Free Fudge Cupcake Murder by Joanne Fluke Page B

oven in the parish house. When Hannah said she'd make banana cookies, we were thrilled."
    Andrea bit into the cookie and started to smile. "These are wonderful, Hannah."
    "They're almost as good as Immelda's banana bread," Hannah said diplomatically, and she noticed that the housekeeper looked pleased as she left the line to find a seat.
    The next few minutes were taken up with serving coffee and cookies, but soon the members of the St. Jude Society were content and Hannah and Andrea could talk.
    "So what did the people at Fun in the Sun tell you about calling Bill?" Hannah asked.
    "They're going to get back to me. The supervisor had to request the records and that might take overnight, but she should have them by tomorrow afternoon at the latest. She promised to call me on my cell phone the minute they came in."
    "Good work," Hannah said, smiling at her sister. If anyone else had told Hannah that a telephone solicitor would call with information, she wouldn't have believed it. But Andrea had a way of making people do whatever she wanted them to do. It wasn't simple manipulation, because everyone felt good about helping Andrea in the process.
    "These cookies are really good, Hannah." Andrea helped herself to a second cookie from the tray that Hannah had placed on the long table. "Are you baking them for Halloween?"
    "No, I want to come up with something a little more festive."
    "You did chocolate cookies with orange icing last year, didn't you?"
    Hannah nodded. "I'll do them again this year if I can't come up with anything else."
    "Speaking of Halloween," Andrea paused to grab another cookie, "Tracey wants to know if you're going to the Haunted Basement and the Halloween party at the community center."
    "Of course I'm going. I go every year."
    "Good. Tracey's all excited about her costume and she wanted to make sure you'll see it."
    "What is she going to be this year?" Hannah asked, knowing that her five-year-old niece would be cute in whatever costume she chose to wear.
    "She's still wavering between a fairy princess and a pirate."
    Hannah laughed. "What a difference! I'll bet she chooses the fairy princess."
    "Maybe, but she loves the parrot that goes with the pirate's costume. It sits on your shoulder and there's a little switch you can press to make it talk. All the fairy princess has is a wand and it doesn't even light up or anything."
    "The talking parrot is definitely a selling point," Hannah said gravely, filling the coffee carafe she used to make the rounds of the tables.
    "You go first with the coffee. I'll follow you with the hot water and tea bags. Then we can split up and pass the cookies."
    "Thanks, Andrea." Hannah was grateful. Catering was always easier with two people. "What does the parrot say?"
    "You know… Shiver my timbers! and, Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum! Piratey things like that. I think there's one about dead men on a chest or something like that."
    "Fifteen men on a dead man's chest."
    "That's right. And then it's, A drink for the devil and none for the rest!"
    "What was that about giving the devil a drink?" Father Coultas asked, coming up to the catering table just in time to hear Andrea's last comment.
    Andrea blushed slightly. "Sorry, Father Coultas. I was just telling Hannah about the talking parrot that conies with Tracey's pirate costume."
    "I've met that parrot," Father Coultas said. "Immelda's grandson rented that costume last year and the bird got stuck on ho. It just said ho, ho, ho over and over like some kind of deranged Santa Claus. It was driving poor Immelda crazy until I took the batteries out."
    When Hannah stepped into her kitchen with the cookies left over from her catering job, Lisa came barreling through the swinging door. "Thank goodness you're back, Hannah!"
    "What's wrong?" Hannah asked, noticing the high spots of color in Lisa's cheeks.
    "Nothing's wrong. I just overheard something you should know, that's all. Hold on a second. Herb's here and I'll ask him to mind the