by Maddie Day
“And Geller was the person Ms. Csik saw leaving Toni’s half of the duplex,” Buck said.
“Yes.” Octavia took a small sip and swallowed, then cleared her throat. “My, that’s smooth.”
Corrine laughed out loud. “You never had no Four Roses before?”
“I can’t say that I have. I rarely partake of hard alcohol.”
“She’s more the merlot type, am I right, Detective?” Adele asked with a smile.
Octavia inclined her head. “Cabernet sauvignon, but yes. I enjoy a good red wine on occasion.”
“So both Clive and Jamie are in the clear?” I asked. “Yep.” Buck cupped his hands around his mug. He’d opted for his whiskey in hot tea. “I had a word with Franklin about risking a libel charge next time he writes falsehoods for publication, though.”
“Good,” Corrine said.
“Octavia, Jamie mentioned to me sometime during the week that you were ‘trouble,’ as he put it.” I regarded her. “Do you know what that was about?”
She returned my gaze from behind her dark-rimmed glasses. “I have encountered very few citizens who enjoy being a person of interest in a homicide investigation. They and their movements, past and present, are subject to intense scrutiny. I’m sure it was nothing more than that. Of course, I’m not going to let a person’s displeasure dissuade me from seeking the truth.”
“None of us in criminal justice do,” Buck added.
Adele slapped her thigh. “And boy howdy, we’re glad about it.”
“I’m glad about my boy Marcus being in the clear, I can tell you that much,” Corrine said.
“Shirley Csik is out of the woods, as well,” Octavia said.
Shirley would be relieved to hear that. I glanced at Adele. “Octavia, did you uncover anything about Shirley trying to bribe an official at the prison where Shirley’s brother is incarcerated?”
Adele gave me a knowing look. Octavia blinked, but Buck nodded.
“Yes, in fact we did,” Octavia said. “Ms. Csik was not charged with a crime at the time.”
“We was looking at it for a motive,” Buck began. “Seeing as how Toni helped her get it all put quiet, like, and maybe had decided to go public with the story. But Octavia, here, she was in pursuit of the perpetrator of homicide, not small-time bribery with love as a motive. Shirley wasn’t no killer.”
I smiled to myself. Good.
“Both murders were the work of an unscrupulous doctor with a hatred of women and access to a drug that should never be used outside an operating room,” Octavia said. “We’re now checking to see if he is connected to two other female cold-case victims with whom he’d had contact at the hospital. One was a pharmacist, the other a surgical nurse. Geller was clever. The pathologist who did Toni Franklin’s autopsy almost didn’t notice the puncture sites in the fold under her buttocks.”
I shuddered. “He had so much rage against me it looked like he was going to jab that needle into my neck.”
“Probably was,” Buck said.
“I can see Geller killing his wife if he found out about her affair with Jamie,” I said. “He’d already discovered some of the money she was hiding from him and tried to beat her for doing that. He would have been furious at her not being under his control any longer.”
“And if he injected her with poison, it wasn’t no spur of the moment killing, neither,” Buck said. “Clearly premeditated.”
Octavia nodded.
“That kind of man shouldn’t never get married,” Adele said. “Shouldn’t be let near women.”
“I agree. But Octavia, why did he kill Toni?” I asked. “Did she know about him murdering her sister?”
“She apparently suspected it after the remains surfaced right there in their house,” she said. “We found a half-written letter addressed to the editor of the newspaper on her laptop, accusing her brother-in-law of murder. She mentioned her sister had finally confided to her that Geller was abusing her. Maybe Toni hinted to him she was about to go public and he took action before she could.”
“And he had the gall to flip the story,” Corrine began, “and accuse dead Toni herself of the murder. Yessiree, the man belongs right where he is currently sitting.”
“Amen,” Adele said.
“Will you be able to find evidence of the same drug in Kristina’s remains, do you think?” I asked Octavia.
“It’s possible. Depending partly on luck, they might find the toxin in mummified tissues, bones, the pulp of the teeth, or her hair. A decade in a closed environment is not as destructive to a corpse as a body left outside for a much shorter period of time.”
“Good luck with that, Detective.” Corrine stood. “Nice work, all y’all. I best get myself home and give the good news to my Danna before she hits the sack. You girls have an early morning tomorrow.”
I hit my forehead and swore. “I haven’t done breakfast prep yet.” I stood.
“I’ll help you,” Adele and Abe said in unison, then burst out laughing.
“We’ll leave you to it,” Octavia said. She rose and came around the table, extending her hand. “I commend you for your bravery.”
I shook her firm, slender grip. “Thank you.” I left it at that.
