A Killer Maize

by Paige Shelton

  Ethel wasn’t Virgil’s aunt, but it was the story he’d stuck to even long ago when people wondered how it was possible that Ethel had a nephew. Soon, no one cared and they quit asking about the house. No one else claimed it, so it didn’t matter much. Virgil had served twenty years in the military—under his real name, Darrell Sulich—and thus qualified for retirement pay. WITSEC had arranged for his checks to be written out to “Virgil Morrison,” though the army had no record of him. Virgil had been proud of his service and occasionally talked about it even though he’d been instructed not to. The authorities suspected that Virgil, in an attempt to throw off the killer, had put the feminine furniture on his porch about a week before he was killed. No one knew what happened to it after I mentioned it during my and Ian’s visit to Bottoms Up.

  Once Scott got involved deeply, he knew things weren’t being handled properly, and when I introduced him to Sam, he figured he’d found someone he could confide in. Sam had, in fact, contacted WITSEC on his own, but not until after Scott talked to him, which was after Virgil had been killed. The marshals arrived about the same time Scott got the knife in his arm.

  The sticky note I’d seen was Scott’s writing. He still wasn’t sure why he’d written it; he thought maybe he’d done it in a moment of despair over his failure to prevent Virgil’s murder.

  As for the ledger I’d seen listing which fair workers owed what, Scott said he’d picked that up accidentally in Lucy’s trailer. When he tore down the shooting gallery, he found it and returned it to Lucy. It was fair business that was no one else’s business.

  The morning after my snooping excursion at the shooting gallery, Scott had noticed a puddle of blood on the ground under the table; he’d assumed it had come from an injured animal. I wanted to punch him when he burst out laughing as I told him the real story.

  Scott and Lucy’s meetings in the trailer had nothing to do with romance: they’d been trying to figure out how to save the other witness and convince the Bellings brothers to either close the fair or at least have the rides more closely inspected. Scott was head over heels for his wife, Susan, someone I still hoped to meet someday.

  None of us ever learned why Virgil had a spider tattoo on his neck, but I’d become attached to the idea that it was some sort of symbol about hope and fate. I’d likely never know for sure, though.

  It occurred to me that the woman in black was, indeed, Dianna Kivitt. It could have been. It might have been. She denied it, though, so I guessed I’d never really know that for sure either. I couldn’t quite make myself believe in gypsy magic, but I didn’t quite disbelieve it either. I also don’t know exactly why the woman diverted me; maybe she thought I’d get lost the other way. I didn’t think I’d ever venture into a corn maze again, so if she was still somehow lingering there, I wouldn’t get the chance to ask.

  As for my personal life, well, Ian and I easily transitioned into being just friends. In fact, in the weeks following our breakup, we’d spent more time together than we had when we were more than friends. Business at the market had slowed, so I’d been helping out a lot at the lavender farm. George’s living space was finished, so we’d moved him and his kitten in, and things were going even better than I’d expected. George named the kitten Gypsy, and the two of them were crazy about each other. Gypsy still wasn’t so sure about me, though. Maybe in time.

  And now, I found myself sitting in my truck in front of Sam’s small house. Actually, I’d been sitting there for forty minutes, trying to summon my courage to go knock on his door. I’d brought Hobbit along for moral support, but she’d grown tired of my behavior.

  Finally, Hobbit sighed heavily and turned her back to me to look out the passenger window.

  “All right, all right, I’ll go.”

  I hopped out of the truck and walked to the front door. I hadn’t seen Sam since the night at the corn maze, and I was nervous about what I was going to do.

  As I reached up to knock on the door, it opened wide.

  “I wondered how long you were going to sit out there,” Sam said with a smile. He was in jeans and a sweatshirt, and his hair was one hundred percent free of gel. He must not have had to work today.

  “You saw me?”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Even if I didn’t have the observation skills of a police officer, I’d have to be blind not to notice your orange truck.”

  “Oh.”

  “What can I do for you, Becca?”

  I cleared my throat. I’d thought long and hard about how I was going to handle this moment. I knew he knew about Ian and me. Everyone knew about Ian and me. I didn’t want Sam to think I was acting on a rebound. I wanted him to know that what I was about to do was genuine and real. I’d waited awhile, but only because I thought that’s what I was supposed to do. But during the last couple weeks, I’d thought about him. I’d thought about our kiss from a few months earlier. I’d thought about a lot of things, one of them being that I had a bad record of choosing men, but I realized that Scott had been right—I hadn’t been wrong about him, just premature. And I hadn’t been wrong about Ian either. Ian was great, but we just weren’t meant for each other. My track record wasn’t all that bad. And finally, I thought about the fact that maybe I should just stay out of relationships for a good long while. Some time alone might be good for me.

  But there was that kiss, and it deserved to at least be explored a little.

  Sam smiled, waiting for an answer to his question, and when I didn’t say anything for a good few seconds, he repeated, “Becca?”

  “Sam, I’m here to invite you out on a date,” I blurted out. “I’d like to take you to dinner and maybe a movie. What do you think?” I sounded awful, like a programmed robot.

  Fortunately, Sam continued to smile. “I’d love to go out to dinner and maybe a movie with you. But, why don’t you grab Hobbit and come in for some coffee or tea or something right now. It’s a little cold out there.”

  I was nervous, but I got Hobbit and we went inside. Sam and I had some coffee and some stale cookies that had been in his pantry, and we talked for a long, long time.

  And then the next night we went out on our first real date.

  And then we went on many, many more.

