Cinnamon Roll Murder

Chapter Six

Hannah sat at the round table in the hospital kitchen, the one the cooks used for their coffee breaks, waiting for her mother and sisters to join her. It was almost ten at night, and everyone who’d been admitted to the hospital was resting comfortably. Those who’d been treated and discharged were on their way home. Dick Laughlin had driven in with the Lake Eden Inn van to pick up the surviving members of the Cinnamon Roll Six and their entourage and Hannah had no doubt that Sally had given them a hot meal and shown them to their rooms.

It was snowing again, and Hannah stared out at the scene outside the kitchen window. Doc Knight had built his hospital in a lovely wooded area of Eden Lake’s shore. Every one of the rooms for patients had a view of the pines and the lake because Doc believed that hospitals should be designed to make the patients comfortable and relaxed.

The outside of the hospital was illuminated by what the farmers in the area called yard lights. They were bright lights on tall poles that lit up the surrounding countryside. Doc’s lights didn’t seem to bother the wildlife around the lake. Patients who didn’t draw their drapes could catch glimpses of deer browsing in the woods, raccoons scurrying across the snow, and an occasional porcupine waddling between the trees. Birds of every color and size flitted here and there, and others perched on the tree branches. If you had to be in the hospital, this was the nicest one Hannah had ever seen. It was no wonder that Freddy Sawyer was so happy living and working here.

Hannah caught sight of her reflection and frowned. She really ought to get her hair trimmed. It was a mass of unruly red curls that could not be tamed, and usually sent hairdressers running for the hills. Her face looked fuller and she knew that wasn’t due to an imperfection in the glass windowpane. She’d gained a little weight after losing so much last year when she’d gone undercover at the spa in the mall to investigate a murder case. She was five feet eight inches tall, and that meant she could carry more weight than her shorter sisters. But her jeans were starting to feel tight around the waist and she knew she was doing what Delores lived in fear of doing. She was letting herself go.

She really should pay more attention to her personal appearance. It would help to wear clothes that were slimming, rather than shapeless and comfortable. She could get a new, flattering hairstyle, and while she was there at the beauty salon, she could learn the basics of makeup. But when could she find time do all this? She rarely got more than five or six hours sleep, and she didn’t want to give up an hour of sleep time just to look more attractive. Her customers in her coffee shop and bakery were used to her just the way she was.

The wind whipped up loose snow and pelted it against the windowpane. Hannah jumped and immediately felt a little foolish, but it was an eerie sound made even more chilling by coming at the heels of murder right here in the hospital.

It was a big relief when the kitchen doors opened to admit Delores, Michelle, and Andrea. Hannah got them settled with cups of fresh coffee and motioned for Michelle to get the box of special cookies they’d stashed in a cupboard.

“Here, Mother. Have one of these,” Michelle said, opening the box of Sinco de Cocoa Cookies.

“Thank you, but no. I’m not hungry.”

“Come on, Mother,” Hannah urged, pushing the cookie box closer so that her mother could catch a whiff of the tantalizing scent. “It’ll help, I promise. Just try one, okay?”

“Chocolate?” Delores asked. And when Hannah nodded, she reached for a cookie.

“They’re double chocolate,” Hannah told her. “These cookies have chocolate chips and more chocolate in the dough. Down the hatch, Mother. I have three dozen in the box and they’re going to go fast.”

“You’re right,” Andrea said, reaching for a cookie. As usual, the third Swensen sister was dressed fashionably and oh-so-appropriately for a night helping her siblings at the hospital. Her light blond hair was fashioned in an intricate braid that was formed into a circle very like a chignon, and her makeup was flawless. She wore a soft pink sweater, grey tailored slacks, gray leather shoes that matched them perfectly, and the string of pearls her husband Bill had given her for Christmas two years ago.

“What do you think, Mother?” Michelle asked, noticing that Delores had finished her cookie.

“I think they’re just what I need. And I think I’ll have another. Please hand me one, will you, dear?”

“Ready?” Michelle asked, inserting the key in the lock on Hannah’s condo door, but not opening it.

“I’m ready.” Hannah stood several feet in front of the door, her legs spread out a bit for balance.

“How about Cuddles? Does she do it, too?”

“Not yet. I’m hoping she doesn’t learn it from Moishe. I don’t know if I can handle two cats at once.”

