Christmas Caramel Murder (7 page)

“K
eep your eye on the time,” Hannah advised as she took another batch of cookies from the industrial oven at The Cookie Jar and placed the cookie sheets on shelves in the baker's rack. “We have to get to Claire's before Stephanie does, or our plan won't work.”

“We've still got an hour,” Michelle replied. “And I'm ready with a batch of Angel Jellies that we can bake first.”

“Good, they're a favorite out front. Which flavor?”

“Raspberry. You had a whole big jar of seedless raspberry jam.” Michelle stopped speaking and walked a bit closer to the swinging restaurant-type door that separated the kitchen from the coffee shop. “Lisa must be telling the story of the murder again. There's not a peep from any of the customers out there, and we've been packed ever since we opened this morning.”

“I know. Everyone loves to hear Lisa tell stories. She keeps the customers mesmerized.”

“And eating cookies,” Michelle reminded her.

“That's right. It makes me feel a little strange to say it, but Lake Eden murders are good for our business.”

Michelle raised up on tiptoe so she could see through the high window in the door. “She's got them all on the edges of their seats. Babs Dubinski is leaning forward so far, it's a wonder she doesn't tip over. And Grandma Knudson has her hand cupped around her ear so she doesn't miss a word. Lisa's a great storyteller, Hannah. She really ought to try out for the Lake Eden Players. I'll bet Tory Bascomb would love to have her.”

“Agreed. Lisa could be the star of every show. She's a better actress than anyone else in town.”

The phone on the kitchen wall rang, and Michelle hurried to answer it. They'd promised to answer the phone while Lisa was performing.

“The Cookie Jar,” Michelle informed the caller. “This is Michelle speaking.” She listened for a few moments, and then she said, “I'll tell her, Mother. Does Lisa know yet?” There was another moment of silence, and then Michelle laughed. “You might know that the Lake Eden Gossip Hotline would get it first. And he's on his way here now to tell her?” There was a pause, and then Michelle spoke again. “Okay, Mother. Thanks for telling us. We'll give Lisa a heads-up.”

“What?” Hannah asked, the moment that Michelle had hung up the phone.

“That was Mother. Mayor Bascomb is on the way over here to tell Lisa that she's the new Mrs. Claus.”

“How did Mother know that?”

“Luanne's mother was cleaning Mayor Bascomb's office this morning, and she heard him mention it on the phone to Rod McRae. She called Luanne from her cell phone to tell her, and Mother just happened to be at Granny's Attic when Luanne took the call. Mother asked Luanne what Mrs. Hanks wanted, and Luanne told her all about it. Mother figures she knew less than five minutes after Mayor Bascomb ended his call to Rod and hung up the phone.”

“That's fast, even for the Lake Eden Gossip Hotline. The news on those jungle drums travels fast.”

Michelle's eyebrows shot up. “Don't tell me you got up in the middle of the night to watch
Jungle Drums
on the old movie channel!”

Hannah sighed. “I did, but it didn't start out that way. I watched
Scrooge
, the nineteen fifty-one film with Alistair Sim. But I still wasn't sleepy so I stayed up to see what would come on next.”

“And it was
Jungle Drums
?”

“Yes.”

“And you actually watched it?”

“Yes, but I fell asleep about halfway through.”

“That was probably a blessing. I can't believe you watched that long!”

“I didn't want to,” Hannah admitted. “I really wanted to change the channel, but the remote was on the other side of the couch and I didn't want to disturb Moishe. He was sitting in my lap, purring so loudly that I could barely hear the dialogue.”

“Moishe did you a favor. You should give him a shrimp. What woke you up in the first place?”

“Nothing
woke
me. I couldn't get to sleep in the first place. When I went to bed, I started thinking about Phyllis and who might have killed her. I was so busy going through lists of suspects in my head that I couldn't fall asleep.”

“So you made yourself a cup of hot chocolate with miniature marshmallows, settled down on the couch with Moishe, and flicked on the television.”

“That's right. I think you know me too well, Michelle.”

