The chief turned to Granddad. “You could be right about who did it and why. Proving it is another matter. I know we’ll get Kevin on the poisoned chocolates. Hard to argue that’s not premeditated murder.”
Bram scratched his head. “I don’t understand why he still had the caffeine powder. It incriminates him.”
The chief said, “The reason a killer keeps a weapon he used in a crime is so he can use it again.”
Granddad broke the silence that followed those sobering words. “I’ll bet the next victim would have been Kevin’s sister-in-law. Most wills have a survivorship clause. You inherit only if you survive the will-maker by thirty days. If the sister died in the next few weeks, Kevin’s wife would get everything.”
“That won’t happen now.” The chief stood up. “You all had a hand in catching this killer, and you can sleep easier tonight.”
Bethany’s face lit up. “I can go home! But not ’til after dinner. I made a big pot of pea soup. There’s plenty for all of us.”
The chief passed on the soup. Val walked him to the hall. She no sooner closed the door behind him than Bram came into the hall and said he had to leave too.
“Mom’s shorthanded at the shop tonight. I promised I’d get back as soon as I could.” He gave Val a long kiss. “How about dinner tomorrow night, just the two of us?”
“I’d love that.” Val saw him out and went back to the sitting room. “Let’s adjourn to the kitchen. I’m starving.”
While Bethany reheated the soup, Val made corn muffins and Granddad assembled a salad.
Bethany added water to the soup, which had thickened into a pea stew. “Did you know Kevin was the killer before you went to the Frosts’ house, Val?”
“Not for sure. He went to the top of my suspect list last night, when the chief told us the places where the ghost was seen. A local person, like Thatcher Frost, would have removed the mask and robe in ten seconds and walked around town as himself, but someone who wasn’t supposed to be in Bayport would have to stay in disguise. Kevin couldn’t risk being seen by any of the Naimans or their neighbors because he was supposedly home.” Val stirred the muffin batter. “Kevin also had the skill set to make sweets and handle poison.”
“Why the two different poisons?” Bethany said.
“Two minds at work. Each man created a blueprint for the murder the other man would carry out.” Val spooned the batter into the muffin cups. “Jake devised a dramatic murder scene with a party crasher in costume. Reflecting his personality, he threw in humorous touches like the gingerdead man and the Ghost of Christmas Presents. He even explained the pun in case we missed how clever it was.”
“But he was deadly serious with his choice of cyanide.” Granddad’s knife thumped against the cutting board as he sliced a cucumber. “Jake needed a fast-acting poison so his wife would die at the tea table. He’d have witnesses swearing he couldn’t have poisoned her. That’s why he had to be there even though he had a terrible cold.”
Bethany stirred the soup. “If I knew one cookie in a bunch was poisoned, I wouldn’t eat any of them. Why did Jake even touch one?”
Val thought about what was going on at the table when he opened the gift bag. “Jake had a problem. No one at the table had eaten a gingerdead man. If Jewel took hers home and ate it later that night or the next day, he’d lose his alibi for her poisoning. He’d be the only suspect. So he tried to convince her to eat it at the tea party. He grabbed the gift bag he assumed was his, wolfed down the cookie, and raved about how delicious it was.”
“Until he keeled over.” Granddad rolled his eyes. “His fancy murder plan tripped him up. Kevin had a better plan—use a poison that would look like a natural death and deliver it when no one was around to see.”
“Yes, but someone other than Oliver might have eaten the candy left on the doorstep,” Bethany said.
Val put the muffin pan in the oven. “It wouldn’t have bothered him if his sister-in-law or Iska ate it.”
Granddad looked up from the cutting board. “Speaking of Iska, I heard from her today. She asked me to give you a message, Bethany. She can’t work for your uncle. She got a job as a live-in aide for an older woman.”
“I’m glad to hear it. My conscience was bothering me about tricking her.” Bethany adjusted the heat under the soup pot. “I feel really sorry for Kevin’s wife, finding out she’s married to her father’s murderer. Do you think her sister suspected him?”
Val shrugged. “We’ll never know her real reason for demanding an autopsy, but she was right to do it. The whole town is better off with the Christmas killer in custody.”
“I can’t thank you enough, Val, for risking your life to keep the killer away from me.”
“You gotta thank me for one thing,” Granddad said. “Kevin’s flat tire. I thought he might run if Jewel accused him of murder at the Frosts’ party. So I took the valve cap off one of his tires, put a small pebble in it, and screwed the cap back on. I knew the air would leak out little by little and the tire would be flat before long.” He grinned. “We won’t mention that to Earl or Ryan.”
Bethany gave Granddad a high five.
* * *
A few days later Val got a call from the chief with an update. The police had evidence proving that Kevin had made the poisoned chocolates. They’d also substantiated Granddad’s theory that Kevin and Jake had colluded. A search of their financial records showed that the two men had bought a yacht together. Jake had paid for most of it, expecting Kevin to reimburse him after Oliver died and Cyndi came into money.