“Here goes.” Michelle opened the door and stood to the side to make room for the orange and white blur that leaped out and hurtled into Hannah’s waiting arms.

“Oof!” Hannah said quite involuntarily. “I think he’s gotten heavier.”

“You could weigh him to see. Just stand on the scale with him in your arms. And then put him down and weigh yourself.”

“Not a good idea.” Hannah walked into her living room and set her cat down in one of his favorite places. Moishe loved to sit on the back of the couch and peer through the living room window.

“Why isn’t it a good idea?”

“Because I don’t want to weigh myself. And if I want to find out how much Moishe weighs, I’ll have to do it.”

“Oh.” Michelle walked over to the arm of the couch where Cuddles, a much smaller grey tabby, was sitting. “Hi, Cuddles,” she said, giving her a scratch under the chin. “When’s Mike coming over? And shall we feed him?”

“I think we’d better. He made a point of telling me he didn’t have time to eat dinner.”

“Good. I’m hungry, too.”

“But you had a cinnamon roll and four cookies,” Hannah reminded her.

“I know, but now I need something substantial, something with meat, something really good. What shall we make?” Michelle hung her coat in the closet, rubbed Moishe’s ears as she walked by, and headed to the kitchen.

“I don’t know.” Hannah followed her.

“Then let’s see what you’ve got, and maybe it’ll give us some ideas.”

“I doubt it. I’ve been so busy, I haven’t been to the Red Owl for at least a week.”

“I can see that,” Michelle said, surveying the nearly empty refrigerator shelves. “Do you have any hamburger?”

“I think there’s some in the freezer.” Hannah opened the door to look. “Here’s a one-pound package of lean ground beef. Will that do?”

“It’s perfect. Let’s thaw it right in the frying pan.”

“Okay. I’ll put it on.” Hannah got out a frying pan, unwrapped the frozen hamburger and plunked it in, covered the pan and turned the burner on medium heat. “What are we making?”

“I don’t have a name for it yet. Do you have any frozen veggies?”

Hannah went back to the freezer and looked. “Broccoli, cauliflower, frozen chopped onions, and a bag of peas and carrots.”

“Is that last one a mix?”

“Yes. It’s the kind with green peas and carrots cut in little cubes.”

“Great! I need a cup.”

Hannah carried the bags to the counter. She opened the peas and carrots, poured out a cup for Michelle, and put a twist tie on the bag. “How many chopped onions do you need?”

“Forty-seven.”

“What?” Hannah paused, the open bag of onions in her hand.

“Just kidding. Take out a quarter cup or so. I don’t think that proportions will be that critical.”

Hannah measured the onions, twist tied the bag closed, and put the bags back into the freezer. “You have a recipe for whatever you’re making, don’t you?”

Michelle laughed. “Not really. I’m winging it.”

“What kind of meal do you think it’ll be?”

“A hamburger bake. I do bakes every week or so at college. Most of the time they turn out to be good. If they’re not, we just smother them in ketchup and eat them anyway.”

Hannah began to smile. Michelle was turning out to be a real Minnesota cook, using whatever was in the refrigerator, freezer, or pantry and coming up with her own dish. “Do you want the onions in the frying pan with the hamburger?” she asked.

“Yes. Do you have any canned soup?”

Hannah added the frozen onions to her frying pan. “I’m pretty low on canned soup. I was going to pick some up last week, but I forgot.” She opened the cupboard door and surveyed her canned goods. “I’ve got split pea, cream of asparagus, and cheddar cheese. Will any of those work for you?”

“Sure. I’ll take the cheddar cheese. It’s condensed, right?”

“That’s right. You have to add milk.”

“We will, but not as much as it calls for. Do you have a quarter cup of milk?”

“I’m sure I do. And if it’s too old to use, I’ve got a can of evaporated milk.”

“That’ll do. I think I saw half a package of shredded cheese in the meat drawer. Will you check to see what kind it is?”

Hannah went to the refrigerator while Michelle flipped the hamburger and onions. “It’s cheddar,” she reported.

“Great. Do you know how to make a biscuit crust from scratch?”

“I think I can handle that. Do you want it now?”

“Start it now, and I’ll watch the hamburger. We need to use the biscuit dough as a bottom crust in the cake pan.”

“I like that. And then the hamburger, onions, veggies, and cheddar cheese soup go on top of it?”

