Читать книгу Key Lime Pie Murder - Joanne Fluke - Страница 12

Hannah was so proud of her sister she was glad she hadn’t worn anything with buttons to pop. Michelle had looked truly gorgeous in the dazzling white satin, Grecian-style evening gown that Claire Rodgers, The Cookie Jar’s Main Street neighbor, had chosen for her to wear. According to the full-page acknowledgment in tonight’s program, Claire’s shop, Beau Monde Fashions, was selling the gowns that had been seen in tonight’s contest on a silent auction basis. If the contestants wanted the gown they’d worn, they could buy it at a fifty percent discount. But if a contestant didn’t want it, it went in Claire’s window to be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

“Genius,” Hannah said, catching Claire by the arm and pointing to the page in the program.

“I think so, too.” Claire, a gorgeous blonde in her thirties with a svelte figure that Hannah would have done anything except diet to replicate, gave a little a laugh. “It was Bob’s idea.”

Hannah knew the Bob in question was Reverend Robert Knudson, Holy Redeemer Lutheran’s bachelor minister. Claire and Reverend Knudson wanted to get married, but there were complications. Most Lake Edenites, or whatever they wanted to call their collective noun, suspected that Claire had spent several years as their mayor’s mistress. No one could prove it, but that didn’t stop the tongues from wagging.

“Your mother already called me and said she wanted to buy Michelle’s dress,” Claire said. “It was gorgeous, wasn’t it?”

Hannah nodded. She was almost positive that Claire’s expertise was one of the reasons her sister had come in first in the evening gown competition. “It was absolutely wonderful. You couldn’t have chosen anything more perfect.”

“I thought so, too.” Claire gave Hannah a smile. “So do you think Michelle is going to win the Miss Tri-County crown?”

Hannah shrugged. “I don’t know. That’s almost as much of an unanswered question as yours.”

“Mine?”

“That’s right. When are you going to let Reverend Knudson announce your engagement?”

Claire gave a little sigh. “I think we might do it in the spring. Maybe people will have forgotten by then.”

“You’re kidding!” Hannah stared at her in total disbelief. “Lake Eden’s a small town. People in small towns are like elephants.”

“You mean they never forget?”

“Not unless it’s their last promise to their wife,” Hannah said. And then she wished she hadn’t. This wasn’t the time for joking. “I think Reverend Knudson should announce it this summer, Claire.”

“Why this summer?”

“Because summer is the most popular time for weddings, and people have love on their minds. They’re so busy with weddings in their own families, they won’t have time to think about yours.”

“You’re sure?” Claire looked doubtful.

“No, but it’s worth a try. And if there’s gossip, you’ll ride it out.” Hannah thought about it for a moment, and then she played her ace in the hole. “Which would you rather…announce it now? Or have somebody accuse you of having an affair with Reverend Knudson?”

“They wouldn’t!” Claire looked shocked.

“They would. If I were you, I’d head them off at the pass and make the announcement soon.”

Claire thought about it for a long moment, and then she sighed. “You’re right. I’ll let Bob do it at the end of August. That’s when a lot of people go on vacation. If we do it the last Sunday in August, you’ll be there, won’t you?”

“You got it,” Hannah said, thankful that this was only June and she had over two full months to figure out how to get Reverend Knudson’s congregation to embrace Claire with open arms.

“Stop in tomorrow,” Claire said. “I’ve got in a new shipment, and there’s a matching pants and top set that’s absolutely perfect for you.”

Hannah wavered. She really couldn’t afford any new clothes, but when Claire said something was perfect, it was. And since Claire always gave her a generous discount, she caved in. “Okay,” she promised. “But this hasn’t been a really flush month.”

“When have I ever overcharged you?”

“Never,” Hannah hastened to say. “It’s just that Doug Greerson down at the bank is getting ready to rip out the rest of the checks in my checkbook so I won’t be tempted to bounce one.”

“It’s that bad?” Claire looked concerned.

“Well…not quite that bad.”

“Come in tomorrow and try on that outfit. If you like it, I’ll give it to you at my cost. When you opened The Cookie Jar, my business doubled. People walk up the street to have cookies and coffee, and they look at the display in my window. You have no idea how many of your customers come in to try on something they’ve seen after they leave your place.”

“Really?”

“That’s right. And I’m not even counting your mother. Every time she comes in, she buys something.”

“Mother can afford it.” Hannah glanced at her watch and slipped into a faster gear. “I’ve got to run, Claire. I’m judging the baked goods contest tonight.”

“Good luck,” Claire said, taking her cue. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Hannah.”

After Claire left, Hannah glanced around. People were still filing out of the auditorium, and it was time to make herself scarce. There was somewhere she had to go, and she had to do it fast. If she hurried, she’d have just enough time for the clandestine treat she’d decided to enjoy before she joined Willa and Pam at the Creative Arts Building.