At the Frosts’ house, when Jewel revealed his connection to Jake, Kevin must have thought he’d soon be arrested for Jake’s murder. As usual, he acted on the basis of the worst case scenario. He called the boatyard in Norfolk where the yacht was, said he was coming for it, and wouldn’t need to moor it there any longer. When the police searched the yacht, they found nautical maps that would guide him from the boatyard to the Bahamas.
Val now understood what had motivated Kevin. He’d shared Jake’s dream of fleeing the country, evading responsibility, and cruising around the islands.
Instead he’d spend the rest of his life in jail.
A satisfactory ending. When Val got off the phone with the chief, she made a batch of Christmas cookies.
Chapter 25
For the last six years, a spirit had visited Val on Christmas, when she was in the kitchen with no one else around. She sensed Grandma’s presence in that room throughout the year, but it was strongest on the holiday she loved. Grandma would be there again this year.
Dinner was over and the kitchen cleaned up before Val had a chance to break away from the rest of the family. Her brother and his two boys were on the sofa in the study, watching Bram perform magic tricks. Her mother and father chatted with Granddad and Dorothy in the sitting room.
Val turned off the lights over the kitchen island and sat at the table by the window. She had a lot of news for Grandma.
Granddad is doing well. He still misses you every day. His friend, Dorothy, is good for him. She’s a bundle of energy and keeps him young. I knew they both loved old movies, especially Hitchcock’s, but I found out only recently that she was a baseball fan too. That made my shopping for Granddad easy. For Christmas I gave him Orioles tickets, so the two of them could go to some games together.
Granddad’s gift for me was a big surprise—a new sofa. It’s a gift he’ll get to enjoy too, but I can’t complain. I did the same with Bram’s gift. I’m treating us both to dinner at an elegant inn on the waterfront. Bram topped that by buying us both tickets to Paris. I should have suspected something like that because he’d asked me if my passport was current and whether I’d ever been there. That’s where we’ll be for my birthday. The weather may not be great on February 14, but good things can happen under the Eiffel Tower, especially on Valentine’s Day.
Hearing footsteps, Val turned away from the window.
Bram stood in the doorway. “You’re sitting here
alone.”
“I’m not alone.” Good night, Grandma. I miss you. Val met Bram halfway across the kitchen and put her arms around him. “I’m not alone.”
Acknowledgments
I owe thanks to many people who helped me as I researched and wrote Gingerdead Man. I would never write a mystery in which a character was poisoned without consulting two experts who generously answer questions that writers have about poisonings. Pharmacist and toxicologist Luci Hansson Zahray, the mystery community’s Poison Lady, gave me information on the sources and effects of the poisons that play a role in this book. Physician and mystery writer D. P. Lyle, MD, provided details about the medical and forensic aspects of these poisons. Thank you to both of you. Any mistakes in the book on those subjects resulted from my misunderstanding.
For help on a different subject, I thank mystery author and professional Santa Claus, Bradley Harper, and his wife, Chere. Bradley gave me insights into the job of being a Santa in the modern world and into the growing and dyeing of beards. Chere told me about the important role of Mrs. Claus. She is a more traditional helpmate to Santa than the Mrs. Claus in this book. In case you were wondering, the IBRBS—International Brotherhood of Real Bearded Santas—is a real organization.
Words can’t express how grateful I am to my critique partners and fellow mystery writers, Carolyn Mulford and Helen Schwartz. We started working together before any of us had published mystery stories or books. We’ve brainstormed plots together, offered chapter-by-chapter feedback to one another in our weekly meetings, and edited near-final versions of books and stories we were submitting. Every book in this series, from the first to the seventh, is better because of their comments and advice. Thank you, Carolyn and Helen.
My husband, Mike Corrigan, also read and commented on every book in the series. Thank you, Mike. I’d also like to thank Nora Corrigan and Cathy Ondis Solberg for reading the first draft of this book and providing feedback that made the book better. Carolyn Mulford brainstormed with me to fix the plot holes that the other readers found. She also did a thorough final edit under a tight deadline. Thank you for everything, Carolyn.
I’m grateful to my agent, John Talbot, for bringing the Five-Ingredient Mystery series to Kensington Books. I’d like to thank my editor, John Scognamiglio, and my publicist, Larissa Ackerman, as well as the production, marketing, and sales teams at Kensington Books who helped bring Gingerdead Man and the other books in the series to readers.
I couldn’t have written and published seven books, or even one book, without Sisters in Crime—the national chapter, the online Guppies Chapter, and my local Chesapeake Chapter. Thank you for your vital support.
I’d like to recognize and thank some special readers. They generously contributed to literary charities by buying character-naming rights at auctions during the Malice Domestic and Bouchercon mystery conventions: Elaine Naiman, who is in this book; Ruth McWilliams and Sandy Sechrest, who had roles in Crypt Suzette; Linda Zaharee, who is in S’more Murders ; and Judy Kindell, who asked for her father, Jerry Kindell, to be in S’More Murders.
Finally a huge thank you to all the readers who enjoy books about crime and detection. You keep the mystery genre alive.
