“I know. Since he retired, he goes fishing practically every day in the summer. Mark signed as Joe’s second and they’re using Joe’s boat.”
“I feel a little sorry for Darla. I bet she would have liked to come to see her parents.”
“That’s what Joe told me, but she wanted the kids to finish the year at the base school, and Joe and his wife are going to Germany to visit them for Octoberfest, the way they do every year.”
“So Joe’s son-in-law fishes?” Hannah asked, wondering why Andrea had told her all this.
“Yes, and Mark, he’s the son-in-law, knew Sonny when they were in college.”
“Really?” Hannah asked, and then she was silent. She’d let Andrea tell her why this was important.
“That’s why I mentioned it. Joe said that Mark and Darla met while they were in college, but she was dating Sonny at the time.”
Hannah felt a bit like shouting Aha! But she didn’t. Andrea would get to the crux of the story in her own time.
“Joe told me that Darla was engaged to Sonny at the time, and Mark was dating Darla’s college roommate. They used to double-date and Mark noticed that Sonny flirted with every pretty girl who crossed his path.”
“Did Darla realize that Sonny was flirting with other girls?” Hannah asked.
“Yes, and she didn’t like it at all, especially since they’d moved in together in a one-bedroom apartment just off-campus. She complained to Sonny about it and he told her that he was just being friendly.”
“And she believed him?”
“Yes, until she came home early one afternoon and found him in bed with another girl.”
“Poor Darla!” Hannah commiserated, remembering her first brush with an unfaithful boyfriend. “What did she do?”
“Darla kicked him to the curb, and joined the Air Force.”
“Without finishing school?”
“That’s right. The Air Force sent her to another college to finish her degree and then they assigned her to a base in Germany.”
“But how did Mark get back in the picture?” Hannah asked.
“Pure luck. It turns out that Mark joined the Air Force too. And he got stationed to the same base in Germany.” Andrea gave a little smile. “Joe said it was meant to be.”
“I guess it was!”
“Darla and Mark met again there, fell in love, and ended up marrying on their first leave back here.”
“And you think that Mark may still carry a grudge against Sonny for the grief he caused Darla?” Hannah asked the important question.
“I asked Joe that. He says he doesn’t think so, but I’m not that sure.”
“I’m not that sure, either. It’s certainly a possibility.”
The two sisters were silent for a moment and then Andrea asked, “Do you think we should check it out?”
“Oh, yes!” Hannah said, no doubt in her mind. “We should definitely check it out just as soon as we can.”
Andrea looked slightly doubtful. “Then it’s not too far-fetched?”
“It’s far-fetched but that doesn’t mean it can’t be a motive for murder,” Hannah said. “Anything that’s possible is suspect. Thanks for telling me about it, Andrea. It’s a lead I didn’t have before.”
Andrea began to smile. “Thank you, Hannah. But . . . do you really think it’s possible that Joe or Mark is Sonny’s killer?”
“Of course it’s possible. Anything is possible at this point. Do you know anything about Mark’s military career?”
“He’s a pilot. That’s all I know. I do know something about Joe’s career, though. Bill asked Joe about that once, and Joe showed him the medals he’d won when he was a sharpshooter. Bill tried to recruit Joe for the sheriff’s department, but Joe didn’t think there was enough call for his bomb technician and sharpshooter skills. He told Bill that if push ever came to shove, he’d be happy to help with any emergency, but he had his military retirement and he just wanted to relax and enjoy his wife and family for the rest of his life.”
“I can understand that,” Hannah said, getting up from the table. “Okay, Andrea. We’ll check all this out later. In the meantime, let’s try out your Apricot, Coconut, and Milk Chocolate Bar Cookie recipe and see how we like it.”
“Are you sure?” Andrea asked, looking excited about the prospect but a bit nervous, too.
“I’m sure. We’ll mix up the whole recipe, but we’ll make a test pan to see if it works.”
“What if it doesn’t?” Andrea asked her.
“Then we’ll see if we can figure out why. And if we can’t, we’ll toss it out and try something else. Do you have a copy of it that I can read through quickly?”
“Yes.” Andrea rushed to the notebook she’d brought with her, turned to one of the pages, and handed it to Hannah. “It’s right here,” she said.
Hannah glanced down at the recipe, checking it against the recipe that she remembered. The amounts of dry and wet ingredients were the same and everything looked fine to her.
“What do you think?”
“There’s only one thing,” Hannah told her. “Your recipe calls for chopped dried apricots. How were you planning to chop them?”
“Um . . . in a food processor?” Andrea said, but it was more of a question than an answer.
“That’ll work just fine, but you’ll have to put something else in the food processor to keep the apricots from sticking together and forming a ball when you chop them.”
“Oh!” Andrea looked surprised and then she nodded. “You’re right. I tried to chop up marshmallows in a food processor once and I got . . . well . . . it was really a mess!”
“Let’s figure this out together, Andrea. What did you use for the crust on this recipe?” Hannah handed the notebook back to Andrea.
“I used crushed Lorna Doone cookies. But . . . they don’t ball up when you crush them in a food processor, do they?”
“No. They’re a dry ingredient. Think about it, Andrea. What dry ingredient could you add to the apricots so they’d chop up and not form a sticky ball?”
“Flour? That’s a dry ingredient.”
“Yes, it is. But there’s no flour in your recipe.”
Andrea looked down at the notebook again. “What about . . . the Lorna Doone cookies? When I crush them up for the recipe, could I just crush up some extra cookies and put them in with the dried apricots when I’m ready to chop them?”
“Bravo!” Hannah said, clapping her hands. “That’s perfect, Andrea. When you chop up the cookies, just make sure you have some extra left over and use the extra underneath and on top of the apricots when you are ready to chop them. It won’t add a new ingredient or change the taste of the recipe. But it will keep the apricots from sticking together.”
Andrea looked very proud of herself. “How about the coconut? It’ll be okay when I chop it, won’t it?”
“Yes, as long as you don’t chop it too fine. Is there anything else you’re worried about?”
Andrea glanced down at the recipe again. “I don’t think so.”
“Let’s make your recipe and see if it works,” Hannah suggested. “It should, but you never know, for sure, until you test it.”
“Right.” Andrea gave a little nod. “Shall I get the ingredients?”
“No.”
“No?” Andrea looked completely puzzled. “Why not?”