“Right. It’s all mixed up together and then the shredded cheese goes on top of that. It should look nice, and I bet it’ll taste good too.”

The two sisters worked in companionable silence for several minutes. Then Michelle gave a long, drawn-out sigh.

“What is it?” Hannah asked her.

“I was thinking about Norman. You two made such a nice couple. I know you like Mike. I like him, too. But I always kind of hoped that you and Norman would get married. And now it won’t ever happen. Because of her! She’s going to make sure he never sees you again. She’s holding that daughter of hers over his head like a carrot!”

Or like an albatross, Hannah thought, swallowing past the lump in her throat. The last time she’d been alone with Norman, the day he told her about the daughter he had, he’d looked so miserable it had almost broken her heart. “It’s a very sad situation,” she said, trying to be charitable. “I’m sure she has her daughter’s best interests at heart. And I know Norman wants to do the right thing by Diana.”

“Is it the right thing? But maybe Diana’s not Norman’s daughter. Maybe she just said that so she could latch on to a nice successful guy who wouldn’t even question it.”

These same thoughts had been running through Hannah’s mind lately, but she didn’t want to talk about it now. It was too late. The die was cast. Norman was going to marry Doctor Bev, and that was that.

The phone rang to disrupt Hannah’s unhappy thoughts, and she hurried to answer it. It didn’t really matter who was on the other end of the line. She was grateful for the interruption. “Hello?”

“It’s me, Hannah,” Andrea said in a voice that was little more than a whisper.

“Andrea? What’s wrong with your voice?”

“I don’t want Bill to hear me. He’s upstairs changing his clothes to go back to the sheriff’s station.”

“He’s going back tonight?” Hannah glanced at the clock. It was already eleven-thirty.

“You know how it is. If something big happens, the sheriff has to be there. And this is big!”

“What’s big?”

“It’s that bus driver, the one who went off the road with the band and got killed.”

“Clayton Wallace?”

“Yes, that’s his name. Doc Knight just called. He finished the autopsy, and he said that the accident didn’t kill Clayton Wallace, that he was already dead when the bus went off the road.”

Hannah remembered what Buddy had told her, that he thought the driver had suffered some kind of sudden attack and that’s why the bus went off the road. “Was it his heart?” she asked.

“Yes. How did you know?”

“When Michelle and I got to the bus, Buddy Neiman told us that they were traveling along just fine. And then all of a sudden, they were barreling into the ditch. He thought the driver must have had a heart attack or a stroke.”

“Well, he was right. Doc’s running some tests again to make sure, but he told Bill the results of the first blood test.”

“What was it?” Hannah did her best not to sound impatient. Andrea would tell the story in her own way, and she knew from past experience that trying to speed up the process was useless.

“If the first test was accurate, Mr. Wallace overdosed on his heart medicine.”

“Was it an accidental overdose?” Hannah asked, hoping that it had been a simple mistake, but not at all convinced it was, especially after Buddy’s murder. Two people on the same bus were dead and it wasn’t due to the traffic accident.

“There’s no way for Doc to tell whether it was accidental or deliberate. And you know the rules. If there’s the possibility that it could be a homicide, the department has to investigate.”

“So now they have two homicide investigations.”

“That’s right. I know Bill ...” Andrea stopped talking and gave a little gulp. “I have to go. He’s coming down the stairs.”

“What is it?” Michelle asked, when Hannah got off the phone.

“There’s the possibility of another murder.”

“Who?”

“Clayton Wallace, the band bus driver. Doc Knight thinks he was dead before the bus crashed into the ditch.”

“You mean ... somebody on the bus killed him?”

“Maybe. And maybe not. All Doc Knight knows at this point is that Clayton took an overdose of his heart medication.”

“You mean he could have taken extra pills by mistake?”

“It’s possible. Sometimes pills look alike. But it’s also possible that someone could have tampered with his medicine.”

“I wonder what he did when he traveled with the band?” Michelle looked thoughtful. “Did he take his pill bottles with him? Or did he have one of those matrix things marked with the days of the week, and ...”

“Uh-oh!” Hannah gasped as an image of the dead bus driver, still strapped in his seat, flashed across the screen of Hannah’s mind. There was something directly below him on the floor, and she’d reached down to pick it up. Even though the light was dim, she’d noticed that it was square and had little compartments. It sounded a lot like the pill matrix that Michelle had just described.