Less than two minutes later, Hannah rounded the corner by the deep-fried candy bar booth. She was slightly out of breath, and she stopped to let her breathing return to a normal rate. There was a friendly-looking woman sitting on a stool behind the counter, and her nametag read RUBY in bright red block letters. No one else was in line at the moment, and Hannah stepped up to place her order.

“What’ll it be, Ma’am?” the woman named Ruby asked. And that meant Hannah had to come to a decision. She’d been debating the merits of a Milky Way and a Snickers bar all day. She knew full well she shouldn’t indulge in a deep-fried candy bar, especially since she’d be sampling coffeecake, cinnamon bread, and sweet rolls in less than fifteen minutes. But all day long she’d been dreaming about a deep-fried candy bar. It was driving her crazy, and the only way to stop thinking about it was to have one.

“Ma’am?” Ruby prodded her back to the present, and there was a knowing smile on her face. “It’s hard to choose, isn’t it?”

“Does the Milky Way have the original milk chocolate? Or is it the kind with the semi-sweet dark chocolate?”

“It’s the original with milk chocolate. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“You like the milk chocolate best?” Hannah asked, interpreting her comment.

“You got it right. I don’t understand why they wanted to mess with something that was already perfect.”

“Neither do I.”

“I felt the same way when they came out with peanuts in the M&Ms. And I really hate the new Hershey’s Kisses with fruit and nuts. They’re supposed to melt in your mouth without chewing, you know?”

“I know.” Hannah felt she’d found a kindred soul. “I really shouldn’t have a deep-fried candy bar at all. I’m judging the baked goods contest in less than fifteen minutes.”

Ruby threw back her head and laughed. “You’re right. You shouldn’t. These things are loaded with calories and you can’t take just one bite. Once you taste it, you have to finish the whole thing. It’s addictive.”

“How many calories does it have?” Hannah asked, hoping that if she didn’t eat anything except lettuce for the next two days, she could have one without gaining weight.

“Believe me, you don’t want to know!”

“That bad?”

“Worse. I started to figure it out once, but I quit when I got up to a thousand. I figured it wasn’t a real good selling point.”

“You’re right,” Hannah said, hoping it wasn’t quite as bad as Ruby was making out. “I’ve got to taste one, though. I’ve been dreaming about it ever since I walked past your booth this morning.”

“Okay. What kind of candy bar do you want?”

“I’m still trying to decide between the Milky Way and the Snickers. Which one do you…” Hannah stopped speaking and whirled around as she heard someone calling her name. “Uh-oh!” she said with a groan. “It’s my mother!”

“Caught in the act?” Ruby asked, and something about her smile told Hannah that the same thing must have happened with other customers and other mothers.

“That’s right. She’s always after me to lose weight, and…”

“Say no more,” Ruby interrupted her with a wink. “I’ll take care of it for you.”

Hannah remained silent. It seemed that Ruby was a pro in situations like this.

“I think I saw her,” Ruby said when Delores was within earshot. “She came past here about five minutes ago, and she headed off toward the Ferris wheel.”

Hannah winked back, and then she turned to face Delores. “Hi, Mother. Did you happen to see Lisa?”

“Not tonight.” Delores had looked as if she were loaded for bear, but her eyebrows settled and Hannah knew she was biting back a lecture on saturated fats, empty calories, and elevated cholesterol levels. Ruby had effectively defused the Mother-bomb, and Hannah owed her at least a dozen cookies in return for the favor.

“I’m glad to see you, dear. But for a minute there I thought that you…never mind.”

Hannah turned back to Ruby. “Thanks for the information. Those deep-fried candy bars look like real killers.”

“They are, but there’s no way I could make a living selling deep-fried lettuce.”

Hannah burst into laughter, but her mother looked intrigued. “I wonder if it would be good.”

“I’m not sure,” Ruby said. “Maybe not, because lettuce is mostly water. That’s what makes it such a great diet food.”

Delores stepped a bit closer to the counter. “That’s true.”

“I’ve had deep-fried broccoli, and it’s delicious,” Ruby continued. “Carrots and sweet potatoes are good, too.”

Delores nodded quickly “You’re right. Are you with the carnival? Or do you live around here?”

“I’m with the carnival. I’m married to Riggs. He’s the announcer at the rodeo.”

“I heard him this afternoon on my way to the Lake Eden Historical Society booth,” Delores said. “He has a wonderful voice.”

“I think so, too.”

“Then you travel with the show?” Delores asked.

“Yes. We have our own trailer. Riggs is the rodeo manager. He announces and he also runs the show.”

“That must be a big job, with all those cowboys and animals. I hope he’s well-paid for…” Delores stopped suddenly and looked uncomfortable. “I apologize. I shouldn’t have broached such a personal subject.”

