Strawberry Shortcake Murder

Chapter Twenty-five

Hannah rolled dough balls and dropped them into the bowl of sugar that Lisa held. She knew she looked calm, but that was only because she was still in shock. Mason had come very close to killing her, and only Great-Grandma Elsa’s flour defense had saved her. But she didn’t dare think about that now. She had to put the dough balls on the cookie sheets and pop them into the oven.

“Are you all right?” Lisa whispered, as Hannah arranged twelve dough balls on a cookie sheet and pressed them down slightly, so they wouldn’t roll off when she carried them to the oven.

“Fine,” Hannah whispered back.

“You still look a little shaky. Do you want me to carry those?”

“I can do it.” Hannah smiled as she remembered the old theater maxim. “The show must go on.”

After Hannah had opened the oven and slipped the two sheets of Molasses Crackles inside, she caught sight of the yellow crime-scene tape that the deputies had stretched across the entrance of the fourth kitchen set. Sheriff Grant had decided that the contest could go on, but no one could use that kitchen set. It really didn’t matter because there were only three finalists, the winners from Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights. All the same, the empty kitchen set with Hannah’s flour still scattered over the plastic on the floor was a tangible reminder that she had almost ended up as dead as Boyd and Lucy.

It struck Hannah then, with full force, and she steadied herself against the counter. If she hadn’t been able to pry the lid from the container of flour, or if Mason had decided to shoot her right there in the production truck, or if…

Later, Hannah told herself. You can think about it later. Right now, you have to bake cookies and smile.

Wingo Jones was giving the sports news, all about teams who had trounced, clobbered, whipped, and thrashed their opponents. Hannah glanced out at the audience and saw her mother sitting with Carrie Rhodes. Marge Beeseman and Lisa’s father were a few rows ahead. The crime-scene tape was below eye level, and the audience was completely oblivious to what had occurred less than two hours ago on the fourth kitchen set. The sheriff’s department wouldn’t release the information until tomorrow morning, and then she’d become a local celebrity. It wasn’t a status that Hannah sought. If she had to become a celebrity, she’d much rather gain fame as the Cookie Lady.

Doc Knight had set Mason’s broken wrist, and he was in custody at the county jai. Mike had removed the cassette she’d taped on Rudy’s roving cam, and it would be used as evidence at the trial. When that was over and Mason had been convicted, he’d spend the rest of his life behind bars, where he couldn’t hurt anyone, ever again.

The timer on the oven beeped just as Rayne Phillips got up to do the weather. Hannah removed the pans from the oven and carried them over to Lisa, who would transfer them to a wire cooling rack. She was right on schedule, and all she had to do was deliver the cookies to the news teams and judge the contest. When all that was done, this perfectly gruesome day would be over.

Hannah glanced over at Rayne Phillips, who was standing next to his blue screen, pointing at something that only the television audience could see, and telling them all that the weather would be cold with occasional snow flurries. Of course it would be cold. This was winter in Minnesota. And of course it would snow. It always did.

Lisa moved closer to Hannah and patted her on the back. “You’re a hero, Hannah. They never would have caught Mason without you.”

“Heroine,” Hannah corrected her, and then she thought about it. Lisa had a valid point. She was the one who’d found the pictures of Boyd’s murder. If she hadn’t taken the film to Norman to develop, Mason might have found it and destroyed it the way he’d destroyed all of Lucy’s other film.

While Rayne Phillips talked on about International Falls and how it was the coldest spot in the nation again, Hannah thought about the other clues she’d discovered with Andrea. Mrs. Kalick hadn’t told Bill or Mike about the third car. Andrea had gotten that information from her. And Danielle hadn’t mentioned the phone call to Mike or to Bill. She hadn’t thought it was important. Norman hadn’t gone to the sheriff’s station to report Lucy’s extortion. He’d confided in Hannah because he’d trusted her to keep it confidential. And since Mike and Bill hadn’t known about Boyd’s parent-teacher conference, they hadn’t questioned Gil Surma about it.

The fact that Mike and Bill had arrived at the auditorium in time to arrest Mason had been a stroke of luck. Hannah had laid the groundwork, showing them the pictures that Lucy had taken of the murder and cueing them in about Gil’s reference to steroids. Mike and Bill had spent the morning interviewing the boys on The Gulls. When one layer had mentioned that Craig had really buffed up over the summer, they’d driven to the school to ask Mason about it. And when they’d noticed Hannah’s truck parked next to the locked production trailer, they’d come to the auditorium to ask her if she’d seen Mason. Mike and Bill would have arrested the right man eventually, they were both good cops, but Hannah and Andrea had provided some very critical pieces of the puzzle and accelerated the process.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes, I am.” Hannah turned to give Lisa a big smile. It was a darned good thing she’d interfered in Mike’s investigation. If she hadn’t, Mason would still be out there, forcing Craig to take steroids and ruining his future.

“It’s time, Hannah.” Lisa gestured toward Rudy, who was motioning to them. Rudy was managing the news and the bake-off tonight, and the original stage manager had taken over Mason’s duties in the production truck.

Hannah picked up the plate of cookies and winked at Lisa. She was back to normal and raring to go. If Dee-Dee Hughes said one word about calories when Lisa passed out the Molasses Crackles, Hannah planned to retaliate by mentioning the half-eaten box of chocolate creams she’d found in Dee-Dee’s mobile dressing room.