Cast Iron Motive (The Cast Iron Cooking Mysteries Book 4)

by Jessica Beck

  Annie was half a second behind me, and I was happy to see Della swing her club in the air as she approached from another angle altogether.

  Unfortunately, she missed completely, Annie’s dive came up short, and I barely managed to grab Henrietta’s leg before I crashed to the floor myself.

  Henrietta must have had her finger on the trigger when we’d lashed out at her, because as she fell, a shot rang out, temporarily blinding and deafening us all with the muzzle flash and the explosion.

  At least she hadn’t had time to use the pillow as a silencer.

  I was nearly blinded by the sudden flash of light, but I couldn’t let that stop me.

  I still had hold of Henrietta’s leg, so I did the only thing I could think of.

  I bit her with everything I had.

  CHAPTER 18: ANNIE

  I wasn’t sure what my brother did to Henrietta, but she suddenly began to howl in pain. She instinctively tried to fight him off, but he wouldn’t let go of his grip.

  Henrietta still had the gun in her hand, but she must have been so startled by what he’d done that she’d completely forgotten about it for the moment and was using it as a bludgeon on his back instead of cocking the trigger and shooting him.

  We couldn’t count on that being the case for long, though.

  I scrambled to my feet and grabbed Henrietta’s arm while Aunt Della went for her face with her bare hands, clawing and scratching to make some kind of impact on her attack on Pat.

  As I was wrestling the gun away from her, another shot rang out.

  None of us were hit, at least as far as I could tell, but my aunt was going to need a new back door window.

  That was the last bit of fight Henrietta had left in her.

  I had the gun in my hands now.

  “Everyone stop what you’re doing!” I shouted.

  Della reluctantly stopped pounding at her former friend’s face, evidently trying to drive the woman’s nose through the back of her head. It was bleeding profusely, but I couldn’t see that until someone flipped on the light, blinding us all again.

  It was Chief Cameron, and I was more relieved to see him than I could say.

  “Do you want to put that down on the floor, nice and slow?” he asked me softly. It was only then that I noticed that his weapon was pointed straight at my chest.

  “She killed Cheryl,” I said, fighting the sobs I felt trying to break free from inside of me.

  “Okay. That’s fine. No worries here. You can tell me all about it, just as soon as you drop your weapon.”

  “It’s not mine. It’s hers.” Was I babbling? I felt as though I was babbling.

  “It’s over, Annie. We won. Drop the gun,” Pat said calmly, finally getting through to me.

  My brother’s words finally hit home, and I let the weapon fall from my hands to the floor.

  Chief Cameron sighed loudly, and then he holstered his own weapon as he pulled out a pair of handcuffs.

  “Did you hear the shots? Is that how you got here so quickly?” I asked him as he approached Henrietta, who appeared to have gone completely comatose.

  “I was next door at Davis’s place,” he said. After studying the murderer for a moment, he asked, “What did you do to her?”

  Pat said simply, “I bit her.”

  “I hit her with an old closet rod,” Della said proudly.

  “And I grabbed the gun away from her,” I finished.

  “Wow, you three really did a number on her. I’m going to have to call an ambulance.”

  “Save your sympathy for someone who deserves it, Chief,” Della said. “She came here to kill us.”

  “Why?” he asked.

  “Money,” I answered. “She stole from the Winter Wonderland, and she had no other way of covering her tracks but to kill us all.”

  “Is that true, Henrietta?” Aunt Della asked her.

  There was no response. The lights were on, but nobody was home.

  After Henrietta was gone and we’d agreed to come to the station to sign statements, it was just the three of us again. I knew that we wouldn’t have much time to be alone, though. Since Davis had heard the shots too, once he got the all clear, I knew the mayor would be there, along with most of the rest of the town. Now that Aunt Della had been fully vindicated in her belief that someone had indeed been trying to kill her all along, I had a guess that her stock in town was going to be on the rise.

  My aunt was sweeping up broken glass when I tried to take the broom from her. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m still in shock, I think,” she said as she let the broom slip through her hands. “If it hadn’t been for the two of you, I’d be dead right now.”

  “We all might have been dead if Pat hadn’t acted so quickly,” I said. “He figured it out, and then he distracted Henrietta long enough to give us a chance. He’s the real hero.”

