. How about you?”
“What do you mean?” Hannah assumed the most innocent expression she could muster.
“I know you’re asking questions. And I know people talk to you. Do you have anything I should know about?”
Hannah took a brief second to consider what she should give Mike so that he could give her something in return.
“One thing,” she said.
“What’s that?”
“I know the name of Wayne’s lawyer if you want to ask about his will.”
“That was next on my list, but you can save me some time.
Who is it?”
“Larry Helms. He’s with Helms, Jackson, and Connors out at the mall.”
Mike reached in his pocket for his notebook and pen, and wrote it down. “Thanks, Hannah.”
“You’re welcome. Did you happen to examine the Santa suit that Wayne was wearing?”
“Not personally. The crime lab has it. What did you want to know about it?”
“I was just wondering if there were any candy canes left in Wayne’s pocket.”
“Why do you want to know that?”
“Just curious. Wayne was such a tightwad about those candy canes. I asked him if I could have the ones that were left, and he told me he needed them for the next time he played Santa, and he told me to pour them in his pocket. I guess they all fell out the hole.”
“What hole?”
“The one in Wayne’s pocket. There must have been a hole.
And the candy canes dropped out of the hole and onto the path. That’s how we found him. We followed the trail of candy canes.”
“Right. Do you want me to find out about the hole and the candy canes?”
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“Sure, if you’ve got a spare minute. But I’m just satisfying my curiosity. I figured Wayne was being cheap when he said he needed to use the rest of the candy canes.”
“I’ve heard that before!”
“Heard what?” Hannah asked, wondering how many other people had asked about Wayne’s candy canes.
“What a cheapskate Wayne was. Even his ex-wife implied that. She thought it might relate to his murder. But I came away with the impression she still had a lot of affection for him.”
“You talked to Jenny?”
Mike flipped open his notebook. “Jennifer Perkins Bergstrom. That’s right.”
“What did you think of her?”
“I told you already. She’s the only one I’ve talked to so far who seemed really sorry her exhusband was dead.”
“I hope she’s okay. I have to go out to the inn to see her tonight.”
“To ask her questions?”
“No, to deliver cookies. Mother wants me to take a dozen of something chocolate to Jenny. She thought it might help.”
“Good idea. It doesn’t happen often, especially when I’m working a murder investigation, but I couldn’t help feeling sorry for her. She was the grieving widow. The current wife didn’t seem all that upset.”
“I agree,” Hannah said, before she could think better of it.
“You saw Melinda Bergstrom today?”
“Actually … I brought her some cookies. Chocolate.”
“Your mother’s idea again?”
“No, it was Cory’s. Norman and I drove out to the mall to get a Christmas gift for his mother. We ran into Cory and he mentioned that Melinda had been crying all night. I had some cookies with me, and we took her some.”
“Hmm.” Mike gave her a long, level glance. “What did you think of Melinda?”
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cided that it couldn’t hurt to have the law on her side.
“Melinda didn’t seem to be mourning Wayne’s death very much, but you already know that. I found it particularly interesting that she didn’t share the master suite with her husband. Her bedroom’s down the hall right next to her brother’s.”
“She told you that?”
“No. I just …” Hannah searched for a phrase to explain that she’d fibbed and snooped, but she couldn’t come up with one that was socially acceptable. “I just found out, that’s all.”
Mike gave her another long, level glance, and Hannah was sure it was the same glance he used in the interrogation room. “What else did you just find out?” he asked.
“Well … nothing really. Except that she knows a lot about plants. Her maid is named Emily, if that helps.”
“Right.” Mike stood up to go. “Let me know if you hear anything you think I should know. And remember to leave the investigating …”
“… up to the professionals,” Hannah finished the sentence in tandem with him. “Hold on a second and I’ll wrap up these cookies. You can take them out to the station with you.”
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LINDA’S PECAN SHORTBREAD COOKIES
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
1 cup white (granulated) sugar 1 cup brown sugar***
1 cup (2 sticks, 1?2 pound) salted butter 1 cup vegetable oil (Canola is NOT a vegetable— the oil’s from a weed!)
1 beaten egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cream of tartar (critical!) 1 cup uncooked oatmeal (I used Quaker’s Quick) 1 cup Rice Krispies
4 cups flour
2 cups chopped pecans (measure after chopping) *** Brown sugar is nothing more than white sugar with added molasses. All you have to do to make 1 cup brown sugar is to measure out a cup of white sugar and drizzle in 2 teaspoons of molasses, and then mix well. You can mix it with a fork and a little muscle, or with an electric mixer and a little electricity. It’s your choice. Knowing this little trick eliminates the necessity of keeping brown sugar, the kind that develops hard lumps, on hand in your pantry.
Put one cup of white sugar and one cup of brown sugar in the bowl of your mixer. Zoop them up together to make really light brown sugar.
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You have two choices with the butter. You can let it come up to room temperature on its own, or you can soften it in the microwave. If you’re in a hurry and you don’t want to wait for nature to take its course, do this: Unwrap a stick of refrigerated butter. Put it on a paper plate. Nuke it for 5 seconds on HIGH in your microwave.
Roll it forward so the topside is now on the side. Nuke it for another 5 seconds on HIGH. Roll it forward again and nuke it for another 5 seconds on HIGH. Repeat rolling forward again and nuking for 5 seconds once again. You’re done. Take the plate out of the microwave and dump the butter into your mixing bowl.
Repeat the whole thing for the second stick of butter.
Once you’ve added the butter to your mixing bowl, mix it until it’s smooth.
Pour in one cup of vegetable oil and add one egg. Mix it all up together at slow speed.
Add the vanilla, baking soda, salt, and cream of tartar.
Mix it all up together.
Add the cup of oatmeal and the Rice Krispies. Mix thoroughly.
Add 4 cups of flour to your bowl in half-cup increments, mixing after each addition.
Take the bowl from the mixer, give it another stir with a spoon, and mix in 2 cups of chopped pecans by hand.
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! % { # 9
With your hands, roll dough balls approximately 1-inch in diameter and place them on the cookie sheet, 12 to a standard-sized sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees F. for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown around the edges . (Mine took exactly 12
minutes.)
Let cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to complete cooling.
Yield: 9 to 11 dozen yummy shortbread-type cookies ! % { # 9
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