“Maybe I do, but that doesn't mean I love you any less.” Michelle smiled at Hannah. “I'll go out front and ask Lisa to come back here right after she does the crowd reaction. I think she's just about at that point in her story, but I'll check it out to make sure.”

Both Hannah and Michelle moved closer to the door, where they could hear Lisa's voice.

“
She saw a mound at the bottom of the snow-covered ditch, a mound the same size as a body. She didn't want to think that way, but you know Hannah. Anyone else would have climbed back up to the top of the ditch just as fast as they could and run back inside to get help. But not our Hannah. Do you think she hesitated?”

“
No!
” the crowd in the coffee shop chorused.

“
Of course she didn't hesitate,
” a male voice called out and Hannah knew exactly who it was. “
Hannah's got slaydar!
”

“Mike?” Michelle asked.

“Who else?” Hannah confirmed it.

“I've heard Lisa tell this story twice, and she's winding down now,” Michelle informed her. “I'll go out and give her the high sign.”

“Do you think she'll know what you mean?”

“She'll know.” Michelle sounded certain. “Lisa and I worked out a series of hand signals right after the last Lake Eden murder. If I stand at the back of the house and run my finger across my throat, it means I want her to end her story as soon as she can. And when I beckon to her and point toward the kitchen, she'll know that we want her to come back here right after she finishes.”

Hannah glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall. “Okay. Go ahead. Marge, and Lisa's dad, should be here by now, and they can handle the coffee shop.”

After Michelle had left, Hannah placed the trays of unbaked Angel Jellies inside the industrial oven. She had set the timer, poured herself a fresh cup of coffee, and taken a stool at the stainless-steel workstation when Michelle came back from the coffee shop.

“Lisa read my signal,” she reported. “She should be here in a moment or two.”

“Good. I don't want her to be caught unaware when Mayor Bascomb comes in.”

“You don't think Lisa will turn down a chance to play Mrs. Claus, do you?”

“No. She really wanted to be Mrs. Claus. She mentioned it to me a couple of times. The only reason she might hesitate is if she thinks I can't handle the concession stand alone.”

“You don't have to handle anything alone with me here,” Michelle pointed out. “I'll help you, and Lisa can play Mrs. Claus. That should make Herb happy, too.”

Hannah thought about the kiss she'd seen between Phyllis and Herb. “I hope so,” she said.

“What's up?” Lisa breezed into the kitchen and took a stool at the workstation.

“Mother called,” Hannah told her. “It seems Mayor Bascomb is on his way here to invite you to be this year's Mrs. Claus.”

“Really?” Lisa looked both excited and pleased, but then her expression took on a worried look. “Do you think that would be right? I mean, after Phyllis and everything?”

“The show must go on,” Michelle reminded her, “and there's nothing you can do about Phyllis. She's dead and she can't play Santa's wife.”

“I know, but . . . do you think people will think less of me if I agree so fast? I'm just wondering if it's proper. She's been dead less than a day.”

“They won't think less of you, Lisa,” Hannah reassured her. “You know that the kids look forward to seeing Santa and Mrs. Claus every year. Their parents will be grateful that you agreed to step in and play the part.”

“Well . . . there
is
that,” Lisa conceded. “I'd hate to disappoint the children. But I'll have to get into my costume at intermission so I'm ready in time. Do you think you can handle the candy sales?”

“I'll help Hannah,” Michelle spoke up. “I already told her that I would. This is important, Lisa. Santa and Mrs. Claus have appeared at the end of the Christmas play for as long as I can remember. I used to sit on Santa's lap when Santa was Earl Flensburg. And I loved it when Mrs. Claus handed me my gift bag of treats. Herb can't do it alone, and he needs you. You almost have to do it.”

“Well, yes. You're right. I do.” Lisa looked pleased at the prospect of playing Mrs. Claus.

“You're the natural choice,” Hannah added. “Everyone knows that you're Herb's wife. And now you also get to play his pretend wife on stage.”