  “Don’t be so modest,” my brother replied. “I may have had the dream about the killer snowmen, but you’re the one who figured it out first.”

  “Okay, we’re both heroes,” I said with a smile. “What made you think to bite her? Not that I’m complaining. It was a stroke of genius.”

  “I didn’t have much leverage on her leg, and I expected to get shot anyway, so I figured why not give her something to remember me by? If you two hadn’t sprung to my aid, she would have killed me. There’s no doubt in my mind about that.”

  “So, we’re all heroes,” I said, “including you, Aunt Della.”

  “I couldn’t just let her shoot you, could I?” she asked.

  “Well, we appreciate the fact that you felt that way,” I said with a grin. “I’ve got an idea. When this is all over, why don’t you come to Maple Crest and visit me at my cabin? It’s not much, and we’ll be a little snug, but I’d love for you to see the place. A lot has changed since the last time you were there.”

  “You don’t want to do that, Aunt Della,” Pat said. “You know how far out in the woods she lives. You can stay with me. I’ll even give you my bed. We already know that I don’t mind sleeping on the couch when it’s for a good cause.”

  I looked at my aunt and could see tears tracking down her cheeks. “I appreciate both your offers, and I do plan to visit soon, but right now, I need to be here, by myself, to get over what happened. If I don’t, I’m afraid that I’ll never be able to stay, and I do so love this place.”

  “The invitation is always open,” I said.

  “The same goes for me,” Pat echoed.

  “Thank you. Thank you both,” she said, and then she wrapped us both up in her arms. “It’s so good to have a family again.”

  “I’ve got a feeling that you’re going to have more than you bargained for,” I said. “I called Kathleen while they were hauling Henrietta away, and she’s already on the road.”

  “Then I should put on a pot of coffee,” Aunt Della said. “Would you two mind keeping me company?”

  “That’s why we’re here,” Pat said, and we all went into the kitchen to wait for the onslaught of visitors we knew that we were about to have, in addition to my older sister.

  Henrietta had done something terrible in stealing the money, and then she’d compounded her sins a thousandfold by killing to cover it up. If she ever managed to snap out of her fog, she’d pay for what she’d done, with interest.

  As for us, Pat and I had come to Gateway Lake trying to help our estranged aunt, and in the end, we’d brought her fully back into our lives.

  As far as I was concerned, that was more valuable than anything Henrietta Long could have ever stolen.

  RECIPES

  The Iron’s Breakfast Frittata

  Sometimes a bowl of cereal just isn’t enough, especially on holidays and special occasions. When we want to do something out of the ordinary, we make one of these frittatas in a cast iron skillet. The beauty of this dish is that you can add whatever you have handy that sounds good to some basic ingredients, and you have a meal fit for a millionaire—on a common man’s b
udget! We don’t normally cook eggs in our cast iron ware, but the material holds the heat beautifully, making this too good a dish to pass up. We have an enamel-coated cast iron skillet just for this meal, though since we first bought it, we use it for other things, too!

  Don’t be afraid to explore the possibilities!

  Ingredients

  6 large eggs, whisked well

  1/4 cup milk (whole or 2%)

  1/4 teaspoon favorite seasoning

  2 teaspoons butter

  2 teaspoons olive oil

  Filling (total amount should equal approximately one cup)

  green bell pepper, diced

  sweet onion, diced

  cheese, shredded (we like extra sharp cheddar)

  baby portabella mushrooms, sliced

  cooked ham, diced

  Directions

  Preheat the oven’s broiler.

  Beat the eggs in a large mixing bowl, adding the milk and seasoning. Mix well. Add one cup from the fillings listed above (your preference) and stir into the mixture.

  On the stovetop, heat your cast iron skillet over medium heat, melting the butter and olive oil. Next, add the egg and filling mixture to the skillet, reduce the temperature to medium low, and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the eggs are almost set. Remove from heat, sprinkle the top with shredded cheese, and then place the skillet under the broiler until the eggs are completely set and the top is browned slightly. Remove from the oven and serve while still warm.

  Serves 3 to 5 people, depending on the size of the slices.

