"Sure. What is it?"

"Carry Dillon"s cake down to the cookie truck while I get dressed. It"s in the microwave and I don"t trust Moishe."

"Moishe can open the microwave?"

"I don"t think so, but you never know with him. If he can figure out a way to get to his food in a locked broom closet, I wouldn"t put a simple thing like opening a microwave past him."

Hannah pulled into Lisa and Herb"s driveway and parked. She glanced down at her purse, recovered from the floor-boards under the pa.s.senger seat of Perry"s city maintenance truck, and handed it to Mich.e.l.le. "I"ll be right back."

"This is so sweet of you, Hannah!" Lisa looked delighted as she accepted Dillon"s cake. "The only thing is...I"m not sure dogs like cake."

"He"ll like this one. It"s a Good Doggy Cake. The frosting is cream cheese and liverwurst, and the three layers are ground chicken, ground beef, and ground turkey."

"Oh, my!" Lisa was clearly impressed. "In that case he"s going to love it. I"ll give him a piece for dessert tonight and tell him it"s from you."

Hannah gave Lisa a hug and hurried back out to her cookie truck. Once there, she pressed the pedal to the metal, which didn"t have the same effect that racecar drivers spoke of, and they arrived at the Lake Eden Inn fifteen minutes later than the time stated by their mother when she invited them for dinner.

"I guess we"re not so late after all," Hannah said to Mich.e.l.le as they followed the waitress to a long table in the center of the dining room. Delores was already seated at the head of the table with Mike seated next to her around the corner. There were place cards, as usual, and Hannah headed over to Mike, knowing that her mother always sandwiched her in between Mike and Norman.

"h.e.l.lo, darlings!" Delores greeted them. "You"re on the other side, Mich.e.l.le, next to Tracey when Andrea and Bill get here. And Hannah? You"re next to..."

"I know," Hannah interrupted her mother.

"I have something for you in my car," Delores said, and then she smiled. "Actually, it"s for my grandcat. It"s that umbrella stand you wanted for Moishe. Andrea bought it at the auction for you."

"Great!" Hannah was pleased. The giant gargoyle-like mice might keep Moishe amused for a while. "I hope she didn"t pay too much."

"She paid a dollar. No one else bid on it. I only have one caveat before I hand it over to you, dear."

"What"s that, Mother?"

"You hide it in the closet when I come over. It"s the most hideous thing I"ve ever seen."

Hannah was saved from making that promise by the arrival of Andrea, Bill, and Tracey. Once everyone had been properly greeted, they took the places Delores indicated, and then Bill turned to Hannah.

"Thank you, Hannah," he said.

"For what?"

"For planting the seeds of doubt in my mind. I was so bowled over by Tachyon"s offer, I didn"t even think to question it. You were absolutely right. They called me. I never called them."

"Was the offer legitimate?" Hannah held her breath. She wasn"t sure whether she hoped it was or it wasn"t.

"Tachyon never heard of the person who offered Bill the job," Andrea answered. "It was all a lie."

"And now that Professor Ramsey"s killer is behind bars, I"ve got Mike and Lonnie making inquiries to find out who made the calls and why," Bill picked up the explanation. "That idea you had about someone who wants to discredit me is a good one."

"We"re going to tap Bill"s home phone," Mike said. "We think we might be able to trace the call if Bill keeps him on the line long enough."

Bill laughed. "You don"t have to worry about that. He was pretty long-winded."

"I hope you get him!" Andrea said to Mike. "I just about went crazy thinking we"d have to move."

"Me too," Tracey said. "I hope you get him, Uncle Mike!"

There was a series of faint musical notes, and Andrea reached into her purse for her cell phone. "It"s Norman," she said, glancing at the display. "I wonder why he"s calling me? I"ll run out to the lobby and talk to him. The reception"s better out there."

Hannah thought she knew why Norman was calling Andrea. Her own cell phone was still plugged into the charger in the kitchen.

"I have some news," Mich.e.l.le said. "Sherri Connors called me this morning. She"s back with Kyle and they"re getting married."

"Even though the baby"s not his?" Delores asked.

Hannah could tell her mother regretted the question the moment after she"d asked it. She glanced at Tracey and frowned.

"It"s okay, Grandma," Tracey said, jumping to her feet. "I"ll just go find Mom in the lobby so you can talk about those things."

As Tracey rushed off, Delores just shook her head. "I forget she"s just a child," she said.

"I"m not sure she is," Hannah commented, and then she turned to Mich.e.l.le. "Kyle doesn"t mind that the baby"s not his?"

"He says as long as the baby"s Sherri"s, that"s enough for him. And since they"re getting married right away and he"ll be listed as the husband on the birth certificate, he"ll be the baby"s legal father."

Andrea came back into the dining room, followed by Tracey. "Norman"s on his way, but he had an unexpected visitor, somebody he knows from dental school. I told him his friend was welcome to join us. I hope that was okay."

"Of course it is," Delores said. "We"ll just set up an extra chair next to Norman. Now would everyone like to know why I arranged this little party?"