Buck held the door for Corrine and Octavia.
“Thanks for the truffles, Buck,” I called.
His grin split his thin face. “You earned ’em, hon.”
When I turned back to the kitchen area, Abe and Adele had their heads together. Adele saw me looking and put on the biggest fake smile I’d ever seen. What was that all about? I shook my head and went to scrub my hands. That biscuit dough wasn’t going to mix itself.
Chapter Fifty-Six
The restaurant was hopping the next morning. Danna and I had spoken briefly about the previous evening before we opened.
“You must be glad Marcus is officially cleared,” I said while breaking eggs.
“I never once thought he was guilty.” She stared at the condiment caddies, then looked up. “And he kept his cool way better than me during the thing with Mr. Franklin on Sunday. I can learn from my brother.”
I smiled to myself but said only, “Good.”
Turner arrived on time at eight and I was glad he did. Everybody wanted to talk about the arrest, about the doctor attacking me, about everything from the last week. And yet we still had to cook, deliver, clear, reset, and do it all again. I tried to fend off the questions about Geller’s attack and arrest as best I could. I was a hundred percent relieved the man was behind bars, but I had a business to run.
Phil hurried in with four large covered pans full of brownies and cookies. “Sorry I didn’t get these over to you yesterday, Robbie.” He set them on the counter.
“No worries, man. Heck, we don’t need them until eleven.” I smiled at my favorite baker. “Do you want to eat?”
“No, thanks. I need to do a little Christmas shopping.” He poured himself a mug of coffee and headed off to browse the cookware area.
Corrine and Marcus came in together a few minutes after Turner. A four-top of early birds had left, so I wiped off the table and seated mother and son there. Adele and Samuel were next to appear. Corrine waved them over to her table. Good. I was sure Samuel and Marcus had already been brought up to speed on the events of last evening.
Buck set the bell to jangling next, with Abe and Sean on his heels. Abe? Color me confused. Didn’t he have to work? And . . . what was Sean doing out of school? Maybe it was a teacher in-service day. The three of them ambled over to where Adele sat. I wiped my hands on my apron and joined them.
“Is everything okay, guys?” I asked. “Why aren’t you in class, Sean?”
Sean simply gave me a mysterious smile. I glanced from face to face. Adele’s eyes sparkled. Samuel had his arm around her shoulders. Buck had his hands in his pockets and a Cheshire cat grin on his face. Corrine pressed her fingers over her mouth like she was trying not to smile. What in the world was going on?
Abe cleared his thro
at. He knelt on one knee in front of me and pulled a small velvet box out of his pocket. My breath rushed in. He opened the box to reveal a round diamond on a simple gold band. He took my left hand and smiled the crooked smile I adored, his strong but gentle grasp delivering the warm comfort it always did. My other hand flew to my mouth. The buzz of the restaurant quieted.
“Robbie Jordan, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife? Will you marry me?”
I gazed down at this man I loved with all my heart. I looked around at all my favorite people, including Danna and Turner, who’d somehow joined the circle. Phil had reappeared, too, and was holding his phone toward us as if he was shooting video. Adele was wiping her eyes and Danna sniffed. I gazed at Abe’s son through my own blurry eyes.
“You good with this, Sean?” I asked, barely getting out the words.
He gave me a big braces-clad smile and two thumbs up.
I looked back at my husband-to-be. “Yes, Abe O’Neill, I will be happy to marry you.”
He slid the ring onto my left ring finger. It fit perfectly. He stood and kissed me with tender lips. I kissed him right back. The restaurant erupted in a roar of whoops and applause.
“I wanted to wait until Christmas,” he whispered, “but after last night? I couldn’t delay another minute.”
“I’m glad you didn’t,” I whispered back.
We turned and faced our family, our friends, our townsfolk. I extended my left hand above my head and made a half circle, diamond out. A crescendo of applause and cheers broke out. Abe slung his arm around my waist, and I pulled Sean in on the other side for a one-armed hug.
“Thank you for letting me join your family, dude,” I murmured to the teen.
“You are seriously a lot more fun than that guy.” He pointed to Abe but softened the comment with a smile.
All my lovies gathered around for hugs and congratulations. Until a customer across the room lifted his mug. “Can I get me a coffee refill, please?”
Recipes
Gingerbread People
Gingerbread men (and women) pop up throughout this book. This is Sean’s grandmother’s recipe.
Ingredients
¼ cup butter at room temperature
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup molasses
3 ½ cups unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon cloves
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup water
Chocolate chips or icing
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cover two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the molasses.
Combine the dry ingredients. Add them to the butter mixture in three parts, alternating with a total of ¼ cup water.