  Cast Iron Crisp Apple Crunch

  In our household, no meal is complete without dessert! My late mother-in-law used to serve dessert, usually some type of pie, after every meal, including breakfast. This was clearly a woman after my own heart, and she is dearly missed to this day. I’ve long been a big fan of Dutch apple pie, so I decided one day to make this variation in my cast iron skillet! We use the enamel-coated skillet mentioned in the recipe above for this treat as well! If you’re familiar with my crumb-topping apple pie, then you’re in for a bit of déjà vu. This process is the same, with the exception of omitting the bottom crust and baking the ingredients in a cast iron skillet. Though the ingredients are nearly identical, this produces a unique creation.

  Give it a try. Not only will you have a tasty treat in the end, but the house will smell amazing all day!

  Ingredients

  Filling

  2 Granny Smith apples, sliced

  1 Pink Lady apple, sliced

  1/2 cup granulated sugar

  2 tablespoons white unbleached all-purpose flour

  1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

  1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  1 dash of table salt

  Topping

  1 cup all white unbleached all-purpose flour

  1/2 cup packed brown sugar

  1/2 cup salted butter, room temperature

  Directions

  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

  Place the sliced apples in a large mixing bowl. In a separate, smaller bowl, mix the sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt together. Add this dry mixture to the apples and set aside. In another small mixing bowl, add the flour and brown sugar, mixing well. Add the butter and cut in with a fork or a pastry cutter. Heat the skillet over medium heat, add the apple mixture, then the crumb topping. Take off the heat and place your skillet into the oven. Turn every 10 minutes, and when the crumb topping browns nicely, loosely cover with foil and continue baking until a knife pierces an apple slice easily, between 25 and 35 minutes total cooking time, depending on your cast iron, the oven, and the barometric pressure. (Just teasing about that last one, though it might be a factor. Who knows?)

  Remove from oven and spoon out healthy portions. Vanilla ice cream added just before consumption takes this to a whole other level.

  Serves 3 to 5 people, depending on how big their sweet tooths (or is that sweet teeth?) are.

  If you enjoy Jessica Beck Mysteries and you would like to be notified when the next book is being released, please send your email address to newreleases@jessicabeckmysteries.net. Your email address will not be shared, sold, bartered, traded, broadcast, or disclosed in any way. There will be no spam from us, just a friendly reminder when the latest book is being released.

  Also, be sure to visit our website at jessicabeckmysteries.net for valuable information about Jessica’s books.

  OTHER BOOKS BY JESSICA BECK

  The Donut Mysteries

  Glazed Murder

  Fatally Frosted

  Sinister Sprinkles

  Evil Éclairs

  Tragic Toppings

  Killer Crullers

  Drop Dead Chocolate

  Powdered Peril

  Illegally Iced

  Deadly Donuts

  Assault and Batter

  Sweet Suspects

  Deep Fried Homicide

  Custard Crime

  Lemon Larceny

  Bad Bites

  Old Fashioned Crooks

  Dangerous Dough

  Troubled Treats

  Sugar Coated Sins

  Criminal Crumbs

  Vanilla Vices

  Raspberry Revenge

  The Classic Diner Mysteries

  A Chili Death

  A Deadly Beef

  A Killer Cake

  A Baked Ham

  A Bad Egg

  A Real Pickle

  A Burned Biscuit

  The Ghost Cat Cozy Mysteries

  Ghost Cat: Midnight Paws

  Ghost Cat 2: Bid for Midnight

  The Cast Iron Cooking Mysteries

  Cast Iron Will

  Cast Iron Conviction

  Cast Iron Alibi

  Cast Iron Motive

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1: Pat

  Chapter 2: Annie

  Chapter 3: Pat

  Chapter 4: Pat (continued)

  Chapter 5: Annie

  Chapter 6: Annie (continued)

  Chapter 7: Pat

  Chapter 8: Annie

  Chapter 9: Pat

  Chapter 10: Annie

  Chapter 11: Pat

  Chapter 12: Annie

  Chapter 13: Pat

  Chapter 14: Annie

  Chapter 15: Pat

  Chapter 16: Annie

  Chapter 17: Pat

  Chapter 18: Annie

  Recipes

  Other Books by Jessica Beck