“That’s okay, I don’t mind.” Ruby turned to Hannah, who was staring at the two of them in absolute amazement. She’d never known her mother to be so friendly with an absolute stranger before. “You’d better get a move on,” Ruby said to her. “You’ve got that contest to judge.”

“Right. I’ll see you later, Mother.”

“Fine, dear.” Delores dismissed her with a wave and then she turned back to Ruby. “So tell me about life on the road. I’ve never traveled anywhere to speak of. Do you find that all these little towns look alike after a while?”

“If I have to taste another coffeecake, I’m going to die!” Willa declared, leaning back in her chair and rubbing her stomach.

Pam laughed. “I know what you mean. There were ten of them. But you’re in luck now. The next six entries are sweet rolls.”

“Tell me they’re not all cinnamon,” Hannah said, taking a swig of the bottled water that had been provided as a palate cleanser.

Pam looked down at the listing of entries and gave Hannah a thumbs-up. “There’s only one, and we’ll test it after the orange rolls. That should give your taste buds a break.”

“My taste buds thank you,” Hannah said, meaning every word of it. They’d only gone through three-quarters of the sweet-bread entries, and she was firmly convinced that cinnamon was the most overused spice of them all.

“Moroccan Delight,” Pam declared, cutting small wedge-shaped pieces of the sweet roll on her plate. “According to the recipe, the predominant flavors are supposed to be coconut, honey, ground walnuts, and dates.”

Hannah gasped as she bit into the incredibly sweet concoction. “This is sugar overload.”

“You’re right.” Willa made a face. “It’s almost as sweet as the chocolate baklava I had in California.”

Both Pam and Hannah turned to look her, but Pam was the first to speak. “I didn’t know you went to California.”

“It was a long time ago, when I thought I could get along anywhere,” Willa said. And then she gave a rueful laugh. “I was wrong. I found out I never should have left Minnesota.”

Pam looked a bit confused. “I didn’t know you left Minnesota.”

“Well, I did.” The color came up on Willa’s cheeks, and Hannah knew she was uncomfortable. “It was a big mistake. You probably noticed that I dropped out of school for a little over a year.”

“I saw that in your transcripts,” Pam said.

“It took me that long to realize that I wasn’t going to get anywhere unless I finished school. But when I enrolled at Tri-County College, I found out that a lot of my credits didn’t transfer. I had to start my major all over again.” Willa stopped to smile at Pam. “And you hired me as a teacher’s aide so that I could finish and get my degree.”

“How long do you have to go?” Hannah asked, hoping that Willa would make it.

“Only one more semester. All I have to do is student teach for Pam until Christmas and I’ve got it!”

“You’ll make it,” Pam said, turning around to face the long table where the remaining entries were lined up to be judged. “Only one left. After that we’ll tally up the scores and declare a winner. And then we can all pick out a couple of our favorites and take them home.”

Hannah was surprised at this news. “I didn’t know we got to take anything home!”

“Well, we do. That’s why the contestants are required to use disposable pans. We get to take what we want, and we leave the rest for the cleaning crew. It’s one of the perks they get for cleaning this building.”

“I’ll bet they never have any trouble finding people to clean up,” Hannah commented.

“Probably not.” Pam picked up the last entry and set it in front of them. As with all the other entries, there was a card giving the name of the recipe, but the contestant’s name had been concealed with removable tape. A number was written on the front of the tape, and the scorecards were numbered accordingly. “This is chocolate cherry coffeecake,” Pam said, reading the card. “The contestant describes it as, Bite-sized morsels of chocolate and cherry in a tender buttery sweet dough. Drizzled with melted dark chocolate and cherry icing, it’s the perfect accompaniment to a strong cup of coffee.”

Hannah’s mouth started to water. “Sounds yummy!”

“Chocolate and cherry is a traditional combination,” Willa stated the obvious. “What kind of cherries did she use?”

Pam flipped the card to read the list of ingredients on the back. “Dark cherry pie filling. She rolled out the sweet dough and spread out the cherry pie filling. Then she sprinkled on the chocolate chips, and folded the dough over the top.”

“How about the cherry frosting?” Hannah wanted to know. “Did she use part of the cherry pie filling for that?”

“No. It says that she used cherry liqueur and a drop of red food coloring.”

Hannah watched as Pam cut bite-sized pieces for all three of them. She wasn’t that wild about using food coloring, but she had to admit that the combination of drizzled chocolate and pink cherry icing was pretty.

“Any more questions?” Pam asked after they’d tasted their sample. When Hannah and Willa shook their heads, she passed them the numbered scorecards. “Let’s mark our scores and go on.”

Hannah had just turned in her scorecard when she had a thought. Delores loved the combination of chocolate and cherries, and Pam had said they could take some of the baked goods home. “If nobody else wants it, I’ll take the rest of that chocolate cherry coffeecake.”

“Fine by me,” Pam said.