Form into a disk, wrap, and chill for at least half an hour.
Flour a surface and roll out to ¼ inch thickness. Cut with gingerbread man and woman cutters and place ½ inch apart on baking sheet. Add chocolate chips for eyes, mouths, and buttons before baking, or leave plain to decorate later.
Bake for 8 minutes or until edges start to brown. Cool on a wire rack. Add additional decoration if desired using your favorite icing recipe.
Holly Cookies
Abe’s mother makes these yummy sugar cookies for Christmas. The recipe comes from the author’s mother, Marilyn Muller, via her mother, Ruth Flaherty, both of whom were talented and loving bakers.
Ingredients
1 cup softened salted butter (never margarine)
½ cup sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups unbleached white flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
Green sugars
Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cream butter and sugar in mixer until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Mix flour and baking powder, then stir in until mixed. Divide the dough in half, shape into disks, wrap, and chill for at least half an hour.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Dust a clean surface with flour and roll out first disk to a ¼-inch thickness. Cut with a holly cookie cutter and place on cookie sheet at least a half inch apart. Save all scraps and chill. When the sheet is full, sprinkle lightly with green sugars and bake for 5–7 minutes, watching for browning. Cool on brown paper. Repeat for the other disk and chilled scraps until all dough has been baked.
Enjoy with a cup of tea, a glass of milk, or a touch of Four Roses bourbon. (Note: Neither Ruth nor Marilyn would have partaken of the bourbon.)
Teriyaki Chicken Wings
Thanks to Kai Fujita for sharing her mother Flo’s recipe. Robbie makes these as a hot appetizer for the Bible and Brew night.
Ingredients
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 ounces sugar
½ cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon sherry
2 pounds chicken wings or wingettes (the tiny drumstick parts), trimmed of excess fat
Directions
Line the bottom of a broiler pan with foil and place slotted top or a rack on top.
Combine garlic, sugar, soy sauce, ginger, and sherry and stir until sugar is dissolved.
Add chicken and mix, then heat through in a large skillet on medium until chicken is tender, turning frequently.
Drain, move to broiler pan top or rack, and finish under broiler until crispy.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
Corrine’s Beef Stew
Corrine Beedle cooks up this hearty beef stew the night Marcus is invited over, a perfect dinner for a cold winter night.
Serves four to six.
Ingredients
Olive oil
1 pound stew beef, cut into one-inch cubes
Salt
Pepper
Flour
One large onion, diced
3 fat garlic cloves, minced
2 carrots, peeled and cut into one-inch chunks
12 ounces mushrooms, cleaned. Add whole if small, in halves or quarters if larger.
2 good-sized potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
1 cup hearty red wine like a cabernet sauvignon or a burgundy
2 cups beef or chicken stock
2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary
½ cup chopped fresh parsley
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Season beef with salt and pepper and dust with flour. In a large Dutch oven with an ovenproof lid, add olive oil to lightly cover the bottom and heat over medium high burner. Add only enough meat cubes so they can sauté without touching. When one side is brown, turn until other side browns. Remove to a plate and repeat until all meat is browned. Remove all to the plate.
Add more oil and sauté onions until tender but not brown. Return all meat and onions to the pot and add garlic. Sauté for one minute. Add carrots, mushrooms, potatoes, stock, wine, and rosemary and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat. Cover the pot and bake for two hours or until meat is very tender.
Whisk water into one tablespoon flour until it makes a paste, then stir in stock from the pot until it becomes a slurry. Whisk slowly into the stew to thicken. Add parsley and simmer another twenty minutes. Adjust seasonings.
Serve hot with crusty bread, green salad, and red wine.
Spinach-Red Pepper Egg Bake
An easy crowd-feeder for breakfast or brunch, Robbie makes this as a holiday breakfast special because the green of the spinach with the red pepper bits looks so festive.
Makes approximately 24 pieces.
Ingredients
Four slices bacon, cooked to crisp and crumbled (omit for vegetarians)
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 ½ cups baby spinach, finely chopped or one pound frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and well drained
Whites
of 1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
½ teaspoon black pepper
10 large eggs
¼ cup milk
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Oil a 9”x13” baking dish.
Mix bacon, cheddar cheese, green onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, garlic, and black pepper in a bowl, then pour into casserole dish.
Whisk eggs with milk and pour over vegetables.
Top with Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses.
Bake for 25–30 minutes or until eggs are cooked through. Cut into two-inch squares and serve warm or at room temperature.
Peppermint Mocha Muffins
Marcus suggests adding the peppermint flavorings to these easy muffins, perfect for the holidays. Makes one dozen.
Ingredients