Devil's Food Cake Murder (19 page)

This is a dense, moist bread. It should be stored in a cool, enclosed place. When my loaves are completely cool, I slip them in food-size, sealable plastic bags and keep them in the refrigerator. You can also wrap them in a clean kitchen towel and store them in a breadbox…if they still make breadboxes, that is.

This bread freezes beautifully if you wrap it in plastic wrap or foil and slip it into a sealable freezer bag.

Yield: This recipes makes two bread-sized loaves or 6 small loaves.

Hannah’s 3rd Note: If you want to make this apricot bread into apricot muffins, spoon the batter into greased (or cupcake papered) muffin tins, filling them 2/3 full, and bake them at 375 degrees F. for 25 minutes or until golden on top.

If you’d like to make mini apricot muffins, fill your mini muffin tins 1/2 full and bake them at 375 degrees F. for 15 to 20 minutes or until slightly golden on top.

CHOCOLATE APRICOT BREAD PUDDING

Do not preheat the oven yet—this recipe needs to sit for a while before baking.

1/2 cup salted butter (1 stick, 4 ounces, 1/4 pound)

1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 cup apricot pancake syrup***

1 cup chopped pecans

1 and 1/2 large loaves of Sally’s Apricot Bread (the recipe makes 2 large loaves)

1/2 cup whipped cream cheese

1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips (I used Nestle Mini Morsels)

8 eggs, beaten

2 Tablespoons (1/8 cup) white (granulated) sugar

2 cups heavy cream (whipping cream)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup salted butter (1 stick, 4 ounces, 1/4 pound)

Powdered (confectioner’s) sugar to sprinkle on top

*** - If you can’t find apricot pancake syrup in your grocery store, you can make it yourself by mixing 1/4 cup apricot jam with 1/4 cup light Karo syrup.

Heat the 1/2 cup butter, the brown sugar, and the apricot syrup in a microwave-safe bowl on HIGH for 2 and 1/2 minutes (I used a quart measuring cup) or in a pan on the stove, stirring constantly, until the butter has melted. Take it off the heat or out of the microwave, and set it aside on the counter.

Spray a 9-inch by 13-inch cake pan with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray.

Pour the apricot syrup mixture into the bottom of the pan.

Sprinkle the apricot syrup mixture with the chopped pecans.

Cut the ends off a loaf of Sally’s Apricot Bread. Then cut the remainder of the loaf into 14 slices.

Cut one end off the second loaf of Sally’s Apricot Bread. Cut the loaf in half. Working with the half without a heel, slice it into 6 pieces.

Lay out all 20 slices of apricot bread on the counter on a piece of wax paper. Spread all of the slices with whipped cream cheese.

Arrange 10 slices of apricot bread, cream cheese side up, in the syrup at the bottom of your baking pan. I put 3 slices against the long side of the baking pan with the bottoms of the slices against the pan wall. The opposite long side also got 3 slices with the bottoms of the slices against the pan wall. One slice went on the short side of the pan with the bottom against the pan wall, and another slice went against the opposite short wall with the bottom side against the pan wall. Two slices went in the middle of the pan with the bottoms of the slices facing each other. You can crowd the slices, even squeeze them to make them fit, but do not overlap the slices.

Sprinkle the 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips over the cream cheese on the apricot bread slices.

Now place the remaining slices of apricot bread, cream cheese side down, on top of the apricot bread with the chocolate chips. You’re making cream cheese, chocolate chip, cream cheese sandwiches.

Press the sandwiches down with a flat metal spatula, or the palms of your impeccably clean hands. That will make the tops adhere to the bottoms when they bake.

Beat the eggs with the sugar. Add the cream and the vanilla, mixing thoroughly. Pour this mixture over the apricot bread sandwiches in the pan.

Cover the pan with plastic wrap or foil and let it stand out on the counter for a minimum of twenty minutes. (If you’re planning a nice dinner party, you can make this in the morning, cover and refrigerator it, and slip it into the oven when your guests arrive so that it’s ready to serve for dessert.)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the center position.

Take off the plastic wrap. Melt the second stick of butter and drizzle it over the tops of the cream cheese chocolate chip sandwiches.

Bake the Chocolate Apricot Bread Pudding at 350 degrees F., uncovered, for approximately one hour (60 minutes) or until the top has browned. Let the pan cool on a wire rack for at least five minutes before you serve.