The Codger Cook’s Recipes
GRASMERE GINGERBREAD
To make gingerbread (or gingerdead) men, you need more than five ingredients. You also have to roll out the dough and cut the shapes. Here’s a gingerbread cookie you can make with fewer ingredients and without a rolling pin. This treat is so popular in England that people travel to the small town of Grasmere in the lake district just to buy it.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
1 cup + 2 tablespoons flour
½ cup + 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1½ teaspoons ground ginger
¼ teaspoon baking powder
10 tablespoons butter
1–2 tablespoons crystallized ginger, chopped (optional)
Line an oblong pan (approximately 7 x 11 x 2 inches) with parchment paper.
Mix the dry ingredients together.
Melt the butter and add it to the dry ingredients.
Add the chopped crystallized ginger to taste, one tablespoon if you’re not sure if you like it and two if you know you do.
Spread the mixture over the pan in a thin layer, pressing it down lightly with your fingers or the bottom of a glass.
Bake 25–30 minutes until golden brown.
Cut the gingerbread into bars (approximately 1 x 2 inches) while it is still hot. Leave it in the pan until it cools. Remove the gingerbread by lifting the parchment paper.
Yield: 30–36 bars
Adapted from English Food by Jane Grigson.
ALMOND BRITTLE COOKIES
This is a hybrid dessert. A cross between candy and cookies, it’s baked in a standard-size muffin pan. The recipe makes enough to fill two 12-cup muffin pans. You can use either a nonstick pan or a regular muffin pan with foil cup liners.
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
⅓ cup honey
⅓ cup heavy cream
4½ cups sliced and (mostly) skinless almonds
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Melt the butter over medium heat in a saucepan.
Add the sugar and honey. Stir until the mixture is smooth.
Stir in the heavy cream and continue stirring over low to medium heat until the mixture turns a light caramel color.
Add the almonds and stir until they are evenly coated.
Fill the muffin cups about ⅓ of the way up and flatten the mixture by pressing down on it with a spoon.
Bake the cookies on the middle rack of the oven until the contents of the cups are bubbling and golden brown, about 8–10 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven and cool the cookies in the muffin pan for 10 minutes. Use a knife around the edge to loosen each cookie from the cup. The bottom may be soft and the cookie a little floppy. Transfer the cookies to wax paper to cool and, once they’re set, they will be flat.
If using foil cup liners, take the cups from the pan. When cool, remove the cookies from the foil.
Note: Using foil cups may result in caramel spikes sticking up from the top of the cookies. You can break them off once the cookies cool.
If using only one muffin pan and the foil liners, put in new liners for the second batch.
Yield: 24 cookies
Adapted from a recipe for Florentines by Bettyanne Her-shfield (Winnipeg, Manitoba) via Washington Post recipe columnist Bonnie S. Benwick.
NO-BAKE CHOCOLATE CRANBERRY NUT MOUNDS
These bite-size candies take almost no time to make and have only three ingredients. Dried cranberries make them a festive holiday treat. You can vary the recipe by substituting raisins or other dried fruit for cranberries and by using a different type of nut instead of pecans.
12 ounces (2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
(milk chocolate also works)
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
½ cup dried cranberries (or more to taste)
Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper and set it aside.
Put the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat the chocolate at half power for 1 minute and stir. Heat the chocolate at half power for 30 seconds and stir. Continue to heat and stir, decreasing the heating time as the chocolate softens. Do this until the chocolate is smooth.
Combine the nut pieces and cranberries in a bowl. Stir them into the melted chocolate, coating them well.
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto the paper-lined baking sheet.
Refrigerate until the chocolate hardens, about 30 minutes.
Store the mounds in an airtight container at room temperature or in the freezer.
Yield: 18–24 pieces, depending on the size of the mounds
CRANBERRY-APPLE CRISP
Here’s another cranberry treat suitable for the holidays and all year round.
Preheat the oven to 350 de
grees.
2 cups fresh (or frozen and thawed) cranberries
5 cups apples, peeled and coarsely chopped
1½ cups sugar (separated)
1½ cups rolled oats
½ cup butter
½ teaspoon salt (optional)
Combine the fruit and half the sugar. Put the mixture into a buttered 9-inch pie pan or an 8-inch square baking pan.
With your fingers or a pastry blender, combine the oats, butter, remaining sugar, and salt (if using) until they make a crumbly mixture. Sprinkle it on the fruit mixture.
Bake for 1 hour.
Cool for 30 minutes.
Best served warm with vanilla ice cream, but good to eat at any temperature.
Serves 6–8
GRANDMA’S CHICKEN CASSEROLE
This is a variation on a recipe from decades ago that remains popular today. It makes enough for a crowd and keeps well as a leftover.
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.
3–4 ounces low sodium chipped beef
8 chicken breasts, skinned and boneless
1 can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
½ pint sour cream (more if you’d like more sauce)
8 ounces button or cremini mushrooms in ¼-inch-thick
slices
Cover the bottom of a flat rectangular baking dish (approximately 8 x 12 x 2 inches) with chipped beef slices.
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