“We can take it there and burn it,” I said. “If it puts your mind at ease we can hope that any evil attached to the book will be carried away by the sea breeze.”
“There are trash bags in the kitchen,” Lizzy jumped to her feet, yelping at the pain in her ankle. “Let’s cover this thing up and get out of here while we can.”
A small part of me wanted to save the book for Kal, but most of me wanted to honor Grams’ request. The journal would serve no good and if it found its way into the wrong hands…I thought of all the struggling magicians we’d met in the last few days. They deserved a chance. Even Bart Bottom and Harry Whodunit.
We bagged the journal in a solemn kitchen ceremony. Grams refused to cart the thing in her car so Lizzy and I became keeper of the book of secrets.
“We’ll meet you at my condo. We’re not allowed to burn anything on the grill except for food, so we’ll have to be discreet. The barbeque grill is out back under the sundeck portico.”
Pam, Grams, Lizzy, WonderDog and I locked up the apartment and made our way to the bank employees’ parking lot.
“Thank you for doing this for Grams,” Lizzy said. “She’d never rest easy knowing my father’s wicked journal existed. You did a good thing giving her closure.”
Lizzy and I arrived at Sandy Shores Towers at two-thirty. We hurried straight to the gas grill and fired it up.
Grams voice cut through the sound of the waves and the cry of the gulls. “We’re here!”
I unwrapped the book, peeling off every shred of plastic. “The cover’s leather. Should I burn it, too?”
“Burn the whole dang thing!” Grams said. “I don’t want a piece of it left.”
I scanned the beach and parking area—it looked like we were alone. The balconies didn’t provide a straight-on view of the grill area, but just in case I stood away from the building and looked up.
Ivy LaVine, former friend, possible competitor, and guardian of the beaches was out on her balcony. Her apartment was on the fourth floor plus under-building parking made it five stories up—but her angry glare still touched me.
I waved. She didn’t respond. Ivy’s neighborhood watch was legendary. She’d even reported pigeons for droppings. If she saw dark smoke she’d call the fire department or worse yet, Kal.
“We’ve been spotted. I’m putting the journal in the flames right now. Step back!”
The pages burned quickly but the leather cover smoldered—dark smoke roiling up to the fourth floor as if drawn there.
“Olive? What’s going on?” It was Kal’s voice.
As I watched the stinky leather shrivel to ash I tried to decide what expression to use when I turned around to face him—sheepish, snarky, or absent-minded ditz. I’d successfully avoided the officer of law for twenty-four hours and solved a case that would have severely challenged his understanding and friendship.
Grams saved the moment. “Kal, you wouldn’t believe the nasty book I caught Olive reading. I’m making her burn it while I watch.”
“Don’t you ever let me catch you reading such trash again!” Grams said, shooting me a sly wink.
I blushed.
And so, the legacy of the Masked Dangler’s journal ended in a curl of black smoke. Irma was on her way to Karma without Nelson’s supposed fortune. And Nelson had already dangled a path to his own karma.
Epilogue
Soap making in my kitchen is always a tight squeeze. The counters were covered with wax paper and two double-boilers steamed on the stove. Lizzy and I were almost back on schedule.
“Kal messaged me today,” I said. “That’s the first time in the three weeks since the burning on the beach. I guess he’s coming around.”
“Anything important?”
“Just to tell me a cosmic cult commune vanished from a horse farm outside Ocala. They’d been under scrutiny for years—were considered spacey but harmless.”
I lined up the soap molds. “I wonder if it was Irma’s cult. She might have found a way to make them all Cosmic Travelers.”
“We should’ve hired her to hypnotize Ivy before she and Myron make a complete muddle of her new business,” Lizzy said. “She’s planning on calling the shop Macy’s South.” Lizzy sprinkled a cupful of lemongrass into the melted soap. “She’ll get sued for that, right?”
“Yup!” I shook my head. “She won’t listen. I’ve tried to give her some advice but she’s still got her knickers in a knot.”
Puff tumbled into the kitchen followed by WonderDog. “You two know you can’t come in here when we’re brewing. Back in the living room you little fuzz balls.”
WonderDog poked Puff with his snoot beginning a game of chase.
“I picked Heather up from a birthday party yesterday. One of those over-the-top kids’ bashes. Guess who was performing—Harry Whodunit! He does a magical act with a talking rubber chicken.”
“Stop!” I almost choked. “You made me spill the goop!” I giggled. “Whodunit has found his calling.”
We paused for a good long laugh and then went back to work.
“We need to take Sophia’s contract to the lawyer tomorrow. It will be nice to see our Italian friend again. Nonna must be smiling in heaven. Sophia’s endorsement of her cold cream would please her no end.”
Lizzy began to pour the hot liquid into the molds. “How long is Sophia staying?”