To serve: Sprinkle the top of the pan with powdered sugar before you carry it to the table. This will make it look more attractive. Use a metal spatula to lift out the individual sandwiches which you’ve transformed into yummy Chocolate Apricot Bread Pudding. One sandwich is one serving.

Hannah’s Note: I like to flip my sandwiches over when I put a serving into a dessert dish. Then my guests can see all the syrupy goodness on the bottom. I also like to top this delicious bread pudding with sweetened whipped cream or a scoop of softened vanilla ice cream.

Yield: 10 large and yummy servings.

“Look at these,” Norman said, after Mike had left, laying four pieces of photo paper out on the metal surface of the workstation. “All the school yearbooks are online at the Jordan High Web site. I found Paul’s photo and printed it out. And Matthew’s senior photo is right here next to his cousin’s.”

“They look like twins!” Lisa said, her eyes traveling from one to the other and then back again.

“This one,” Delores tapped one of the photos.

“That’s Paul,” Norman answered her unspoken question.

“Paul has more prominent cheekbones, but perhaps that’s because he’s thinner. You probably could tell which was which if you saw them together.”

“Which one is the youngest?” Andrea asked.

“Paul,” Norman answered her. “He’s two years younger than Matthew.”

“Why do they look so much alike?” Lisa asked.

It was Hannah’s turn to explain. “Matthew’s father had a younger brother and Matthew’s mother had a younger sister. The two younger siblings met at their wedding and got married a year later.”

“I wonder if they still look alike,” Andrea mused. “I think Reverend Matthew looked like an older version of his yearbook photo. I wish we knew what his cousin Paul looks like now.”

“We don’t have any way to find out,” Hannah told her. “If the private detective Matthew hired to find Paul couldn’t do it, our chances aren’t very good either.”

“Here’s the rest of Matthew’s senior class,” Norman informed them, pointing to the third photo. “And here’s a picture of Matthew at the senior prom. He’s with his high school girlfriend, and everybody thought they’d get married right after they graduated. Her name was Alice Roste.”

“Now it’s Alice Roste Vogel,” Delores told him. “And they didn’t get married. According to one of my telephone sources, Matthew broke Alice’s heart and she married the oldest Vogel boy on the rebound.”

“And that’s our Alice?” Hannah was surprised.

“That’s right,” Delores confirmed it. “That’s what I was going to tell you when I came in this morning. Then I saw Mike, and I decided I’d better wait. I didn’t want him bothering Alice with a lot of questions. This must be terribly hard on her. My source said Alice never really got over loving Matthew.”

Andrea reached out to grab Hannah’s arm. “Mother’s source is right, Hannah. Remember when I told you that I was going over Claire’s sales information?”

“I remember.”

“Well, one of the invoices was for Alice Vogel. She bought a new dress the day after Reverend Matthew arrived in town.”

“That’s a big leap to a conclusion,” Hannah warned her sister. “What does that sales receipt really prove? Hasn’t Alice ever bought a dress from Claire before?”

“No, at least not in the past twelve months. I went through a whole year’s worth of invoices, and I think the only reason Alice bought such an expensive dress was so she’d look nice for Reverend Matthew.”

“That does make sense,” Delores said. “It’s natural to want to look good when you’re meeting an old flame after all these years.”

Hannah turned to stare at her mother. Delores had been dressing even better than usual, and that was going some! And she’d bought at least one new dress every week from Claire’s most expensive collection. Come to think of it, Bertie had mentioned that Delores had come in to the Cut ‘n Curl to have her hair done at least once a week, and she’d gone for the works with a facial and a manicure. Was it because Delores was dating old flames again?

“Don’t look so worried, dear,” Delores leaned closer to Hannah so that she could speak in an undertone. “Your father was my only old flame. The men I’m dating now were just sparks.”

Hannah laughed and gave her mother’s hand a squeeze. Sometimes Delores was amazingly perceptive.

“Was Alice at the bon voyage party for Reverend Bob and Claire?” Lisa asked, putting an end to Hannah’s speculation about her mother’s love life. “I didn’t see her there.”

“Neither did I,” Andrea said.

“I didn’t either,” Delores told them.

“I honestly don’t remember,” Hannah said, turning to Norman. “How about you?”

“I don’t think so, but there were a lot of people. Of course I was only there for a couple of minutes. Once you’re through with your baking, I think we should drop by to see Alice at the bowling alley and ask her.”