“You got it, Hannah,” Willa agreed. “I’m taking the rest of the raised cinnamon doughnuts. I thought they were great.”

Hannah didn’t comment. She hadn’t given the doughnuts a high mark. She’d thought they were a bit greasy, and the contestant had used too much cinnamon for her taste. “What are you taking, Pam?”

“The sticky buns. They’re George’s favorites. And I think I’ll take one of the apple coffeecakes, too. George’s sister loves apple coffeecake. I’ll just pop it in the freezer and take it with me the next time we visit.”

The next few minutes were spent tallying scores. Hannah read them off, Willa punched them into the calculator that had been provided for them, and Pam marked them down on the master score sheet. They were nearing the end when Pam gave a little gasp.

“Good heavens!” she exclaimed, staring at the master score sheet as if it couldn’t possibly be right. “Mrs. Adamczak only got an honorable mention?”

Hannah was every bit as shocked as Pam looked. “You’ve got to be kidding! She’s never come in lower than second place!”

“And that was right after she had her hip replacement and she couldn’t stand for more than five minutes at a time,” Pam said with a frown. “There’s got to be some mistake.”

“Which entry was hers?” Willa asked.

Hannah glanced down at the master sheet. “Number thirty-two, the cinnamon raisin bread. It was the only one entered. Nobody wants to put their cinnamon raison bread up against Mrs. Adamczak’s.”

“Are you sure you tallied her score right?” Pam asked Willa. “I didn’t think Mrs. Adamczak’s bread was quite as good as last year, but I still gave her nines across the board.”

“And I gave her almost all nines,” Hannah said.

Willa looked highly uncomfortable. “Her score’s right. I gave her threes and fours. When I added all the marks together, her score averaged out to a little below seven, and there were three other entries higher than hers.”

“You gave her threes and fours?” Hannah had trouble believing that Willa hadn’t liked Mrs. Adamczak’s bread. “But that’s below average.”

“I know. I thought it had too many raisins. And I didn’t like the golden ones mixed in with the regular.”

“Okay,” Pam said. “What else was wrong with it?”

“There wasn’t enough cinnamon and it was mixed with some spice I didn’t care for. I think it was…cardamom?”

“That’s right,” Hannah said, glancing quickly at the list of ingredients. “Was there anything else you didn’t like?”

“I thought it was overbaked.”

“I agree that it was a bit too brown on top,” Pam said, turning to Hannah.

“So do I. I gave her an eight on presentation for that. But it was still moist, so it didn’t hurt the texture or the internal appearance.”

Willa looked a bit regretful. “I suppose Mrs. Adamczak’s going to be really disappointed.” And when Pam and Hannah nodded, she gave a deep sigh. “She’s the lady that lives in the yellow house right across from the school, isn’t she?”

“That’s right,” Pam answered her.

“I wonder if…I mean, it’s probably not allowed, but…do you think I should change my scorecard?”

Hannah and Pam locked eyes. It was a tough question, and Willa was clearly struggling with it.

“Let’s put it to the test,” Hannah said at last, after Pam had failed to speak up. “Do you still feel the same way about her bread?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Then your objections are valid. You didn’t think it deserved to win before, and you shouldn’t change your score now that you know who baked it.”

“Absolutely right,” Pam agreed, giving Willa a smile. “It’s like the student you hated to flunk. Remember?”

Willa turned to Hannah. “I really liked him, but I graded his final project and it was awful. He had to make breakfast, and he chose pancakes, bacon, and eggs.”

“He didn’t drain the bacon, and it was grease central,” Pam took over the story. “The eggs were incinerated, and I thought we’d never get the sulfur smell out of the room.”

“And the pancakes?” Hannah asked.

Willa gave a rueful little smile. “Raw inside. And he tried to heat the syrup in the microwave without taking off the metal cap, and it sparked like fireworks. I still feel bad, though. Because of me, he has to go to summer school to take another class.”

Pam passed over the final tally sheet for all three of them to sign. Then they packaged the sweet breads they were taking with them and parted ways at the bottom of the steps to the Creative Arts Building.

As Hannah headed off across the fairgrounds, slapping at mosquitoes and juggling her sweet burdens, she decided that the first day of judging hadn’t been so bad. She’d tasted some very fine sweet dough treats, and she was going to her mother’s house with the chocolate cherry coffeecake to congratulate Michelle on winning the evening gown competition.

Hannah was about to head for the turnstile at the exit when she thought about Sinful Pleasures, the deep-fried candy bar booth. She was alone. Pam and Willa had already left. Delores had driven Michelle home, and Lisa and Herb were gone. This was her perfect chance. She could have a deep-fried Milky Way with impunity.

Life is good, Hannah thought, as she freed up a hand and slapped at another mosquito. The only thing that would make this moment better was if she’d remembered to wear insect repellent.