Carrot Cake Murder (22 page)

“But he was only there for an hour or so. He didn’t even have time to unpack!”

“That’s true, but I guess they think it’s bad luck.” Michelle did her best to explain. “A lot of people are really superstitious.”

“Maybe so,” Hannah said, turning back to her cooking duties. She was glad that no one else was using the cottage. She intended to go back there at the very first opportunity, but her primary purpose wasn’t to search for clues Mike’s crime team might have missed. It had more to do with the frog. She hoped he’d hidden out somewhere when the crime team had searched the cottage, or hopped out the door to find a new place to inhabit. Maybe it was silly of her to be concerned, but she’d try to get over there later this evening to check.

WANMANSITA CASSEROLE

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

2 pounds lean hamburger*

2 medium onions, sliced

1 cup diced celery (that’s about 3 stalks)

1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 large package of crinkle noodles (I used egg noodles that were twisted in the middle.)

2 cans (14.5 ounces each) of diced tomatoes with juice

1 can (5 ounces) sliced water chestnuts
(Sally uses chopped)

1 can (4 ounces) mushroom pieces

2 teaspoons cumin

2 teaspoons chili powder

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon pepper (freshly ground is best, of course)

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

*
If you use regular hamburger instead of lean, you’d better buy 2½ or 3 pounds, because there’s a lot of fat that’ll cook off. If you buy extra lean hamburger it probably won’t have enough fat and you’ll have to add some.

Don’t worry about the ounces on the water chest-nuts—anything from 4 ounces to 8 ounces will do.

Start by spraying a 9-inch by 13-inch cake pan, or a half-size disposable steam table pan with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray. If you choose to use a disposable pan, set it on a cookie sheet to support the bottom and make it easier to move it from the counter to the oven, and then out again when it’s finished.

Pour 6 quarts of water into a big pot and put it on the stove to boil. You’ll use this to cook the noodles. (If you start heating the water now, it should be boiling by the time you’re ready to cook the noodles. If it boils too early and you’re not ready, just turn down the heat a little. If it’s not ready when you are, crank up the heat and wait for the boil.)

Crumble the hamburger and brown it over medium heat in a large frying pan, stirring it around with a metal spatula and breaking it up into pieces as it fries. This should take about 15 or 20 minutes.

When the hamburger is nice and brown, put a bowl under a colander so that you can save about 1/3 cup of fat to use with the onions. Dump the hamburger into the colander to drain it.

Put the drained hamburger into the prepared baking pan.

Pour the 1/3 cup of hamburger grease back into the frying pan.

Peel the onions and slice them into 1/8 inch thick slices. (When you do this they may fall apart in rings and that’s perfectly okay.)

Place the onion slices in the frying pan, but don’t turn on the heat quite yet.

Dice the celery. Add it to the onion slices in the frying pan.

Cut open the green bell pepper and take out the seeds, the stem, and the tough white membranes. Chop the remaining pepper into bite-sized pieces. Once that’s done, add them to the onions and celery in your frying pan.

Cook the aromatic vegetables (that’s what they call them on the Food Channel) over medium heat until they’re tender when pierced with a fork.

Drain them in the same colander you used for the hamburger, and then mix them up with the hamburger in your baking pan.

Add some salt to your boiling water on the stove. Then dump in the noodles, stir them around, let the water come back to a boil, and then turn down the heat a bit so the pot doesn’t boil over. Set your timer for whatever it says on the noodle package directions and cook the noodles, stirring every minute or so to make sure they don’t stick together.

Drain the cooked noodles in the same colander you’ve been using all along, add them to your baking pan, and mix them up with everything else.

Add the diced tomatoes, juice and all, to your baking pan. Wait to stir. You don’t want to mush your noodles by stirring too much.

Open and drain the cans of water chestnuts and mushroom pieces in the colander that’s still sitting in the sink.

Dump the water chestnuts and mushrooms on top of the tomatoes in your baking pan.

Sprinkle the cumin over the top of your casserole.