“Lisa?” Marge poked her head into the kitchen. “Mayor Bascomb is here, and he says he needs to talk to you.”

“Of course. Please get him a cup of coffee and some cookies, Marge. And tell him I'll be right out.” Lisa waited until Marge had left, and then she turned to Hannah. “I just thought of something. Is Mayor Bascomb one of your suspects?”

“Actually . . . yes. He certainly had a motive. Phyllis told his wife what was going on between them when he refused to set Phyllis up in a condo. And Stephanie made him pay for his mistake in designer clothes and expensive gems. I'd call that a motive, wouldn't you?”

Lisa nodded. “Yes, I would. So you think that the mayor might have killed Phyllis to get even?”

“There are worse motives,” Hannah said. “Anger is a powerful emotion.”

“So now all you have to do is find out if he had the opportunity . . . is that right?”

“That's right. If he has an alibi, he's in the clear. If he doesn't, he's still on my suspect list.”

“And Herb's on there too, especially if he noticed me leaving the auditorium after that kiss Phyllis gave him. Is that right?”

Hannah felt like groaning, but she didn't. Lisa always went straight to the heart of the matter. “That's right. I'm sorry Lisa. I don't really think that Herb did it, but . . .”

“But he had a motive. And we don't know if he had the opportunity because we don't know where he was until after midnight last night.”

This time Hannah did groan. “I don't like it Lisa. But Herb's on my suspect list.”

“And I'm there, too. I have to be. I have a perfect motive. After that kiss, I was so jealous, I couldn't see straight. I told you that I had to go home to feed the dogs, but you have no way of knowing if I actually did that, or not. Maybe I drove straight out to the Corner Tavern, spotted Phyllis getting out of her car, and killed her in a jealous fit of rage.”

“But you
couldn't
have killed her. You were wearing ankle boots. I saw them. And you couldn't have climbed down into that ditch wearing ankle boots. You would have come in with soaked feet, and you didn't. I looked down at your boots when we were standing there in the parking lot. They're light-colored suede, and they weren't wet.”

“Maybe I wasn't wearing ankle boots then. Maybe I had another pair of boots in the trunk and I used those. You don't know that I didn't. You didn't check, and neither did anyone else.”

“Lisa!” Michelle sounded very upset. “Cut it out! You just gave yourself a motive and admitted that you had the opportunity!”

“I know that, but Hannah would have thought of that eventually, if it hasn't already occurred to her.” Lisa turned back to Hannah. “I'm on your suspect list too, aren't I?”

Hannah visibly winced, but there was no reason to lie about it. “Yes, Lisa. You're on it. But I don't really think that you . . .”

“That doesn't matter,” Lisa interrupted her. “You have to investigate me, too. That's one of the things I like best about you, Hannah. You're fair. I can tell you right now that I didn't do it, but that doesn't count for anything. Mike's going to zero in on me, too. He's a good cop, and he's bound to investigate me. I'm just hoping that you'll hurry and clear both Herb and me by catching the real killer. You'll do that, won't you?”

“I'll certainly do my best,” Hannah promised.

“That's good enough for me. Now I'd better get out there and hear what Mayor Bascomb has to say to me. And I'd better help you either clear him or finger him.”

Michelle and Hannah were silent for a moment after the swinging door had shut behind Lisa. Then Michelle shook her head. “
Finger him
? That dates back a couple of decades. Where did Lisa ever hear a phrase like that?”

“
Dragnet
. She told me that she watches reruns while she's waiting for Herb to come home. He's been working really late almost every night this month.”

“Do you think he's really working?”

“I don't know, but I'm going to find out.”

There was a knock on the back kitchen door, and Michelle turned to Hannah. “Mother?” she asked.

“No. Mother's knock is more impatient and she generally knocks in threes.”

“Threes?”

“Yes. Knock-knock-knock. And then knock-knock-knock again. After that, she tries the door. And if it's unlocked, she comes in.”

“How about Mike? He always checks in with you the day after a murder.”

“It's not Mike. We heard him out front in the coffee shop.”