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  Recipes

  Strawberry Syrup

  2 pounds strawberries

  11/2 cups sugar

  1 cup water

  1 tablespoon pectin

  2 tablespoons lemon juice

  Hull and clean the strawberries, and then pulse them in a food processor until mashed or thoroughly mash them with the back of a fork.

  Place the prepared fruit in a large pot and sprinkle with 1⁄2 cup of the sugar; let stand for a half hour to draw out the juice.

  In a smaller pot, combine the water, pectin, lemon juice, and remaining 1 cup sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat; boil for 5 minutes. Add this simple syrup to the pot containing the fruit and bring to another boil, stirring while cooking, for 3 minutes. Skim off any foam that forms.

  Pour the syrup into prepared jars, wipe away any drips from sides or rims, and seal. Hot-water process.

  Makes about 7 half-pint jars.

  Thanks to the fabulous Laine Barash and Bonnie Mills Schelts for giving Becca the idea to add syrups to her repertoire. And thanks to Laine for sharing this delicious recipe.

  Funnel Cake

  2 quarts vegetable oil for frying

  11/2 cups milk

  2 eggs

  2 cups all-purpose flour

  1 teaspoon baking powder

  1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  1/2 teaspoon salt

  3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

  Funnel cake pitcher or plastic zip bag with 1/2 inch cut from the corner

  In a deep fryer or he
avy skillet (cast iron is ideal), heat oil to 350 degrees F.

  In a large bowl, beat together the milk and eggs. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture, a little at a time, stirring until smooth.

  Pour 1 cup of the batter into the funnel pitcher or the plastic bag. Starting from the center of the fryer and using a swirling motion, let the batter flow into the hot oil to form a 6- or 7-inch round cake. Fry the funnel cake on both sides until golden brown. Remove the cake from the oil and place on paper towels to drain. Repeat the process with the remaining batter.

  Sprinkle the funnel cakes with confectioners’ sugar and serve warm.

  Makes about 7 cakes.

  Deep-Fried Snickers Bars

  8 Snickers Bars, frozen

  Funnel Cake batter from previous recipe

  1 quart vegetable oil for frying

  8 Popsicle sticks

  When the candy bars are frozen, prepare the Funnel Cake batter.

  In a deep fryer or heavy skillet (cast iron is ideal), heat oil to 350 degrees F.

  Push a Popsicle stick into the bottom of each of the candy bars, then dip the bars in the batter. Drop the bars, a few at a time, into the oil and fry until golden brown, which will take only a minute or two.

  Remove the bars from the oil, and drain and cool slightly on paper towels. Serve.

  Makes 8 bars.

  Jerry’s Corn Dogs

  1 quart vegetable oil for frying

  1 cup yellow cornmeal

  1 cup all-purpose flour

  1/4 teaspoon salt

  1/4 cup white sugar

  4 teaspoons baking powder

  1 egg

  1 cup milk

  2 (16-ounce) packages beef frankfurters, rolled over paper towels to dry

  16 wooden skewers

  Preheat oil in a deep saucepan to 350 degrees F.

  In a medium bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder. Stir in the eggs and milk. Chill for 30 minutes.

  Insert a wooden skewer into each frankfurter, and dip the frankfurters in the batter until well coated.

  Fry the corn dogs in the oil, 2 or 3 at a time, until lightly browned, about 2 to 3 minutes.

  Drain on paper towels and serve.

  Makes 8 corn dogs.

  Stella’s Cinnamon Bread

  5–7 cups flour (sometimes Stella uses all white flour, sometimes half whole wheat, half white)

  11/2 tablespoons active dry yeast

  1/2 cup sugar

  2 eggs, lightly beaten

  2 cups warm water

  11/2 teaspoons vegetable oil

  2 teaspoons salt

  11/2 cups cinnamon chips (available at some grocery stores, or baking specialty stores, these are like compacted bits of cinnamon—sometimes called “cinnamon-flavored bites”—or see recipe on next page to make your own, my preferred method)

  In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups of the flour with the yeast and sugar. Add the eggs, water, and oil. Beat well until the mixture resembles cake batter. Stir in the salt, cinnamon bites, and 3–5 more cups flour to create a bread-dough consistency.

  Using a stand mixer with kneader attachment, knead the dough until it reaches the right thick bread-dough texture, when it holds together smoothly and pulls away easily from the side of the bowl (add up to 1 more cup of flour if needed). Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for 1 hour. Divide the dough in half and put each loaf into a greased bread pan. Cover again and let the loaves rise for another hour, or until doubled in size.

  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and bake for about 30 minutes. When the loaves are done, let them cool just slightly, then slice thick and serve warm with butter, or toast the slices in the toaster. This bread also makes delicious French toast.

  Makes 2 loaves.

  Cinnamon Burst Chips

  1 cup granulated sugar

  41/2 tablespoons cinnamon

  3 tablespoons solid all vegetable shortening

  3 tablespoons light corn syrup

  Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Mix ingredients together with fork and fingers until uniform and crumbly. Spread thinly on foil-lined baking sheet and bake until melted and bubbly, about 30 minutes. Cool completely and then break into small pieces with a small kitchen mallet.

  Makes the correct amount needed for 4 loaves of the previous Cinnamon Bread recipe.

  Berkley Prime Crime titles by Paige Shelton

  Farmers’ Market Mysteries

  FARM FRESH MURDER

  FRUIT OF ALL EVIL

  CROPS AND ROBBERS

  A KILLER MAIZE

  Country Cooking School Mysteries

  IF FRIED CHICKEN COULD FLY

  IF MASHED POTATOES COULD DANCE

  Special

  RED HOT DEADLY PEPPERS