“What’s the matter?” Michelle asked when Hannah didn’t explain further.

“I think I saw that pill matrix.”

“Where?”

“On the bus, right below the driver. If he had it on his lap, it could have fallen down when the bus overturned.”

“That’s right. You’d better call Mike and tell him to go out to the accident scene. It could be important evidence.”

“I know, especially if the pills have been moved around.”

Michelle waited a moment and then she frowned. “Well? Aren’t you going to call him? He has to get out there right away before they haul the bus away.”

“There’s no reason to call him,” Hannah said with a heavy sigh.

“Why not?”

“Because it’s not there anymore. It’s right here. I picked it up without thinking, and I zipped it into my parka pocket.”

HAMBURGER BAKE

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

The Filling:

1 pound lean ground beef

¾ cup chopped onion (you can also use frozen chopped onions)

1 can (10 and ¾ ounces) condensed Cheddar cheese soup (I used Campbell’s)

1 cup frozen vegetables (I used peas and carrot

mix—I’ve also used a corn and chopped bell pep- per mix)

¼ cup whole milk

The Crust:

½ cup butter (1 stick, 4 ounces, ¼ pound)

¾ cup whole milk (in addition to the ¼ cup used in the filling)

1 and ¾ cups all-purpose flour (don’t pack it

down—just scoop it up in a measuring cup and level off the top)

2 and ½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

The Topping:

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Spray a 9-inch by 13-inch cake pan with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray. (You can also grease it generously if you’d rather not use the spray.)

The filling takes the most time, so you’ll start that first by crumbling the raw hamburger into a 10-inch or larger frying pan.

Add the chopped onion to the hamburger in the pan.

Fry the meat and onions over MEDIUM heat on the stovetop until the hamburger is nicely browned.

Drain the hamburger and onions. (You don’t want a lot of hamburger fat in this dish.)

Add the condensed soup, frozen vegetables and the ¼ cup milk to the hamburger and onions. Stir well. (You can do this right in the frying pan.) Cover the frying pan and set the mixture aside.

Put the ½ cup of butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Add the ¾ cup whole milk and heat it on HIGH for 1 minute. Stir. If the butter isn’t melted, heat it for another 30 seconds and stir. Continue to heat in 30-second increments until the butter has melted. Then take the bowl out of the microwave and set it on the counter to cool slightly.

Hannah’s 1st Note: Michelle and I used a 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup to melt the butter with the milk. You could also do this in a saucepan on the stovetop, if you wish.

Measure out the flour and put approximately half of it in a mixing bowl. (You don’t have to be exact—nobody’s going to complain if it’s less or more than half.)

Sprinkle the baking powder and salt over the top of the flour in the bowl. Add the remainder of the flour and stir the bowl with a fork until all of the dry ingredients are thoroughly combined.

Add the butter and milk mixture to the mixing bowl, and mix until the resulting dough is well moistened.

Hannah’s 2nd Note: In case you haven’t guessed it, you’re making baking powder biscuit dough.

Spoon the dough into the bottom of the cake pan you prepared earlier. Spread it out so that the dough forms an even layer in the pan. This will be the bottom layer of your Hamburger Bake.

Spread the hamburger mixture on top of the biscuit dough. Do this as evenly as possible.

Sprinkle the shredded cheddar cheese over the top of the hamburger layer.

Bake the Hamburger Bake at 400 degrees F. for 30 minutes. Then take it out of the oven and let it cool on a cold burner on the stovetop or on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before serving. (It’s just too hot to serve straight out of the oven—eager eaters could burn their mouths.)

Hannah’s 3rd Note: This dish is perfect to take to a potluck dinner. All you have to do is prepare a cardboard box big enough to hold your baking dish and line it with a bath towel. When you take the Hamburger Bake out of the oven, place it in the box, and cover it with the towel. It should stay warm for at least 30 minutes.

Yield: This delicious, quick, and easy main dish makes 10 servings if you pair it with a green salad.

Hannah’s 4th Note: If there’s any Hamburger Bake left after dinner, cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerator it right in the pan. You can simply reheat it in the microwave the next day for lunch.

Hannah’s 5th Note: If you invite Mike to dinner and serve Hamburger Bake, don’t plan on having any leftovers. When Michelle and I made it for him, he ate half a pan all by himself!