“She said she leased a beachside condo for a month and one for Fabio, too. I don’t think I told you but she’s had her designer make a few disguises for her—a blonde wig, hats, and sunglasses.”
Lizzy chuckled. “She’ll not be able to conceal that body of hers or her wiggle-walk.”
“Look who’s talking about wiggle-walks.”
I gently slid a tray of filled molds to the back of the counter. “If those guys from the Golden Aches Spa decide to use our creams we’re going to have to expand into a larger kitchen. Funny how suspicious they seemed arriving at our shop in business suits—men of mystery. If only Ivy knew who they were at the time.”
“Things always work out for the best,” Lizzy said.
“Poshookly?” I giggled.
The End
Recipe for Lavender Honey Lemon Soap
All natural ingredients! Fun and easy!
This oh-so-soothing soap is Lizzy’s personal favorite. You’re going to love it!
Supplies:
Double-boiler pot
Soap molds
Wax paper
Ingredients - Order on line:
2 pounds of organic goats milk soap base
Dried lavender – crushed in food processor
1 large lemon
2 tablespoons of honey
A teeny touch of grapeseed or coconut oil
Lavender essential oil
Lemon essential oil
Grate the lemon peel to create lemon zest. Then take out most of the moisture by blotting the zest in a paper towel.
Break the soap base into one inch chunks to allow it to melt faster.
Put it in the top of a double boiler or a glass bowl set in a pot with about 2 inches of water and set to boil.
Stir continuously until the soap is completely melted.
Pour melted soap base into a measuring cup for easy pouring.
Add crushed lavender (3 tablespoons) Use a whisk to mix all ingredients.
Add lemon zest.
Add 15 drops of the lavender essential oil.
Add 6 drops of the lemon essential oil.
Put a thin coating of either grapeseed or coconut oil on a tablespoon (Just enough to coat it. It makes it easier to spoon-out the honey.)
Add 2 tablespoons of honey.
Mix well.
Pour carefully into the molds.
Spray alcohol on the soap to remove any bubbles that might form.
Let the soap cool completely—usually a couple of hours.
Gently remove the soap from the molds.
Enjoy!
Rope is optional.
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About the Author
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“Barbara Silkstone is beyond clever. She's an engaging writer who, with great skill, manages to make her skewed world ring true. The best thing about her characters is that they are not caricatures; they are real with all their dimensions intact. The best thing about Silkstone is that she manages to exhibit equal measures of talent and imagination.”
Barbara Silkstone is the author of the COLD CREAM MURDERS cozies, also the Florence Nightingale Comedy Mystery Series, light-hearted Victorian mysteries.
Silkstone is also the author of the best selling Mister Darcy series of comedic mysteries ~ 9 Books~ plus an additional 10 Regency novels and novellas, all with a light, humorous touch.
Please check out her Wendy Darlin Comedy Mysteries – 5 Cozy Capers.
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Cold Cream Murders
If you haven’t begun to read the series now’s your chance!
Glossy Lips – Book 1
My Book
Smokey Eyes – Book 2
My Book
COLD CREAM MURDERS – series
When Olive Peroni put out her family therapy sign, she never thought her top client would be the retired head of a New York crime family. When Olive’s nonna dies and leaves her a condo in Florida and a secret recipe for miracle cold cream, Olive grabs the chance at a new life in Starfish Cove, Florida, making designer creams for ladies who spend far too much time at the beach.
But when the quiet little community on the Gulf of Mexico soon begins to compete with a certain notorious coastal village in Maine, Olive finds herself solving odd-ball murders as often as she soothes wrinkles.
Clean, wholesome, and loaded with laughs!
Each book contains a recipe for homemade cosmetics!
GLOSSY LIPS – BOOK 1
Business is brisk and life is good! Olive Peroni makes a wild new best friend in Lizzy, the real estate agent who handles the transfer of Nonna’s condo. When a dead body is found in the trunk of Lizzy’s car, Olive despairs that life in Starfish Cove won’t be any different than the one she thought she’d escaped. But this time, instead of listening to confessions of murder, Olive’s going to have to solve one. Maybe two…
Contains a recipe for Olive & Lizzy’s super-creamy homemade lip gloss!
SMOKEY EYES – BOOK 2
Olive and Lizzy’s Cold Cream shop on the beach is jumping—business couldn’t be better. But when land shark mogul Brent Toast is found floating in the Starfish Cove marina, with his sneer-side up and a knife in his chest, the prime suspect—among his many enemies—is his brassy daughter-in-law. Can Olive & Lizzy save their friend or will this be the end of the Loud Mouth of the South?
Contains a recipe for Olive & Lizzy’s Smokey Eye Shadow
With love & laugher!
Barbara Silkstone
Soap on a Rope Page 16