“She’s got Mothers League this morning from ten to noon,” Andrea told them. “I know because Lucy Dunwright belongs. She always drops Karen at school, comes in to have a cup of coffee with me at the real estate office, and then goes off to bowl. She says she does it to keep in shape.”

“Bowling is good exercise,” Norman commented. “I wonder if we ought to wait until after twelve. Alice might be too busy with Mothers League to talk to us earlier.”

“I don’t think so,” Delores said quickly. “Once you get your shoes, or put on your own if you have them, there’s really nothing for Alice to do. She has automatic pin setting machines and automatic scoring machines. Unless they malfunction, Alice just sits on a stool behind the snack bar counter and reads a book.”

Hannah was shocked. As far as she knew, her mother didn’t bowl. “How do you know?” she asked.

“I’m on a Seniors’ League team with Bud Hauge, Joe Dietz, and Doc. We bowl every Sunday afternoon.”

Hannah managed to keep a straight face, but she couldn’t help imagining her mother flirting with all three men she was dating, and playing them off, one against the other.

“Is it like bowling for dollars?” Lisa asked. “Herb and I did that once.”

“In a way. Our league bowls for beer.”

“For beer?” Hannah was surprised. “But you don’t even like beer.”

“That’s true. The only time I ever liked it was once when I was dating your father. It was a really hot day, the beer was ice cold, and we were watching a softball game at the lake.”

“So what do you do if your team wins the beer?” Norman asked her.

“We give it to Joe. He likes beer. Doc doesn’t drink it and neither does Bud.”

“What does the Mothers League play for?” Lisa asked Andrea.

“Babysitting. The lowest scoring member on the losing team has to give two hours of babysitting to the highest scoring member of the winning team. Lucy got stuck with the Janowski twins last week.” Andrea lowered her voice even though no one was there except the five of them. “Lucy loves kids and she’s great with them, but she said the twins were holy terrors.”

Norman opened the glass door to Ali’s Alley for Hannah, who was armed with a bag of cookies for Alice. The din of loud female voices, bowling balls hitting the wooden surface with resounding thuds, and the good-natured catcalls between the team members rolled out to greet them.

“It’s noisy in here,” Hannah said. “I didn’t expect the Mothers League to be so noisy.”

“They make more noise than the men,” Alice said, coming over to greet them just in time to hear Hannah’s comment. “And you ought to hear the seniors. They’re positively rowdy.”

Hannah handed Alice the bag of cookies. “These are for you, Alice. Lisa made Raspberry Vinegar Cookies and she said they were your favorites.”

“Lisa’s right. They’re a lot like shortbread, and I love shortbread.” Alice turned to Norman. “You’re not pulling teeth today?”

“Not today. I’m helping Hannah.”

Just for a second, a puzzled expression crossed Alice’s face. And then her pale complexion turned even paler. “Matthew,” she said. “That’s why you’re here. You’re investigating Matthew’s murder.”

“I’m afraid so,” Hannah responded and then she recalled what Delores had said about never getting over your first love. “I’m sorry for your loss, Alice.”

“My loss?” Alice gave a bitter laugh. “My loss happened a week after graduation when Matthew left Lake Eden for good. I really thought that he’d at least come by to say goodbye, but …” she stopped speaking and swallowed hard. “That’s not important now. It’s all in the past and better off forgotten.”

Jilted. That’s a motive for murder. Hannah’s mind spun into high gear. Matthew disappointed her. Maybe she even thinks he ruined her life, since she married Butch Vogel less than three months later and that didn’t turn out well at all.

Hannah mentally reviewed what she knew about Butch Vogel. He was a fast-talking, hard-drinking guy with more muscle than brain who hung out at the Eagle. If she remembered correctly, the marriage had lasted less than a year. There was a scandal involving Butch and one of the waitresses, and Alice had filed for divorce.

“Why so quiet, Hannah?” Alice asked her. “Are you trying to figure out if I killed Matthew?”

“Yes,” Hannah said. Alice had the reputation for saying exactly what was on her mind, and the only way to address such candor was to be just as outspoken herself. “It’s a good motive, Alice.”

“You bet it is! If he’d come back to Lake Eden during that first year, I might have actually done it. But now…? It’s too late, Hannah. Matthew was a different person, and so am I. Do you know I bought a new dress when I couldn’t really afford one just to impress him with how I’d kept my looks? I even had Bertie do a weave to cover up the gray in my hair.”