Aunt Nancy laughed. “Sally’s right. I would have ordered it myself if I’d wanted it. And it’s a good thing Sally’s so honest. I don’t drink very much and I had two more mugs of hot lemonade. I wouldn’t have done what Allen wanted anyway, but I might have had trouble driving home!”
“Sally told us some other things,” Hannah took over the conversation again. “It turns out that you weren’t the only woman who was upset when she left Chef Duquesne’s room.”
“Oh, dear!”
“The other woman left right away, too,” Michelle told her, not mentioning any names or the fact that Brooke had reportedly been in tears.
“Do you suspect her of killing Allen?” Aunt Nancy asked.
“No, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg,” Hannah told her. “There were also two women at the hotel in New York.”
“Oh, my! It sounds as if you have your work cut out for you, Hannah.” Aunt Nancy drew a deep breath. “Well, if I’m on that suspect list of yours, you can cross me off right now. You know that I didn’t kill him.” She turned to Michelle. “I’ve heard Lisa’s story three times today, and she said that you found him in the walk-in cooler in the kitchen. That’s true, isn’t it?”
“It’s true,” Michelle said.
“Well, I saw that kitchen at the competition, but I’ve never been in there. And I’ve certainly never set foot in that cooler! Allen Duke, or Chef Duquesne, or whatever name he calls himself now, was very much alive when I left his room at eleven forty-five!”
“I have absolutely no doubt of that, Aunt Nancy,” Hannah told her. “And I’m convinced that Heiti couldn’t have had anything to do with it, either.”
Aunt Nancy smiled. “I’m very glad to hear that! Is it because I told you how nice Heiti is?”
“No.” Hannah gave a little smile. “Nice people can be capable of murder under extraordinary circumstances. I’m glad he’s nice, but nice has nothing to do with why I no longer suspect him.”
“What was it then?”
“The red wine. When Michelle and I unlocked Sally’s kitchen door and went inside on the morning following Chef Duquesne’s murder, we saw a bottle of red wine and two glasses sitting on the counter. And you told us that Heiti doesn’t drink red wine.”
Aunt Nancy looked delighted at this news. “I’m certainly glad that I mentioned that!”
“So am I,” Hannah told her. “It cuts down on my suspect list, and there are a lot of suspects. It seems that no one liked Chef Duquesne and quite a few people had motives for wanting him dead.”
When Aunt Nancy got up from her stool, she noticed the bowl on the counter with cookie dough. “What are you girls making?”
“Peanut Butter Potato Chip Cookies.”
“Would you like me to help you bake those?”
“That would be nice,” Hannah said.
“Heiti loves peanut butter,” Aunt Nancy said as she helped them scoop out the cookie dough and place it on cookie sheets.
“Then you should take some home for him,” Hannah said. “Is he still working at your house?”
“Yes, he’ll be there until I get home. We’ll have a bite to eat and then he’s going to take me to the competition tonight.”
“Good. We’ll see you there,” Hannah said, slipping the cookie sheets onto the racks in her industrial oven. “After these cookies cool, we’ll bring them out front for you. Then we’re going to try to get some rest before tonight. Feel free to pack up a dozen of them before they’re all gone and take them with you for Heiti.”
After Aunt Nancy had left the kitchen, Michelle turned to Hannah. “We’re not going to rest, are we?”
“Probably not.”
“Because we’ll be too busy driving to Aunt Nancy’s house to question Heiti, and trying to find out more about Mayor Bascomb and Gloria? And asking Andrea to see if she can get a copy of the police report ?”
“And meeting with Mother at the hospital to get a copy of the autopsy report from Doc’s files.”
“And after all that, we’ll go back to your place to rest up before the competition?”
“Not a chance,” Hannah said. “Remember how Grandma Ingrid used to say No rest for the wicked?”
“I remember. It was her favorite phrase.”
“Well, between the two of us, we must be very, very wicked.”
PEANUT BUTTER POTATO CHIP COOKIES
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
The following recipe can be doubled if you wish. Do not, however, double the baking soda. Use one and a half teaspoons.
1 cup softened butter (2 sticks, ? pound, 8 ounces)
2 cups white (granulated) sugar
3 Tablespoons molasses
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 beaten eggs (just whip them up in a glass with a fork)
2 cups crushed salted potato chips (measure AFTER crushing) (I used regular thin unflavored Lay’s potato chips)
2 and ? cups all-purpose flour (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)
1 and ? cups peanut butter chips (I used Reese’s, a 10-ounce by weight bag. I know that’s close to 2 cups, but I like lots of peanut butter chips in these cookies)