Free Strawberry Shortcake Murder by Joanne Fluke Page B

I am! Bill says Sheriff Grant is sure that Danielle is guilty, and you know what that means.”
    “I’m afraid I do,” Hannah started to frown. “They’re just going to go through the motions?”
    “That’s right. Bill says he doesn’t dare go out on a limb about it. He’s been a detective for less than two months and they won’t listen to him anyway. And he doesn’t think that Mike will buck Sheriff Grant, either.”
    “Because he just transferred here?”
    “That, and because he’s not sure Danielle didn’t do it.”
    Hannah was so shocked she couldn’t speak for a moment. When she did, her voice was hard. “What is he, stupid? I told him that Danielle wasn’t capable of killing Boyd!”
    “You can’t blame him, Hannah. He doesn’t know Danielle like we do, and he’s still got that big-city-cop mentality. I’ll bet that in Minneapolis, lots of abused wives kill their husbands.”
    “But this is Lake Eden,” Hannah reminded her. “It’s different here.”
    “I know.” Andrea blew on the surface of her cup and too a tentative sip. “How does your carafe keep things so hot? We’ve got the same kind, and our coffee’s always lukewarm.”
    “Do you fill it with boiling water and let it sit for a couple of minutes before you pour in the coffee?”
    “No, but I’ll try that tomorrow morning. So what are we going to do first, Hannah?”
    “About what?”
    “About Danielle. It’s up to us to prove she didn’t kill Boyd.”
    Hannah reared back and stared at her sister in surprise. “Us?”
    “You didn’t think I’d let you tackle something like this alone, did you?” Andrea gave a smug little smile. “I’m not quite as good at snooping as you are, but I’m learning.”
    Hannah wasn’t quite sure she liked being categorized as a snoop, but she let it pass. “Bring your coffee and let’s go in the back. I need to pack up my box of ingredients for tonight.”
    Once the switch was accomplished and Lisa had taken Hannah’s place behind the counter, Andrea sat down at the work island with her coat in her lap and watched Hannah fill a box with ingredients for the dessert she planned to bake on television.
    Hannah worked efficiently, measuring ingredients and putting them into plastic containers. Once she’d assembled everything she needed, she began to store them in the box. There was a container of sugar, a pound of butter, and a plastic bag filled with diced apricots. Hannah added a loaf of sliced white bread, stuck in her handwritten recipe, and walked to the cooler to make sure she had plenty of eggs and cream. When she’d clamped the lid on the box, she turned to find Andrea staring at her curiously. “What?”
    “I was just trying to figure out what you’re baking tonight.”
    “Apricot Bread Pudding. It was one of Great-Grandma Elsa’s favorite recipes, but she used raisins instead of apricots. I like it better this way.”
    “So do I. Apricots are a lot better than raisins. So what are you going to do, Hannah?”
    “There isn’t time actually to bake it during the news, so I’ll make it ahead of time and prepare another one on camera. That’s what I did with the Pound Plus Cake for Strawberry Shortcake Swensen.”
    “Not that. I mean, what are we going to do about Danielle? We’ve got to help her.”
    “I know. But how about Bill? He’s not going to like it if you get involved in another murder investigation.”
    Andrea waved off that concern. “He’s so busy, he won’t even notice. Let’s go and visit Danielle at the hospital. We need to get all the facts we can before we start.”
    “You can’t visit her, Andrea. I talked Mike into letting me see her, but I’m the only one.”
    “I know. Bill told me. But Rick Murphy’s guarding her door, and I know him from high school. If I keep him busy talking to me, he won’t be able to overhear what you and Danielle are saying.”
    “That’s brilliant.” Hannah was impressed.
    “Thanks. So you’re going to let