The night was incredibly peaceful. Gentle snowflakes were falling and it seemed a fitting end to a day that had been filled with confusion, frustration, fear, and finally a sense of a job well done. Hannah was about to climb into her Suburban when she remembered what she’d seen on the counter in the Woodleys’ kitchen. “I forgot something, Bill. I’ll be right back.”

Hannah raced back into the house and headed straight for the kitchen. There it was: her white bakery bag with the red plastic handles and “The Cookie Jar” printed on the side in gold letters. She snatched it up and ran back outside again.

“These are for you.” Hannah was breathless as she handed the bag to Bill. “They’re my best cookies, Pecan Chews.”

Bill looked both surprised and pleased. “Thanks, Hannah. Why did you leave them inside?”

“I used them as an excuse to see Judith.” Hannah laughed and the echo of her own laughter sounded wonderful to her ears. “I gave them to her as a hostess gift, but I don’t think she’s going to be doing much entertaining where she’s going to end up.”

Epilogue

It wasn’t bad as family parties went and Hannah was pleasantly surprised. Norman had gone out to the sheriff’s department open house and he’d offered to help Bill move Mike Kingston into his new apartment. Naturally, Bill had asked him to come back to the house for pizza with them and now they were all sitting around Andrea and Bill’s dining room table, munching pizza, the salad Delores had brought, and Hannah’s contribution, two pans of her Lovely Lemon Bar Cookies. She’d told everyone she thought it was appropriate to bring bars because Judith Woodley was behind them at last.

Something else had happened that made this night into a celebration. Sheriff Grant had promoted Bill to detective and he’d decided that Bill should be Mike’s partner. Mike was still Bill’s supervisor, but they would be working together on cases. Of course Sheriff Grant didn’t know anything about Hannah’s part in solving the double-homicide, and neither did Mike. Hannah had told Bill that she wanted all of the credit to go to him.

There was another thing to celebrate and it concerned Andrea’s career. Bill had decided that since Tracey loved preschool so much, it would be a shame to take her away from the friends she’d made. And since Tracey would be spending her days at Kiddie Korner, Andrea could keep right on selling real estate.

“Time for bed, Tracey.” Andrea sounded relaxed and happy as she turned to her daughter. “You’ve got school tomorrow.”

“Okay, Mommy. I can take the detective bear that Mike gave me, can’t I?”

“Sure, you can,” Bill answered her.

“But it’s a collectible,” Delores objected. “What if one of Tracey’s friends gets it dirty?”

Mike shrugged. “Then it’ll get dirty. Let her take it, Andrea. It’s not much of a present for Tracey if she can’t play with it.”

“You’re right.” Andrea smiled at him and then she turned to Tracey. “You can take it, honey. It’s okay.”