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Back Blackberry Pie Murder Save as PDF
Chapters (36)
  1. Books by Joanne Fluke
  2. Title Page
  3. Dedication
  4. Acknowledgments
  5. Chapter One
  6. Chapter Two
  7. Chapter Three
  8. Chapter Four
  9. Chapter Five
  10. Chapter Six
  11. Chapter Seven
  12. Chapter Eight
  13. Chapter Nine
  14. Chapter Ten
  15. Chapter Eleven
  16. Chapter Twelve
  17. Chapter Thirteen
  18. Chapter Fourteen
  19. Chapter Fifteen
  20. Chapter Sixteen
  21. Chapter Seventeen
  22. Chapter Eighteen
  23. Chapter Nineteen
  24. Chapter Twenty
  25. Chapter Twenty-one
  26. Chapter Twenty-two
  27. Chapter Twenty-three
  28. Chapter Twenty-four
  29. Chapter Twenty-five
  30. Chapter Twenty-six
  31. Chapter Twenty-seven
  32. Chapter Twenty-eight
  33. BLACKBERRY PIE MURDER RECIPE INDEX
  34. Baking Conversion Chart
  35. A Letter From Joanne Fluke
  36. Copyright Page

Chapter Twenty-five

Chapter Twenty-five

Hannah felt slightly guilty when she left The Cookie Jar at two-thirty in the afternoon, the cookies she’d baked especially for Jennifer sat on the seat beside her in one of her signature bakery boxes. She’d been at work for only three hours, and she usually put in at least ten hours a day.

She told herself that it didn’t matter, that she’d baked cookies for the entire time she’d been there, but her conscience was bothering her a bit as she unscrewed the top on a bottle of cold water and drove out of town. It felt almost like playing hooky, something she’d done only once. It had happened when she was in grade school and she hadn’t played hooky deliberately. It had just worked out that way.

She’d left school at a quarter to eleven in the morning for her annual fall dental checkup. Her appointment with Doc Bennett had been canceled at the last minute because of an emergency, but she hadn’t known that when she’d left her classroom. Doc Bennett’s receptionist had delivered the news and Hannah had walked away from his dental office intending to go straight back to school. But the fact that she wasn’t expected to return for at least an hour had made her feel as free as the proverbial bird.

Why go back? the little imp that resided in her mind had asked her. No one at school will know you’re not at the dentist. This is a lucky break for you. Go do something you want to do.

It had seemed like a wonderful idea at the time and Hannah had put aside her scruples and stopped at the park a block from the school. A sidewalk ran all the way around the perimeter of the park in a huge circle and Hannah had walked slowly around the circle. Usually the sidewalk was filled with mothers pushing strollers, kids on tricycles and older kids on bicycles. Today there was no one on the sidewalk circle except her.

It was almost eleven in the morning and the park was deserted this time of day. The kids who rode bicycles were in school and mothers with small children had taken them home for morning naps and were busy fixing noon lunch. The park would be crowded again by two in the afternoon, but for now Hannah was the only kid around.