Sprinkle the chili powder on top of the cumin. (Gary says to tell you that if your chili powder has been sitting around for as long as theirs has, it’s a good idea to buy fresh.)

Sprinkle on the salt and grind the pepper on top of that.

Now is the time to mix it all up. This might not be easy if the baking pan’s too full to stir with a spoon. If that’s happened, just wash your hands thoroughly and dive in with your fingers to mix everything up. When you’re through, pat the casserole so it’s nice and even on top, and call it a day.

Wash your hands again, and then cover the baking pan with a single thickness of foil.

Bake at 325 degrees F. for 60 minutes, or until you peek under the foil and see that it’s hot and bubbling.

Remove the pan from the oven. Remove the foil slowly and carefully to avoid burning yourself with the steam that may roll out. Set the foil on the counter to use again in a few minutes.

Sprinkle the 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese over the top and return the baking pan to the oven. Bake it, uncovered, for another 10 minutes, or until the cheese melts.

Cover the pan again with that foil you saved, and let your casserole sit on a cold burner or rack to set up for at least 10 minutes, and then serve and enjoy!

Hannah’s 1stNote: Sally says to tell you that she made 4 pans of this for a luncheon meeting. There were 25 people and she had one whole pan left over.

Hannah’s 2ndNote: Gary says to tell you that they didn’t serve seconds, though.

Yield: Judging from the above notes, I’d guess that one pan of Wanmansita Casserole would serve 8 to 10 people, especially if you served fresh buttered rolls and a nice mixed green salad on the side.

Norman gave a resigned sigh as he perched rather precariously on the top of Hannah’s cookie truck. They were parked next to the chain link fence that surrounded Cyril Murphy’s impound lot. Any cars that the city of Lake Eden, the Winnetka County Sheriff’s Department, or the Minnesota Highway Patrol impounded were stored here. Hannah and Norman had driven here right after she’d unmolded Andrea’s Jell-O, put it on a platter, and returned it to the refrigerator. Michelle had promised to remove the Wanmansita Casseroles from the oven when they’d finished baking, and to carry them to the dinner buffet. That meant Hannah was free to pursue the linen jacket lead they’d uncovered, and Norman had agreed to help her.

Hannah glanced at her watch. They had exactly one hour before dinner would be served, and they had to locate Gus Klein’s Jaguar, look to see if the jacket was there, and drive back out to the lake in time to join everyone for Jack Herman’s birthday party.

“I still think this is breaking and entering,” Norman said as he began to climb up the chain-link fence.

“No, it’s not. It might be entering, but there’s no breaking involved. Go ahead, Norman. You said you could do it.”

“I can. I’m just not sure I want to. Do you know for a fact that Cyril doesn’t keep guard dogs inside?”

“I do.” Hannah shaded her eyes with her hand as she stared up at Norman. He had reached the top of the chain link and was just about to climb over. “Cyril bought two guard dogs when he opened the impound lot, but he ended up taking them both home for pets.”

“Okay. What do you want me to do now?”

“Just drop down on the other side and unlock the gate. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get back out to the lake.”

Norman gave a brief nod and dropped down. Hannah noticed that he landed lightly on the balls of his feet, the exact opposite of what would have happened if she’d jumped from that height. She watched him head for the gate at an easy trot, and she was impressed. Norman had never been in bad physical shape, but he appeared to be more agile and fit than he’d ever been before.

“Got it!” Norman called out, opening the gate for her.

“You picked the lock that fast?”

“Not really. It wasn’t locked.”

“Sorry about that.” Hannah stepped inside and watched as he shut it again. “I should have thought to check it before I asked you to climb over. And speaking of that climb you made, have you been working out?”

“You noticed!” Norman looked pleased. “I’ve been swimming out at the new fitness club. They’ve got a lap pool. You should come out with me sometime. Members can bring a guest.”

“Are you talking about Heavenly Bodies at the mall?” Hannah guessed. And when Norman nodded, she was almost tempted to give it a try. But then she remembered that her old swimsuit didn’t fit her anymore. That meant she’d have to try on suits in a department store fitting room, and that was always depressing.