"Because Perry"s locked up and I"m still alive?" Hannah guessed.

"Partially, dear. Would anyone else like to guess?"

"Because Sally has pork with baby asparagus and honey mustard glaze on the menu?" Mike asked.

There was laughter around the table, and Hannah turned to her brother-in-law. "Aren"t you going to guess, Bill?"

"That wouldn"t be fair. Andrea and I already know."

"So do I." Tracey said. "But I can"t tell. I promised Grandma."

"Tell us, Mother," Hannah urged.

"All right then. Carrie and Earl called me from Rome last night. They thought it would be fun if I flew to join them for the last week of their honeymoon. All four of us are going to explore the city together. They already booked us a room next to theirs."

There was silence around the table. Delores had been seen with three eligible men in the past week. Was she going to go to Rome with Joe Dietz? Bud Hauge? Doc Knight? It was clear no one wanted to ask her.

Hannah knew she was stuck with that unenviable duty when everyone turned to look at her. "Okay. I"ll ask. Who"s us, Mother?"

Delores nodded at Tracey, and Tracey jumped up from her seat. "It"s me! I"m going to fly to Rome with Grandma. Isn"t that exciting?"

The waitress arrived right on cue with two chilled bottles in an ice bucket. There was champagne for those who wished to imbibe, and sparkling apple juice for those who didn"t. As the gla.s.ses were filled with one or the other, the conversation turned to Rome and what Tracey could expect to see there. They were just talking about the famous fountain when Norman walked into the dining room with an attractive dark-haired woman on his arm.

"That"s his friend from dental school?" Mike asked.

"He didn"t tell me she was a woman," Andrea said, looking over at Hannah apologetically.

Hannah knew what to do. She pasted a perfectly composed, perfectly polite smile on her face. Maintaining her composure shouldn"t be that difficult for someone who"d just been locked in a mausoleum and almost starved to death. But it was that difficult. She wasn"t sure exactly where her heart was located in her chest, but she knew it hurt a lot.

"Hi, everyone," Norman said, stepping forward to greet them. "I"d like you all to meet my new partner at Rhodes Dental Clinic, Doctor Beverly Thorndike."

GOOD DOGGY CAKE.

Preheat oven to 350 F., rack in the middle position.

pound lean ground beef.

pound ground chicken.

pound ground turkey 8-ounce package cream cheese.

4-ounce package liverwurst.

You will need 3 pie plates, or 3 layer cake pans to make this cake. (I used disposable pie pans.) Spray the 3 pans with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray.

Press the half-pound of lean ground beef into the bottom of the first pan, spreading it out evenly.

Press the half-pound of ground chicken into the bottom of the second pan, spreading it out evenly.

Press the half-pound of ground turkey into the bottom of the third pan, spreading it out evenly.

Bake the ground meat in the 3 pans at 350 degrees F. for 25 to 30 minutes.

Use a turkey baster to suck out the grease and dispose of it. Let the meat cool completely in the pans.

When the meat is cool, it"s time to make the frosting. Place the cream cheese and the liverwurst in a medium-sized, microwave-safe bowl. Heat them together on HIGH for 30 seconds.

Stir the cream cheese and the liverwurst together into a paste. If they"re still too solid to stir, give them another 20 seconds on HIGH in the microwave.

Take one disk of meat out of its pan and place it on a cake plate. Spread a little of the frosting on top.

Take another disk of meat, put it on top of the first, and spread a little more frosting on top.

Take the third disk of meat, put it on top of the second, and spread a little more frosting on top. Cover this disk completely with frosting since it"ll be the top of your cake.

Use a spatula or frosting knife to spread frosting on the sides of your cake.

If you"d like to decorate your cake, use little Milk Bones. They come in colors. Arrange them artistically on top of the cake. (Actually your lucky doggy recipient won"t really care if they"re artistic or not.) Keep this cake REFRIGERATED until you serve it to your favorite canine.

Hannah"s Note: This cake is very rich. It"s the frosting. Dole it out to your dog in small pieces.

Yield: Enough for the "good doggy" and five furry friends.

Books by Joanne Fluke.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE MURDER.

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE MURDER.

BLUEBERRY m.u.f.fIN MURDER.

LEMON MERINGUE PIE MURDER.

FUDGE CUPCAKE MURDER.

SUGAR COOKIE MURDER.

PEACH COBBLER MURDER.

CHERRY CHEESECAKE MURDER.

KEY LIME PIE MURDER.

CARROT CAKE MURDER.

CREAM PUFF MURDER.

PLUM PUDDING MURDER.

APPLE TURNOVER MURDER.

APPLE TURNOVER MURDER RECIPE INDEX.

Vanilla Crack.

Chocolate Crack Chocolate Sugar Cookies.

Marge"s Apple Turnovers Mocha Nut b.u.t.terb.a.l.l.s Imperial Cereal.

Sausage and Cheese Pancakes Rose"s Zucchini Cookies Chocolate Marshmallow Cookie Bars.

Aggression Cookies.

Wacky Cake Breakfast in a m.u.f.fin Sesame Seed Tea Cookies.