“Not really. I mean, you didn’t actually trace it back to me, did you? It was the stupid diary about my grandfather that did me in,” she said.
She had a point about that.
“And why Marta Hansen?” I asked, although I suspected I knew the answer.
“Serendipity again, with my daughter being assigned to read to her, but I would have found a way to get into her room. It’s not that hard. Everyone’s so happy to have visitors over at Loving Arms, they’ll let you in anywhere. I figured if it looked like you had poisoned Marta, too, it would seal the deal.”
There it all was. I stood up and knocked on the door. “Huerta,” I called. “I’m done here.”
So was Sheri. The difference was that I got to leave.
Except I didn’t. Huerta came when I called. He’s good about that. He came especially quickly that day, though. And he had a spring in his step that I hadn’t seen in a while. “What’s different about you?” I asked.
He looked down at his uniform, touched his hair, rubbed his chin as if to check to see if he’d shaved and said, “Nothing that I know of.”
“No. There’s something.” I kept looking. I couldn’t figure out what it was, but something was definitely different.
“He’s been whistling all morning,” Sheri said from behind me. “So irritating. Whistlers are the worst. Worse than hummers.”
Whistling. When had I heard someone whistling recently? I froze. Garrett. Garrett had whistled. He’d whistled after I set the frittata aside and he’d whistled after he’d turned off the heat under the béchamel, but turned up the heat in my bedroom.
“You called Cynthia, didn’t you?” I punched him in the shoulder.
His cheeks went red, but a grin spread across his face. “I may have arranged to see her.”
“You saw quite a bit of her, didn’t you?” Sheri asked with a giggle.
Huerta got redder.
I clapped my hands. “Good on you, Huerta. Good on you.”
Sprocket yipped.
“Did you want something else, Rebecca?” Huerta asked. “Or was embarrassing me in front of a prisoner all you needed?”
“I’d like to see Cathy, if I could,” I said.
“No one visits Cathy,” Sheri said. “No one. Not even her husband.”
“I’m aware,” I said to her. Then I turned back to Huerta. “Please?”
“As you wish.” He went into the room, unlocked Sheri from the table and led her out. “Wait here.”
Sprocket and I did as we were told. We’d learned to be a little more obedient during our time in the big house.
We settled ourselves in the interview room and Huerta brought in Cathy.
“What the hell are you doing here?” she asked as Huerta cuffed her to the chain in the table.
I pushed my offerings across the table to her. “I brought you some books and some popcorn.”
She fanned the books out. “Thanks.” She gestured with her chin toward the tin of popcorn. “That’s poison-free, right?”
I opened the tin, took a chunk out and ate it. “We’re going down together if it isn’t.”
She laughed and took some herself. “This is good. I guess I should be relieved I didn’t get a chance to run for city council. I would have gobbled the whole tin down and died instantly.”
“How are you holding up?” I asked.
She shrugged. “The new roommate isn’t as fun as you were, but she’s certainly got an interesting story to tell.”
“Okay, then. I should go. See you in a few days?” I stood and knocked on the door again for Huerta.
“Why?” Cathy looked surprised.
I shrugged. “Because everybody needs friends, Cathy. Everybody.”
• • •
I had one last set of tasks to accomplish, one more person with whom to set things right. Garrett was in court on Monday morning over a small matter. He was representing Step Right Shoe Repair. Dixie Pratt was suing them for allegedly having resoled her favorite pair of boots in a way that made her fall. Garrett had been feeling confident of a win because of eyewitness testimony to the four margaritas Dixie had consumed before the alleged fall.
I met Faith in the hallway outside the courtroom with her two daughters. Annie was there with two baskets of flower petals. “Everyone ready?” I asked.
Everyone nodded.
I pressed my ear to the courtroom door. I heard Judge Romero’s gavel bang and said, “Here we go.”
I opened the door to the courtroom. Annie marched in strewing flower petals around her. Faith’s daughters followed playing “Mary Had a Little Lamb” on their recorders. I had been hoping for something more romantic, but it was the only song they both knew and felt they could play by heart.
I pressed my hand against my chest, hoping that would still the over-rapid beating of my heart, and walked in behind them. Everyone in the courtroom was staring. The photographer from the Sentinel was there. Judge Romero was there. Phillip Meyers was there.
It was all set. Flowers. Music. Now it was my turn. I got down on one knee in front of Garrett and said, “Garrett, will you marry me?”
He shook his head and for a second I thought he was going to say no. Then he held his hand out to me. I took it and he pulled me to my feet and kissed me.
RECIPES
S’MORES POPCORN BARS
GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST
1½ cups graham cracker crumbs
6 tablespoons butter, melted
⅓ cup sugar
Mix together the crumbs, melted butter and sugar. Press into a foil- or parchment paper–lined 8-by-8-inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 7 minutes or until it starts to brown.
FILLING
1 (10-ounce) package chocolate chips
1 (7-ounce) jar marshmallow crème
3 cups popped popcorn
Melt the chocolate chips in microwave or in a double boiler. Pour over the graham cracker crust. While the chocolate chip layer is still warm, microwave the marshmallow crème for 30 seconds at 50 percent power. Watch closely so it doesn’t go full Vesuvius on you. Pour the crème over the chocolate chip layer. Press the popped popcorn into the marshmallow layer. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
To serve, let it come to room temperature, then cut into squares.
POPCORN WITH SHIITAKE CRISPS
1 (8-ounce) package shiitake mushrooms
¼ cup olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
4 cups popped popcorn
⅓ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary
Remove and discard (or save for another use) the mushroom stems. Slice the mushroom caps into thin slices. Toss the sliced caps with the olive oil and salt (add more salt if you’re like me and would probably fight off a deer to get to a salt lick). Bake on a parchment paper–lined jelly roll pan for 15 to 20 minutes at 375 degrees or until they start to shrivel and turn black. Allow to cool. Combine with the popcorn, Parmesan and rosemary while the popcorn is still hot.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Assault and Buttery is Kristi Abbott’s third book with Berkley Prime Crime. She has been obsessed with popcorn ever since she first tasted the caramel-cashew popcorn at Garrett’s in Chicago. If you’ve never had it, you might want to hop on a plane and go now. Seriously, it’s that good.
Kristi lives in northern California, though she was born in Ohio like the heroine of the Popcorn Shop Mysteries. She loves snack food, crocheting, her kids and her man—not necessarily in that order.
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Kristi Abbott, Assault and Buttery
Assault and Buttery Page 25