“We’ll find out in a couple of minutes.” Hannah turned to Ross. “What brings you here?”
“I came by to see if there’s anything I can do to help you. I’ll be going out to Sally and Dick’s in an hour or so, and I wondered if you wanted me to sound anyone out.”
“About what?” Hannah was genuinely puzzled.
“About Chef Duquesne’s murder. I can always do a background interview with anyone you choose.”
“Great idea!” Hannah praised him. “Have you interviewed Helene Stone yet?”
“No. I was planning to do that this afternoon. I even asked her if she’d be free around four-thirty for a background interview.”
Hannah gave Michelle a meaningful glance that said, How about that? He must have read my mind. And Michelle gave her a glance right back that said, You’re right. This is perfect. It means you don’t have to confront a Food Channel judge before the competition tonight.
“Was that sisterly telepathy?” Ross guessed, noticing the unspoken exchange.
“Yes. Tell him about the elevator in New York, Michelle. I’ll go see if the Honey Drop Cookies are cool enough to taste.”
Once Ross had learned about the suspicious incident on the elevator, he turned to Hannah. “So what do you want me to ask her?”
“See if you can think of a way to get her to tell you where she was and what she was doing on the night that Chef Duquesne was murdered. And if you can, see if she’ll mention anything about her relationship with him, whether or not she thought he was a good chef, and what she thought of his comments at the judging table.”
“Piece of cake,” Ross said and then he gave Michelle an apologetic look. “Sorry if that brought back bad memories.”
Michelle laughed. “Don’t worry about it. Working on this case with Hannah has been really good for me. I’m not that sensitive about it anymore.”
The cookies were still very warm, but Ross reached for one. “Good cookies!” he said after his first one. “I really like these, Hannah. The flavor is complex. I can taste the cinnamon and the honey, but . . . there’s another flavor that’s . . . I can’t think of the best word to describe it.”
“Deeper?” Hannah suggested. “A little darker, smokier, and more mysterious?”
“Yes, that’s it! What is it?”
“Cardamom. I used the ground kind, but you can also buy the pods and grind the seeds yourself. It’s a very powerful spice.”
Michelle began to smile. “If you use too much, it’s awful! I did that once when I made Great-Grandma Swensen’s cardamom bread and nobody could eat it!”
“It reminds me of some other spices, but it’s different,” Ross said, taking another cookie from the plate. “It tastes a little like cinnamon, with a tiny bit of cloves thrown in.” He turned to Michelle. “You mentioned your great-grandmother’s cardamom bread. Does cardamom come from the Nordic countries?”
“Hannah?” Michelle threw the question to her.
“No, but they use a lot of it in baking sweets. It’s also used in Indian cuisine, and it’s often found in spice mixtures like curry. Then it’s used as a savory in meat dishes.”
“Where does it grow?” Ross asked, obviously curious.
“The biggest exporter of cardamom is Guatemala, but it’s not indigenous there. A German planter imported it before the First World War. It’s also grown in India, Pakistan, and other parts of Indonesia.”
“And it’s really expensive!” Michelle added.
“How expensive?” Ross asked her.
“I just bought a bottle of ground cardamom, and it cost me almost ten dollars at the grocery store.”
Ross finished the last of his coffee and stood up. “Could I get a doggy bag for some of these cookies?” he asked them. “I might not have time to eat once I get ready and drive out to the lake.”
“Only if you promise not to give some to a doggy,” Michelle said, getting up from her stool to get one of their cookies-to-go bags.
“Okay. I guess I should have said a people bag.”
“And please don’t give any to a certain judge you’re going to interview,” Hannah warned him. “She might like them better than what we’re baking tonight.”
Ross nodded. “I promise I won’t share with her. And I promise I’ll do my best to get the information you need.”
“I know you will,” Hannah said, rising from her stool and waiting while Michelle packaged the cookies so that she could walk Ross to the door.
“See you later, ” Ross said, pulling her out the door and shutting it behind them. “I have to go back to the station after the competition tonight, but I’ll stop by with my interview and we can go over it first. Would you like to go out to breakfast?”
“Yes, but let’s save that for another morning. Michelle and I will make something for breakfast tomorrow.”
“Sounds good to me. Do you have a practice session tomorrow morning?”
“Yes, but it’s not until eight.”
“Is six-thirty too early to come over?”