“Do you want to split up to look for the car, or do it together?”

“Together, but separate,” Hannah said, enjoying the apparent contradiction. “Let’s do what the police do when they search for something in the woods.”

“Walk forward in parallel and meet at a designated point?”

“Exactly. That way you’ll hear me if I spot it, and I’ll hear you if you do. Let’s pick a starting point and walk straight down the rows. Then we’ll meet at the fence in back and start up another two rows.”

It took three rows out of what must have been at least twenty, but they lucked out. Norman called out from the middle of his row, and Hannah darted between the cars to join him. She found him standing next to Gus Klein’s Jaguar with a smile on his face. “This has got to be it. It’s probably the only Jaguar in the lot.”

“It’s the one Gus was driving,” Hannah confirmed it, “And there’s the jacket I remembered.”

“Linen,” Norman commented. “I think that’s the same one he was wearing when he drove up in front of the church.”

“Mother said he wore it to the brunch he hosted at the Lake Eden Inn. He must have hung it up so that it wouldn’t wrinkle for the drive to the lake.”

Norman stepped up to the window, pressed his nose to the glass, and peered in. When he stopped back, he was shaking his head. “I don’t think so,” he said.

“Why not?”

“Because his pants and shirt are there, too. They’re hanging behind the jacket. And I really don’t think he drove out to the lake in his underwear.”

Hannah and Norman stood there staring at the expensive linen suit. For long moments, the only sounds were the humming of insects and the far-off drone of cars on the highway.

“This just doesn’t make sense,” Hannah said at last. “Gus changed clothes at the cottage. His suitcase was open on the bed. And the closet was right there, no more than three or four steps away. I just can’t figure out why Gus went outside and hung his suit up in his car.”

Hannah smiled across the picnic table at Norman. “It was so nice of you to make Clara and Marguerite’s Mexican Hotdish for Jack’s birthday party.”

“Maybe not. You haven’t tasted it yet. I doubled the spice. Marguerite says it’s even better that way. She felt so bad about not being able to bake it for Lisa and Herb’s family reunion, and I volunteered to do it for her.”

“That was really nice of you, Norman.”

“It was fun, and really easy. Taste it and tell me what you think.”

Hannah took a bite and smiled. “It’s excellent, but it’s a little spicier than I remember.”

“Then Clara must have made it the night you went over there for dinner. She uses only one packet of taco seasoning. When Marguerite makes it, she uses two packets.”

“The sour cream on the side is a nice touch.”

“That’s a little trick I picked up in Puerto Vallarta. We went to a place that was famous for its fish tacos and they were too spicy for Bev. The waitress brought her some sour cream to cut the heat.”

“That’s nice to know,” Hannah said, referring to the sour cream, not to the fact that Norman had taken his ex-fiancée, Beverly Thorndike, to Mexico.

“We should go sometime. You’d love it down there. We could stay at the La Jolla de Mismaloya resort.”

“Isn’t that the location John Huston used in The Night of the Iguana?” she couldn’t resist asking.

“That’s right. Of course it’s all modern and restored now, but they really did a good job of keeping the original ambience.”

“Nice,” Hannah said, deciding that one-word responses were best. She really didn’t care to hear much more about Norman’s Mexican vacation with Beverly.

“They run the movie continuously in the bar. The first night Bev and I were there, we sat through it twice.”

“Really.”

“You’d love the place, Hannah. It’s very relaxed, and you can practically live in your swimsuit.”

Swimsuits again. It was the second time in less than an hour that she’d been reminded of swimsuits. “Great,” she said, not mentioning that if she agreed to go anywhere with Norman, and the way she felt right now the odds of that happening were drastically reduced, it certainly wouldn’t be somewhere he’d vacationed with his ex-fiancée.

“I wonder what’s wrong with Lisa,” Norman said, changing the subject abruptly. “She looks worried.”

Hannah turned to look. Her friend and partner was making her way through the crowd toward the picnic table where they were sitting.